Event Summary
The Peterson Institute for International Economics and the World Resources Institute (WRI) released Leveling the Carbon Playing Field, a joint publication, at a meeting held May 21, 2008. The book is the first result of a joint Peterson Institute for International Economics/WRI research project on linkages between climate change and trade policy.
Legislation on global warming before Congress and global negotiations on the issue will significantly impact trade policy and the world trading system. World trading rules and institutions, however, do not cover this issue explicitly, and certain approaches risk creating tensions with trading partners that could well make effective cooperation on climate change more difficult. Peterson Institute for International Economics studies on this topic seek to analyze this intersection of key topics and propose remedies that would achieve effective emissions control while maintaining an open trading system. As the first research study, Leveling the Carbon Playing Field centers on the US policy component of the issue.
The book is jointly authored by Trevor Houser, a visiting fellow at the Institute, and four leading environmental researchers from the World Resources Institute: Rob Bradley, Jacob Werksman, Britt Childs and Robert Heilmayr. Authors Houser and Bradley and WRI President Jonathan Lash presented the findings of the book.
Event Materials
Book: Leveling the Carbon Playing Field: International Competition and US Climate Policy Design
May 2008
News Release: US Climate Change Policy Can Create Fair Playing Field On Trade [pdf]
May 21, 2008
Presentation: Leveling the Carbon Playing Field [pdf]
Trevor Houser