climate policy

News

Rabe retires from the University of Michigan, plans for more scholarship and policy work

Dec 9, 2024

Distinguished environmental scholar and political scientist Barry G. Rabe will retire from the University of Michigan as of December 31, 2024.He is currently the J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor,...

News

Ford School and Brookings Institution scholars look to the future of US climate policy

Oct 24, 2024

Climate change is projected to cause 250,000 deaths per year from 2030 to 2050; its effects have already cost 3 trillion dollars and resulted in 100 million people falling into poverty worldwide. The Brookings Institution partnered with the Ford...

brookings-election-climate-video-teaser-1090x681

Publication

Rabe highlights need for U.S.-China cooperation on Methane Emissions

Sep 3, 2024

Despite ongoing geopolitical tensions, the United States and China have the opportunity to collaborate on reducing methane emissions, a critical greenhouse gas significantly contributing to about 30 percent of global warming.Ford School political...

News

Ford School events highlight policy, civic engagement, and Conversations Across Differences

Aug 28, 2024

The Ford School has an exciting and diverse series of events this fall, designed to encourage policy debate, civic engagement, and Conversations Across Differences in a number of ways for students, faculty, staff, and the wider U-M and general...

State & Hill

Faculty Findings, fall 2023

Dec 12, 2023

Transmission impossible? Current research suggests that the U.S. could reach net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 at a relatively low cost by utilizing currently available technologies, such as electric vehicles and zero-carbon...

In the Media

America making "enormous progress" in electric car development, says economist

Sep 27, 2023 CNN

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News

Ford School welcomes Devin Judge-Lord as faculty

Aug 16, 2023

Devin Judge-Lord joins the Ford School as an assistant professor. He is a political scientist who studies interactions among interest groups, legislators, and bureaucracies. His current work focuses on how public pressure campaigns affect agency...

In the Media

Rabe weighs in on California's challenges setting energy and climate policies

Apr 24, 2023 San Francisco Chronicle

Barry Rabe, San Francisco Chronicle: "The idea was to give the federal government more power to make sure energy moved smoothly around the country. Now you have the law pulled out to look at the question of gas bans, which I’m sure was not...

Publication

Rabe details progress and problems in mitigating methane

Jan 6, 2023

Ford School professor Barry Rabe, one of the nation's leading experts on methane emissions, recently outlined the successes and next steps in the methane policy arena in an article for Brookings. "Until recently, methane has remained far less...

Publication

Hills condemns lawsuits against energy producers

Jan 5, 2023

Outraged at lawsuits filed by states and municipalities alleging energy companies are responsible for weather-related damages, Rusty Hills, lecturer in public policy, took to the National Law Journal to argue against these frivolous...

Photo of Rusty Hills speaking to Michael Barr at a reception in Weill Hall's Great Hall

In the Media

Rabe discusses climate policy funding in Michigan

Jan 2, 2023 Bridge Michigan

Barry Rabe, Bridge Michigan: While policy changes tend to face long and uncertain paths to passage in Lansing, Democrats could advance their environmental agenda by spending that money strategically, said Barry Rabe, a University of Michigan...

News

Rabe addresses impact of 2022 election on climate policy

Nov 17, 2022

Following the 2022 election, expert Barry Rabe analyzed what the results mean for the future of climate policy. With a Republican-controlled House, climate policy at the federal level could prove difficult to move forward. "I think you’ll see...

News

Rabe says New Mexico well-positioned to benefit from Inflation Reduction Act

Oct 20, 2022

Among its many provisions, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) incentivizes people, companies, and government agencies to be more climate-conscious. Barry Rabe, J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy, told Capital and Main that New...

News

Rabe analyzes historic climate bill

Sep 4, 2022

With a historic climate bill being passed by Congress in August, Ford School professor Barry Rabe provided multiple media outlets with his expertise to analyze the bill and its impacts. Here is a compilation of his recent appearances: How Ford,...

News

El-Sayed comments on climate, elections and democracy

Sep 4, 2022

Abdul El-Sayed, Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence, has been sought out by the media to discuss a plethora of issues, from climate policy to the upcoming midterm elections. Additionally, El-Sayed regularly contributes to political discourse...

Publication

U-M study finds discussing carbon dioxide removal does not limit climate policy support

Jul 22, 2022

How should scientists, advocates, and others communicate to the general public about new geoengineering technologies that mitigate climate change? Specifically, does the discussion of climate change technologies create a moral hazard effect, in...

Electric towers in the near foreground dwarfed by many large plumes of smoke coming from carbon-emitting towers in the distance

Alumni spotlight

Sierra Stephens (BA ‘20) helps businesses invest in a sustainable future

Apr 29, 2022

When the global pandemic locked down international travel and postponed her fellowship in 2020, Sierra Stephens (BA ‘20) took time to reflect on her long-term goals. She turned her car into a camper and set out to explore national parks in the...

Publication

North American Colloquium publishes eight reports on climate policy analysis after a year of collaborative work

Apr 29, 2022

The North American Colloquium (NAC) is a forum that strengthens a wider North American conversation and more fruitful trilateral cooperation between Canada, Mexico and the U.S., led by the International Policy Center at the University of Michigan’s...

Close up photo of the flags for Canada, Mexico, and the United States

In the Media

Rabe discusses climate policy and 2022 midterms

Apr 21, 2022 The Skimm

With midterms approaching, the future of climate policy is up in the air. Barry Rabe, J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy, provided some insight on what might happen before then. “What happens between now and November in...

Publication

Rabe provides three lessons from successful HFC regulations

Mar 17, 2022

Regulation of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), “an ultra-potent class of greenhouse chemicals widely used in refrigeration,” has seen bipartisan success in Congress and internationally. Could the framework it laid out be used to regulate other greenhouse...

Publication

Four ways to improve state-level climate policies - Basseches

Mar 17, 2022

Powerful interest groups have stalled federal climate action for years. As a result, states have assumed responsibility for enacting their own climate change policy. But, there are still significant obstacles to passing “strong and effective...

In the Media

Rabe discusses implications of oil and gas flaring

Feb 27, 2022 Inside Climate News

Rather than flaring natural gas, oil and gas companies could reuse and sell the byproduct. But, as Barry Rabe, J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy, points out, loose regulations result in this extra pollution. “Reporting on...

News

Rabe on the current political climate for environmental policy

Oct 5, 2021

In a flurry of articles in E&E News, Barry Rabe commented on the state of environmental policy as Congress weighs climate measures in the reconciliation bill, the Environmental Protection Agency writes power plant regulations, and midwestern states...

Alumni spotlight

Nick Occhipinti (MPP ‘08) works across differences for the environment

Aug 10, 2021

Nick Occhipinti (MPP ‘08) describes himself as “your friendly neighborhood lobbyist” — but, his job entails so much more than that. “When I win, nobody makes any more money, nobody gets a raise, but Michigan’s air, land and water get a little...

State & Hill

Breaking down public trust

Jun 10, 2021

By Rebecca Cohen (MPP '09)Americans’ trust in government institutions to “do the right thing” has steadily eroded since the late 1960s,1 correlated for many analysts with events such as the Vietnam War, Watergate, the ’70s oil embargo, and President...

Illustration of a hand, extended for a handshake, crumbling.

In the Media

Rabe speaks on Biden's efforts to return U.S. to credible climate policy role

Apr 23, 2021 NHK World-Japan

"The return to Paris, and then the Summit are part of an effort by President Biden, especially on the heels of the previous Trump Administration, to signal to Japan and other nations around the world that the US is back in serious engagement on...

In the Media

Rabe: Kerry needs strong U.S. environmental action to be successful

Apr 22, 2021 LaCroix

“For John Kerry to do his job well, the United States needs to be exemplary at home from an environmental perspective. However, this will not be easy because there is resistance to Joe Biden's climate ambitions, particularly in states, such as...

In the Media

Biden appoints new, diverse voices in climate policy posts, says Parthasarthy

Mar 5, 2021 Environment & Energy News

“I am really struck by the fact that [Biden] has done this now on multiple appointments,” said Parthasarathy. "He’s reaching out to totally different kinds of people, kinds of experts who bring a nuanced understanding of the social world when he is...

Professor Shobita Parthasarathy leads a discussion in the Betty Ford Classroom

In the Media

Hanson highlights expected message of Biden inaugural address, early policy objectives

Jan 20, 2021 Yahoo News / WXYZ

"First and foremost, I think he wants to send a message of unity. Americans have been more divided in the last four years than we've been in a long time. The first thing Biden would like to do is bring us back together," said Hanson. Among early...

In the Media

Levitsky expects a prickly relationship between Biden and Brazil's Bolsonaro

Dec 14, 2020 Latin America Advisor

“U.S. relations with Brazil may not be on the first 100-days agenda of the Biden administration, but a renewed emphasis on climate change by the president-elect... will certainly bring the relationship to the fore rather quickly. That, as well as a...