J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy; Arthur F. Thurnau Professor; Professor of Environmental Policy; Professor of Political Science; Professor of the Environment
Barry Rabe is the J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy at the Ford School. He is also the Arthur Thurnau Professor of Environmental Policy, with courtesy appointments in the Program in the Environment, the Department of Political…
With a change of governorships after the midterm elections, one previously passed-over issue is seeing a resurgence. Governors-elect are already showing signs of making climate issues a top-priority in Midwestern states. Daniel Cusick, reporter for...
While renewable energy through wind mills is often seen as a coastal undertaking, Sarah Mills, senior project manager at the Ford School’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), details how research reveals that red states are pursuing...
Over the last 10 years, the National Surveys on Energy and the Environment (NSEE) has fielded 19 surveys in which Americans have been asked if they believe there is solid evidence of global warming.
In the latest version of this ongoing research...
Professor Barry Rabe spoke on air with Michigan Radio's Rebecca Williams on June 21 about the tricky politics of climate change policies such as carbon taxing and cap-and-trade.
The interview took place as the National Surveys on Energy and...
Sarah Mills is working to dispel rumors and inform rural Michiganders of the pros and cons of wind farm energy.Mills, a post-doctoral fellow at the Ford School’s Center for Local, State and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), received an $80,000 grant from the...
Approximately three out of every four Americans—76 percent—support hotly debated net energy metering policies, which allow residents with wind turbines and solar panels to sell excess energy back to the grid at retail rates. That’s according to a...
A majority of Americans across the political spectrum believe states are responsible for addressing climate change in the absence of federal policy, according to a new survey by University of Michigan researchers.The National Surveys on Energy and...
Barry Rabe’s influential book about the politics behind U.S. climate change policy, Statehouse and Greenhouse: The Emerging Politics of American Climate Change Policy (Brookings 2004), will be honored with the American Political Science...
According to "Moving the needle on American support for a carbon tax," a Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) report by Daniel Puskin (American University) and Sarah Mills (Ford School), Americans are 'increasingly warming' to the idea...
An MLive article published on March 15, “University of Michigan professors discuss Trump’s fuel economy review,” discusses President Trump’s plan to challenge the current Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) emissions targets that were central to...
Sarah Mills spoke with the Christian Science Monitor about results from the latest National Survey on Energy and Environment (NSEE), which found that only 15 percent of Americans now deny that there is solid evidence of climate change, in contrast...
In the lead up to the UN Climate Change Conference in December, the U.S. will organize a task force to incorporate climate and security analysis into its foreign policy agenda.
Secretary of State John Kerry announced the new group at a speech in...
Barry Rabe is quoted in a November 7 Newsweek article on climate politics. The article by Emily Cadei, “After Keystone rejection, climate politics are just heating up,” focuses on political reactions—left and right—in the wake of President Obama’s...
According to a new CLOSUP report, more Americans than ever have accepted global warming, influenced in part by Pope Francis’ recent Papal Encyclical on climate change.American acceptance of global warming is at its highest level since 2008, with the...
Only 16 percent of Americans currently believe that there is not solid evidence of global warming, according to the latest CLOSUP survey on energy and the environment released earlier this week. This is one percentage point less than the previous...
The number of Americans who believe there is evidence of global warming rose to 63 percent after a memorable winter that included record cold and snow in the Northeast and historic warmth and drought in the West, according to a University of...
Despite recent attempts in many state legislatures to repeal or weaken renewable energy requirements, a University of Michigan poll finds that a majority of Americans—of every race, income and education level, and religious and political...
Republicans support a carbon tax? Yes they do. Barry Rabe, director of the Ford School’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, explains.
S&H: You'll spend your sabbatical year working on a book about carbon pricing. Why that topic?
Barry...
2015 is shaping up to be a decisive year for U.S. energy and climate policy, according to a recent Christian Science Monitor article, “What are Republicans going to do about climate change.” While the 2016 presidential election is still nearly two...
Members of the Ford School community—welcome, and welcome back!
Summer tends to send us all around the globe—for family vacations, for research projects, for service engagements, for internships and jobs—but I love this time of year, when we...
Join the students of PUBPOL 750: Renewable Energy Policy at the State & Local Level for a Student Symposium on State & Local Renewable Energy Policy. Students will share their research on the web of state and local policies facilitating and hindering renewable energy deployment in California, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas, and Wyoming.
Book Talks @ The Ford School,
CLOSUP Lecture Series
Barry Rabe discusses his book Can We Price Carbon? Moderated by John Milewski, Director of Digital Programming; Host and Managing Editor, Wilson Center NOW.
Student panels will discuss the implications of their independent research projects on state and local environmental policy on issues including water, energy, climate change, and land use.This event showcases the work of Ford School BA students enrolled in a section of PubPol 495 that is part of the CLOSUP in the Classroom Initiative.
Can a carbon price survive in a highly decentralized, fossil-fuel producing nation that is tightly integrated with the economy of the United States? Against the backdrop of worldwide interest in carbon pricing as a way to meet commitments made in Paris, and in the context of a Trump presidency, this talk examines the history, origins and prospects of carbon pricing in Canada. The talk will focus on recent efforts at developing a national carbon price framework at the federal level, the challenges now facing the current federal government as it moves toward implementation, and the prospects for carbon pricing in the future. Specific attention will be paid to the role of recalcitrant provinces, a divided public, and the influence of political developments in the United States. The talk will also explore key controversies over carbon pricing, and highlight potential lessons from the Canadian experience.
The 2016 general election will have enormous implications for energy and climate policy in the United States. While much attention will be paid to the positions of presidential candidates, congressional and state elections will also have major implications for how federal and state governments address a variety of crucial issues such as implementing greenhouse gas reduction policies, regulating fracking, crafting subsidies for renewable energy, and much more. Experts with a variety of perspectives will discuss which elections they’re most closely watching, and what different results might mean for energy and climate policy in Michigan, Washington, and beyond.
This talk explores a surprising new strategy for climate change policy that has emerged in the last 10 years: “reclaiming the atmospheric commons.” The strategy combines the idea of making polluters pay for their greenhouse gas emissions with the additional idea of using those revenues to generate tangible, broadly distributed public benefits.
How do Americans think about energy? Is the debate over fossil fuels, nuclear power, and renewable energy highly partisan and ideological? Are people’s preferences for different energy sources idiosyncratic, or is there a common pattern that explains how people view energy across sources? How much does concern about climate change weigh on these opinions?
This event will be held at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC
The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) invites our Washington DC colleagues to attend a discussion hosted by the Wilson Center/Canada Institute featuring CLOSUP Director, Barry Rabe, and our collaborating National Surveys on Energy and Environment (NSEE) partners, Christopher Borick, Director, Muhlenberg Institute of Public Opinion, and Erick Lachapelle, Assistant Professor, University of Montreal. The discussion will feature findings from the FALL 2015 round of ongoing survey work in both Canada and the US. Key themes will include public views on whether climate change is occurring, response to a range of possible policy options across levels of government, and reaction to Pope Francis' recent engagement on the issue. The U.S. portion of the survey will also include an early look at how Americans want their states to respond to the new Clean Power Plan. The session is free but requires registration. Please call 202-691-4000 or email canada@wilsoncenter.org to reserve your seat.
In recognition of Earth Day, please join us for a very special lecture about what it takes to pass historic air quality legislation. Margo Oge served at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for 32 years, the last 18 of which she directed the Office of Transportation Air Quality. Ms. Oge led the Obama Administration’s landmark 2012 Clean Air Act deal with automakers, the nation’s first action targeting greenhouse gases. This regulation will double the fuel efficiency of automakers’ fleets to 54.5 mpg and cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2025.