Arik Levinson | Lightnews

Arik Levinson @ariklevinson.bsky.social · 1d

Tariffs on solar panels have been even worse than I thought. Never mind the environmental cost, the pass-through rate to US consumers was more than 100%.

Each $1 of tariff cost US solar customers $1.17.

AERE @aereorg.bsky.social · 23d

📢 Out now in the ❄️January 2026 issue❄️of #JAERE! 📢
"The Incidence of the US-China Solar Trade War" by Wenjun Wang and Sébastien Houde.
🔓 Read the open-access article here :https://buff.ly/ZPR6BG4
📈📉 #Econsky

Arik Levinson @ariklevinson.bsky.social · 4d

And a federal judge tossed the report. Not because it's junk science, but because of a DOE process foul selecting the junk scientists who authored it.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/c...

Arik Levinson @ariklevinson.bsky.social · 6d

I watched and learned as @chadpbown.com explains trade policy (nicely) to @pkrugman.bsky.social.

(Love the screen grab, too.)

youtu.be/kVZMns6NuVI?...

Talking with Chad Bown

YouTube video by Paul Krugman

youtu.be

Arik Levinson @ariklevinson.bsky.social · 23d

Economists make climate policy seem so straightforward.

Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 23d

Most economists disagree with extreme voices on debates about climate risks, and yet we keep providing fuel to both sides. This article tries to explain why.
www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...

The Climate Question That Economists Cannot Answer

Models can predict catastrophic or modest damages from climate change, but not which of these futures is coming.

www.theatlantic.com

Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 23d

Most economists disagree with extreme voices on debates about climate risks, and yet we keep providing fuel to both sides. This article tries to explain why.
www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...

The Climate Question That Economists Cannot Answer

Models can predict catastrophic or modest damages from climate change, but not which of these futures is coming.

www.theatlantic.com

AERE @aereorg.bsky.social · 23d

📢 Out now in the ❄️January 2026 issue❄️of #JAERE! 📢
"The Incidence of the US-China Solar Trade War" by Wenjun Wang and Sébastien Houde.
🔓 Read the open-access article here :https://buff.ly/ZPR6BG4
📈📉 #Econsky

Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 24d

If you you miss reading a proper cost-benefit analysis of environmental policy, one that fully accounts for costs AND benefits, here's California CARB's proposed GHG cap-and-invest regulations, dropped at noon.

No "we won't value public health benefits just because they're uncertain" shenanigans.

Cap-and-Invest Regulation | California Air Resources Board

Proposed 2026 Amendments to the Cap-and-Invest (formerly Cap-and-Trade) Regulation The preliminary documents posted below have been submitted to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) and may be modif...

ww2.arb.ca.gov

Arik Levinson @ariklevinson.bsky.social · Jan 2

Pre-ordered mine. 5 months early. Because I'll read anything by these two explainers.

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/...

How to Win a Trade War: An Optimistic Guide to an Anxious Global Economy

How to Win a Trade War: An Optimistic Guide to an Anxious Global Economy [Keynes, Soumaya, Bown, Chad] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. How to Win a Trade War: An Optimistic Guide to an Anxious Global Economy

www.amazon.com

Arik Levinson @ariklevinson.bsky.social · Dec 18

Pepco (Exelon) send me this unhelpful alert, informing me that I spent more on electricity this month than last.

But guess what? I used *less* electricity. I spent more because the company charged me more. Thanks for nothing, @exelonofficial.bsky.social.

AERE @aereorg.bsky.social · Dec 18

📢 Just accepted in #JAERE! 📢
"Decarbonizing Aviation: Cash-for-Clunkers in the Airline Industry" by Jan K. Brueckner, Matthew E. Kahn ( @mattkahn1966.bsky.social ), and Jerry Nickelsburg.
Read it here: buff.ly/JExG0Iz
📈📉 #Econsky

Catherine Wolfram @cwolfram.bsky.social · Dec 16

More news on CBAM expansion plans.

www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

EU to extend carbon border levy to new products, drafts show

The European Union plans to expand its upcoming carbon border tariff to cover imported products including car parts, refrigerators, and washing machines, draft European Commission documents seen by Re...

www.reuters.com

Arik Levinson @ariklevinson.bsky.social · Dec 2

It's even worse than Max humorously gripes. Can anybody look at Max's bill and calculate his incremental cost per kWh?

[ChatGPT tells me it's "approximately $0.65 per kWh.]

Severin Borenstein @severinborenstein.bsky.social · Dec 2

In this week's Energy Institute blog, Max Auffhammer's highly entertaining and also very serious take on redesigning electricity bills so customers can actually understand them. An important step in enabling demand flexibility. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/12/01/a...

A Small Beautiful Bill

It would be nice if I could understand my energy bill. This is the time of the year where we are gathered around tables – mostly with loving family and tasty food- and then someone says…

energyathaas.wordpress.com

Severin Borenstein @severinborenstein.bsky.social · Dec 2

In this week's Energy Institute blog, Max Auffhammer's highly entertaining and also very serious take on redesigning electricity bills so customers can actually understand them. An important step in enabling demand flexibility. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/12/01/a...

A Small Beautiful Bill

It would be nice if I could understand my energy bill. This is the time of the year where we are gathered around tables – mostly with loving family and tasty food- and then someone says…

energyathaas.wordpress.com

Luis Fernández Intriago @ifal78.bsky.social · Nov 13

🌍 Are you in the market? Dream postdoc opportunity for environmental economists!
@envdefensefund.bsky.social + @ucsb.bsky.social's @emlab.ucsb.edu are hiring 2-3 postdocs to work on carbon markets, nature-based solutions & resource economics with Chris Costello (emLab Director/EDF Chief Economist).

Environmental and Resource Economics Postdoctoral Scholar (up to 3 positions), Environmental Markets Lab (emLab), University of California Santa Barbara

University of California Santa Barbara is hiring. Apply now!

recruit.ap.ucsb.edu

Severin Borenstein @severinborenstein.bsky.social · Oct 30

Not sure how this got past the administration's communication controls, but EIA had a nice piece last Friday on the increasing role of solar/wind/batteries in Texas.
www.eia.gov/todayinenerg...
🔌💡

ERCOT increasingly meets rising demand with solar, wind, and batteries - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

www.eia.gov

Arik Levinson @ariklevinson.bsky.social · Oct 20

Jim Sallee gives a master class in how to explain complex policy in simple prose. I'm definitely assigning this to students.

Severin Borenstein @severinborenstein.bsky.social · Oct 20

I'm back from vacation (and the huge Oakland No Kings protest). Lots to catch up on posting. In the EI blog today, Jim Sallee has an excellent analysis of the poorly designed, but good direction, of proposed international shipping GHG regulations.
energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/c...

Carbon Pricing on the High Seas?

The international maritime organization gets close to a carbon tax. If an environmental economist stumbled upon a magic lamp and got one wish from the genie, most of us would know what to ask for—a…

energyathaas.wordpress.com

Severin Borenstein @severinborenstein.bsky.social · Oct 20

I'm back from vacation (and the huge Oakland No Kings protest). Lots to catch up on posting. In the EI blog today, Jim Sallee has an excellent analysis of the poorly designed, but good direction, of proposed international shipping GHG regulations.
energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/c...

Carbon Pricing on the High Seas?

The international maritime organization gets close to a carbon tax. If an environmental economist stumbled upon a magic lamp and got one wish from the genie, most of us would know what to ask for—a…

energyathaas.wordpress.com

AERE @aereorg.bsky.social · Oct 20

✨ We will be featuring the 2025 AERE Scholars & Mentors over the coming weeks! Stay tuned to learn more about the amazing cohort! ✨

Arik Levinson @ariklevinson.bsky.social · Oct 18

Ok so the Trump administration blew up the international agreement to tax CO2 from shipping. 14 years ago the Obama administration successfully opposed applying the EU carbon price to US airlines operating in Europe.

Just because Ds and Rs both agree on something doesn't mean it's right.

Arik Levinson @ariklevinson.bsky.social · Oct 16

Great news!
Andrew Plantinga will be succeeding Nick Kuminoff as one of the four editors of @jaereaere.bsky.social starting January 1.

Compensation for the less great but inevitable news that Nick's term must end. Thanks Nick and welcome Andrew.

www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/jaere/cu...

Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists | Vol 12, No 6

www.journals.uchicago.edu

Tatyana Deryugina @tderyugina.bsky.social · Oct 10

Hey #EconSky working in environmental econ! Looking for things to do this weekend? Why not write up a 2-3 page proposal for a cool conference-publication combo, happening in May 2025 in Washington, DC?

Submit your proposal (or paper) here by Oct 20: conference.nber.org/confsubmit/b...

Submission: 8th Annual NBER Environmental and Energy Policy and the Economy Conference, Page 1 of 2 - MyNBER

conference.nber.org

Georgetown Center for Economic Research @gcer-gu.bsky.social · Oct 9

🎉 Congratulations to Professor Ivana Komunjer on being elected a Fellow of the Econometric Society
@econometric.bsky.social one of the highest distinctions in the field of economics! Since 1931, only 1,254 scholars have received this honor 🧵 [1/3]

Arik Levinson @ariklevinson.bsky.social · Oct 1

Head-scratching WaPo article says solar tax credits are slowing adoption, and ending them will (by mid-century) result in more solar panels on roofs.

Explain *that*, Econ 101 professors.

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Column | Solar tax credits are ending. Here’s why that could be good for solar.

It could force the industry to address the issues that have made installing solar more expensive in the U.S. than elsewhere in the developed world.

www.washingtonpost.com

Richard Tol @richardtol.bsky.social · Sep 15

All is not well at Elsevier richardtol.substack.com/p/fraud-and-...

Fraud and cover-up

richardtol.substack.com

Arik Levinson @ariklevinson.bsky.social · Sep 8

A bittersweet day. Long-time EPA chief economist and @aereorg.bsky.social fellow @AlMcGartland (other site) is retiring. His dedication to practical, public-spirited, and good-humored policymaking will be missed at the EPA. Here's hoping his voice continues to be heard and influence felt.

ClimateFran @climatefran.bsky.social · Sep 4

Its not just climate science that's wrong in DOE's dreadful climate report - the economics is terrible too!

salatainstitute.harvard.edu/environmenta...

Environmental economists respond to Trump administration climate report - The Salata Institute

The economists tell the Department of Energy that its findings are “woefully out of date” and rely on “an array of fallacies.”

salatainstitute.harvard.edu

Arik Levinson @ariklevinson.bsky.social · Sep 3

ICE and DHS are proposing (again!) to limit student visas to 4 years before requiring reauthorization. Makes no sense for PhD programs.

See something, say something. Comment here by Sept 29.

www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media

Unlike most nonimmigrant classifications, which are admitted for a fixed time period, aliens in the F (academic student), J (exchange visitor), and most I (representatives of foreign information media...

www.federalregister.gov

ClimateFran @climatefran.bsky.social · Sep 2

DOE's embarrassment of a "climate science" report is 150 pages where as this response from the scientific community is 500.

My take: It takes much more effort to refute nonsense than it does to generate it, a tax on the time of all who care about fact and accuracy
sites.google.com/tamu.edu/doe...

DOEresponseSite

On July 29, 2025, the Department of Energy (DOE) published a report from its Climate Working Group (CWG). This report features prominently in the EPA's reconsideration of its 2009 Endangerment Finding...

sites.google.com

Tatyana Deryugina @tderyugina.bsky.social · Aug 27

Over 125 economists signed the open letter calling on the President, Congress, and the American public to uphold the principles of Federal Reserve independence and not remove Lisa Cook without due process.

There's still time to sign! And please share.

#EconSky

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Open letter

Click here to add your signature. An Open Letter from Economists in Support of Governor Lisa Cook and Federal Reserve Independence To the President, Members of Congress, and the American public: We wr...

docs.google.com

Arik Levinson @ariklevinson.bsky.social · Aug 12

3/3 Ergo ... "A pre-tax price of $3 per gallon would imply the marginal social benefit of the fuel is nearly 7 times the ($0.44) marginal social cost."

Huh? That ignores the private cost, presumably around $3. Adding that to even their discounted SCC means *total* social costs exceed $3 by a lot.

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