California’s Climate Change Policy Innovation
Abstract
The passage of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB32) and the adoptions of wide-ranging implementation plans make California a leader in developing and implementing policies that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, improve air quality, and promote efficient use of energy and other resources. Dr. Sonia Yeh will describe innovative policies in California, progress to date and lessons learned. She will first review the comprehensive strategies to address climate change in California, and then focus in particular on the economy-wide cap-and-trade policy as well as a wide range of market-based instruments including the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) that aims to reduce the carbon emissions of transportation fuels. Dr. Yeh will also discuss how policymakers, academics and stakeholders interact and work together to develop and evaluate climate policies and long-term state climate policy targets.Short Biography
Dr. Sonia Yeh is a research scientist at the Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis. She is also a faculty member of the Graduate Group in Transportation Technology and Policy (TTP) and an adjunct professor at the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Yeh’s expertise is in energy market economics and modeling, lifecycle analysis of greenhouse gas emissions, alternative transportation energy use and modeling, sustainability standards for biofuels, and technological change induced by government policy. She co-leads the UC research teams with UC Davis and UC Berkeley in supporting the implementation of California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard since 2007 and is the co-director of the National Low Carbon Fuel Standard Project. Dr. Yeh serves on many governmental advisory panels and chaired expert workgroups for governments and NGOs. Currently Dr. Sonia Yeh isa Fulbright Visiting Professor at Chalmers University of Technology in Goteborg.