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Reposted by Kyle Meng

Review of Economics and Statistics (REStat) @restatjournal.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

El Niño raises the spatial correlation of agricultural yields, making the gains from trade more unequal. Just Accepted new paper by J. I. Dingel @tradediversion.bsky.social & K. C. Meng @kylemeng.com zurl.co/8JdIE

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 13/03/2026

There's some misguided messaging out there in California trying to take advantage of high gas prices from the Iran bombings and CARB's cap-and-invest rule making. Some are using this moment of high gas prices to delay CARB's cap-and-invest rule making. 1/

latimes.com

Fuel, energy prices raise the pressure as California officials take next steps on climate

A plan to strengthen California's climate program faces pushback as industry groups and some lawmakers warn the changes could drive up already-high energy costs.

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 12/02/2026

So much coverage on the EPA endangerment repeal but has anyone actually seen the final rule? Not on WH, EPA, or Federal Register sites. Where is this actual repeal?

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 28/01/2026

My commentary for @csis.org on the U.S. Clean Competition Act. It covers where CCA situates in the geopolitical/climate landscape and our @emlab.ucsb.edu modeling of CCA's U.S. & global economic and climate impacts. emLab policy brief: linkly.link/2YlqQ emLab executive summary: linkly.link/2YlqB

csis.org

Can the 2025 Clean Competition Act Cut Global Emissions and Maintain U.S. Competitiveness?

The 2025 U.S. Clean Competition Act addresses the twin challenges of maintaining U.S. industrial competitiveness and accelerating industrial decarbonization by pairing a domestic performance fee with ...

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 21/01/2026

In our geopolitical turmoil, here’s an example where trade can constructively advance U.S. & global interests. Last month, Congress introduced the Clean Competition Act to further decarbonization & maintain U.S. competitiveness. Today, we at @emlab.ucsb.edu release modeling of CCA impacts. 1/

linkly.link

https://linkly.link/2YlqQ

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 13/01/2026

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.

ww2.arb.ca.gov

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...

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 12/01/2026

Human health benefits are by far the largest benefit from most environmental regulations. By not monetizing these benefits moving forward, the Trump EPA is essentially saying there are no human health benefits to reducing air/toxic/climate pollution, improving drinking water quality, etc. 1/

nytimes.com

E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 17/12/2025

Sen. Whitehouse, Rep. DelBene, & co-sponsors just introduced a revamped Clean Competition Act (CCA). CCA is the most ambitious & meticulously crafted climate policy from this Congress. It lays a marker for what US policy looks like in this era of geopolitical competition. 1/ #climatesky #energysky

epw.senate.gov

Whitehouse, DelBene Reintroduce Carbon Border Adjustment to Boost Domestic Manufacturers, Tackle Climate Change

Clean Competition Act bolsters American companies’ competitiveness and cuts emissions at home and abroad Washington, D.C. - Senator Whitehouse (D-RI), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on E...

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 17/12/2025

Our "Dodging Day Zero" paper is out in JEEA. We uncover how Cape Town avoided 2017's catastrophic drought. But in doing so, created longer term sustainability challenges and weakened the fiscal viability of public water. A lesson for the 1B living in drought vulnerable cities. #climatesky #econsky

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 17/11/2025

Our PhD job market candidates continues UCSB’s proud tradition in environmental and resource economics. Here are our students on the market this year (in alphabetical order). #econsky

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 19/09/2025

Governor Newsom just reauthorized California’s centerpiece climate policy - cap and invest - for the next two decades, reducing pollution and electricity prices in the world’s 4th biggest economy. This is now the US’ most important climate policy.

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 13/09/2025

California Assembly and Senate just passed AB 1207, extending and strengthening the state’s centerpiece climate policy - cap and invest- for the next 20 years. Now onto the governor’s signature! #climatesky #energysky

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 12/09/2025

Without GHGRP, we are blind to what's happening to US GHG emissions. #climatesky #energysky

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 12/09/2025

Dr. Kyle Meng, UC Santa Barbara: “This is the most important U.S. climate policy for the foreseeable future. These bills send a signal that California is doubling down on its climate commitments for the next two decades with a practical approach that meets both climate and affordability goals.”

gov.ca.gov

What they’re saying: Overwhelming support for historic climate and energy affordability legislation | Governor of California

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Reposted by Kyle Meng

Tatyana Deryugina @tderyugina.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Hey, #EconSky! Got a policy-relevant paper that you want folks in DC to see? Present & publish it with NBER's Environmental and Energy Policy and the Economy. Submission deadline is Oct 20. Conference is in DC on May 21, 2026. More details below. conference.nber.org/confsubmit/b...

conference.nber.org

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

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 10/09/2025

Today marks a major development in U.S. climate policy. Gov. Newsom, the CA Assembly & Senate just released the final cap-and-trade—now called cap-and-invest—reauthorization bill: AB 1207. 1/ #climatesky #energysky

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 09/09/2025

California has a little over 24 hrs to release legislative language on cap & trade reauthorization. Hard to imagine the most significant U.S climate policy in the foreseeable future with such stakeholder and political support is cutting it this close. #climatesky #energysky

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Reposted by Kyle Meng

Neale Mahoney @nealemahoney.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

I'm hiring predocs to work with me on econ policy research projects starting in Summer 2026. Topics include healthcare, consumer finance, energy markets, housing, and childcare. You'll be part of an awesome community of @siepr.bsky.social predocs. Details here: siepr.stanford.edu/programs/sie...

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Reposted by Kyle Meng

Andrew Dessler @andrewdessler.com · 28/08/2025

Our comment on the DOE CWG report is done. It tips the scales at 439 pages, approx. 3x longer than the DOE report. This is related to Brandolini's law: The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it. Example: refuting one sentence.

DOE CWG STATEMENT (second paragraph of section 2.1.1, page 3): “Piao et al. (2020) noted
that greening was even observable in the Arctic.”
COMMENT: This statement implies that the Arctic greening signal was caused by elevated CO2
,
however that is not the scientific consensus. Piao et al. (2020) attribute the greening trend in the
Arctic predominantly to growing season length driven by warmer temperatures (see also Y.
Zhang et al., 2022). Piao et al. (2020) also note that this positive impact of increasing
temperatures appears to have weakened over the past four decades, “suggesting a possible
saturation of future greening in response to warmer temperature” (see also comment on
greenness trends related to Section 2.1.1, first sentence of Page 4). It is also important to put
Arctic greening more broadly into the context of the carbon cycle and other impacts. While
above-ground plants may have displayed more leaf area over the past decades, rising
temperatures also thaw permafrost and drive accelerated decomposition in highly carbon rich
soils (Turetsky et al., 2020), a process which is expected to accelerate as climate continues to
warm (Miner et al., 2022). Thus even with Arctic greening, high latitude terrestrial systems may
become net carbon sources to the atmosphere, causing an amplifying feedback (Braghiere et
al., 2023). Other risks to the Arctic linked to higher CO2

levels and rising temperatures are not
mentioned in this report (Virkkala et al., 2025). The Arctic is warming at a rate of 2 to 3 times the
global average, leading to thawing of permanently frozen soils (permafrost), with downstream
impacts including loss of structural support for buildings and subsidence, threatening
communities, roads, runways, and other assets across Alaska (Manos et al., 2025; University of
Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Northern Engineering US Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District
& Laboratory, 2019).

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 27/08/2025

Recent CA Assembly movement in cap-and-trade bill may have propped up permit prices in today's CARB auction. But CA still losing revenue from C&T uncertainty: today's revenue could have been ~$300M more under last year's prices. CA policymakers need to reauthorize C&T. #energysky #climatesky

cleanprosperousca.org

Press Release: Sluggish Auction Results — Market Still Waiting for Leadership to Recommit to California’s Cap and Trade Program — Clean and Prosperous California

CAP California Press Release on August 2025 Auction Results  

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 22/08/2025

The most important U.S. climate legislation over the next few years is out! ASM Irwin's draft California Assembly Bill 1207 reauthorizes California's ground breaking GHG cap-and-trade (C&T) program. Here are 5 key takeaways from AB 1207 1/

politico.com

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 19/08/2025

"As flaccid as a boned fish, Donald Trump crumpled quicker than even Vladimir Putin probably anticipated...The president’s thunderous demands — a 50-day deadline, a 10-day deadline, “severe consequences,” a ceasefire before negotiations — all were just noise."

washingtonpost.com

Opinion | Now it is the Old World’s turn to rescue the United States

As Trump met with European leaders on Ukraine, Churchill’s words from days long ago came to mind.

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Reposted by Kyle Meng

CSIS | Center for Strategic & International Studies @csis.org · 16/08/2025

"To avoid long-term geopolitical consequences, the United States must reassert its clean energy leadership or risk marginalizing itself from the future economic and geopolitical opportunities of global value chains." Read more: www.csis.org/analysis/us-...

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Reposted by Kyle Meng

Environmental Markets Lab (emLab) @emlab.ucsb.edu · 15/08/2025

📬 Registration is now open for the 22nd Occasional Workshop in Environmental and Resource Economics! Join us in beautiful Santa Barbara, October 24–25, 2025! 👉 Full list of speakers: occasionalworkshop.weebly.com/program.html 👉 Register here: occasionalworkshop.weebly.com/registration...

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Reposted by Kyle Meng

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 04/08/2025

America’s lowest-paid workers are suffering a sharper slowdown in wage growth than their richer peers, adding to the pressure on Donald Trump over inequality on.ft.com/3UbHZ3u

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Reposted by Kyle Meng

Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 01/08/2025

What to make of POTUS's attempt to fire the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)? Let's run down what knowledgable people are saying...

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Reposted by Kyle Meng

Claudia Sahm @claudia-sahm.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Those are not “her” (BLS Commissioner’s) numbers. They’re constructed by career civil servants using data collected from thousands of businesses and government agencies.

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Reposted by Kyle Meng

Gavin Schmidt @climateofgavin.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

Is sea level around the US accelerating? If you actually do the analysis, instead of just repeating talking points from decades ago, the answer is yes. tamino.wordpress.com/2025/08/03/s...

tamino.wordpress.com

Sea Level Mis-information from DOE

Here in the USA, the Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a report titled “A Critical Review of the Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate.” It is a product of the &#8…

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Reposted by Kyle Meng

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

Trump Fired America’s Economic Data Collector. History Shows the Perils. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/b...

nytimes.com

Trump Fired America’s Economic Data Collector. History Shows the Perils.

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 24/07/2025

Columbia’s Administrators Are Fooling Themselves www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Columbia’s Administrators Are Fooling Themselves

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 11/07/2025

@mikegeruso.bsky.social and Dean Spears' book After the Spike is out! One of the most thoughtful and thought-provoking books on population out there.

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Reposted by Kyle Meng

Ahmad Lashkaripour @lashkaripour.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Our paper is officially out 🎉 We argue that climate clubs show promise: - A climate club with coordinated penalties could curb 68% of excess emissions from free-riding -Unilateral carbon tariffs? Not nearly as effective

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Reposted by Kyle Meng

The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 09/07/2025

The most binding changes to Medicaid won't occur until at least December of next year, after the midterms. Politics has a short memory, but we don't. Jared Bernstein and Elena Patel on the long-term impacts of the BBB.

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 10/07/2025

"Trump and his team have focused on reducing trade deficits in negotiations with many other nations, and his letter to Brazil references trade deficits as a national security threat, despite the fact that the U.S. runs a surplus with the country."

wsj.com

Trump Threatens 50% Brazil Tariff, Citing Bolsonaro Trial

That is the highest levy announced so far in Trump’s letters to world leaders this week, and comes after he wrote a lengthy message supporting the former Brazilian leader.

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 25/06/2025

A must read substack for anyone interested in CA gas prices. Many have seen this "CA gas prices will hit $8/gal" study floating around. Ryan Cummings, my Biden CEA colleague and one of the sharpest thinkers on oil markets, takes this study to task. And it doesn't stand up well... #energysky

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Reposted by Kyle Meng

Catherine Wolfram @cwolfram.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

I agree with all of Kyle’s critiques and would add 2 more: 1. The piece cites Australia and Canada as countries where voters rejected carbon prices, but that’s not true. In AUS it’s called a “safeguard mechanism” and was put in place in 2023. CAN kept the price for industries the focus of the piece

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 24/06/2025

This Op-Ed on a U.S. carbon tariff gets lots of basic stuff wrong. Unlike authors' claims, a U.S. carbon tariff 1. Won't address PRC competition 2. Either raises lots of revenue or lowers GHGs (not both) 3. Weakens incentives to adopt domestic U.S. climate policy. 🧵 1/ #econsky #climatesky

washingtonpost.com

Opinion | A carbon tariff is the right way to confront China on trade

Climate-friendly tariffs would penalize countries that undercut U.S. companies with dirtier production.

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Reposted by Kyle Meng

Josh Busby @busbyj2.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

I hope some Senate aides read our new briefer on China battery and mineral supply chain dependencies before altering IRA rules on Section 30D or 45X. Losing local content incentives and overly restrictive FEOC rules would be a huge mistake. councilonstrategicrisks.org/2025/05/30/t...

councilonstrategicrisks.org

The Devil is in the Details: Minerals, Batteries, and US Dependence on Chinese Imports - The Council on Strategic Risks

The United States' growing dependence on China for critical minerals and battery supply chains poses a significant national security concern.

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Reposted by Kyle Meng

Jesse D. Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com · 16/06/2025

The Senate Finance committee just dropped their draft text for the Republican budget bill. www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-ne... Like the House, it is hot trash and terrible for America. But it is marginally better for clean energy credits. Some key details... 🔌💡 🔌🚗

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 16/06/2025

Batteries are a critical technology for the 21st century and one which the U.S. must be globally competitive in. We are already several years behind the PRC in battery manufacturing. And will only fall further behind under current policy trajectory.

nytimes.com

Trump’s Trade and Tax Policies Start to Stall U.S. Battery Boom

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 12/06/2025

Our @voxeu.org article on our Cape Town Day Zero paper. When adaptation to climate change has equity consequences through how public utilities recover costs. #EconSky #ClimateSky

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 11/06/2025

I remember when the term “framework” was used to refer to an international agreement over not much. Now it’s “handshake for a framework.”

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 10/06/2025

An excellent NYT Daily podcast about how 15 years of inconsistent start-stop U.S. industrial policy has kept us vulnerable on rare earths.

nytimes.com

China’s Upper Hand: Rare Earth Metals

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Kyle Meng @kylemeng.com · 07/06/2025

Clever California legislation back during Trump 1. www.politico.com/story/2018/0...

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