Several U.S. states have attempted to use of legal liability imposed on greenhouse gas emitters as a public policy instrument for climate change. This brief comment considers the desirability of this approach, focusing on three possible roles for climate change liability: as a source of compensation, as a direct influence on greenhouse gas concentrations, and as a means to facilitate the adoption of ex ante public policies to control greenhouse gases. The strongest argument for liability may be that the threat of liability improves the chances that climate change policies will use more efficient, revenue-raising instruments.
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Paper provided by Rutgers University, Department of Economics in its series Departmental Working Papers with number
200703.
Length: 20 pages Date of creation: 21 Feb 2007 Date of revision: Publication status: forthcoming in University of Pennsylvania Law Review Handle: RePEc:rut:rutres:200703
Find related papers by JEL classification: K32 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Environmental, Health, and Safety Law Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters
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