Time to refine key climate policy models

摘要

Climate mitigation efforts have moved from Kyoto Protocol-style top-down strategies to Paris-style bottom-up national commitments. This shift acknowledges the weight that countries place on economics and feasibility at the national level and also necessitates an increased focus on the models used to design policy at this (and smaller) scales. Policymakers in the United States have usually relied on a handful of computational general equilibrium (CGE) models, sector-specific models or hybrids like theUS Energy Information Administration (EIA)’s National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) for policy design. These government-run models are some of the earliest to produce results and are often seen as more authoritative due to the source and transparency.