Catherine Wolfram

E&E News: International carbon taxes would expand under climate proposal A coalition of nations that tax domestic carbon emissions would impose carbon fees on certain imports from countries outside the coalition.

Nice write up of our climate coalitions work in E&E News.

"The idea of a climate coalition was outlined by experts ... in June as a way to make climate action more durable by aligning climate goals with countries’ economic interests."

subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

India’s Russian oil conundrum: yield to Donald Trump or face tariff backlash Narendra Modi under pressure over cheap crude imports as he seeks to limit economic damage from US

Apologies, in the woods and my attempt to include a gift link failed. Here's another try for a more detailed article.

on.ft.com/3HoJKHv

I hope India and the US can reach an agreement where India pays a certain amount to support Ukraine for each barrel of Russian oil they buy. Keeps the oil on the market, avoids the tariffs on all Indian imports and provides $ for Ukraine. And depresses Russian revenues.

Donald Trump hits India with extra 25% tariff for Russia oil purchases

Thoughtful overview of the options on the table vis-a-vis Russia by Robin Brooks and @econharris.bsky.social.

One fact that stuck out to me: crude oil accounts for ~50% of China's total imports from Russia & over 80% of India's. So crucial to hit that artery.

www.russiamatters.org/analysis/sec...

How to Fight Climate Change Without America Jean Pisani-Ferry, Beatrice Weder di Mauro and Jeromin Zettelmeyer outline a new framework for global cooperation grounded in fairness and transparent incentives.

President Trump regards climate change as a hoax. This is no reason to give up for those who still worry about the future of the planet. In this column, @wederdim.bsky.social, @jzettelmeyer.bsky.social and I explain how and put forward concrete proposals.
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...

Even better would be secondary sanctions, unless the buyer pays into a UKR reconstruction fund.

Trump announces novel plan to send weapons to Ukraine and gives Russia new deadline to make peace | CNN Politics President Donald Trump on Monday laid out a pair of steps intended to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine, including funneling new weapons to Kyiv and threatening economic punishment on Moscow i...

Progress!

"A White House official clarified to CNN that when the president referred to “secondary tariffs,” he meant 100% tariffs on Russia and secondary sanctions on other countries that buy Russian oil."

www.cnn.com/2025/07/14/p...

Opinion | How to Punish Russia, Make Money and End the War

I'm not sure if this is what they have in mind, but what if countries that buy Russian oil or gas X% of every purchase into a fund to support UKR? Similar to what Glenn Hubbard and I proposed earlier:

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/o...

Thune Says Russia Sanctions Vote Could Come as Soon as This Month

Graham says, "“I expect the Senate will move the bipartisan Russian sanctions bill that will allow tariffs and sanctions to be placed on countries who prop up Putin’s war machine and do not help Ukraine.”

Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/u...

My op-ed in The Hill with @kclausing.bsky.social, @milanelkerbout.bsky.social & @tagliapietra.bsky.social:

The EU CBAM is good for US steel and aluminum producers because they’re clean, so the US shouldn’t be bargaining over an exemption.

thehill.com/opinion/ener...

One less thing for the Trump Administration to worry about, in their talks with the EU.

The EU’s new climate and trade policy will be a good deal for US steel and aluminum thehill.com/opinion/ener...

Our piece today, w/ @cwolfram.bsky.social, @tagliapietra.bsky.social @milanelkerbout.bsky.social

Exclusive | Three-quarters of Trump voters support more sanctions on Russia: new poll A large majority of pro-Trump voters — including self-described MAGA supporters — are more inclined to back a strong US presence on the world’s stage, the poll showed.

nypost.com/2025/07/04/u...

Photo of the FFD4 conference location.

The report was released in conjunction with the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (#FFD4). The final report is scheduled for September.

We convened a working group of thought leaders from several major emitting countries.

See report for full list, but includes @kclausing.bsky.social, @frankjotzo.bsky.social and @jenniferwinter.bsky.social

We're trying to help policymakers envision a climate coalition centered on carbon pricing.

The report builds on the momentum outside the US on carbon pricing for heavy industries and addresses some of the critiques of the EU #cbam.

GCPP Climate Coalitions Working Group Interim Report - Building a Climate Coalition: Aligning Carbon Pricing, Trade, and Development - The Salata Institute The interim report of the Global Climate Policy Project Working Group on Climate Coalitions proposes the formation of a climate coalition: a group of countries coordinating on carbon pricing and borde...

I'm delighted to announce the release of the Interim Report of the Global Climate Policy Project Working Group on Climate Coalitions on "Building a Climate Coalition: Aligning Carbon Pricing, Trade, and Development."
salatainstitute.harvard.edu/gcpp-climate...

Saudis, US drive strife inside global climate science body The proposal for a Saudi Aramco oil company staffer to become author of key science report is denounced as “political capture.”

I see this as an example of 2 phenomenon:

1. the US on the same side as a petrostate in climate matters, and
2. the difficulty of making forward progress through the UN climate processes.

www.eenews.net/articles/sau...

2. The piece cites evidence of US cleanliness based on tons emitted per dollar value. But that rewards the US for having high prices (bigger denominator). My piece at CEEPR corrects this and finds the US is still pretty clean but not as much as their data suggest. ceepr.mit.edu/wp-content/u...

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

U.S. Senate postpones vote on Russia sanctions bill The U.S. Senate has postponed consideration of a bill imposing additional sanctions on Russia until at least July, U.S. news outlet Semafor reported on June 18.

Said Graham: "Things are changing now with Iran … that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten about Russia or Ukraine, not at all."

english.nv.ua/nation/u-s-s...

Petrostate America The downsides of energy independence.

17 of the 20 G20 jurisdictions have some form of federal carbon price (or planned). The 3 that don't are Russia, Saudi Arabia and US. The below doesn't say much about climate, but is consistent with the idea that climate politics are esp challenging in the US.

www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Check out this commentary by @kclausing.bsky.social @allanhsiao.bsky.social @gibmetcalf.bsky.social Marilyn Pereboom, and @cwolfram.bsky.social that analyzes the Foreign Pollution Fee Act's potential impacts on several economic and environmental outcomes:

ceepr.link/FPFA

World Bank Ends Its Ban on Funding Nuclear Power Projects The decision, a major reversal, could help poorer nations industrialize, cut planet-warming emissions and boost U.S. competitiveness on next-generation reactors.

At least some good things are happening in the policy world.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/c...

My sense is that the proponents of that view underestimated the importance of fiscal costs, though it’s probably unwise to draw any general lessons from US politics right now.

UK and EU Seek to Link Carbon Markets in Wider Post-Brexit Reset The UK and European Union entered a new era of climate cooperation by pledging to link their carbon markets to avoid trade levies and reset post-Brexit relations.

With gift link:

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

UK and EU Seek to Link Carbon Markets in Wider Post-Brexit Reset The UK and European Union entered a new era of climate cooperation by pledging to link their carbon markets to avoid trade levies and reset post-Brexit relations.

EU and UK to link carbon markets, and cite desire to smooth trade in CBAM goods as a motivation. Hopefully, this is the first of many examples of carbon market linkages.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The Right Way to Sanction Russian Energy How to slash Moscow’s revenues without crippling the global economy.

If (2) is off the table, I would prefer (1) to (3). Again, it can be dialed, keeps oil on the market, and the fact that it benefits India and China helps with enforcement.

On (1), see:
www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/rus...

Opinion | How to Punish Russia, Make Money and End the War

I, ofc, prefer (2). It keeps oil on the market, brings in revenue to the UST, and can be dialed up or down. Because it keeps oil on the market, I suspect it's easier to enforce.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/o...

I love the idea of secondary sanctions. These can be used to enforce several different policies: (1) a cap (as proposed by @edwardfishman.bsky.social in May 2022), (2) a "universal tariff" as I proposed in the NYT with Glenn Hubbard, or (3) an outright ban, as @ericvannostrand.bsky.social suggests.