Dear Ken,


RFF DEVELOPMENTS
January 2002 e-Newsletter
Happy New Year!  Happy 50th Anniversary to RFF!  January marks the
beginning of an exciting year for RFF.  The upcoming months will be filled
with lots of activities, and we will continue to provide you with updates
via the RFF Developments e-newsletter. Please send any questions/comments
to Karin Warner at warner@rff.org.


In this newsletter:
1) RFF Events & Seminars
2) RFF in the News
3) RFF New Publications
4) RFF 50th Anniversary News: RFF Reunion April 18-19, 2002



1) RFF Events & Seminars
Please mark your calendars for the following:

Monday, January 28 (8:45 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.)
U.S. Energy Security: Traditional and Emerging Challenges
(At RFF - 1616 P St., NW, Washington, D.C., 1st Floor Conference Room)
Resources for the Future (RFF) will bring together leading experts from the
policy, business, environmental, scholarly, and academic community to
discuss traditional and emerging challenges to U.S. energy security.  Among
the speakers will be:
*Mine Y?cel, assistant vice president, Research Department, Dallas Federal
Reserve Bank
*Bob Simon, staff director, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources
*Barry McNutt, senior policy analyst, Office of Domestic Policy and
International Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy

Tuesday, January 29 (9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.)
Making Development Policy in the New Era: Priorities, Politics and
Structures of U.S. Policymaking on Global Poverty and Hunger
(At RFF - 1616 P St., NW, Washington, D.C., 1st Floor Conference Room)
The symposium is intended to generate candid discussion among leaders in
the field about how development policy is made, how it might be made
better, and how the events of September 11th may have changed the political
context for poverty and food security issues in Congress and elsewhere.

For more information, please contact Susan Doyle at doyle@rff.org or
(202)328-5038.


RFF Seminars
*RFF Seminar Series*
RFF hosts regular lunchtime seminars every Wednesday. They are offered as
an opportunity for the public and members of government, the news media,
and the academic, environmental and business communities to hear about
current and interesting policy topics as well as research underway at RFF
and other institutions.  (Attendees are welcome to bring their lunch.)
Join us on Wednesdays from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at RFF:

1st Floor Conference Room

or

Visit www.rff.org to hear a recording of the latest seminar (typically
posted within 24 hours). Now available:

December 12th seminar by Terry Davies, RFF; Jay Benforado, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency; Mary Gade, Sonnenschein, Nath, &
Rosenthal; and Paul Portney, RFF, on "Reforming Permitting"
http://www.rff.org/seminar/history.htm#dec12

Upcoming Seminars:
*PLEASE NOTE TWO OF THE JANUARY SEMINARS WILL TAKE PLACE ON THURSDAY


*Thursday, January 10th
International Environmental Assistance:  Drawing Lessons From Experience
Ruth Greenspan Bell, Resources for the Future

Wednesday, January 16th
Electricity Deregulation and the Future of U.S. Nuclear Power
Richard A. Meserve, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

*Thursday, January 24th
The Provision of Public Goods Under Islamic Law
Timur Kuran, University of Southern California

Wednesday, January 30th
Promoting a Great Green Leap Forward? International and Domestic
Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in China
Jennifer Turner, Woodrow Wilson Center

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2) RFF in the News
* The Christian Science Monitor published Fellow Tom Beierle and Visiting
Scholar Ruth Greenspan Bell's Op-Ed on how environmental "right to know"
programs have become a casualty of the war on terrorism.
* RFF President Paul Portney is featured in the Economist cover story,
"Addicted to Oil."
* Senior Fellow Joel Darmstadter was interviewed in the San Francisco
Chronicle on energy policy issues.
* Fellow Ian Parry was quoted on reforming the gasoline tax in the
Washington Post.
* Senior Fellow Howard Gruenspecht talked about why the U.S. is not likely
to reduce its dependence on Saudi oil in interviews on ABC's Nightline and
in the Weekly Standard. He also is quoted in "Driven Mad by SUVs" in
Reason.

**************************************************************
3) New RFF Publications
Discounting the Benefits of Climate Change Mitigation: How Much Do
Uncertain Rates Increase Valuations?

How can we compare the costs of greenhouse gas reduction measures taken
today with the future benefits of these actions?  This new report for the
Pew Center on Global Climate Change challenges conventional wisdom and
concludes that immediate action to address global climate change could
yield significantly greater benefits in the long-run than conventional
economic models suggest.

Richard Newell and William Pizer | December 2001
For more information go to:
http://www.rff.org/reports/PDF_files/discountbenefits.pdf


Reforming Permitting

The system of U.S. pollution control permitting is suffering from major
defects and weaknesses; it is often fragmented and inefficient. Although
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the states have initiated
reforms, the United States is among a dwindling number of industrialized
nations that have not yet adopted an integrated approach to pollution
control.

Terry Davies with Robert Hersh, Aracely Alicea, and Ruth Greenspan Bell |
December 2001
For more information go to:
http://www.rff.org/reports/PDF_files/reformingpermitting.pdf


Discussion Papers:
Implementing Electricity Restructuring: Policies, Potholes, and Prospects

Electricity is one of the last U.S. industries in which competition is
replacing regulation. This paper reviews the technology for producing and
delivering power, the history of electricity policy, and recent state and
international experience. It outlines the major questions facing
policymakers as they decide whether, when, and how to implement
restructuring and concludes with some thoughts on the California
electricity crisis and other political controversies. This paper draws upon
the forthcoming book, Alternating Currents: Electricity Markets and Public
Policy.

Timothy J. Brennan, Karen Palmer, and Salvador Martinez | December 2001
For more information go to:
http://www.rff.org/disc_papers/PDF_files/0162.pdf


Is There a Rationale for Rebating Environmental Levies?

Political pressure often exists for rebating environmental levies,
particularly when incomplete regulatory coverage allegedly creates an
"unlevel playing field" with other, unregulated firms or industries. This
paper assesses the conditions under which rebating environmental levies is
justified for the regulated sector.

Alain Bernard, Carolyn Fischer, and Marc Vielle  | October 2001
For more information go to:
http://www.rff.org/disc_papers/PDF_files/0131.pdf


Ancillary Benefits of Reduced Air Pollution in the United States from
Moderate Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Policies in the Electricity Sector

This paper considers how moderate actions to slow atmospheric accumulation
of greenhouse gases from fossil fuel use also could reduce conventional air
pollutants in the United States. The benefits that result would be
"ancillary" to greenhouse gas abatement. Moreover, the benefits would tend
to accrue locally and in the near term, while benefits from reduced climate
change mostly accrue globally and over a time frame of several decades or
longer.

Dallas Burtraw, Alan Krupnick, Karen Palmer, Anthony Paul, Michael Toman,
and Cary Bloyd | December 2001
For more information go to:
http://www.rff.org/disc_papers/PDF_files/0161.pdf


The Fall 2001 Resources is now available. To find out more, go to:
http://www.rff.org/resources_archive/2001.htm

To find out more about a member of the RFF research staff go to:
http://www.rff.org/about_rff/staff_dir.htm


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4) RFF 50th Anniversary News
RFF Reunion to take place April 18-19, 2002 in conjunction with the Spring
Board of Directors & Council Meetings.  All events will be held at RFF in
Washington, DC.  Additional details will be forthcoming.

For more details, please contact Susan Johnson Doyle at doyle@rff.org,
(ph)202.328.5038, or (fax)202.939.3460


Countdown until the 50th Gala: 287 days!
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For all other inquiries regarding the RFF Developments e-newsletter or RFF
in general, please reply to Karin Warner at warner@rff.org.