Markets & Finance

Markets have a strong influence on how energy is bought, sold, traded, and forecasted. Paired with regulations—at the federal, state, and local levels—these forces shape our energy landscape.

Recent Work

Digest

Beyond Washington: Financing Solar Access

Federal policy shifts, including the rollback of the Investment Tax Credit and cancellation of the Solar for All program, threaten progress in expanding rooftop solar access for low-income households. This digest analyzes the current policy landscape and highlights financing strategies that state, local, and private actors can leverage to maintain momentum in equitable clean energy adoption.

Digest

Mitigating Climate Change Through Green Investments

In today’s financial markets, companies that claim to be "green" are rewarded. Empirical data shows that larger companies and companies in decline are prone to greenwashing. They don’t excel at reducing emissions; they excel at managing appearances.

Carbon Pricing & Offsets

Digest

Has Europe’s Emissions Trading Scheme Taken Away a Country’s Ability to Reduce Emissions?

Many individual countries pursue climate policies yet are also covered by a broader, overlapping emissions trading system. We explore when such overlapping policies help mitigate climate change, and when they are ineffective or might backfire.

Digest

Plugging Carbon Leaks with the European Union’s New Policy

On the road to carbon neutrality in 2050, the European Union (EU) has recently adopted a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to address carbon leakage from international trade. The CBAM raises new challenges. It should be appropriately designed to level the playing field within and outside the EU, and it has the potential to export decarbonization outside the EU’s borders.