On April 8, 2024, the Hoover Institution will host its second annual one-day conference on Markets vs. Mandates: Promoting Environmental Quality and Economic Prosperity. Building on Hoover’s founding principles of generating ideas that define healthy and free societies, the program will evaluate when, if, and how institutions and policies can improve environmental quality while also promoting economic prosperity and individual freedom. Experts from around the world in fields such as economics, philosophy, law, engineering, and communications will cover a range of topics including an assessment of the costs and benefits of climate policy, the morality of markets and mandates for the environment, and a comparison of academic findings versus rhetoric about environment conditions. The program will culminate with science writer and journalist, Bret Stephens, of the New York Times, who will be speaking on “Media Coverage of the Environment?” Refreshments will be served after the conference to give the audience time to mingle with the stellar cast. The conference is open to the public and registration is required.
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8:30 – 9:00 AM |
SESSION 1 |
Presenter: Terry Anderson and Dominic Parker, Hoover Institution |
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Environmental improvements and protections can result from government mandates or voluntary market activity. This introduction will outline the spectrum of governance approaches, ranging from command-and-control coercion on one extreme to laissez-faire on the other. It will give examples to highlight tradeoffs and implications for individual freedom, economic costs, and environmental quality. |
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9:00 – 9:50 AM |
SESSION 2 |
Chair: Daniel Phaneuf, University of Wisconsin Panelist: Bjorn Lomborg, Hoover Institution Panelist: Caroline Cecot, George Mason University |
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This session will contrast the use, misuse, and nonuse of Cost-Benefit Analysis for traditional air and water quality regulations with its application to climate policies such as renewable energy subsidies and mandates against the use of fossil fuels. It will discuss how the use of equity and environmental justice criteria affects CBA credibility and the bottom line. |
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10:00 – 10:50 AM
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SESSION 3 |
Chair: Terry Anderson, Hoover Institution Panelist: Matthew Kahn, USC and Hoover Institution Panelist: Andrew Plantinga, UC Santa Barbara |
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This session will examine how markets can help us adapt to the challenges of climate change. How do government policies hinder or promote effective adaptation? What role can insurance, finance, and real estate markets play in encouraging adaptation? |
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11:00 – 11:50 AM |
SESSION 4 |
Chair: Dominic Parker, U. of Wisconsin and Hoover Institution Panel: James Salzman, UCSB/UCLA Panel: Bård Harsted, Stanford University |
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Markets in which NGOs, corporations, and governments pay private parties to generate or safeguard environmental outcomes have blossomed in recent years establishing new contractual incentives to manage forests for carbon sequestration and keep fossil fuels in the ground. How well can voluntary agreements perform when compared to top-down government regulation? What barriers prevent more widespread use of markets? |
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12:00 – 1:00 PM |
Lunch Panel |
Chair: Peter Robinson, Hoover Institution Panelist: PJ Hill, Wheaton College Panelist: Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover Institution |
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There are common moral objections to markets. Even critics who concede that markets efficiently allocate resources argue their use limits our full humanity because people care about much more than efficiency. Furthermore, critics contend, markets risk converting participants into morally bankrupt people focused on financial gain. This session will evaluate these concerns in the context of markets for the environment, and relative to the morality of mandates. |
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1:10 – 2:00 PM |
SESSION 5 |
Chair: Ross Levine, Hoover Institution Panelist: Patricia Breuer, Erasmus University Rotterdam Panelist: Todd Henderson, U. of Chicago and Hoover Institution |
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Laws in the U.S. and abroad require firms to publicly disclose carbon emissions resulting from their enterprise. The justification is that transparency will equip investors and customers with information to guide choices. Emissions, however, are measured with error and mandates may create unintended consequences. Why and when will disclosure mandates do more good than harm? |
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2:10 – 3:00 PM |
SESSION 6 |
Chair: Mark Mills, National Center for Energy Analytics Panelist: Steven Koonin, Hoover Institution Panelist: Joshua Macey, University of Chicago |
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The push for a decarbonized global economy has strengthened in recent years, resulting in an assortment of mandates and markets guiding energy transitions. Is this assortment appropriate for finding the best mix of fossil fuel utilization, renewable development, and carbon capture technologies? What legal, political, and economic barriers prevent markets and mandates from providing better guidance? |
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3:10 – 4:00 PM |
SESSION 7 |
Chair: Joshua Rauh, Hoover Institution Panelist: Roger Pielke Jr., University of Colorado Boulder Panelist: Dominic Parker, U. of Wisconsin and Hoover Institution |
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Whether the topic is pollution, biodiversity loss, or climate, media, political, and NGO discourse about the environment is often alarmist. Does this discourse match academic findings or is there a disconnect between research conclusions and broader portrayals? Are scientists – including social scientists – using objective language to describe the environment or is advocacy leaking into scientific discourse? |
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4:15 – 5:15 PM |
SESSION 8 |
Panelist: Bret Stephens, New York Times |
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5:15 – 6:00 PM |
Reception |
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