ESSAYS ON IMPACTS OF CLIMATE, ENERGY CONSERVATION POLICY, AND OPTIMAL ENERGY TRANSITION

Abstract

Global warming poses severe risks to human well-being. The U.S. is experiencing more frequent extreme weather events, such as heat waves, cold snaps, hurricanes, and wildfires. These changes are occurring primarily due to production and consumption of fossil fuels that release greenhouse gases. Thus, the economic issues raised by climate change concern the interplay between the impacts of climate and the changes in behavior needed to mitigate those impacts. My dissertation uses a range of datasets, econometric methods, and an optimization model to study some human impacts of climate, an energy conservation policy, and an optimal energy transition pathway. The studies differ widely in terms of the questions addressed and methods employed. Taken together, they show how economic analysis can provide insight into all aspects of the climate problem and aid development of solutions. Specifically, the first chapter investigates how temperature affects individual time allocation, including labor supply and recreation; the second chapter examines how residential electricity consumers respond to monetary and non-monetary incentives in a unique electricity conservation program implemented by the US military; the third chapter develops a computational model to evaluate the need for new natural gas pipeline and storage capacity in the context of an ongoing energy transition that greatly values gas in the near term, but will need to phase it out over the long term.