A computable general equilibrium analysis of current climate change policy in the United States

In this research I develop a static computable general equilibrium model of the global economy and apply the model to analyze greenhouse gas emission reduction policy. The model is comprised of two regions, the US and ROW (Rest of World), and I use it to simulate policy from 2010 to 2050 in 10 year intervals. I focus on analyzing cap-and-trade systems currently relevant in the US. I found that reducing emissions with a cap-and-trade system would have moderate costs and small negative impacts on the US GDP and consumer welfare. I also found that output-based allocation of revenue to industry could slightly increase the price of emission permits and that linking a US cap-and-trade system to international systems could reduce the price of emission permits in the US. In my analysis carbon capture and storage has an important role in emissions mitigation.