Energy and the Environment

Energy and the Environment

At the intersection of physical sciences and policy, our researchers work to find solutions for hunger, environmental degradation, emerging energy markets and more.

Research Spotlight

Landscape aerial view of Haikou City, China.

Governing Policy Experiments in Chinese Cities: Lessons on Effective Climate Mitigation

Case studies on Chinese cities indicates that political leadership is critical in achieving progress on decarbonization and that combining policy coherence with local priorities is key to maintaining climate priorities over the long-term.

A worker stands in the foreground of a brick kiln in Bangladesh under a heavily polluted sky.

Reducing Emissions and Air Pollution from Informal Brick Kilns: Evidence from Bangladesh

Researchers offer data-backed interventions that can improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions in "zigzag” brick kilns in Bangladesh while also decreasing fuel costs and increasing brick quality.

An example of a desalination plant in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.

Thinking Outside the Basin: Evaluating Israel’s Desalinated Climate Resilience Strategy

Israel’s experience demonstrates how inter-basin desalination transfers can strengthen water security and offer a replicable framework for other regions confronting climate-induced scarcity.

Featured Scholars

https://fse.fsi.stanford.edu/people/jennifer_burney

Jennifer Burney

Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Deputy Director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment

Jennifer Burney Full Bio

https://fse.fsi.stanford.edu/people/david_lobell

David Lobell

Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Director, Center on Food Security and the Environment

David Lobell Full Bio

https://fse.fsi.stanford.edu/people/rosamond_l_naylor

Rosamond Naylor

Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

William Wrigley Professor of Earth System Science

Rosamond Naylor Full Bio

https://pesd.fsi.stanford.edu/people/frank_wolak

Frank Wolak

Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

Director, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development

Frank Wolak Full Bio

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Working Papers

From Trade War to Green Transition: Optimal Electric Vehicle Tariffs with Revenue-Funded Subsidies

National Bureau of Economic Research, 2026

We study the optimal design of trade and industrial policy when governments pursue environmental objectives alongside traditional national welfare. Motivated by the global transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and growing concerns about competitiveness, resilience, and the environment, we develop a framework in which policymakers choose tariffs and domestic production subsidies to maximize national welfare, defined as the sum of consumer surplus, domestic profits, environmental benefits, and tariff revenue net of subsidies. We combine a theoretical model of differentiated-product oligopoly with a structural demand model estimated using vehicle-level data from 13 countries during 2004-2023 that together account for the vast majority of global EV sales. Our central finding is that the optimal policy combines a moderate tariff on imported EVs with a subsidy to domestic EV production financed through tariff revenue. This policy substantially outperforms both outright protectionism and laissez-faire. Relative to current policies, it preserves consumer access to affordable EVs, accelerates fleet electrification, supports domestic producers, and remains budget-neutral. For the United States, the optimal policy more than doubles EV market share, generates over $45 billion in annual welfare gains, and avoids approximately 95 million tons of lifetime CO2 emissions. A key mechanism underlying these results is the pass-through of tariffs and subsidies to prices, which depends critically on demand curvature, product substitution, and market structure. More broadly, our results suggest that effective industrial policy requires careful attention to market structure and country-specific conditions, balancing consumer, producer, fiscal, and environmental objectives rather than adhering to ideological prescriptions.

Adolescent psychological health, temporal discounting, and climate distress under increased flood exposure in Bangladesh: a mixed-methods cross-sectional study

The Lancet Planetary Health, 2025

Conference Memos

Feasibility Assessment of Microgrid Wind Energy Systems: Implementation of TASED in the Arctic Regions of Yamal and Murmansk

The Stanford US-Russia Journal, 2020

Working Papers

Energy and the Environment

Research Spotlight

Governing Policy Experiments in Chinese Cities: Lessons on Effective Climate Mitigation

Reducing Emissions and Air Pollution from Informal Brick Kilns: Evidence from Bangladesh