Ep 17: Adele Morris, Senior Fellow and Policy Director, Climate and Energy Economics Project at Brookings Institution

Today's guest is Adele Morris, a senior fellow and policy director for Climate and Energy Economics at the Brookings Institution. Her research informs critical decisions related to climate change, energy, and tax policy. She is a leading global expert on the design of carbon pricing policies.

She joined Brookings in July 2008 from the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) of the U.S. Congress, where she advised members and staff on economic, energy, and environmental policy. Before her work in Congress, Morris was the lead natural resource economist for the U.S. Treasury Department for nine years. In that position, she informed and represented Treasury’s positions on agriculture, energy, climate, and radio spectrum policies. On assignment to the U.S. Department of State in 2000, she led negotiations on land use and forestry issues in the international climate change treaty process. Prior to joining the Treasury, she served as the senior economist for environmental affairs at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers during the development of the Kyoto Protocol. Morris began her career at the Office of Management and Budget, where she oversaw rulemaking by agriculture and natural resource agencies. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University, an M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Utah, and a B.A. from Rice University.

In this episode we discuss:

• Adele’s background and her climate focused work at the Brookings Institution


• The political make up of the Brookings Institute and how they work on both the left and right side of the aisle


• Some of the recent projects Adele has been working on including a deep dive into carbon taxes


• The no nonsense straightforward approach Adele takes to her work and how she hopes it is received in this current polarized political climate we find ourselves in


• Adele’s advice to others: vote and educate yourself, and talk to others

I hope you enjoy the show!

You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 and email at [email protected], where I encourage you to share any feedback or requests for specific topics/guests to have on the show!

Links for topics discussed in this episode:

• The event with the members of Congress on June 20: https://www.brookings.edu/events/leading-carbon-price-proposals-a-bipartisan-dialogue/


• The paper on the policy insights from our big modeling study: https://www.brookings.edu/research/policy-insights-from-comparing-carbon-pricing-modeling-scenarios/


• The book I mentioned: https://www.amazon.com/Implementing-Carbon-Tax-Explorations-Environmental/dp/1138825360


• How to find your representative in Congress: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative


• Contact information for U.S. Senators: https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?OrderBy=state

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant