Researcher Profile

Benjamin Leard

Fellow

202.328.5189 leard@rff.org

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Topics of Interest

• Climate Change
• Energy and Electricity
• Transportation
• CAFE Standards and Fuel Efficiency
• Cap and Trade
• Carbon Tax
• Energy Efficiency
• Forest Carbon
• Fuel Taxes

Ben Leard's research covers several areas of environmental and energy economics, with a particular focus on distributional issues in climate change policy and regulation in the transportation sector. His work on climate change has evaluated the tradeoffs between efficiency and distributional outcomes of several mechanisms for promoting emissions reductions from carbon offsets in cap-and-trade programs. In his work on transportation, Leard explores how fuel economy standards may impact consumers differently depending on the variation in consumer preferences for vehicle attributes.

Education

PhD in applied economics and management, Cornell University, 2014

BS in mathematics and economics, James Madison University, 2008

Recent Work

• Working Paper

  Voluntary Exposure Benefits and the Costs of Climate Change

  Oct 2, 2017 | Benjamin Leard, Kevin Roth | 57 pp.

  Warmer, wetter weather may lead to an increase in traffic injuries and fatalities unless interventions are put in place to adapt to these changing conditions.

  Climate Change Environmental Economics Topics Transportation
• Resources Article

  The Effect of Standards for New Vehicle Fuel Economy and GHG Emissions on US Consumers

  Sep 28, 2017 | Benjamin Leard, Joshua Linn, Yichen Christy Zhou

  US federal regulations aim to increase the fuel economy of new automobiles and reduce their GHG emissions. How do the standards affect vehicle consumers?

  Transportation
• Report

  Consumer Inattention and Demand for Energy Cost Savings

  Aug 3, 2017 | Benjamin Leard | 35 pp.

  New research suggests that inattentive consumers significantly undervalue vehicle fuel cost savings. Policies designed to encourage greater consumer attention would likely increase the fuel economy of vehicles on the road and reduce GHG emissions.

  Energy and Electricity
• Report

  How Much Do Consumers Value Fuel Economy and Performance? Evidence from Technology Adoption

  Jun 14, 2017 | Benjamin Leard, Joshua Linn, Yichen Christy Zhou | 52 pp.

  Current US passenger vehicle fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards will roughly double fuel economy and cut emissions. Recently tightened standards have reduced fuel costs, but have had roughly zero net effect on consumer well-being.

  Transportation
• Report

  New Markets for Credit Trading under US Automobile Greenhouse Gas and Fuel Economy Standards

  May 4, 2017 | Benjamin Leard, Virginia McConnell | 25 pp.

  Crediting provisions are key for reducing the costs of meeting regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel use from the light-duty vehicle fleet in the United States. We assess how well the credit markets are working and discuss options to improve efficiency.

  Air Quality Climate Change Energy and Electricity Transportation