In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Danny Richter, director of the Pricing Carbon Initiative, about the existing suite of carbon pricing policies, a set of climate policy tools designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by requiring companies and other entities to pay for each ton of carbon dioxide they release into the atmosphere. Richter evaluates the international and domestic approaches to carbon pricing policies, explaining their history, uptake, and longevity. Richter highlights the flexibility of carbon pricing programs—which allows policymakers to tailor the sources and investment of revenues from carbon pricing to their unique policy priorities—as key to the long-term success of these programs. Richter then outlines shifting attitudes toward carbon pricing in the United States, highlighting how successful cap-and-invest initiatives emphasize the economic advantages of these policies while delivering climate benefits.

References and recommendations:

Pricing Carbon Initiative; https://pricingcarbon.org/

“Fourth Generation Carbon Prices” by Danny Richter; https://pricingcarbon.org/2024/11/fourth-generation-carbon-prices/

“Reserved: Carbon Pricing and the Dollar’s Special Status” by Danny Richter; https://pricingcarbon.org/2025/04/reserved-carbon-pricing-and-the-dollars-special-status/

Carbon Pricing Dashboard from the World Bank; https://carbonpricingdashboard.worldbank.org/

“How Carbon Border Adjustments Might Drive Global Climate Policy Momentum” by Kimberly Clausing, Milan Elkerbout, Katarina Nehrkorn, and Catherine Wolfram; https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/how-carbon-border-adjustments-might-drive-global-climate-policy-momentum/

“Our Dollar, Your Problem” by Kenneth Rogoff; https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300275315/our-dollar-your-problem/

Carbon Pricing Is Dead. Long Live Carbon Pricing!, with Danny Richter

Resources Radio is a weekly podcast by Resources for the Future. Each week we talk to leading experts about climate change, electricity, ecosystems, and more, making the latest research accessible to everyone.