The Climate Change Policy Partnership

The Climate Change Policy Partnership (CCPP) was established at Duke University in October 2005 through a gift from founding partner Duke Energy.  The CCPP’s focus is to address questions on climate change science and policy and initiate research to fill data gaps.  The project is intended to leverage the resources of Duke University to determine practical strategies to respond to the pressing challenges of global climate change.

Participants: The three primary participants in the CCPP from Duke University are two interdisciplinary centers—the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and the Center on Global Change (CGC)—and the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences.  Duke Energy, ConocoPhillips and MeadWestvaco are corporate partners.

Research and Timeline: The initial 4-year outline of the project includes two phases.  Phase I, completed in fall 2006, was the one-year scoping/start-up phase in which baseline information on the science and policy of climate change was gathered, research was initiated and additional participants were recruited.  In Phase II (beginning spring ’07), CCPP research focuses on three primary areas:

• Federal climate change policy design
• Opportunities for sequestration of carbon
• Alternative existing legislative vehicles for carbon policy (e.g. Farm Bill, Transportation Bill)

The goal of the research is to develop practical solutions to the “sticking points” that have thus far prevented enactment of federal carbon and climate policy.

Highlights to Date: The CCPP is under the direction of five staff members, in addition to the Directors and Associate Directors of both the CGC and Nicholas Institute.  Close to fifty graduate students have assisted with project research, representing seven schools and departments at Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, and NC State University.  The students are working with staff and faculty on projects such as: barriers and solutions to increasing biomass cofiring at coal-fired power plants; environmental co-effects of biological sequestration; barriers and policy solutions to increasing the use of alternative energy technologies; and other research areas.