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Jonas Meckling

Associate Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy, University of California-Berkeley
Chapter Member: Bay Area SSN
Areas of Expertise:

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(510) 643-1966

About Jonas

Meckling's research focuses on clean energy transitions and the political forces that drive them. His latest book is Carbon Coalitions. Previously, Meckling served as Senior Advisor to the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, as a Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, and worked at the European Commission.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

Contributions

How to Turn Ambitious Climate Goals into Effective Policy

Key Findings Brief,

In the News

Opinion: "Debunking the Myths that Discourage Public Funding of Clean Energy," Jonas Meckling, Yale School of the Environment, 2021.
Opinion: "How to Enact Policies that are Effective in Slowing Climate Change," Jonas Meckling (with Jonas Nahm), The Washington Post, December 7, 2018.
Opinion: "President Trump Wants Protectionist Measures against Chinese Solar Power. That's Going to Hurt U.S. Firms," Jonas Meckling (with Llewelyn Hughes), The Washington Post, September 25, 2017.
Opinion: "Free Trade for Green Trade," Jonas Meckling (with Llewelyn Hughes), Foreign Affairs, August 4, 2015.

Publications

"Busting the Myths Around Public Investment in Clean Energy" (with Jonas Meckling, Joseph Aldy, Matthew J. Kotchen, Daniel C. Esty, Peter A. Raymond, Bella Tonkonogy, Charles Harper, Gillian Sawyer, and Julia Sweatman). Nature Energy 7 (2022): 563–565 .

Discusses critics having opposed clean energy public investment by claiming that governments must not pick winners, green subsidies enable rent-seeking behaviour, and failed companies means failed policy.

"The Politics of Renewable Energy Trade: The US-China Solar Dispute" (with Llewelyn Hughes). Energy Policy 105 (2017): 256-262.

Explains U.S. decision to impose trade sanctions against China in solar industry. Highlights the role of protectionist industry-policymaker advocacy coalition. Highlights the role of U.S. trade institutions in favoring protectionist outcomes. Identifies policy trade-offs at the intersection of trade and climate policy.

"The Developmental State in Global Regulation: Economic Change and Climate Policy" European Journal of International Relations 24, no. 1 (2017): 58-81.

Proposes that the developmental state — the state investing in economic development — can be a source of global environmental regulation. Examines the two mechanisms in the case of climate change: the global leadership of the European Union; and international cooperation on the Paris Agreement. Identifies significant scope for the developmental strategies of major economies to change the interest and cost structures of polluting sectors to support global environmental regulation.