< <

Environmental Science Faculty

Kenneth R. Richards
Associate Professor

Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
J.D., University of Pennsylvania

Kenneth Richards holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Wharton School and a J.D. from the Law School, University of Pennsylvania. He holds an MSCE in Urban and Regional Planning, a BSCE in Environmental Engineering from Northwestern University, and a BA in Botany and Chemistry from Duke University.

Prof. Richards is director of the IU at Oxford Program, which provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to study decision-making and governance in Great Britain. He has served as an economist at the Council of Economic Advisers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He also served as national energy planner for the Cook Islands from 1984 to 1986 and was a member of the Environmental Commission for the City of Bloomington from 1999 to 2004.

His research interests include climate change policy and environmental policy implementation. He has taught courses in environmental economics, cost-benefit analysis, law and public policy, applied math, climate change science and policy, public management and administration, and public management economics.

Recent Publications

Richards, K. 2007. “Environmental Taxes in the United States.” Forthcoming in Critical Issues in International Environmental Taxation: International and Comparative Perspectives. Volume III. Oxford University Press.

Richards, K., N. Sampson, and S. Brown. 2006. Agricultural and Forestlands: U.S. Carbon Policy Strategies. Report for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.

Stavins, R. and K. Richards. 2005. The Cost of U.S. Forest-based Carbon Sequestration. Report for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.

Richards, K. 2005. “Forest Carbon Sequestration Costs in the United States and Louisiana.” In Proceedings of Louisiana Natural Resources Symposium, July 18-20, 2005. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Richards, K. 2004. “A Brief Overview of Carbon Sequestration Economics and Policy.” Environmental Management 33(4):545-558.

Richards K. and C. Stokes. 2004. “A Review of Forest Carbon Sequestration Cost Studies: A Dozen Years of Research.” Climatic Change 63:1-48.

Richards, K. 2003. “The Instrument Choice Game: When Do Environmental Taxes Win?” Chapter 4 in Critical Issues In International Environmental Taxation: International And Comparative Perspectives (Volume I), J. Milne, , K. Deketelaere, L. Kreiser, and H. Ashiabor (Eds.), 61-88.

Andersson, K. and K. Richards. 2001. “Implementing an International Carbon Sequestration Program: Can the Leaky Sink Be Fixed?” Climate Policy 1: 73-88.

Richards, K. 2000. “Framing Environmental Policy Instrument Choice.” Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum, 10:221-282.

Richards, K. 2000. “A Grateful Response to Comments on Framing Environmental Policy Instrument Choice.” Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum 10:425-443.

Richards, K. and K. Andersson. 2000. “The Leaky Sink: Persistent Obstacles to a Forest Carbon Sequestration Program Based on Individual Projects.” Climate Policy 1: 41-54.

Work in Progress

Andersson, K., T. Evans, and K. Richards, “What is in the Sink? Technological Capacity to Support a National Inventory Approach to International Carbon Sequestration Commitments.” Revise and resubmit, Climatic Change.

Richards, K., D. Good, and J. Chang. “The Rationality of State Level Fees for Hazardous Waste Management: The Case of the Midwest States.”

Richards, K. and E. Eschmann. “The Application of Natural Resource Optimal Extraction Theory to Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Climate Change.”

Richards, K. and J. Allerhand. “Legal Considerations for Geological Sequestration.”