Policy Briefs

The Climate & Freedom International Coalition, the Clean Market Working Group and the Clean Capitalist Leadership Council have been researching a variety of mechanisms to lower taxes and other barriers to capital and participation, and thereby drive investment toward cleaner solutions at the federal, state and international level. One promising area of collaborative research has focused on barrier-free clean capital markets. We hope that the briefs presented below will advance knowledge, education and research into emerging policy solutions. We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Climate & Freedom Accord, September 2024 (draft)

Clean Asset Bonds and the
Clean Free Market Act

A flexible policy solution that any state or nation can adopt to build a powerful, borderless Clean Free Market
This concept was drafted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and was put on Pause. It serves illustrative purposes only now.

The Clean Free Market Act, International Concept Summary
Developed under the leadership of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
August 2018
The Clean Free Market Act: Federal Legislative Language Guidance
(Note: Federal version does not include international tax reciprocity, but could)
Developed under the leadership of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, with input from CCLC, CRES Forum and ClearPath
May 2019
Clean Asset Bonds: Bullet Points
Developed under the leadership of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
May 2018

These ideas have emerged from collaborative, non-partisan working groups involving hundreds of scholars and industry experts, and dozens of think tanks. If you wish to jump in and help advance this collaborative policy R&D work, please let us know. We welcome a wide range of expert collaborators who can brainstorm and vet new ideas from diverse viewpoints. Please check back often to see all the latest developments, as we update and improve on this work continuously. Contact us should you need more information.

Clean Capitalist Coalition

We will be joined in this effort by the newly formed Clean Capitalist Coalition, a collaborative association of donors, philanthropists and policy thinkers, all interested in removing barriers to conservation and clean free enterprise.

Additional Research

Currently, Michael Mehling, Deputy Director of the MIT Center for Energy & Environmental Policy Research (MIT CEEPR) is coordinating a group of scholars studying the international and legal precedents and implementation strategies for regional Barrier-Free Clean Capital Markets. His team is also exploring impacts of Clean Tax Cuts in contrast to older policy frameworks, such as the carbon tax, tax equity subsidies like the ITC and PTC, and Private Activity Bonds. Meanwhile, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) is coordinating other policy initiatives in Washington, and refining the core concepts and assessing them for political viability.

For comments on our research and these existing proposals, please email us at [email protected].

Materials collected here may have been authored, or include contributions, by many different individuals and institutes. Inclusion of these materials and proposals does not imply endorsement by those collaborators or the Grace Richardson Fund, unless stated explicitly. Materials are gathered here for educational and scholarly purposes, especially for purposes of policy innovation and exploration of new solutions.