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401 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud

1. The Road Ahead for Clean Transportation, with Michael Berube

   3 november 2026 · 36 min

   Afspelen
   In this episode, host Kristin Hayes talks about the future of clean transportation with Michael Berube in the Resources for the Future podcast recording studio. Berube is the president and CEO of Catalyst Mobility; he’s been leading the organization for the past year and has spearheaded a rebranding of the nonprofit organization, which aims to advance clean, equitable, affordable transportation solutions to move people and goods. His role at the nonprofit combines with experience he’s accumulated in previous positions as a US Department of Energy senior official, corporate executive, and engineer, enabling him to adroitly explore questions and projections regarding the road ahead for clean transportation. Hear what Berube and Hayes discuss about the influence of policy certainty on decisions made by auto makers and consumers, the importance of competing in the global market (rather than relying on national or regional markets), variation among countries and even among US states in electric vehicle adoption, and strategically applying demand pressure to create markets and motivate increased supply. Lees meer

   References and recommendations:

   “Largest Electric Truck Order Will Nearly Double the US Electric Class 8 Fleet” press release from Catalyst Mobility; https://calstart.org/catalyst-mobility-and-smart-freight-centre-launch-zet-scale-program/

   “The Architect of Modern China” episode of “The Rest Is History” podcast; https://therestishistory.com/episodes/the-architect-of-modern-china

   Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

2. Cleaning Up Waterways Improves Local Economic Outcomes, with Max Harleman

   27 oktober 2026 · 35 min

   Afspelen
   In this episode, host Daniel Raimi speaks to Max Harleman, an assistant professor at Villanova University, about research on the positive economic impacts of environmental remediation. Half a million mining operations have been abandoned throughout the United States, and the tailings and runoff from those mines compromise waterways—from the small scale of creeks nearby to regional impacts on watersheds. Water that drains from mines acidifies surrounding waterways, killing organisms in the ecosystem and making the waters unattractive for fishing, boating, and swimming. Harleman’s recent research with colleagues combines interviews with locals and careful comparisons of stream conditions and communities; their findings qualitatively and quantitatively illustrate the value of environmental remediation and restoration, yielding actionable advice for policymakers. Evidence shows that dollars spent on remediation efficiently produce positive outcomes for communities in terms of population growth, property values, and even profits on short-term rentals. Hear more details by listening in. Lees meer

   References and recommendations:

   “Waterway Restoration Helps Revitalize Mined Areas” by Jeremy G. Weber, Max Harleman, Aidan Semanco, Shawn McCoy, and Katie Jo Black; https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/65f9f863036e7bbd0fc012f9/6a2040e263892ddd3e08ee27_REE%20Policy%20Brief%20-%20Weber%20et%20al.pdf

   “Reversing Signals of Neglect: Legacy Pollution, Adaptive Governance, and Resilience in Historic Coal Communities” by Max Harleman, Jeremy G. Weber, Aidan Semanco, Katie Jo Black, and Shawn J. McCoy; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378026000828

   “Environmental Hazards and Local Investment: A Half-Century of Evidence from Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells” by Max Harleman, Jeremy G. Weber, and Daniel Berkowitz; https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/719383

   “Gravity” by Jeremy Ledbetter Trio; https://www.jeremyledbetter.com/product-page/gravity-cd

   “Yamaha” by Fazer; htt…

3. How Could Artificial Intelligence Change the World of Think Tanks?, with Dan Baer

   20 oktober 2026 · 42 min

   Afspelen
   In this episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Dan Baer, a senior vice president at the Washington, DC–based think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His role offers a vantage point for unique insights on how artificial intelligence (AI) may affect the think tank world and its research contributions. Baer elaborates on some “emergent intuitions” that he articulates in a recent article published by Carnegie, in which he reckons with an AI world that’s newly emerging but nonetheless demands deep consideration of old philosophical foundations. Baer describes how AI may change the approach that research institutions take—and may need to take—moving forward. Lees meer

   References and recommendations:

   “Mission over Model: What Might AI Mean for an Organization Like Carnegie?” by Dan Baer; https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2026/08/artificial-intelligence-ai-technology-research-think-tanks

   “The End of History and the Last Man” by Francis Fukuyama; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_History_and_the_Last_Man

   “The Wonderful World That Almost Was: A Life of Peter Hujar and Paul Thek” by Andrew Durbin; https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374609559/thewonderfulworldthatalmostwas/

   “Terra Incognita: The Economics of a Shrinking World” by Jesús Fernández-Villaverde and Patrick Norrick; https://www.nber.org/papers/w35809

   Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

4. How Much Does Clean Cooking Reduce Emissions?, with Susanna Berkouwer

   13 oktober 2026 · 29 min

   Afspelen
   In this episode, Daniel Raimi talks with Susanna Berkouwer about their research on reducing the economic and environmental costs of energy access through a simple piece of technology: charcoal-burning cookstoves. Access to electricity is limited in low-income countries, which means that access to clean cooking in those countries is limited, too. Some areas of the world have shifted to using liquefied petroleum gas for their cooking, but Sub-Saharan Africa is trending toward higher use of biomass-burning cookstoves, which produce emissions that can harm human health and lead to local or regional deforestation. An assistant professor in the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Berkouwer and their colleagues applied a randomized experimental design with 1,000 households in Sub-Saharan Africa, aiming to see whether alternatives to charcoal-intensive cookstoves can reduce both the cost of energy and the negative environmental impacts. The conclusions are strong and striking: Corroborating results show that improvements in cookstove efficiency come with more efficient biomass use and cost savings, and the fiscal cost of subsidizing cookstoves is hundreds of times more efficient than other means of decarbonization. Berkouwer’s randomized study quantifies these gains in cost-efficiency, reductions in environmental pollution, and potential policy redundancies, opening up space for new climate solutions. Lees meer

   References and recommendations:

   “The Cost-Effectiveness of Clean Cookstove Carbon Mitigation After Adjusting for Additionality and Impact” by Susanna B. Berkouwer and Joshua T. Dean; https://doi.org/10.1142/S2010007826500089

   Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

5. Is It Safe to Drink the Water? Turning on the Tap, with Dave Keiser and Joseph Shapiro

   6 oktober 2026 · 35 min

   Afspelen
   In this episode, host Margaret Walls speaks to Dave Keiser and Joseph Shapiro about safe drinking water in the United States. Keiser is a professor at the Yale School of the Environment, and Shapiro is an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Together with other coauthors, they put out a research paper on clean drinking water: how US residents have access to it, what types of policies help preserve it, and the degree to which it benefits people’s health. Their paper incorporates more than 250 million readings on 1,250 different water pollutants across 48 states over several decades, links those data to maps of public water systems across the country, and connects all this information to health outcomes via Medicare data. The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 authorizes the US Environmental Protection Agency to set limits on contaminants in water supplied by public water systems, and the act provides financial loans to local municipalities for constructing and upgrading water-treatment plants; this law led to major improvements in providing clean drinking water to US residents. Some of the questions Keiser and Shapiro address in this episode: What exactly are the benefits of access to clean water—and do those benefits justify the costs? What level of government is most effective for managing drinking water? Find out more by listening to the episode. Lees meer

   References and recommendations:

   “Water Works: Causes and Consequences of Safe Drinking Water in America” by David A. Keiser, Bhashkar Mazumder, David Molitor, and Joseph S. Shapiro; https://www.nber.org/papers/w35288

   “National trends in drinking water quality violations” by Maura Allaire, Haowei Wu, and Upmanu Lall; https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1719805115

   “The Evolution of Water Pollution Control in the United States” by William L. Andreen; https://scholarship.law.ua.edu/fac_articles/10/

   “The Lost City of the Monkey God” by Douglas Preston; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/dou…

6. Flooded with New Information: Who Pays When Flood Risk Is Revealed?, with Jesse Gourevitch

   29 september 2026 · 29 min

   Afspelen
   In this episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Jesse Gourevitch, a new Resources for the Future fellow, about how flood-risk information affects US housing markets. Discussing an upcoming report, Gourevitch outlines changes in property sale prices and buyer characteristics following revisions to federal flood maps and updates to state requirements for disclosing flood risk to homebuyers. He and his coauthor have found that property sale prices are lower when properties are mapped into a designated flood zone or become subject to disclosure requirements. For lower-income homeowners, the declines in property value are larger than high-income homeowners relative to annual income. Following these changes to flood maps, homebuyers in flood-prone areas tend to have higher incomes and are less likely to be Black or Hispanic. Gourevitch discusses what these findings could mean for disparities in flood exposure across different socioeconomic groups. Lees meer

   References and recommendations:

   “Who Is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service” edited by Michael Lewis; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/788713/who-is-government-by-edited-by-michael-lewis/

   Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

7. Can Oil-Dependent Countries Prepare for an Energy Transition, with Andrea Furnaro and Patrick Heller

   22 september 2026 · 33 min

   Afspelen
   In this episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Andrea Furnaro and Patrick Heller from the Natural Resource Governance Institute. Drawing from a recent report, Furnaro and Heller lay out a five-step framework for how national oil companies (NOCs) can navigate an impending energy transition. Together, they contend that a business-as-usual approach is not a neutral option for these companies and their respective countries. Instead, NOCs must define national policy goals, assess transition risks and opportunities, establish a strategic direction beyond oil and gas, strengthen institutional governance, and ensure a just transition and responsible exit for workers and communities. Examples from Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Denmark illustrate how different NOCs can weigh diversification opportunities and adapt strategies to their unique national circumstances and organizational, technical, and economic capacities. Lees meer

   References and recommendations:

   “National Oil Company Transformation: Strategic Choices for an Uncertain Energy Future” by Andrea Furnaro, Giovanni Tagliani, Patrick Heller, Ana Carolina González Espinosa, Tengi George-Ikoli, Fernanda Ballesteros, Nicola Woodroffe; https://resourcegovernance.org/publications/national-oil-company-transformation

   “Facing the Future” by Andrea Furnaro and David Manley; https://resourcegovernance.org/publications/facing-future-what-national-oil-companies-say-about-energy-transition

   “Jane” documentary film; https://films.nationalgeographic.com/jane-the-movie

   “The Secret Agent” film; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27847051/

   Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

8. Inequality in Weather Forecasts Around the World, with Jeff Shrader

   15 september 2026 · 32 min

   Afspelen
   This week, host Margaret Walls investigates the world of weather forecasting with Jeffrey Shrader, an associate professor at Columbia University whose recent research examines inequalities in forecast accuracy among countries across the globe. While the accuracy of weather forecasts has improved steadily over the past few decades, low-income countries experience notably less reliability in their local and regional weather predictions. Shrader explains how factors such as topography and proximity to the tropics impact the ability to get a read on the weather, while lack of investment in weather-observing infrastructure exacerbates such inequalities. In the course of breaking down his findings, Shrader gives an overview of the public-private partnership behind US weather forecasting (including how the context and outcomes may be poised to shift with recent policy proposals) as well as the changes that national and global leaders can implement to improve the complex weather forecasting system. Lees meer

   References and recommendations:

   “Global Inequalities in Weather Forecasts” by Manuel Linsenmeier and Jeffrey Shrader; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-77630-w

   “Weather Forecasts Become More Important for Reducing Mortality as the Climate Warms” by Jeffrey G. Shrader, Stephan Thies, Laura Bakkensen, Manuel Linsenmeier, and Derek Lemoine; https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2523372123

   “On the Impossibility of Informationally Efficient Markets” by Sanford J. Grossman and Joseph E. Stiglitz; https://www.jstor.org/stable/1805228

   “Princess Mononoke” film; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Mononoke

   “All the World” by Liz Garton Scanlon; https://parents.simonandschuster.com/9781481431217

   “Balanced Weather” blog from Alan Gerard; https://balancedweather.com/author/wxinms1/

   “Balanced Weather” substack from Alan Gerard; https://substack.com/@balancedweather

   Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://…

9. Mapping Electricity Prices Across the Country, with Zehra Khan and Lauren Sidner

   8 september 2026 · 35 min

   Afspelen
   In this episode of the podcast, host Kristin Hayes invites Zehra Khan and Lauren Sidner to discuss their work on the Electricity Price Hub, a collaboration that involves Heatmap News, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Clean Economy Project. The Hub visualizes national, state-level, and regional electricity prices—a feat that previously has been elusive due to the fragmentation of data across many sources. By putting prices in comparison for ZIP codes across the country, Khan, Sidner, and their colleagues are able to illuminate broad nationwide trends and the differences among states and regions when it comes to changing electricity prices and key drivers of that change. They discuss the role of data centers in electricity rate increases; what’s behind the notable price spike in Washington, DC; considerations for state regulators and policymakers; and more. Lees meer

   References and recommendations:

   “How to Fix the Fastest-Rising Electricity Prices in the U.S.” by Zehra Khan, Lauren Sidner, and Steven Berit; https://heatmap.news/ideas/pepco-exelon-prices

   Electricity Price Hub data tool from Heatmap News, MIT, and CleanEcon; https://electricity.heatmap.news/

   “The Affordability and Climate Agendas Run Through State Regulators. It’s Time to Rethink Their Roles.” by Arjun Krishnaswami and Megan Husted; https://fas.org/publication/rethinking-state-regulators-climate/

   The Kyoichiro Kaga series of mystery novels by Keigo Higashino; https://us.macmillan.com/series/thekyoichirokagaseries

   “A Bad, Bad Place” by Frances Crawford; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/803124/a-bad-bad-place-by-frances-crawford/

   Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

10. Does Experience with Extreme Weather Affect Views on Climate Change?, with Gabrielle Wong-Parodi

    31 augustus 2026 · 30 min

    Afspelen
    This week, host Daniel Raimi brings Gabrielle Wong-Parodi on the podcast to discuss how people connect climate change to their personal experiences with extreme weather events—and whether these experiences impact their willingness to take action. As a social scientist at Stanford University with a psychology background, Wong-Parodi offers a glimpse into the complicated, and often unpredictable, path between experiencing a consequence of climate change and deciding to contribute to solutions. Research has shown that extreme weather events can lead to increased desire to take adaptation measures (like making homes more resilient) and mitigation actions (like purchasing electric vehicles or solar panels). However, translating these cognitive responses to behavior isn’t always straightforward; Wong-Parodi explains how psychological biases and political affiliation can affect the actions that result from observed attitudinal trends. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Personal experiences matter for climate action” by Gabrielle Wong-Parodi; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-026-02640-x

    “Households’ Perceived Personal Risk and Responses in a Multihazard Environment” by Michael K. Lindell and Seong Nam Hwang; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2008.01032.x

    “The effects of weather experiences on climate change attitudes and behaviors” by Matthew Ryan Sisco; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877343521001160

    “Experience of extreme weather affects climate change mitigation and adaptation responses” by Christina Demski, Stuart Capstick, Nick Pidgeon, Robert Gennaro Sposato, and Alexa Spence; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32355377/

    “All That Breathes” documentary; https://www.allthatbreathes.com/

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

11. Geologic Hydrogen: Could the Smallest Molecule Power the Whole World?, with Ishan Sharma

    28 juli 2026 · 34 min

    Afspelen
    This week, host Daniel Raimi brings Ishan Sharma on the podcast to discuss the beginnings of the geologic hydrogen industry. Sharma, director and founder of a fund at Renaissance Philanthropy that seeks to grow hydrogen into a competitive energy provider, draws upon the trajectories of sectors such as oil and gas—and newer additions, like geothermal energy—to argue that with enough investment, the abundant hydrogen gas trapped beneath the Earth’s surface could be a major player in the energy game. As hydrogen is a natural output of common chemical reactions, such as the interaction of iron and water, there’s no shortage of the resource; the issue is how to find it. While interest in geologic hydrogen is ramping up, the industry faces feasibility issues related to incomplete public information, lack of understanding about the subsurface world, and regulatory voids—however, Sharma believes this low-carbon source has a bright future. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    Chimaera Fund; https://www.renaissancephilanthropy.org/chimaera-fund

    “Designing a Life That Matters” episode of the “Hidden Brain” podcast; https://www.hiddenbrain.org/podcast/designing-a-life-that-matters/

    “Odd Lots” podcast from Bloomberg; https://www.bloomberg.com/oddlots

    “Ministry for the Future” book; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kim-stanley-robinson/the-ministry-for-the-future/9780316300162/

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

12. From Coal to Clean: The Future of Energy in Utah, with Sara Baldwin-Griffin

    21 juli 2026 · 34 min

    Afspelen
    In this episode, host Kristin Hayes invites Sara Baldwin-Griffin to give her perspective on Utah’s growing renewable energy sector—a product of the state’s abundant resources, increasing energy demand, and collaborative policy landscape. Baldwin-Griffin, as chief executive officer of Utah Clean Energy, is supporting the industry’s boom as solar, wind, geothermal, and battery power have grown from less than 5 percent to approximately 20 percent of Utah’s energy generation within just two decades. Not only do sustainable sources of energy offer solutions for affordability and reliability issues, which have been exacerbated by the state’s emerging data center projects, but renewable energy can inject vitality back into struggling local economies. Baldwin-Griffin elaborates on the factors that have led to Utah’s clean-energy success so far, including bipartisan support and community engagement, and speculates on next steps to increase renewable energy adoption across the Western United States. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    Utah Clean Energy; https://utahcleanenergy.org/

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

13. One City’s Unique Approach to the Energy Transition, with Shoshannah Lenski

    14 juli 2026 · 31 min

    Afspelen
    This week, host Daniel Raimi welcomes Shoshannah Lenski, executive director of the Ann Arbor Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU), a municipal energy utility that is fully powered by renewable sources, optional for residents, and supplemental to the existing electricity grid. Over the past few months, the SEU has been installing solar energy systems in households to scale back dependence on carbon-intensive infrastructure, focusing on underserved communities that historically have lacked reliable, affordable electricity. Providing renewable energy as a public utility—with no up-front costs to residents—offers creative solutions for problems such as stress on the electric grid due to data center build-out, low access to renewable energy for property renters, and repealed federal assistance for solar installations. Lenski walks through the SEU’s ambitious next steps, including constructing neighborhood-scale geothermal systems that provide heating and cooling, and building “microgrids” of interconnected sites that share the energy generated by their solar systems. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    Ann Arbor Sustainable Energy Utility; https://www.a2gov.org/sustainable-energy-utility/

    “The Ice at the End of the World” by Jon Gertner; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/239762/the-ice-at-the-end-of-the-world-by-jon-gertner/

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

14. Creating Wildfire-Resilient Communities, with Mark Brown and Jason Brooks

    7 juli 2026 · 35 min

    Afspelen
    In this week’s episode, host Margaret Walls brings Mark Brown and Jason Brooks on the podcast to discuss their work facilitating fire-resilience efforts among the residents of Marin County, California. As the executive officer of the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority—the agency tasked with coordinating the county’s fire-prevention activities—Brown relies on data and strategies created by Fire Aside, a software company co-founded by Brooks. Together, the pair have contributed to an evolution in how the county approaches fire mitigation and response, promoting collaboration among homeowners, local fire services, and insurers. Brown and Brooks relate key takeaways from five years of their public-private partnership, including how to effectively advocate for behavior change, enable homeowners to improve their insurance plans, and unite communities to protect one another against the growing threat of wildfire. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    Fire Safe Marin; https://firesafemarin.org/

    Fire Aside; https://www.fireaside.com/

    “The British Are Coming” by Rick Atkinson; https://rickatkinson.com/british-are-coming/

    “The Death of Expertise” by Tom Nichols; https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-death-of-expertise-9780197763834

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

15. America at 250: A History of Energy Transitions in the United States, with Liz Moyer

    30 juni 2026 · 32 min

    Afspelen
    This week, host Kristin Hayes invites Liz Moyer on the podcast to break down the history of US energy use in commemoration of the country’s 250th year of independence. Moyer is an associate professor at the University of Chicago, and along with research collaborators, she created an animated Sankey diagram—a chart that quantifies and depicts the flow of volume from one stage or category (in this case, different energy sources) to another (economic sectors in which the energy is used)—to visualize the evolution of US energy over time. In this episode, Moyer explains the mechanisms behind past US energy transitions, from the expansion of railroads in the 1860s to the oil crisis of the 1970s, and provides insights on the current energy transition toward electricity. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “US Energy History Visualization” by Robert Suits, Nathan Matteson, and Elisabeth Moyer; https://us-sankey.rcc.uchicago.edu/

    “Energy Transitions in US History, 1800–2019” by Robert Suits, Nathan Matteson, and Elisabeth Moyer; https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54dcfad0e4b0eaff5e0068bf/t/5fbeba6ffa04221c71019ccc/1606335091993/Suits_Matteson_Moyer_2020_Energy_Transitions.pdf

    “Charting the evolution of U.S. energy since 1800—from horsepower to renewables” by Rob Mitchum; https://news.uchicago.edu/story/charting-evolution-us-energy-1800-horsepower-renewables

    “Infrastructure: A Guide to the Industrial Landscape” by Brian Hayes; https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393349832

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

16. Gaslighting: Measuring Emissions from Vintage Street Lamps, with Amy Townsend-Small

    23 juni 2026 · 30 min

    Afspelen
    In this episode, host Daniel Raimi invites podcast guest Amy Townsend-Small, a professor at the University of Cincinnati, to illuminate the history, environmental impact, and cultural significance of gas-powered streetlights. These functional fixtures lend old-time ambiance to historic districts in cities like Boston and Cincinnati, but their aesthetic comes at a cost: gas lamps leak methane at a wasteful rate, and these charming relics can drain cities of hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel and maintenance. By integrating her field research on streetlights with cultural and historical context, Townsend-Small localizes the numbers behind gaslight emissions—and sheds light on the sentiments that might have allowed them to persist, even as fuel-efficient electric alternatives become more affordable and available. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Gas streetlights, methane emissions, and the cultural resistance to climate change mitigation” by Amy Townsend-Small, Sacha Brewer, and David Stradling; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13412-026-01113-z

    “Quantification of methane and carbon monoxide from natural gas streetlights in Boston: a ‘low-hanging fruit’ for emissions reduction” by Amy Townsend-Small, Sacha Brewer, Nathan Phillips, and Ania Camargo; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2515-7620/ae60cb/meta

    “Hacks” television show; https://play.hbomax.com/show/67e940b7-aab2-46ce-a62b-c7308cde9de7

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

17. Community Engagement for Coastal Resilience, with Celso Ferreira and Elizabeth Van Dolah

    16 juni 2026 · 32 min

    Afspelen
    This week, host Margaret Walls welcomes Celso Ferreira and Elizabeth Van Dolah on the podcast to talk about building resilience in coastal communities that are vulnerable to sea level rise. Ferreira, a professor at George Mason University, and Van Dolah, an environmental anthropologist and community engagement expert, were members of an interdisciplinary research team that aimed to construct nature-based solutions to flooding problems in the rural municipality of Pocomoke City, Maryland. Throughout the process, the team consulted with an advisory committee of community members who weighed in on the project—and the local input shaped the researchers’ conclusions in surprising ways. In this episode, Ferreira and Van Dolah reflect on how continuous engagement with impacted communities can help identify overlooked ecosystem values and result in improved outcomes for people and the surrounding environment. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Building coastal resilience in Pocomoke City, Maryland” by Celso Ferreira, Andre de Souza de Lima, Diana Veronez, Elizabeth Van Dolah, Joseph Galarraga, Ayanna Healy, Margaret Walls, Emma DeAngeli, and Nicole Carlozo; https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/0638e5e7beea4a11ba7e277ce87ef7e2

    “Recreation and Resilience: When Parks Do Double Duty” by Emma DeAngeli and Margaret Walls; https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/recreation-and-resilience-when-parks-do-double-duty/

    “Nature-Based Solutions 101” by Emma DeAngeli, Brandon Holmes, and Margaret Walls; https://www.rff.org/publications/explainers/nature-based-solutions-101/

    “A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness” by Michael Pollan; https://michaelpollan.com/books/a-world-appears/

    “Goat” movie; https://www.netflix.com/title/82710848

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

18. Understanding the Barriers to Affordable Homeowners Insurance, with Margaret Walls and Penny Liao

    8 juni 2026 · 34 min

    Afspelen
    In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi brings in Margaret Walls and Yanjun (Penny) Liao to discuss why homeowners insurance prices and nonrenewals are increasing in the United States—and how insurers, homeowners, and state and federal governments are responding. Walls is a senior fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF), director of RFF’s Climate Risk and Resilience Program, and co-host of Resources Radio, while Liao is an RFF fellow. Together, they elaborate on data they shared in the most recent issue of Resources magazine that links areas with previous weather-related property loss to higher premiums and policy nonrenewal rates. As a result, while climate change increases the severity and frequency of extreme weather, many homeowners are left without insurance plans that provide adequate coverage, especially in vulnerable regions such as California and Florida. Walls and Liao analyze why solutions such as “insurance of last resort” plans in the residual market fail to keep up with heightened risk, and where policymakers and communities might look next to support households that are impacted by wildfires, floods, storms, and other disasters across the country. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Weather Extremes Disrupt Insurance Markets” by Margaret Walls, Yanjun (Penny) Liao, and Emily Joiner; https://www.resources.org/archives/weather-extremes-disrupt-insurance-markets/

    “From Risk to Reward: Insurance Discounts for Wildfire Mitigation” by Evan Ludington, Yanjun (Penny) Liao, and Margaret A. Walls; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/from-risk-to-reward-insurance-discounts-for-wildfire-mitigation/

    “Property Insurance and Disaster Risk: New Evidence from Mortgage Escrow Data” by Benjamin J. Keys and Philip Mulder; https://www.nber.org/papers/w32579

    Insurance for Good; https://www.insuranceforgood.org/

    “Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching” documentary film; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt38023177/

    eBird phone app; https://ebird.org/about…

19. Moving Development Rights Around to Hit Land Use Goals, with Nick Bratton

    2 juni 2026 · 29 min

    Afspelen
    In this week’s episode, host Margaret Walls welcomes to the podcast Nick Bratton, who works as a program manager in King County, Washington State, coordinating and promoting market-based conservation through the voluntary transfer of development rights. As an incentive-based approach to land use, transfer of development rights (TDR) programs enable property owners to sell the development rights on some of their land while setting aside some of the land so it remains undeveloped natural space. TDRs have great potential to facilitate both land conservation and residential or commercial development, all without the need for government funding. Walls and Bratton talk about Bratton’s work in King County’s TDR program, his observations on TDRs more broadly, and what he views as factors for success with such programs. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Jazz Cruise Series Vol. 1” album by Kelvin Momo; https://open.spotify.com/album/05PU51SCYUrmmFgV6Qvmvs

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

20. The California Homes That Are Going Electric, with Lauren Dunlap

    26 mei 2026 · 31 min

    Afspelen
    For this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi is joined by Lauren Dunlap, a project manager at the University of California, Los Angeles, Luskin Center for Innovation—and a former staff member at Resources for the Future. Dunlap describes exciting developments in electrification policy in California, where heat, pollution, and energy costs make the issue as topical as ever. A piece of legislation in California known as Senate Bill 1221 addresses the high financial costs of home electrification jointly with emissions reductions. The bill is novel, Dunlap notes, because it engages a cost-effective solution that directs savings from gas pipelines toward funding electrification. Implementation of the bill will involve efforts to support communities in navigating the unknowns of electrifying a home and aims to help mitigate issues at the intersection of climate change and energy infrastructure. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Understanding Neighborhood Decarbonization in California: What Do We Know About Senate Bill 1221?” by Sooji Yang, Lauren Dunlap, and Gregory Pierce; https://innovation.luskin.ucla.edu/publication/understanding-neighborhood-decarbonization-in-california-what-do-we-know-about-sb-1221/

    “California Has a Neighborhood Decarbonization Law. How Does It Work?” by Sooji Yang, Lauren Dunlap, Elias van Emmerick, and Gregory Pierce; https://legal-planet.org/2026/04/08/california-has-a-neighborhood-decarbonization-law-how-does-it-work/

    “Streamlining Home Electrification in the Gateway Cities” by Lauren Dunlap, Sooji Yang, and Gregory Pierce; https://innovation.luskin.ucla.edu/publication/streamlining-home-electrification-in-the-gateway-cities/

    “Impacts of Household Electrification on Energy Affordability in Los Angeles” by Lauren Dunlap, Rachel Sheinberg, Will Callan, Samantha Smithies, and Gregory Pierce; https://innovation.luskin.ucla.edu/publication/impacts-of-household-electrification-on-energy-affordability-in-los-angeles/

    The Los Angeles Residential E…

21. Finding Flexibility in Data Center Use, with Johanna Mathieu

    19 mei 2026 · 32 min

    Afspelen
    In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes is joined by University of Michigan Associate Professor Johanna Mathieu, who researches the efficiency and environmental impacts of the electric power sector. By breaking down how electricity is supplied in the power system, Mathieu demonstrates how understanding the potential areas of flexibility in power consumption can point to system-level improvements for when energy demand is straining the electric grid. Mathieu’s research has explored how data centers themselves can be sources of capacity flexibility and be a tool to reduce congestion on the electric grid, if coordinated properly. While engineering allows for a technical understanding of current complications in the electric power sector, Mathieu notes that her research with the Center for Informed Voices for Infrastructure Choices (CIVIC) Forum at the University of Michigan showcases how interdisciplinary perspectives can make headway in developing technical and policy solutions alongside the growth of artificial intelligence. Grid solutions exist, Mathieu notes, and can result in better outcomes for utilities, data centers, and communities. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    The Center for Informed Voices for Infrastructure Choices Forum; https://thecivic.forum/

    “Data Centers” episode of the “Behind the Meter” podcast; https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/data-centers/id1800217998?i=1000748223283

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

22. What Does Landman Get Right? Fracks and Fictions of the Oil Industry, with Deborah Gordon

    11 mei 2026 · 33 min

    Afspelen
    In this episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Deborah Gordon, a senior principal at the Rocky Mountain Institute and senior fellow at the Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Together, they discuss the hit television show “Landman,” which exposes an up-close view of working and living in the oil and gas industry. “Landman” portrays some of the major risks and complications that arise when working for an oil company in the Permian Basin of Texas: injuries, accidents, contaminants, reckoning with automation and climate change, and more. Gordon pulls from her expertise to separate the “frack” from the fiction of working in oil and gas. She also expands on the future-facing questions of the fossil fuel industry and its role in shaping society and addressing climate change. With a third season on the way, Gordon and Raimi riff on some ideas for what the next plotline in “Landman” could be, and the off-screen realities for the oil and gas industry. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Landman” television show; https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/landman/

    “There Will Be Blood” film; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Will_Be_Blood

    “Argo” film; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argo_(2012_film)

    “Dallas” television show; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_(TV_series)

    “Private Empire” by Steve Coll; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/303537/private-empire-by-steve-coll/

    “Lessons of Darkness” documentary film; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lessons_of_Darkness

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

23. What Makes an Energy Economy Resilient?, with Daniel Raimi

    5 mei 2026 · 34 min

    Afspelen
    In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes is joined by podcast-host-turned-guest Daniel Raimi, a fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF) and director of RFF’s Communities in the Energy Transition initiative, to discuss Raimi’s research on energy communities and his work establishing a highly collaborative ongoing project: the Resilient Energy Economies initiative. Though all communities depend on energy, “energy communities” are communities whose economic livelihoods are dependent on fossil fuels. Raimi recounts how his early career experiences inspired him to study the complex dynamics of fossil fuel–dependent communities amid a shifting energy sector. The oft-overlooked economic complications that arise in energy communities have been motivating federal, state, and local efforts to preserve and protect financial stability for residents after energy companies leave town. Whether in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Texas, or a Tribal nation, Raimi maintains that engaging with the people who actually are living in these fossil fuel–dependent local economies enables a holistic understanding of the mammoth impact of the fossil fuel industry in the development of the United States and in the communities where the industry is central to their life and livelihoods. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    Resilient Energy Economies initiative; https://www.resilientenergyeconomies.org/

    “Building More Resilient Energy Economies,” a webinar series hosted by Resources for the Future; https://www.rff.org/topics/communities-in-the-energy-transition/webinar-series-building-more-resilient-energy-economies/

    “Vigil” by George Saunders; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/564991/vigil-by-george-saunders/

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

24. How Do Oil Wells Become Orphans?, with Sarah Armitage

    28 april 2026 · 31 min

    Afspelen
    In this episode, Sarah Armitage, an assistant professor at Boston University, sits with host Daniel Raimi to share findings from a working paper she wrote with coauthors about the transfer sales of oil and gas wells and why this practice of oil and gas companies selling wells to each other can lead to negative consequences of “unplugged,” or “orphaned,” or abandoned wells. Armitage explains why unmaintained oil and gas infrastructure, such as orphaned wells, can lead to negative environmental consequences if not “plugged” or sealed after use; these abandoned wells often contain pollutants that can leak into the environment. She also lays out key factors behind project financing that can mitigate a mismatch in business incentives and environmental safety. Given that oil and gas wells, new and old, are spread across the United States, Armitage points to the continued challenges of navigating the state regulations and potential financial solutions that can make proper maintenance easier for old oil and gas wells. Policies that ensure some level of financial assurance, Armitage and coauthors find, can help fill a gap in incentives and put a plug on pollution before it starts. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Cutting Costs or Cutting Corners: Asset Reallocation in Oil and Gas Production” by Sarah C. Armitage, Judson Boomhower, and Catherine Hausman; https://www.nber.org/papers/w34961

    “Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade” by Adam Minter; https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/junkyard-planet-9781608197934/

    “The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources” by Jack Farchy and Javier Blas; https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-world-for-sale-9780197651537

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

25. Conserving Land and Managing Wildfire Risks, with Jade Stevens

    19 april 2026 · 27 min

    Afspelen
    In this episode, host Margaret Walls talks with Jade Stevens, founder and executive director of 40 Acre Conservation League, a Black-led nonprofit land trust in California. The organization, named after the historic promise of “40 acres and a mule” given to formerly enslaved Black Americans after the Civil War, honors the legacy of the promise by expanding land stewardship and outdoor recreation throughout California. A complementary objective of the land trust focuses on wildfire prevention and forest preservation, which involves extensive efforts to thin out overcrowded trees and restore wildlife. Despite challenges in site acquisition and dense tree regrowth, Stevens notes that maintaining outdoor space creates lasting improvements to quality of life for nearby communities. By merging the two aims of conserving land and expanding public lands, 40 Acre Conservation League aims to make the great outdoors more accessible to urban families in California while protecting the ecosystems within it. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    40 Acre Conservation League; https://www.40acreleague.org/

    “The Wild” podcast with Chris Morgan; https://www.thewildpod.org/

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

26. Maximizing Minerals at Home, with Beia Spiller

    14 april 2026 · 37 min

    Afspelen
    In this episode, host Kristin Hayes is joined by Beia Spiller, a fellow and director of the transportation program at Resources for the Future (RFF), to explore new RFF research findings on critical minerals. (Note that this podcast episode is a sneak preview of a forthcoming report! We will add a link to the report in the show notes once the research has been released on the RFF website. Stay tuned.) To understand contemporary market dynamics for critical minerals, Spiller says that one must understand the history of mineral extraction in the United States. With high operational costs, explained in part by environmental regulations and workforce limitations, and with overseas firms bypassing many of these expenses, the US supply of critical minerals lies at the intersection of national security and global market tensions. While critical mineral policies in recent history have taken varied approaches—bilateral, multilateral, plurilateral, and more—evaluating the efficacy and implications of these policies is key to understanding which mechanisms actually advance US goals. Spiller argues that effectively addressing this “critical” issue requires a clear prioritization of policy objectives and concerns. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    Stay tuned for the forthcoming report on critical minerals!

    The Critical Minerals Research Lab is now open for applications through May 31: https://www.rff.org/news/press-releases/critical-minerals-research-lab-now-accepting-applications/

    Critical Minerals Research Lab; https://www.rff.org/topics/transportation/critical-minerals/critical-minerals-research-lab/

    “Burn Book” by Kara Swisher; https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Burn-Book/Kara-Swisher/9781982163907

    “Future of Travel: Is It Boom or Bust Time for EVs?” featuring Beia Spiller as a guest on the “Pivot” podcast hosted by Kara Switcher and Scott Galloway; https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/future-of-travel-is-it-boom-or-bust-time-for-evs/id1073226719?i=1000660297338

    S…

27. Which Countries Lead on Energy Innovation, with David Hart

    6 april 2026 · 33 min

    Afspelen
    For this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi is joined by David M. Hart, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and professor emeritus at George Mason University, to discuss the making and findings of CFR’s Global Energy Innovation Index. According to Hart, energy innovation—and policy that supports it—is crucial to addressing climate change. Through comprehensive data synthesis, Hart and his team created an index for 39 countries that evaluates a nation’s capacity to support energy innovation across three categories: the policy environment for investment, the market friendliness for new technologies, and the production of knowledge via research and patents. Results show that while Scandinavian countries take the lead overall in the index, the United States scores strongly in the policy and market measures and leaves room for improvement in terms of research and patents. The index provides a global lens on energy innovation efforts, Hart notes, as one country’s strides in technology can help spur innovation internationally. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Global Energy Innovation Index” by David M. Hart, Colin Cunliff, Mia Beams, and Akkshath Subrahmanian; https://www.cfr.org/reports/global-energy-innovation-index

    Biathlon event in the Olympics; https://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026/sports/biathlon

    “Semiosis” by Sue Burke; https://torpublishinggroup.com/semiosis/

    “A New (and Controversial) Approach to Climate Policy, with Varun Sivaram” from Resources Radio; https://www.resources.org/resources-radio/resources-radio-a-new-and-controversial-approach-to-climate-policy-with-varun-sivaram/

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

28. Climate-Related Risks in the Financial Sector, with Kevin Stiroh

    30 maart 2026 · 29 min

    Afspelen
    In this episode, host Margaret Walls talks with Kevin Stiroh, a senior fellow at Resources for the Future and a former senior advisor at the Federal Reserve. Pulling from his extensive career in the financial sector, Stiroh expounds on how financial institutions evaluate climate-related risks and the analysis necessary to address risks across loans, insurance, and investment portfolios. Stiroh emphasizes that sound banking practices require active collaboration between research and policy to navigate financial risks. As calculations of the macroeconomic impacts of climate change evolve, past research may be less relevant and accurate than newer studies on climate change as sources of information about climate-related financial risk and shocks. Effective risk management is in a bank’s best interest, Stiroh notes, and requires rigorous, credible economic research that informs durable policy solutions. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “The Evolving View of Climate-Related Financial Risks in the US Financial Sector” by Kevin Stiroh; https://www.resources.org/common-resources/the-evolving-view-of-climate-related-financial-risks-in-the-us-financial-sector/

    “The Effects of Climate Change–Related Risks on Banks: A Literature Review” by Olivier de Bandt, Laura-Chloé Kuntz, Nora Pankratz, Fulvio Pegoraro, Haakon Solheim, Gregory Sutton, Azusa Takeyama, and Fan Dora Xia; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joes.12665

    Work from the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System; https://www.ngfs.net/en

    Books and readings on Antarctic explorers Robert Falcon Scott (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Falcon_Scott) and Ernest Shackleton (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton)

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

29. New Metrics for Measuring Energy Affordability, with Destenie Nock

    23 maart 2026 · 31 min

    Afspelen
    In this episode, Destenie Nock, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University, joins host Daniel Raimi to discuss measures utilities and policymakers can take to better capture energy-accessibility and affordability metrics. Whereas energy data is often specific to energy providers, Nock argues that evaluating energy at a household level enables a more holistic understanding of energy usage and the energy transition. With electricity rates on the rise, accurate energy consumption data is central to ensuring comfortable temperatures in more homes. Progress in energy affordability, Nock notes, requires a multifaceted policy approach that integrates energy-equity and wellbeing metrics into measures of success. Energy affordability is not a standalone problem, and decisionmakers must recognize its ties with other cost-of-living issues and the need for inclusive data to effectively address energy burdens. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Justice as a Measure of Energy Transition Success” by Destenie Nock; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-025-01870-1

    “Evicted” by Matthew Desmond; https://evictedbook.com/

    “Unveiling Hidden Energy Poverty, with Destenie Nock” from Resources Radio; www.resources.org/resources-radio/unveiling-hidden-energy-poverty-with-destenie-nock/

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

30. Exploring Recent Changes to Federal Benefit-Cost Analysis, with Bryan Hubbell

    13 maart 2026 · 34 min

    Afspelen
    In this episode, host Kristin Hayes sits down with Resources for the Future (RFF) Senior Fellow Bryan Hubbell to look back at Hubbell’s public-service career at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As an environmental economist, Hubbell led efforts to integrate the social sciences into EPA’s environmental policy research and establish methods to calculate the benefits of clean air. Under his leadership, EPA developed the Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program, which has provided an accessible and rigorous way to evaluate the impacts of air-pollution regulations. The quantification and monetization of air-quality benefits are foundational to benefit-cost analyses, which Hubbell stresses are crucial to well-informed policy decisionmaking. Hubbell maintains that recent efforts to remove benefit calculations from federal benefit-cost analysis practices do not stack up against the years of stringent testing and research invested into creating these measures. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “If/Then: Ignoring the Benefits of Air Pollution Regulations Will Lead to Worse Policy Decisions” by Bryan Hubbell and Alan Krupnick; https://www.resources.org/common-resources/ifthen-ignoring-the-benefits-of-air-pollution-regulations-will-lead-to-worse-policy-decisions/

    “How the US Environmental Protection Agency Got It Wrong About Monetizing Benefits of Air Pollution Regulations” by Bryan Hubbell and Alan Krupnick; https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/how-the-us-environmental-protection-agency-got-it-wrong-about-monetizing-benefits-of-air-pollution-regulations/

    “Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act 1990–2020” from the US Environmental Protection Agency; https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/benefits-and-costs-clean-air-act-1990-2020-report-documents-and-graphics

    “Estimating the Public Health Benefits of Proposed Air Pollution Regulations” from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; https://www.nationalacademies.org/publi…

31. Pulling the Plug on Power Africa: Understanding the Consequences, with Katie Auth

    10 maart 2026 · 33 min

    Afspelen
    For this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi is joined by Deputy Executive Director of the Energy for Growth Hub Katie Auth to examine the significance of shutting down the Power Africa program, which had been sponsored by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), along with related implications for international energy development and energy access. Auth notes how the sudden shuttering of Power Africa (and USAID) has weakened US credibility and raised confusion for countries that had been promised energy assistance via Power Africa. Auth identifies a chance for the international-development community to not simply rebuild this and other programs in coming years, but to move forward by emulating the positive, collaborative elements of Power Africa in future energy development. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “High Energy Planet” podcast from the Energy for Growth Hub; https://energyforgrowth.org/article/high-energy-planet-all-episodes/

    “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver; https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/barbara-kingsolver

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

32. Climate Coalitions at the Conference of the Parties, with Catherine Wolfram and Milan Elkerbout

    3 maart 2026 · 32 min

    Afspelen
    For this week’s podcast episode, host Kristin Hayes chats with Resources for the Future (RFF) Fellow Milan Elkerbout alongside Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor and RFF University Fellow and Board Member Catherine Wolfram to make sense of the significant new global launch of the Open Coalition on Compliance Carbon Markets at last year’s 30th Conference of the Parties. In accordance with a key tenet of the Paris Agreement, the declaration of the Open Coalition establishes formal—and actionable—intent for the participating countries to align on a shared global framework for carbon markets. Elkerbout and Wolfram characterize this initiative as a sign of adapting to new dynamics that have been governing international climate negotiations, with strong possibility of more countries joining. With this momentum, Elkerbout and Wolfram note progress toward emissions reductions and climate cooperation. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Building a Climate Coalition: Aligning Carbon Pricing, Trade, and Development” by Catherine Wolfram, Joseph Aldy, Candido Bracher, Vaibhav Chaturvedi, Kimberly Clausing, Christian Gollier, Frank Jotzo, Marcelo PL Medeiros, Athiphat Muthitacharoen, Axel Ockenfels, Mari Pangestu, Daouda Sembene, E. Somanathan, Dustin Tingley, Jennifer Winter, Simon Black, and Carolyn Fischer; https://salatainstitute.harvard.edu/building-a-climate-coalition-gcpp-flagship-report/

    “Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare” by Edward Fishman; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/726149/chokepoints-by-edward-fishman/

    “The Old World Order Is Dead” by Paul Musgrave; https://musgrave.substack.com/p/the-old-world-order-is-dead

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

33. Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance, with Dan Egan

    23 februari 2026 · 32 min

    Afspelen
    For this week’s episode, Dan Egan, the Brico Fund Journalist in Residence at the Center for Water Policy at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and Pulitzer Prize finalist, joins host Margaret Walls to discuss his book, “The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance.” Through stories about the history of phosphorus—including why it earned the “devil’s element” title—Egan describes the large-scale ecological experiment in a Canadian lake that opened people’s eyes to the connections between phosphorus, agriculture, and algal blooms, also noting the challenges of reconciling business interests with environmental concerns. Despite ongoing water pollution in the Midwest, Egan’s experience as a Great Lakes journalist has shown that clearing toxins from waters is a goal within reach that has wide-reaching benefits. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance” by Dan Egan; https://wwnorton.com/books/the-devils-element

    “The Dark Frontier: Unlocking the Secrets of the Deep Sea” by Jeffrey Marlow; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/652987/the-dark-frontier-by-jeffrey-marlow/

    “A Terrible Country” by Keith Gessen; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/545063/a-terrible-country-by-keith-gessen/

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

34. Oil, Economics, and Geopolitics in Venezuela, with Luisa Palacios

    17 februari 2026 · 31 min

    Afspelen
    In this episode, host Daniel Raimi is joined by Luisa Palacios, an adjunct senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, who breaks down the major and most recent energy developments in Venezuela. Palacios recounts the role of oil in Venezuela’s history and the implications of oil dependency as the country navigates another period of political uncertainty. Venezuela’s oil industry, Palacios underscores, is a major player in the international energy market and faces obstacles to acquiring substantial investment. Palacios draws from her expertise in emerging markets and international affairs to note the critical moves to look for as the world awaits how Venezuela could balance efforts to reduce carbon intensity with economic growth. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Reinventing Venezuela’s Struggling Electricity Sector” by Francisco Morandi and Luisa Palacios; https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/reinventing-venezuelas-struggling-electricity-sector/

    “Michael Webber on What’s Behind Rising Energy Costs” episode of the Columbia Energy Exchange podcast from the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs; https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/michael-webber-on-whats-behind-rising-energy-costs/

    “World Energy Investment” reports from the International Energy Agency; https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-investment-2025#overview

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

35. Sea Level Rise and Sunny Day Flooding, with Miyuki Hino

    10 februari 2026 · 34 min

    Afspelen
    For this week’s episode, Miyuki Hino, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, joins host Margaret Walls to discuss Hino’s latest research on high-tide flooding (also called “sunny day flooding” or “nuisance flooding”) in North Carolina. Hino recounts the complications of measuring increasingly frequent and disruptive floods and some innovative solutions to technical challenges—including creating water-level sensors and engaging communities to understand local geographies. By specializing data collection to suit a research area in murky waters, Hino and her research collaborators have noted more accurately the extent to which sea level rise has affected coastal communities. With improved data on hand, Hino reports that previous estimates of flood frequency are serious, but unsurprising, understatements of current realities and that updated findings can help communities better adapt to changing tides. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Land-based sensors reveal high frequency of coastal flooding” by Miyuki Hino, Katherine Anarde, Tessa Fridell, Ryan McCune, Thomas Thelen, Elizabeth Farquhar, Perri Woodard, and Anthony Whipple; https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02326-w

    Sunny Day Flooding Project; https://sunnydayflooding.com/

    “Good Hang with Amy Poehler” podcast; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Hang_with_Amy_Poehler

    Subscribe to stay up to date on news and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

36. Personal Impacts of a Changing Energy System, with David Konisky

    3 februari 2026 · 32 min

    Afspelen
    For this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi sits down with David Konisky, a professor at Indiana University Bloomington, to reflect on the release of Konisky’s new book, “Power Lines: The Human Costs of American Energy in Transition,” which Konisky wrote with Sanya Carley. Unlike previous calls for innovation-forward research on the energy transition, Konisky proposes a people-centered approach that includes examining the uneven benefits and costs that get distributed among communities that host or otherwise are affected by clean energy development. Konisky underscores that a close-up look into communities at the front lines of the energy transition can provide a heightened awareness of the local impacts of energy infrastructure and potentially facilitate sound and equitable decisions in federal energy policymaking. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Power Lines: The Human Costs of American Energy in Transition” by Sanya Carley and David Konisky; https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo254000286.html

    “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom” by David W. Blight; https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/david-w-blight

    “James” by Percival Everett; https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/22691

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

37. A New (Qualified) Opportunity (Zone) for Clean Energy Projects?, with Andy Rankin and Dave McGimpsey

    27 januari 2026 · 28 min

    Afspelen
    In this episode, host Kristin Hayes is joined by Andy Rankin and Dave McGimpsey—both partners at Dentons, a global law firm—to explore how an overlooked tax policy in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act can spur clean energy development, to the benefit of both local communities and companies. Despite recent rollbacks of solar and wind energy tax credits, Rankin and McGimpsey insist that newly expanded Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) provide ample opportunity for energy developers to gain a solid footing in project financing and equity growth. Unlike the original 2017 iteration of the QOZ program, new adjustments ensure that QOZ tax benefits have no sunset date in sight, hinting at a new dawn for renewable energy build-out. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “The Qualified Opportunity Zone Program and Clean Energy: A New Era for Natural Gas, Solar, Wind, Energy Storage and Nuclear Projects” from Dentons; https://www.dentons.com/en/insights/articles/2025/september/4/the-qualified-opportunity-zone-program

    George F. Will op-ed writings; https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/george-f-will/

    “The Water Values Podcast” with Dave McGimpsey; https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/water-values-podcast/id843026539

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

38. The Moment for Moving Forward, with Tisha Schuller

    20 januari 2026 · 35 min

    Afspelen
    This week, host Daniel Raimi talks with Tisha Schuller about the nature of the energy transition. Schuller, the founder and CEO of Adamantine Energy, discusses her new book, The Myth and The Moment: From Polarization to Progress in the New Energy Landscape, which interrogates the myth that the energy transition will be easy and inevitable. She argues that this myth has shaped political identities and has influenced how stakeholders and the general public view the “good guys” and the “bad guys” in the energy transition. Schuller points out that oil and gas companies can apply complex solutions to manage carbon emissions, and indeed that the ongoing activities of these companies and related solutions will be essential in reaching climate goals. Aiming for a balanced perspective, Schuller paints a picture of what an effective energy transition might look like. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “The Myth and The Moment: From Polarization to Progress in the New Energy Landscape” by Tisha Schuller; https://energythinks.com/the-myth-and-the-moment/

    Energy for Growth Hub; https://energyforgrowth.org/

    “Environmental Law After Environmentalism” by Ted Nordhaus; https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/environmental-law-after-environmentalism

    Daniel Raimi on the “Energy Thinks” podcast with Tisha Schuller; https://energythinks.com/podcasts/trim-your-sails/

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

39. Benji Backer Wants to Make Nature Nonpartisan

    13 januari 2026 · 31 min

    Afspelen
    This week, host Margaret Walls talks with Benji Backer about attracting nonpartisan support for environmental conservation. Backer is the founder and CEO of Nature Is Nonpartisan—a nonprofit organization focused on redefining environmental issues as nonpartisan—and serves on the board of the American Conservation Coalition. In this episode, Backer discusses his approach to environmental issues by describing his conservation work, which includes helping to stop a recent policy proposal that aimed to sell public lands, aiding in the creation of a domestic conservation caucus in the Senate, and assisting in forming the Make America Beautiful Again Commission. He also speaks to the importance of accurately communicating the risks of climate change; people connecting with their land; and promoting conservation at all levels, including local, state, federal, and corporate. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “The Conservative Environmentalist: Common Sense Solutions for a Sustainable Future” by Benji Backer; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/730880/the-conservative-environmentalist-by-benji-backer/

    Nature Is Nonpartisan; https://natureisnonpartisan.org/

    American Conservation Coalition; https://acc.eco/

    “The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey” by Candice Millard; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/114422/the-river-of-doubt-by-candice-millard/

    Subscribe to stay up to date on news and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

40. Top 10 Energy and Environmental Issues of 2025, with Karen Palmer, Kevin Rennert, and Margaret Walls

    6 januari 2026 · 41 min

    Afspelen
    In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with research colleagues at Resources for the Future—Senior Fellow Karen Palmer, Fellow Kevin Rennert, and Senior Fellow Margaret Walls—about the top 10 issues of 2025 they’ve been tracking in energy and environmental news from the past year. Among the topics they’ve chosen for conversation: public land sales, electricity load growth and affordability, fires and floods, California and its recent major package of environmental legislation, federal permits for renewable energy projects, and more. It’s a fun conversation with insights on the happenings in 2025 and some prognostications for the coming year. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “What’s Happening to Electricity Affordability? in Five Charts” by Jesse Buchsbaum and Jenya Kahn-Lang; https://www.resources.org/archives/whats-happening-to-electricity-affordability-in-five-charts/

    “California’s Innovative Vision for Climate Policy and Energy Affordability” by Dallas Burtraw; https://www.resources.org/common-resources/californias-innovative-vision-for-climate-policy-and-energy-affordability/

    “California’s Revamped Energy and Climate Policies” podcast episode with Kate Gordon; https://www.resources.org/resources-radio/californias-revamped-energy-and-climate-policies-with-kate-gordon/

    “Shifting Ground: Changes in Public Land Policies” webinar event from Resources for the Future; https://www.rff.org/events/webinars/shifting-ground-changes-in-public-land-policies/

    “If/Then: A Last Hurrah for Transatlantic Fossil Fuel Energy Trade?” by Milan Elkerbout and Zach Whitlock; https://www.resources.org/common-resources/ifthen-a-last-hurrah-for-transatlantic-fossil-fuel-energy-trade/

    “Landman” television series; https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/landman/

    “Haroun and the Sea of Stories” by Salman Rushdie; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/314822/haroun-and-the-sea-of-stories-by-salman-rushdie/

    “The Art Thief” by Michael Finkel; https://www.michaelfinkel.com/books/t…

41. California’s Revamped Energy and Climate Policies, with Kate Gordon

    25 november 2025 · 35 min

    Afspelen
    In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Kate Gordon about California’s recent raft of climate policies. Gordon, the CEO of California Forward who also has held senior policy positions in California and the US Department of Energy, discusses the various Senate bills that have been proposed and passed recently in the state. She talks about the importance of considering energy affordability when addressing California’s energy and climate concerns and what she’s noticed as evolving perceptions of carbon management. Gordon also touches on specific bills that extend California's cap-and-trade program and ramp up permissions for oil drilling, sharing her own take on the current state of climate policy in California. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “California’s Innovative Vision for Climate Policy and Energy Affordability” by Dallas Burtraw; https://www.resources.org/common-resources/californias-innovative-vision-for-climate-policy-and-energy-affordability/

    Blog posts by Severin Borenstein through the Energy Institute at Haas; https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/author/severinborenstein/

    “The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity” by Tim Wu; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/691177/the-age-of-extraction-by-tim-wu/9780593321249

    Subscribe to stay up to date on news and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

42. Pumping Up Pollution During Government Shutdowns, with Neha Khanna and Ruohao Zhang

    18 november 2025 · 26 min

    Afspelen
    In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Neha Khanna and Ruohao Zhang about how government shutdowns prevent active air-pollution monitoring—and end up leading to more air pollution from coal-fired power plants while monitoring is on hiatus. Professor Khanna from Binghamton University and Assistant Professor Zhang from Pennsylvania State University published a related study, with another coauthor, examining the impact of the 2018–2019 government shutdown on pollution emissions from federally regulated coal-fired power plants. The authors found that the hiatus on pollution monitoring by federal employees, who were furloughed during the shutdown, led to an increase in the types of pollutants that required manual regulation at power plants. In this podcast episode, Khanna and Zhang reflect on how these findings may likewise inform how pollution rates may have changed during the government shutdown that ended just last week. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Monitoring and Enforcement and Environmental Compliance: Power Plant Emissions During the 2018–19 Federal Government Shutdown” by Ruohao Zhang, Huan Li, and Neha Khanna; https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/733758

    “Coal plants emitted more pollution during the last government shutdown, while regulators were furloughed” by Ruohao Zhang, Huan Li, and Neha Khanna; https://theconversation.com/coal-plants-emitted-more-pollution-during-the-last-government-shutdown-while-regulators-were-furloughed-267696

    “The Conversation” online platform; https://theconversation.com/us

    “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/43157/the-lorax-by-dr-seuss/

    Subscribe to stay up to date on news and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

43. Nature vs. Unnature: Public Perception of Solar Geoengineering, with Kaitlin Raimi

    11 november 2025 · 33 min

    Afspelen
    In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Kaitlin Raimi about public perceptions of solar geoengineering. Raimi, a social psychologist and associate professor at the University of Michigan, describes how only around 15 or 25 percent of people know what solar geoengineering is, and those who are aware tend to be wary of the concept. She discusses techniques to inform the public about the benefits and pitfalls of solar engineering, avoid political polarization, and prevent solar geoengineering from being seen as the only solution needed to tackle climate change. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Public perceptions of geoengineering” by Kaitlin T. Raimi; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352250X21000385

    Solar geoengineering research at Resources for the Future; https://www.rff.org/topics/comprehensive-climate-strategies/solar-geoengineering/

    “Cane Toads: An Unnatural History” documentary; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_Toads:_An_Unnatural_History

    Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

44. Understanding Uncertainty in Climate Change and Sea Level Rise, with Vivek Srikrishnan

    4 november 2025 · 29 min

    Afspelen
    In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Vivek Srikrishnan about factors that contribute to sea level rise. Srikrishnan, an assistant professor at Cornell University, describes the difficulties involved in analyzing the impact of the complex factors related to climate and climate change, which in turn lead to uncertainties in projecting the extent of future sea level rise. In a new publication, Srikrishnan and coauthors model different scenarios that capture those uncertainties. Srikrishnan also points out how short-lived greenhouse gases can lead to greater ice melt compared to more persistent greenhouse gases, as well as the irreversible nature of ice melts. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “The interplay of future emissions and geophysical uncertainties for projections of sea-level rise” by Chloe Darnell, Lisa Rennels, Frank Errickson, Tony Wong, and Vivek Srikrishnan; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02457-0

    “The Earth Transformed” by Peter Frankopan; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/635264/the-earth-transformed-by-peter-frankopan/

    Subscribe to stay up to date on news and research from Resources for the Future: www.rff.org/subscribe/

45. A History of Alliances Between Workers and Environmentalists, with Dave Foster

    26 oktober 2025 · 31 min

    Afspelen
    In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Dave Foster, a distinguished associate at the Energy Futures Initiative, about the story of how labor unions and environmental organizations have found ways to work together on issues that affect both contingents. As a former director of United Steelworkers District 11, Foster recalls the “Donora incident” as the main catalyst for the union’s interest in environmental affairs. Foster shares his firsthand recollection of the history behind the creation of the BlueGreen Alliance, including some of the various struggles, wins, and early initiatives that helped secure the partnership between labor and environmental organizations. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin, and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie” by Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/712585/sea-of-grass-by-dave-hage-and-josephine-marcotty/

    “Power Lines: The Human Costs of American Energy in Transition” by Sanya Carley and David Konisky; https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo254000286.html

    Subscribe to stay up to date on news and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

46. Hunting for Energy Hogs, with Severin Borenstein

    21 oktober 2025 · 30 min

    Afspelen
    In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi and guest Severin Borenstein discuss regulatory punishments for “energy hogs.” Borenstein is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley; faculty director of Berkeley’s Energy Institute in the Haas School of Business; and chair of the board of governors for the California Independent System Operator. These “energy hogs”—households perceived as consuming wasteful and excessive amounts of electricity—may incur higher energy costs as states strive to meet economic and environmental goals. However, Borenstein’s work reveals that benign or even desirable factors, such as having more people in the household, can lead to higher energy use. Borenstein cautions regulators about charging certain households more than is needed to offset the social costs of electricity use. Together, Borenstein and Raimi talk about ways that US states can reach their policy goals without penalizing households that use more energy. Lees meer

    References and Recommendations:

    “Energy Hogs and Energy Angels: What Does Residential Electricity Use Really Tell Us about Profligate Consumption?” by Severin Borenstein; https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pandp.20251111

    “Infrastructure: A Guide to the Industrial Landscape” by Brian Hayes; https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393349832

47. Measuring Emissions from Liquefied Natural Gas, with Arvind Ravikumar

    14 oktober 2025 · 33 min

    Afspelen
    In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Arvind Ravikumar, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin, about recent federal deregulation of methane emissions in the United States; specifically, the effects on methane emissions from the production of natural gas and liquefied natural gas. Ravikumar highlights some of his recent research, which explores how all steps in the supply chain of natural gas can affect emissions intensity—including transportation of the energy source to end users—and the variation in methane emissions across countries from their natural gas supply chains. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “Tracking U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas Supply Chain Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity through Direct Measurements” by Yuanrui Zhu, Greg Ross, Jenna Brown, Olga Khaliukova, William Daniels, Jiayang (Lyra) Wang, Selina Roman-White, Fiji George, Daniel Zimmerle, Dorit Hammerling, and Arvind Ravikumar; https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/6882ca69fc5f0acb52e159e3

    “Probabilistic, Measurement-Informed Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Global Liquefied Natural Gas Supply Chains Reveal Wide Country-Level Variation” by Haoming Ma, Yuanrui Zhu, Wennan Long, Mohammad Masnadi, Garvin Heath, Paul Balcombe, Fiji George, Selina Roman-White, and Arvind Ravikumar; https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/6883b68723be8e43d6fdcf73

    “AI as Normal Technology” by Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor; https://knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-as-normal-technology

48. Achieving Societal Goals Through Carbon Removal, with Jennifer Wilcox

    7 oktober 2025 · 30 min

    Afspelen
    In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi discusses carbon removal with Jennifer Wilcox, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who recently coauthored a paper titled, “Elevating Carbon Management: A Policy Decision-Making Framework and Rubric for the 21st Century.” Wilcox discusses the existing gaps in current policies related to carbon removal and important considerations when amending and creating new policies. She also addresses the recent change to the 45Q subsidy (originally included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and revised by Congress in the budget reconciliation bill signed on July 4, 2025), assessing how the updated tax break offers incentives for carbon removal. Lees meer

    “Elevating Carbon Management: A Policy Decision-Making Framework and Rubric for the 21st Century” by Jennifer Wilcox, Noah Deich, and Holly Jean Buck; https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/elevating-carbon-management-a-policy-decision-making-framework-and-rubric-for-the-21st-century/

    National Park Service Rehabilitation Tax Credits; https://www.nps.gov/subjects/taxincentives/index.htm

49. An Unprecedented Investment in US Rare Earth Elements, with Tom Moerhenhout

    30 september 2025 · 32 min

    Afspelen
    This week’s episode features a discussion of the recent US federal investment in a privately held mine—the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine in California—with host Daniel Raimi and podcast guest Tom Moerenhout, a professor at Columbia University and leader of a critical minerals initiative at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Moerenhout talks about the current US dependence on foreign imports for rare earth elements, which are used to manufacture things like wind turbines, batteries, missiles, and airplanes. While recent federal investment in the Mountain Pass mine puts financial risk on the US government, Moerenhout says that this type of approach could help the United States reduce its reliance on other countries for rare earth elements. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “MP Materials Deal Marks a Significant Shift in US Rare Earths Policy” by Tom Moerenhout; https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/mp-materials-deal-marks-a-significant-shift-in-us-rare-earths-policy/

    The case study of A123 Systems; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A123_Systems

    “Clean energy innovation in China: fact and fiction, and implications for the future” by Anders Hove; https://www.oxfordenergy.org/publications/clean-energy-innovation-in-china-fact-and-fiction-and-implications-for-the-future/

50. Airing New Concerns with US Carbon Capture Policies, with Sheila Olmstead

    23 september 2025 · 33 min

    Afspelen
    In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi discusses subsidies for carbon capture and storage (CCS) with Sheila Olmstead, a professor at the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and a senior faculty fellow at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. Olmstead evaluates the complicated nature of the 45Q policy, a federal subsidy available to firms that implement CCS. While CCS subsidy programs promote the reduction of carbon emissions, Olmstead identifies these subsidies as having the potential to financially burden the federal government, discourage clean energy projects, and motivate more pollution. Lees meer

    References and recommendations:

    “How to design better incentives for carbon capture and storage in the United States” by Sheila M. Olmstead, Benjamin D. Leibowicz, Charles F. Mason, Andrew R. Waxman, Emily Grubert, HR Huber-Rodriguez, and Joseph Stemmler; https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2404677122

    “Night Watch” by Jayne Anne Phillips; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/540650/night-watch-pulitzer-prize-winner-by-jayne-anne-phillips/