Energy Policy Now - Kleinman Center for Energy Policy

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Climate Denialism, Florida, and the Future of Climate Politics Sep 17, 2019

Show notes

Rafe Pomerance, an early campaigner for climate action and the subject of Nathaniel Rich’s book “Losing Earth,” discusses the increasingly pivotal role of climate change in U.S. electoral politics.
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Rafe Pomerance, a former Washington environmental lobbyist and subject of Nathaniel Rich’s recent book on climate change, Losing Earth, spent the 1980’s bringing global warming and the need for climate action to the attention of Washington lawmakers and the country at large. Those efforts were frustrated by the end of the decade, as deliberate misinformation campaigns distorted public understanding of climate science, and as pressure from the fossil fuel industry drove many politicians to reject climate policy.
Four decades later, Pomerance offers his view on the damage done by climate denialism, and a look at the options that remain today to minimize warming and its impacts. He also discusses his current work to turn climate change into a pivotal electoral issue in Florida, a state that is emerging as a bellwether for climate politics.
Rafe Pomerance is Chairman of Arctic 21, a network of organizations focused on climate policies impacting the Arctic, and consultant to ReThink Energy Florida. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Environment and Development under president Bill Clinton.
Related Content
Betting on Climate Solutions https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/betting-climate-solutions
How the Democratic-Republican Climate Rift Became Political Reality https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/how-democratic-republican-climate-rift-became-political-reality
Don’t Let Climate Denial Distract Us https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/06/11/dont-let-climate-denial-distract-us

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How the Democratic-Republican Climate Rift Became Political Reality Jul 23, 2019

Show notes

Over the past half century Americans have become increasingly polarized over the issues of environment and climate change. A pioneer in the field of environmental sociology discusses how views on climate have become an essential element of party ideology, and what it means for the 2020 election.

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Climate change has emerged as a major issue in U.S. electoral politics and an early focus of debate among potential 2020 democratic presidential candidates. For a growing number of voters, climate action increasingly ranks in importance alongside traditional issues like healthcare, jobs and education.

Yet while a growing number of voters demand that candidates prioritize climate, the issue may also prove to be a political liability for candidates of all stripes in a nation where views on climate have become deeply entwined with social and political identities.

Pioneering environmental sociologist Riley Dunlap, Regents Professor at Oklahoma State University, takes a look at a half century of public dialogue over environment and climate in the United States. He shares insights into the genesis of the public divide over climate change, where the divide stands today, and how it might influence next year’s presidential election.

Riley Dunlap is Regents Professor at Oklahoma State University, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and former Chair of the American Sociological Association’s Task Force on Sociology and Global Climate Change.

Related Content

One Future, One Vote https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/05/06/one-future-one-vote

Report Highlights Three Paths for U.S. to Meet Paris Climate Target https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/06/04/report-highlights-three-paths-us-meet-paris-climate-target

Don’t Let Climate Denial Distract Us https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/06/11/dont-let-climate-denial-distract-us

Betting on Climate Solutions https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/betting-climate-solutions

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Breaking America's Nuclear Waste Impasse Jul 09, 2019

Show notes

Former NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane discusses four decades of failed efforts to find a permanent disposal solution for America’s civilian nuclear waste and new thinking, based on successful disposal efforts in the military and overseas, that could lead to a workable solution.

Description

There are 90,000 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste in temporary storage at sites across the United States. The waste is the responsibility of the federal government, which nearly four decades ago entered into an agreement with the nuclear power industry to collect and permanently dispose of spent reactor fuel. Yet today, after pouring billions of dollars into the mothballed Yucca Mountain disposal facility in Nevada, a solution to the country’s nuclear waste problem appears as distant as ever, while the nation’s nuclear waste stockpile continues to grow.

Allison Macfarlane, former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, explores the challenges, ranging from safety concerns to politics, that have foiled efforts to find a nuclear waste solution. She also discusses some new thinking, based in successful efforts to develop disposal abroad, that might make it possible to reach a permanent solution in the US.

Allison Macfarlane, former Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under President Barack Obama, and now a professor of public and technology policy at George Washington University.

Related Content

Keeping Nuclear Power Plants Running is Vital to Meeting Climate Goals https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/09/25/keeping-nuclear-power-plants-running-vital-meeting-climate-goals

Clean Energy is an Investment, Not a Cost. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/05/07/clean-energy-investment-not-cost

Nuclear Decommissioning: Paying More for Greater, Uncompensated Risks https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/nuclear-decommissioning

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Does Attribution Science Give Climate Litigators a Smoking Gun? Jun 25, 2019

Show notes

Climate attribution science allows connections to be made between extreme weather events and a warming climate. The science is also being used to trace climate change to the activities of specific industries and companies, potentially generating evidence to fuel climate litigation.

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A new scientific discipline, climate attribution science, is making connections between climate change and recent extreme weather events in the U.S. and around the globe. The science is emerging as a result of advances in computer power used to model weather and the climate, and as scientists have focused their efforts to understand the causes of increasingly frequent heat waves, droughts and flooding.

Guests Peter Frumhoff, chief climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Michael Burger, executive director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University explore attribution science and the extent to which the cause and effect relationship between climate change and weather can in fact be understood. They also look at how attribution science can be used to trace the contribution to climate change of major greenhouse gas emitters, potentially creating new legal liability for industries and countries.

Peter Frumhoff is chief climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Michael Burger is Executive Director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University.

Related Content

Betting on Climate Solutions https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/betting-climate-solutions

Why Carbon Pricing Falls Short https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/why-carbon-pricing-falls-short

Don’t Let Climate Denial Distract Us https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/06/11/dont-let-climate-denial-distract-us

Three Pathways to Uphold America’s Paris Commitment https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/three-pathways-uphold-americas-paris-commitment

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Three Pathways to Uphold America’s Paris Commitment Jun 11, 2019

Show notes

Can consumers take the lead in reducing U.S. carbon emissions in the absence of strong federal climate policy? New research takes a look at three aggressive pathways to meet the U.S.’ Paris goals.

Regardless of the United States’ official intention to back out of the Paris Climate Accord, it’s a solid bet that at some point in the future the country will return to the global agreement, or something very much like it. The assertion is rooted in widespread efforts from states and local communities to uphold Paris commitments, and by recent polling that shows that a strong majority of Americans favor government action to address climate change.

The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, a nonpartisan think tank, has released a report defining scenarios under which the U.S. could reach it’s Paris goal to cut net greenhouse gas emissions 80% by the year 2050. Climate action scenarios are nothing new, but the center’s approach is unique in examining the sources of leadership that will drive down U.S. emissions.

Matthew Binsted, a report author with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Brad Townsend, Innovation Director for the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions look at how the federal government, the states, and consumers might each take the lead in catalyzing aggressive carbon reductions. The path taken may have implications for America’s global economic competitiveness, and domestic economic and social equity.

Related Content

Betting on Climate Solutions https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/betting-climate-solutions

Report Highlights Three Paths for U.S. to Meet Paris Climate Target. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/06/04/report-highlights-three-paths-us-meet-paris-climate-target

An Inside Look at the UN’s Effort to End Energy Poverty https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/inside-look-uns-effort-end-energy-poverty

Bold Climate Policy Is Coming. Investors, Take Note. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/bold-climate-policy-coming-investors-take-note

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Why Coal Persists May 28, 2019

Show notes

Global demand for coal is on the rise, with dire implications for climate. A look at why coal use endures, and what might be done to limit its use.

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The International Energy Agency forecasts that global coal use will increase over the coming decade. Why is it that coal use persists, despite intensifying efforts of citizens, industry and governments to turn to cleaner alternatives?

Kleinman Center Senior Fellow Anna Mikulska, author of recently published policy paper The Long Goodbye: Why Some Nations Can’t Kick the Coal Habit, talks through the reasons that coal remains attractive, the drivers of growing global coal demand, and about policy solutions that may slow and reverse the trend.

Anna Mikulska is a Senior Fellow with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and Nonresident Scholar with the Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University.

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What’s the FERC, And How is it Shaping Our Energy Future? (Part 2). https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/whats-ferc-and-how-it-shaping-our-energy-future

Pennsylvania’s ZEC Bill Reveal. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/reconciling-subsidized-resources

A Market for Primary Frequency Response? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/market-primary-frequency-response

Reconciling Subsidized Resources In PJM’s Competitive Electricity Markets https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/reconciling-subsidized-resources

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What’s the FERC, and How is it Shaping Our Energy Future? (Part 1) Apr 30, 2019

Show notes

Former FERC Commissioner Colette Honorable explains the work of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and its often contentious role in shaping the future of U.S. electricity and natural gas systems.
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Fundamental changes are taking place across the U.S. energy landscape. The growth of shale natural gas has changed the mix of fuels used to generate the nation’s electricity, with natural gas surpassing coal as the fuel of choice. At the same time, growing concern over climate change has incentivized the development of clean energy technologies and further altered the nation’s energy mix.
Yet rapid change has brought conflict, particularly between the states and the federal government over their respective roles in defining the future of our energy system. In the electricity sector, state efforts to support renewable and nuclear power threaten the integrity of electricity markets and federal authority to shape them. In the gas industry, federal regulators have approved a web of new pipelines to transport shale natural gas around the country, only to see some projects stall over state environmental and climate concerns.
Former FERC commissioner Colette Honorable discusses the government agency that finds itself at the center of many of today’s most critical energy debates. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, also known as the FERC, is charged with regulating the interstate commerce of natural gas and electricity. Its role extends from oversight of wholesale electricity markets to environmental review of natural gas pipelines.
This episode covers FERC, its history and mandate. The May 15, 2019 episode will take a closer look at the key debates now embroiling the Commission.
Colette Honorable served as a FERC commissioner from 2015 to 2017. She is now a partner in the Energy and Natural Resources Group with the Reed Smith law firm in Washington DC.
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Related Content
Pennsylvania’s ZEC Bill Reveal. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/reconciling-subsidized-resources

A Market for Primary Frequency Response? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/market-primary-frequency-response

Reconciling Subsidized Resources In PJM’s Competitive Electricity Markets https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/reconciling-subsidized-resources

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An Inside Look at the UN’s Effort to End Energy Poverty (and Fight Climate Change) Apr 17, 2019

Show notes

Rachel Kyte, a leader of the United Nation’s effort to eradicate energy poverty within a decade, discusses the challenge of providing universal energy access while limiting climate impacts.

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One billion people around the world live without access to electricity, and well over a third of the global population still relies on wood to cook its food. The lack of access to reliable and clean energy is a major barrier to improving human health and to driving economic growth in the world’s poorest areas.

In response to this challenge, the United Nations has set the goal of spreading access to electricity to every corner of the globe within little more than a decade. Rachel Kyte, Chief Executive Officer of Sustainable Energy for All, an organization focused on achieving the UN’s energy development goal, talks about the challenge of delivering universal access to electricity while addressing the climate impact that growing energy use might bring. She also takes a look at the challenges to financing energy transition on a global scale.

Rachel Kyte is Chief Executive Officer and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, and a Co-Chair of UN-Energy.

Related Content

The Long Goodbye: Why Some Nations Can’t Kick the Coal Habithttps://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/long-goodbye

Climate Goes Mainstream https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/02/19/climate-goes-mainstream

Dispelling a National Emergency Declaration on Climate https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/02/06/dispelling-national-emergency-declaration-climate

Geopolitics of the Global Energy Transition. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/01/23/geopolitics-global-energy-transition

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A Hard Look at Negative Emissions Apr 02, 2019

Show notes

Much faith is being put in the ability of negative emissions technologies to slow the pace of climate change. Glen Peters of Norway’s Center for International Climate Research looks at the potential of negative emissions strategies, and the steep challenges to implementing them.
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The goal of the Paris Climate Accord is to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, the point beyond which the impacts of climate change are feared to be most severe and enduring. Staying below the 2 degree limit will require two complementary strategies. The first, mitigation, is now familiar, and involves limiting carbon dioxide emissions today by turning to cleaner energy and greater energy efficiency.
The second strategy is equally important in limiting future climate impacts, yet has received much less attention in public dialogue and policy circles. Negative emissions doesn’t yet exist in any practical sense, yet it will be counted upon to remove decades worth of carbon dioxide emissions from Earth’s atmosphere by the end of this century.
At their best, negative emissions technologies will play a vital role in holding climate change in check. But the technologies may also give us a false sense of security that today’s carbon emissions can reversed at some point in the future.
Glen Peters, research director at the Center for International Climate Research (CICERO) in Oslo, Norway, takes a close look at negative emissions, from their potential to the political and economic challenges that need to be overcome if they’re to have a meaningful impact on the climate.
Glen Peters is Research Director at the Center for International Climate Research (CICERO) in Oslo, Norway. His work focuses on the human drivers of climate change and international climate policy.
Related Content
Targeting Net Zero Emissions https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/targeting-net-zero-emissions
Negative Emissions Won’t Rescue Us From Climate Change https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/11/08/negative-emissions-wont-rescue-us-climate-change
Geopolitics of the Global Energy Transition https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/01/23/geopolitics-global-energy-transition
Can the U.S. Meet Green New Deal Emissions Targets? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/02/27/can-us-meet-green-new-deal-emissions-targets
The Inevitable Policy Response Theory https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/10/03/inevitable-policy-response-theory

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