Resources Radio - Resources for the Future

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New Social Science Perspectives on Solar Geoengineering, with Tyler Felgenhauer Sep 03, 2023

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In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Tyler Felgenhauer, a research director and senior research scientist at Duke University, about social science issues that are associated with solar geoengineering. Felgenhauer discusses different technologies that can facilitate solar geoengineering, the risks and benefits of these technologies, how international cooperation could affect the deployment of solar geoengineering, and recent social science research on solar geoengineering. References and recommendations: “Solar Geoengineering Futures: Interdisciplinary Research to Inform Decisionmaking” event on September 28 and 29, hosted by Resources for the Future; https://www.rff.org/events/conferences/solar-geoengineering-futures-current-research-and-uncertainties/ Solar geoengineering research at Resources for the Future; https://www.rff.org/topics/comprehensive-climate-strategies/solar-geoengineering/ “Social science research to inform solar geoengineering” by Joseph E. Aldy, Tyler Felgenhauer, William A. Pizer, Massimo Tavoni, Mariia Belaia, Mark E. Borsuk, Arunabha Ghosh, Garth Heutel, Daniel Heyen, Joshua Horton, David Keith, Christine Merk, Juan Moreno-Cruz, Jesse L. Reynolds, Katharine Ricke, Wilfried Rickels, Soheil Shayegh, Wake Smith, Simone Tilmes, Gernot Wagner, and Jonathan B. Wiener; https://www.rff.org/publications/journal-articles/social-science-research-to-inform-solar-geoengineering/ “The Uninhabitable Earth” by David Wallace-Wells; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/586541/the-uninhabitable-earth-by-david-wallace-wells/ “Climate Change and the Nation State” by Anatol Lieven; https://global.oup.com/academic/product/climate-change-and-the-nation-state-9780197584248

How Leaky is the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry?, with Eric Kort Aug 28, 2023

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In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Eric Kort, an associate professor at the University of Michigan, about methane emissions from the US oil and gas industry. Kort discusses the emissions that occur during the extraction of oil and gas at onshore and offshore facilities, aerial methods of measuring these emissions and identifying methane leaks, and the increasing concentration of methane in the atmosphere. References and recommendations: “Excess methane emissions from shallow water platforms elevate the carbon intensity of US Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production” by Alan M. Gorchov Negron, Eric A. Kort, Yuanlei Chen, Adam R. Brandt, Mackenzie L. Smith, Genevieve Plant, Alana K. Ayasse, Stefan Schwietzke, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Catherine Hausman, and Ángel F. Adames-Corraliza; https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2215275120 “Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth” by Oliver Jeffers; https://www.oliverjeffers.com/here-we-are

Measuring the Long-Term Health Effects of Air Pollution, with Tatyana Deryugina Aug 22, 2023

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In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Tatyana Deryugina, an associate professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, about her recent work to better understand the long-term health effects of exposure to air pollution. Deryugina discusses methods for measuring the impact of pollution on life expectancy, the chronic effects of air pollution, the availability of air-pollution data, and trends in air pollution in the United States. References and recommendations: “The Mortality and Medical Costs of Air Pollution: Evidence from Changes in Wind Direction” by Tatyana Deryugina, Garth Heutel, Nolan H. Miller, David Molitor, and Julian Reif; https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20180279 “Lessons from the Edge: A Memoir” by Marie Yovanovitch; https://www.harpercollins.com/products/lessons-from-the-edge-marie-yovanovitch

Using Artificial Intelligence to Tackle Climate Change, with Priya Donti Aug 13, 2023

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In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Priya Donti, cofounder and executive director of Climate Change AI, a nonprofit that works at the intersection of climate change and machine learning. Donti discusses various types of artificial intelligence, the applications of artificial intelligence in the energy transition and climate policymaking, and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in the ethical development and implementation of artificial intelligence. References and recommendations: “Putting the ‘smarts’ into the smart grid: a grand challenge for artificial intelligence” by Sarvapali D. Ramchurn, Perukrishnen Vytelingum, Alex Rogers, and Nicholas R. Jennings; https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2133806.2133825 “Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning” by David Rolnick, Priya L. Donti, Lynn H. Kaack, Kelly Kochanski, Alexandre Lacoste, Kris Sankaran, Andrew Slavin Ross, Nikola Milojevic-Dupont, Natasha Jaques, Anna Waldman-Brown, Alexandra Sasha Luccioni, Tegan Maharaj, Evan D. Sherwin, S. Karthik Mukkavilli, Konrad P. Kording, Carla P. Gomes, Andrew Y. Ng, Demis Hassabis, John C. Platt, Felix Creutzig, Jennifer Chayes, Yoshua Bengio; https://dl.acm.org/doi/full/10.1145/3485128 “Climate Change and AI: Recommendations for Government Action” by Peter Clutton-Brock, David Rolnick, Priya L. Donti, Lynn H. Kaack, Tegan Maharaj, Alexandra (Sasha) Luccioni, Hari Prasanna Das; https://www.gpai.ai/projects/climate-change-and-ai.pdf “Environmental justice in the age of big data: challenging toxic blind spots of voice, speed, and expertise” by Alice Mah; https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23251042.2016.1220849

How Much will the Inflation Reduction Act Reduce Emissions?, with Maya Domeshek and Nicholas Roy Aug 07, 2023

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In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Resources for the Future (RFF) Research Associate Maya Domeshek and Senior Research Analyst Nicholas Roy about the Inflation Reduction Act and the emissions reductions that the law could achieve, according to projections from various energy models in an analysis they published recently in “Science” magazine. Domeshek and Roy discuss the projections; the law’s potential costs, benefits, and effects on electricity prices; the differences among the models in their analysis; the caveats of economic models; and how decisionmakers can use the modeling results to improve policy. References and recommendations: “Emissions and energy impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act” by John Bistline, Geoffrey Blanford, Maxwell Brown, Dallas Burtraw, Maya Domeshek, Jamil Farbes, Allen Fawcett, Anne Hamilton, Jesse Jenkins, Ryan Jones, Ben King, Hannah Kolus, Joh, Larsen, Amanda Levin, Megan Mahajan, Cara Marcy, Erin Mayfield, James McFarland, Haewon McJeon, Robbie Orvis, Neha Patankar, Kevin Rennert, Christopher Roney, Nicholas Roy, Greg Schivley, Daniel Steinberg, Nadejda Victor, Shelley Wenzel, John Weyant, Ryan Wiser, Mei Yuan, and Alicia Zhao; https://www.rff.org/publications/journal-articles/emissions-and-energy-impacts-of-the-inflation-reduction-act/ “Beyond Clean Energy: The Financial Incidence and Health Effects of the IRA” by Nicholas Roy, Maya Domeshek, Dallas Burtraw, Karen Palmer, Kevin Rennert, Jhih-Shyang Shih, and Seth Villanueva; https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/beyond-clean-energy-the-financial-incidence-and-health-effects-of-the-ira/ “The 45V Hydrogen Tax Credit: Considerations for US Treasury Guidance” RFF Live event; https://www.rff.org/events/rff-live/the-45v-hydrogen-tax-credit-considerations-for-us-treasury-guidance/ “After the Flood” by Lydia Barnett; https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/11510/after-flood “Field Trip” podcast; https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/field-trip/

Electrifying Large Vehicles, with Nafisa Lohawala Jul 31, 2023

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In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Nafisa Lohawala, a fellow at Resources for the Future who researches the effects of government policies on the transportation sector. Lohawala discusses the findings of a recent report that explores efforts to electrify medium- and heavy-duty vehicle fleets, the opportunities and challenges of electrification as a pathway toward lower transportation-sector emissions, and policies that could aid electrification. References and recommendations: “Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Electrification: Challenges, Policy Solutions, and Open Research Questions” by Beia Spiller, Nafisa Lohawala, and Emma DeAngeli; https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/medium-and-heavy-duty-vehicle-electrification-challenges-policy-solutions-and-open-research-questions/ Special series on the Common Resources blog: Electrifying Large Vehicles by Emma DeAngeli, Nafisa Lohawala, and Beia Spiller; https://www.resources.org/special-series-electrifying-large-vehicles/ “The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect” by Judea Pearl and Dana Mackenzie; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/judea-pearl/the-book-of-why/9780465097616/

Including Every Voice in Solar Geoengineering, with Shuchi Talati Jul 24, 2023

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In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Shuchi Talati, founder and executive director of the Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering, about the potential for solar geoengineering as a tool to combat climate change. Talati discusses the science behind solar geoengineering, democratic and inclusive processes for engaging all nations in deliberation over the use of solar geoengineering, and public perception of the technology. References and recommendations: The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering; https://sgdeliberation.org/ “An Inconvenient Truth” film; https://participant.com/film/inconvenient-truth Episode 4 (“2059: Face of God”) and Episode 5 (“2059 Part II: Nightbirds”) of “Extrapolations” TV show; https://tv.apple.com/us/show/extrapolations/umc.cmc.4uoqxmxlnipm9zsc88bkjyjx4 “Climate Crisis Is on Track to Push One-Third of Humanity Out of Its Most Livable Environment” by Abrahm Lustgarten; https://www.propublica.org/article/climate-crisis-niche-migration-environment-population

A Whirlwind Tour of Global Carbon Markets, with Stefano De Clara Jul 17, 2023

Show notes

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Stefano De Clara, head of secretariat at the International Carbon Action Partnership, about the development of carbon markets around the world. Carbon markets, which also are known as “emissions trading systems,” are market-based policies that set a cap on total emissions and issue a limited number of emissions permits that emitters then can trade within the market. De Clara discusses carbon markets in Europe, China, India, Nigeria, and the United States; the growth of voluntary carbon markets; and policy developments to watch in the near future. References and recommendations: “Emissions Trading Worldwide: 2023 International Carbon Action Partnership Status Report” from the International Carbon Action Partnership; https://icapcarbonaction.com/en/publications/emissions-trading-worldwide-2023-icap-status-report “The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations” by Daniel Yergin; https://www.danielyergin.com/books/thenewmap “The Ministry for the Future” by Kim Stanley Robinson; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kim-stanley-robinson/the-ministry-for-the-future/9780316300162/ “Facing Fears and Imagining Innovation for Climate Change, with Kim Stanley Robinson; https://www.resources.org/resources-radio/facing-fears-and-imagining-innovation-for-climate-change-with-kim-stanley-robinson/

The Energy Transition in Germany, with Michael Pahle Jul 11, 2023

Show notes

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Michael Pahle, head of the Climate and Energy Policy Working Group at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, about the clean energy transition in Germany. Pahle discusses the history of Germany’s energy transition, the nation’s current decarbonization goals, the relationship between national climate policy and European climate policy, and lessons from decades of German energy policy. References and recommendations: “The Tragedy of Stopping Climate Change” by Jessi Jezewska Stevens; https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/11/09/climate-change-narratives-sense-of-an-ending/

The Impacts of Coal’s Decline in West Virginia, with Jamie Van Nostrand Jul 03, 2023

Show notes

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Jamie Van Nostrand, former director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at West Virginia University and current chair of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. Van Nostrand discusses how the state government in West Virginia historically has supported and promoted the coal industry, how the state’s support of coal has affected electricity prices for West Virginia residents, and how recent policies could influence the future of energy in West Virginia. References and recommendations: “The Coal Trap: How West Virginia Was Left Behind in the Clean Energy Revolution” by James M. Van Nostrand; https://www.thecoaltrap.com “What Is An ‘Energy Community’? Alternative Approaches for Geographically Targeted Energy Policy” by Daniel Raimi and Sophie Pesek; https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/what-is-an-energy-community-alternative-approaches-for-geographically-targeted-energy-policy/ Sixth Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/

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