Resources Radio - Resources for the Future

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Leading by Example: Launching New Federal Building Performance Standards, with Veronique Bugnion Jul 26, 2021

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In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes speaks to Veronique Bugnion, a scientist, entrepreneur, and energy industry leader. Bugnion—a climate physicist by training who spent years in the private sector, focusing on energy and carbon markets—cofounded and serves as the CEO of ClearlyEnergy, which provides innovative solutions that help reduce emissions from buildings. Hayes and Bugnion discuss federal building performance standards—a particularly relevant topic, given that the Biden administration announced on May 17 that the Council on Environmental Quality will lead an effort to develop performance standards for federal buildings. Bugnion talks about how such standards could be designed, what impact they’re likely to have, and what the federal government can learn from other jurisdictions that have already implemented such standards. References and recommendations: “Fact Sheet: Biden Administration Accelerates Efforts to Create Jobs Making American Buildings More Affordable, Cleaner, and Resilient” via the White House; https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/05/17/fact-sheet-biden-administration-accelerates-efforts-to-create-jobs-making-american-buildings-more-affordable-cleaner-and-resilient/ “Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World” by Andrea Pitzer; https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Icebound/Andrea-Pitzer/9781982113346

Exploring the Future of Space Governance, with Timiebi Aganaba Jul 19, 2021

Show notes

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Timiebi Aganaba, an assistant professor at Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation and Society. Aganaba has worked on a fascinating array of space issues on multiple continents, and she speaks about that work and its implications in this extremely wide-ranging conversation. Aganaba discusses the broad notions of space and society; the history, current status, and future of space governance; the Biden administration’s approach to space policy; Richard Branson; and afro-futurist and African-futurist music and art. References and recommendations: Timiebi Aganaba at Arizona State University; https://sustainability-innovation.asu.edu/person/timiebi-aganaba/ “Losing the Sky” by Andy Lawrence; https://andyxlastro.me/losing-the-sky/ “Earthrise” photograph by William Anders; https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/apollo-8-earthrise Anthony Braxton; https://tricentricfoundation.org/ Sun Ra; http://www.sunraarkestra.com/ Mamman Sani; https://sahelsounds.com/artists/mamman-sani/

It Takes a Village: Public Engagement in Invasive Species Detection, with Rebecca Epanchin-Niell Jul 12, 2021

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In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Rebecca Epanchin-Niell, a senior fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF). Epanchin-Niell’s research focuses on ecosystem management—in particular, understanding how human behavior affects ecological resources and identifying strategies to improve ecosystem management. Much of her work has focused on invasive species, including strategies to control established invaders, improved monitoring, and cooperative management. Hayes and Epanchin-Niell discuss a new paper that Epanchin-Niell coauthored—with RFF colleagues Alexandra Thompson and Tyler Treakle—about public contributions to the early detection of new invasive pests, the critical role of citizens in identifying emerging threats from invasive species, and the quantification of public contributions to pest detection. References and recommendations: “Hidden Brain” podcast; https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain The Endangereds by Philippe Cousteau and Austin Aslan; https://www.harpercollins.com/pages/childrens-the-endangereds

Handling Heat and Health as Climate Changes, with Noah Scovronick Jul 05, 2021

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In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Noah Scovronick, an assistant professor at Emory University who coauthored a recent journal article that estimates the effects of climate change on heat-related human mortality over the past three decades. The research covers dozens of countries and assesses how increased moderate and extreme heat has affected human health on every populated continent. Scovronick and Raimi discuss the ways people can adapt to these risks and how the potential health benefits of fewer cold days compare to increased risks from more hot days. References and recommendations: “The burden of heat-related mortality attributable to recent human-induced climate change” by A. M. Vicedo-Cabrera, N. Scovronick, F. Sera, D. Royé, R. Schneider, A. Tobias, C. Astrom, Y. Guo, Y. Honda, D. M. Hondula, R. Abrutzky, S. Tong, M. de Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coelho, P. H. Nascimento Saldiva, E. Lavigne, P. Matus Correa, N. Valdes Ortega, H. Kan, S. Osorio, J. Kyselý, A. Urban, H. Orru, E. Indermitte, J. J. K. Jaakkola, N. Ryti, M. Pascal, A. Schneider, K. Katsouyanni, E. Samoli, F. Mayvaneh, A. Entezari, P. Goodman, A. Zeka, P. Michelozzi, F. de’Donato, M. Hashizume, B. Alahmad, M. Hurtado Diaz, C. De La Cruz Valencia, A. Overcenco, D. Houthuijs, C. Ameling, S. Rao, F. Di Ruscio, G. Carrasco-Escobar, X. Seposo, S. Silva, J. Madureira, I. H. Holobaca, S. Fratianni, F. Acquaotta, H. Kim, W. Lee, C. Iniguez, B. Forsberg, M. S. Ragettli, Y. L. L. Guo, B. Y. Chen, S. Li, B. Armstrong, A. Aleman, A. Zanobetti, J. Schwartz, T. N. Dang, D. V. Dung, N. Gillett, A. Haines, M. Mengel, V. Huber & A. Gasparrini; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01058-x “Floodlines” podcast; https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/floodlines/ “Traces of Texas” on Twitter; https://twitter.com/TracesofTexas

Integrating the Real World into Climate Policy Models, with Wei Peng Jun 28, 2021

Show notes

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Wei Peng, an assistant professor at Penn State University. Peng recently coauthored a paper in the journal “Nature” that offers recommendations for how to make integrated assessment models more useful in the design of climate policy. Peng discusses how these climate policy models can better represent the real world—especially political dynamics—to better inform policymakers at the local, national, and international scale. References and recommendations: “Climate policy models need to get real about people—here’s how” by Wei Peng, Gokul Iyer, Valentina Bosetti, Vaibhav Chaturvedi, James Edmonds, Allen A. Fawcett, Stéphane Hallegatte, David G. Victor, Detlef van Vuuren, and John Weyant; https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01500-2 “Making Climate Policy Work” by Danny Cullenward and David G. Victor; https://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509541799 “Global Energy Outlook 2021: Pathways from Paris” by Richard Newell, Daniel Raimi, Seth Villanueva, and Brian Prest; https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/global-energy-outlook-2021-pathways-from-paris/ RFF’s Global Energy Outlook interactive data tool; https://www.rff.org/geo/

Do Carbon Taxes Hurt the Economy?, with Gilbert Metcalf Jun 20, 2021

Show notes

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Gilbert Metcalf, who is a professor at Tufts University and a university fellow at Resources for the Future. Metcalf recently published a working paper with coauthor Alan Finkelstein Shapiro about the potential effects of a carbon tax on the US economy—specifically, a carbon tax that’s designed to meet the US climate target under the Paris Agreement. In the paper, Metcalf and Finkelstein Shapiro estimate the effects of a carbon tax not just on overall GDP, but also on employment, labor force participation, wages, and companies’ decisions about investing in clean energy technologies. Raimi and Metcalf discuss the modeling efforts that were involved, the surprising results, and the implications for policymakers. References and recommendations: “The Macroeconomic Effects of a Carbon Tax to Meet the US Paris Agreement Target: The Role of Firm Creation and Technology Adoption” by Alan Finkelstein Shapiro and Gilbert Metcalf; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/the-macroeconomic-effects-of-a-carbon-tax-to-meet-the-us-paris-agreement-target/ The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro; https://www.robertcaro.com/the-books/the-power-broker/ Chicago Architecture Foundation Center River Cruise; https://www.cruisechicago.com/tours/architecture

The Dollar Value of Energy Innovation, with Daniel Shawhan Jun 14, 2021

Show notes

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Resources for the Future (RFF) Fellow Daniel Shawhan about a new working paper that he and several RFF coauthors recently published, about the value of advanced energy funding. The study assesses how government funding for research, development, and demonstration of emerging clean energy technologies can reduce the costs of deploying those technologies in the future. The authors include in their analysis advanced nuclear energy, geothermal energy, carbon capture and storage, electricity storage, and direct air capture of carbon dioxide. Shawhan and his team also estimate how bringing down these costs can benefit society by reducing air pollution, electricity bills, and more. References and recommendations: “The Value of Advanced Energy Funding: Projected Effects of Proposed US Funding for Advanced Energy Technologies” working paper by Daniel Shawhan, Kathryne Cleary, Christoph Funke, and Steven Witkin; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/projected-effects-proposed-us-funding-advanced-energy-technologies/ “The Value of Advanced Energy Funding: Projected Effects of Proposed US Funding for Advanced Energy Technologies” issue brief by Daniel Shawhan, Kathryne Cleary, Christoph Funke, and Steven Witkin; https://www.rff.org/publications/issue-briefs/projected-effects-of-proposed-funding-for-advanced-energy-technologies/ “Benefits of Energy Technology Innovation Part 2: Economy-Wide Direct Air Capture Modeling Results” by Marc Hafstead; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/benefits-energy-technology-innovation-economy-wide-direct-air-capture/ “Why Does Disaster Aid Often Favor White People?” by Christopher Flavelle; https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/climate/FEMA-race-climate.html TextAloud text-to-speech software; https://nextup.com/TextAloud/index.html

Experiments in Sustainable Development, with Kelsey Jack Jun 06, 2021

Show notes

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Kelsey Jack, associate professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara; director of the Poverty Alleviation Group at UC Santa Barbara’s Environmental Market Solutions Lab; and codirector of the King Climate Action Initiative at the Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jack works at the intersection of environmental economics and international development, studying how environmental issues shape economic development—and vice versa—in developing nations. She discusses some of the experiments she’s done on electricity payments and ecosystem service provision in different parts of the world, and she suggests how her research can inform policymaking on sustainable economic development. References and recommendations: “Good Economics for Hard Times” by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo; https://www.goodeconomicsforhardtimes.com/ “Ministry for the Future” by Kim Stanley Robinson; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kim-stanley-robinson/the-ministry-for-the-future/9780316300162/

The Lowdown on High Power Prices, with Meredith Fowlie May 30, 2021

Show notes

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Meredith Fowlie, an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and a faculty director of the Energy Institute at Haas. Fowlie and coauthors recently published a working paper on the causes and implications of high electricity prices in the state of California. These high prices burden low-income households and pose a hurdle to reducing emissions through the electrification of transportation, heating, and other sectors. In today’s episode, Fowlie describes proposals for reforming electricity pricing in California in ways that address this complex and evolving challenge. References and recommendations: “Designing Electricity Rates for an Equitable Energy Transition” by Severin Borenstein, Meredith Fowlie, and James Sallee; https://haas.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/WP314.pdf “Competitors to lithium-ion batteries in the grid storage market” episode of the Voltscast podcast with David Roberts; https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/competitors-to-lithium-ion-batteries-in-grid-storage/id1548554104?i=1000521809537 “Timber Wars” podcast from Oregon Public Broadcasting; https://www.opb.org/show/timberwars/ “Resources Radio” podcast from Resources for the Future; https://www.resources.org/resources-radio/ “Why Animals Don’t Get Lost” by Kathryn Schulz; https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/05/why-animals-dont-get-lost

Who’s a Big Fan of Offshore Wind? US Challenges and Opportunities, with Jeremy Firestone May 23, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Jeremy Firestone, a wind energy specialist, professor, and director of the Center for Research in Wind at the University of Delaware. For many years, Firestone has explored people’s attitudes and economic preferences related to wind power development. He and coauthors recently published new research about the intersection of offshore wind development and coastal recreation in the journal “Energy Research & Social Science,” a study that Firestone and Hayes discuss; they also talk more broadly about the opportunities and challenges associated with increasing offshore wind development in the United States. References and recommendations: “Uncharted waters: Exploring coastal recreation impacts, coping behaviors, and attitudes towards offshore wind energy development in the United States” by Michael D. Ferguson, Darrick Evensen, Lauren A. Ferguson, David Bidwell, Jeremy Firestone, Tasha L. Dooley, and Clayton R. Mitchell; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629621001225 “Wind energy: A human challenge” by Jeremy Firestone; https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6470/1206.1 “Expert elicitation survey predicts 37% to 49% declines in wind energy costs by 2050” by Ryan Wiser, Joseph Rand, Joachim Seel, Philipp Beiter, Erin Baker, Eric Lantz, and Patrick Gilman; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-021-00810-z “The Economic Costs of NIMBYism: Evidence from Renewable Energy Projects” by Stephen Jarvis; https://haas.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/WP311.pdf “Carbon policy and the emissions implications of electric vehicles” by Kenneth Gillingham, Marten Ovaere, and Stephanie M. Weber; https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w28620/w28620.pdf “Coffeeland: One Man’s Dark Empire and the Making of Our Favorite Drug” by Augustine Sedgewick; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316748/coffeeland-by-augustine-sedgewick/

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