Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse Jenkins

What 2024 Will Mean for Clean Energy — in Megatons

8 snips

Sep 4, 2024

Sonia Aggarwal, CEO of Energy Innovation and former climate policy advisor under President Biden, discusses the pivotal role of the 2024 election on U.S. emissions. She highlights how different political outcomes could drastically alter climate trajectories. The conversation delves into impactful decarbonization strategies, the transformation of steel production, and the economic ramifications of clean energy policies. Aggarwal emphasizes the urgency of aggressive actions to meet 2030 climate goals and the game-changing potential of solar energy innovations.

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Intro

00:00 • 4min

Navigating Climate Futures: Election Impacts

03:41 • 17min

Transforming Steel Production: Emission Reductions and Job Preservation

20:56 • 4min

Challenges in Clean Energy Targets

25:00 • 6min

Impact of Policies on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Economic Decision-Making

31:09 • 3min

Economic Impact of Project 2025

33:56 • 11min

The Irreversible Momentum of Solar Energy Transition

44:45 • 3min

Transforming Energy and Transportation in Emerging Economies

47:23 • 6min

You don’t need us to say it: The 2024 election will have enormous stakes for America’s climate policy and the planet’s climate. But how well can we quantify those stakes? What would a Trump presidency — or a Harris presidency, for that matter — really mean for the country’s emissions trajectory?

On this week’s episode of Shift Key, Jesse and Rob speak with Sonia Aggarwal, the chief executive officer of Energy Innovation, a climate policy think tank that operates across North America, Europe, and Asia. She was previously special assistant to the president for climate policy, innovation, and deployment under President Joe Biden, and she co-chaired the Biden administration’s Climate Innovation Working Group. She and Jesse — another top-notch modeler — dive into what the data can and can’t tell us about the election and how to think about energy system models in the first place. Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap, and Jesse Jenkins, a professor of energy systems engineering at Princeton University.

Mentioned:

The REPEAT Project’s annual report on U.S. emissions pathways

Energy Innovation’s report: “The Second Half of the Decisive Decade”

Jesse’s upshift; Rob’s upshift.

This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by …

Watershed’s climate data engine helps companies measure and reduce their emissions, turning the data they already have into an audit-ready carbon footprint backed by the latest climate science. Get the sustainability data you need in weeks, not months. Learn more at watershed.com.

As a global leader in PV and ESS solutions, Sungrow invests heavily in research and development, constantly pushing the boundaries of solar and battery inverter technology. Discover why Sungrow is the essential component of the clean energy transition by visiting sungrowpower.com.

Antenna Group helps you connect with customers, policymakers, investors, and strategic partners to influence markets and accelerate adoption. Visit antennagroup.com to learn more.

Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow.

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