Energy Policy Now

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.---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.  ---Related ContentPennsylvania’s ZEC Bill Reveal. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/reconciling-subsidized-resourcesA Market for Primary Frequency Response? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/market-primary-frequency-responseReconciling Subsidized Resources In PJM’s Competitive Electricity Markets  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/reconciling-subsidized-resourcesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.---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 ContentThe Long Goodbye: Why Some Nations Can’t Kick the Coal Habithttps://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/long-goodbyeClimate Goes Mainstream https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/02/19/climate-goes-mainstreamDispelling a National Emergency Declaration on Climate https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/02/06/dispelling-national-emergency-declaration-climateGeopolitics of the Global Energy Transition. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/01/23/geopolitics-global-energy-transitionSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.---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 ContentTargeting 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-theorySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The current energy transition is fraught with economic and social implications, not to mention abundant political squabbles.  An economist looks at the past 200 years of global energy history and finds that difficult transitions are nothing new.---The world faces an urgent need to transform energy systems toward cleaner, renewable fuels.  Yet as challenging as the current energy transformation is, it’s worth noting that we’ve been through such momentous changes before. Over 250 years ago in England, coal fueled the start of the industrial revolution, opening the way to new economic growth and technological development that spread to many parts of the world.  In this episode an economist explores the extent to which energy has come to underpin modern economies, and how energy resources of all types have become inseparable from our everyday lives.  Jesús Fernández-Villaverdeis a professor of economics at the University of Pennsylvania.  He is also author of an upcoming book on global economic history, with a major focus on the role of energy in economic development.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Norway is pursuing a future rich in fossil energy and climate solutions. Can its oil company, Equinor, reconcile these priorities and continue to reliably finance the country’s expansive social welfare system? Equinor’s Clean Energy Chief weighs in.---Much has been made of Norway’s efforts to address climate change.  The country has set the goal of going carbon neutral by the middle of the century, and generates nearly all of its electricity from hydropower. Norway’s ambitious environmental policies have even transformed the country’s car market, where EVs now account for half of new car sales.Yet the country remains economically dependent on its fossil fuel industry, which provides key revenue for the government and its generous social welfare programs.Much of Norway’s fossil fuel wealth comes from a single company, state-controlled Equinor, which has produced oil and gas from North Sea wells for half a century, and is now diversifying beyond fossil fuels. Equinor opened the world’s first commercial floating offshore wind farm in 2017, and is developing a carbon capture and storage business. Stephen Bull, Equinor’s Senior Vice President for Wind and Low Carbon Development, discusses Equinor’s efforts beyond fossil fuels and how the Norwegian government, which is environmentally progressive yet dependent on oil wealth, is driving the company. He also talks about the inherent conflict of interest when a fossil fuel company pursues non-fossil energy alternatives.Stephen Bull, Senior Vice President for Wind and Low Carbon Development at Equinor, and Chairman of RenewableUK, a renewable energy trade association.Related ContentTargeting Net Zero Emissions https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/targeting-net-zero-emissionsU.S. Offshore Wind Power https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/us-offshore-wind-powerU.S. Offshore Wind Industry Arrives (Podcast) https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/us-offshore-wind-industry-arrivesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bipartisan carbon pricing proposals have started to appear at the national level, which begs a question: what’s the right price for carbon? An advisor to California and RGGI carbon markets offers insights.---Over the past two years the idea of putting a price on carbon has gathered new and often unexpected support from across the political spectrum. In 2017 a group of former Republican leaders offered up a proposal for a national carbon tax. This January, top economists including all of the living former Federal Reserve Chairs pledged their support for such a plan on the Op Ed page of the Wall Street Journal.   While Congress has remained polarized, carbon pricing proposals have recently emerged from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. And oil companies such as Exxon and Shell now publicly  support a carbon price. Guest Dallas Burtraw, an advisor to carbon cap and trade programs in California and the Eastern U.S., discusses one of the most challenging and controversial aspects facing any effort to price carbon: getting the carbon price right. When done correctly, carbon pricing can speed greenhouse emissions reductions and fuel economic growth. Yet carbon cap and trade markets, which have been operating for over a decade in Europe and the US, have at times struggled with pricing, highlight the challenges likely to face future carbon pricing efforts. Dallas Burtraw is Chair of California’s Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee and a senior fellow with Resources for the Future. He is also a visiting scholar at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.  Related Content:The Inevitable Policy Response Theory  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/10/03/inevitable-policy-response-theory Climate Policy Won’t Work Without Considering Labor. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/09/17/climate-policy-wont-work-without-considering-labor Lessons from a Decade of Cap & Trade  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/lessons-decade-cap-trade See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

China is aggressively expanding its electric vehicle industry, with the aim of becoming a leader in the global automotive market.---China produces as many electric vehicles as the rest of the world combined, the result of aggressive government policies to boost EV demand and manufacturing.The push to electrify is part of China’s broader effort to control air pollution in its cities, where car ownership has risen dramatically.  In a concerted effort, the government has invested heavily in the development of EV technologies, established sales quotas, and offered incentives to make EVs affordable.  Today, China has also become the world’s dominant maker of EV batteries, the most valuable component in any electric car, and its global automotive ambitions have grown.  John Paul MacDuffie of the Wharton School of Business takes a closer look at the ambitious environmental and industrial policies that have enabled the growth of China’s electric vehicle industry.  He also discusses how China’s EV manufacturing scale, rooted in environmental policies, might upend traditional hierarchies in the global automotive industry.John Paul MacDuffie is Professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and Director of the Program on Vehicle and Mobility Innovation, a global automotive research consortium.Related Content:EVs Mean Growth for These Businesseshttps://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/11/02/evs-mean-growth-these-businesses The Case for Electrifying California’s Cars  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2019/01/23/case-electrifying-californias-carsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Congress has played down climate change while demanding that the Pentagon tackle climate-related security risks. A former DoD environmental lawyer looks at military efforts to address climate, and political mine fields along the way.---When one thinks of major security threats to the United States it’s pretty standard to conjure up images of hostile foreign armies or terrorist groups. Yet over the past decade, the U.S. Department of Defense has increasingly recognized climate change as a source of global political instability, with the potential to displace populations and give rise to armed conflict.Climate change also challenges the military’s preparedness, as weather extremes, wildfires and flooding threaten military bases here and abroad. In January, the Defense Department released a report that found that two-thirds of the critical military installations it surveyed have suffered damage or operational disruptions linked to climate risks.Yet, while the Pentagon has increasingly taken climate into account, in public it has been relatively quiet on the issue under a president and Congress that have largely opposed climate action.Guest Mark Nevitt, a Penn Law lecturer and former U.S. Navy pilot and attorney who served as the Department of Defense regional environmental counsel in Norfolk, Virginia, discusses the risks that climate change poses to military installations, and the touchy intersection of climate politics and national security.Related Content Texas Sea Wall Shows Inadequate Disclosure on Climate Riskhttps://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/08/28/texas-sea-wall-shows-inadequate-disclosure-climate-riskBeating the Authoritarian Playbook on Climate Change. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/08/15/beating-authoritarian-playbook-climate-changeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mankind’s impact on Earth extends well beyond climate change to the broader biosphere, where the conditions that nurtured the development of modern humans are at risk of being lost in a new epoch known as the Anthropocene.---Climate change makes headline news, but mankind's changes to planet Earth go well beyond rising temperatures. In this episode of Energy Policy Now prominent earth system scientist Will Steffen explores the dawn of a new geologic epoch, the Anthropocene, where the systems of sea, land, and air will be unlike those experienced in human history.The term Anthropocene, coined less than two decades ago, emphasizes the rising influence of humans on earth system processes, and our emerging role as the dominant force shaping Earth’s biologic and geologic systems. Steffen looks at the political and economic systems that have accelerated man’s impact on Earth since the middle of the 20th century, and at the role of technology and policy in slowing global change.Will Steffen is emeritus professor at the Australian National University, former executive director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, and a former member of the Australian government’s Climate Commission.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A group of investors that manages $80 trillion in assets forecasts bold policy action on climate by the mid-2020s. What will such action mean for capital markets and economies?---Principles for Responsible Investment, a London-based organization focused on socially responsible investment, has introduced a dramatic vision of a global response to climate change. PRI, which is supported by the United Nations and a consortium of global investors, believes that by the middle of the next decade national governments will be compelled to take major policy actions to address climate change.The shift, which PRI calls the Inevitable Policy Response, will fundamentally reorient the global economy and drive investment away from industries that are dependent on fossil fuels, and toward less carbon intensive activities. The policy shift will come quickly, disrupting financial markets, and overriding the assumption that industry and economies will have time to gradually adapt to the pricing of climate risks.Nathan Fabian, Chief Responsible Investment Officer with PRI, discusses the drivers, timing and economic impacts of an expected shift in climate policy.Nathan Fabian is Chief Responsible Investment Officer with Principles for Responsible Investment in London, UK.Related ContentThe Inevitable Policy Response Theory  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/10/03/inevitable-policy-response-theoryClimate Policy Won’t Work Without Considering Labor https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/09/17/climate-policy-wont-work-without-considering-laborTexas Sea Wall Shows Inadequate Disclosure on Climate Risk https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/08/28/texas-sea-wall-shows-inadequate-disclosure-climate-riskSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.