Energy Policy Now

Vox writer David Roberts weighs in on the media’s role in shaping views on energy and the environment.---Vox Media’s David Roberts is one of the nation’s top energy and environmental journalists, and now also a Senior Fellow with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. In this episode of Energy Policy Now, Roberts discusses the media’s coverage of the politicized issues of energy and climate and the challenge of being heard in a noisy and splintered media environment.  He also talks about what it’s like to live and breathe energy from dawn to dusk (and beyond).David Roberts is an energy and environmental writer with Vox, and a senior fellow with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.Related ContentClimate Policy Won’t Work Without Considering Labor  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/09/17/climate-policy-wont-work-without-considering-laborCalifornia: The Climate Leadership We Need https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/09/13/california-climate-leadership-we-needThe Climate Under Kavanaugh. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/09/11/climate-under-kavanaughSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Piyush Goyal, India’s minister of railways and coal and past minister of renewable energy, discusses his country’s efforts to provide universal electricity access while limiting power sector pollution and climate impact.---India is home to the world’s most ambitious electrification effort. By the spring of 2019, India’s government aims to connect the 30 million rural Indian homes that remain without power to the electric grid, as part of its broader effort to raise living standards and promote economic development. By 2030, India’s demand for electricity will triple as its cities and middle class grow. New demand for electricity will be met by a mix of new renewable generation and coal-fired power. Emissions will rise as a result, highlighting the challenge India’s government faces in addressing air pollution and climate impacts at the same time it strives to eliminate energy poverty.In this episode of Energy Policy Now, Piyush Goyal, India’s minister of railways, coal, and corporate affairs, discusses the potentially conflicting aims of providing universal electricity access and addressing environmental challenges. Until 2017, Goyal was minister of power, coal, new and renewable energy.Piyush Goyal has been selected as the 2018 recipient of the Kleinman Center’s annual Carnot Prize in recognition of his contributions to energy policy. He will officially receive the prize in New Delhi.Related ContentThis Year’s Carnot Prize Honors Courage Amidst Complexity https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/07/30/years-carnot-prize-honors-courage-amidst-complexityIndia’s Now or Never Climate Opportunity https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/indias-now-or-never-climate-opportunityNegative Emissions Won’t Rescue Us From Climate Change https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/11/08/negative-emissions-wont-rescue-us-climate-changeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Washington relaxes standards governing methane leaks, oil and gas industry leaders pledge to limit emissions. An economist and an environmental advocate examine the impact of methane leaks and the credibility of industry efforts to contain them.---In September, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior pushed forward two separate regulations that will, in effect, hold oil and gas companies less accountable for methane gas emissions into the atmosphere. The new rules ease requirements that energy companies detect and repair methane leaks from wells and pipelines. The Interior rule, which has gone into effect, and the EPA rule, which is now open for 60-days of public comment, are part of a series of Trump administration efforts to undo methane regulations that the same agencies had written during the Obama administration.The agencies acknowledge that the looser regulations will have a negative climate impact. Methane is a greenhouse gas that can be 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Yet the current administration maintains that the Obama-era rules would place undue economic burden on energy companies, while many energy companies say that they’re already acting to reduce emissions, and the stricter rules are duplicative.Guests Catherine Hausman, assistant professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, and Ben Ratner of the Environmental Defense Fund, discuss the economic and environmental costs of methane emissions, and how estimates of these costs tend to vary widely. Hausman and Ratner also discuss why methane emissions are so hard to detect, explore initiatives to both speed and lower the cost of containing leaks, and look at whether industry’s voluntary efforts to reduce emissions are enough.Catherine Hausman is a visiting scholar at the Kleinman Center, and an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, where she focuses on environmental and energy economics.Ben Ratner is a Senior Director at the Environmental Defense Fund, based in Washington DC, where he focuses on collaborating with businesses on cleaner energy.Related ContentThe Hubbub About Gas Storage Levels https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/10/15/hubbub-about-gas-storage-levelsFighting Climate Change and the Social Cost of Carbonhttps://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/fighting-climate-change-and-social-cost-carbonHow a Deepening Natural Gas Market Affects Europe https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/09/06/how-deepening-natural-gas-market-affects-europeCarbon Capture’s Clean Coal Ambition  https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/carbon-captures-clean-coal-ambitionSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

IPCC lead climate author Oliver Geden talks about how politicians view the IPCC’s 1.5 degree report, and implications for climate action.---On October 8ththe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its report on Global Warming of 1.5 degrees. The report describes expected environmental, economic and social impacts brought by 1.5 degrees Celsius of climate warming, and the actions that need to be taken on a global scale to limit warming to that level.The report’s timing is crucial, as it comes ahead of this December’s global climate meeting in Katowice, Poland, where nations that signed onto the Paris Climate Accord will establish the rules that will guide them in reaching their climate commitments. The IPCC’s report serves as a guide to how much countries might be able to limiting warming. Yet at the same time, the report highlights the unprecedented effort that would be required to hold to the 1.5 degree target.Oliver Geden, a lead author of the IPCC’s next major report on climate change, discusses the implications of the IPCC report for policymakers and for the upcoming UN Climate Summit.Oliver Geden is Head of the Europe Research Division at the German Institute for International Security Affairs in Berlin, which advises the German government and European Union on international policy issues. He is also a recent visiting scholar at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. Geden is a lead author the IPCC’s 6thAssessment Report on climate, due in 2022.Related ContentClimate Policy Won’t Work Without Considering Labor https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/09/17/climate-policy-wont-work-without-considering-laborPower Over the Twenty-First Century Electric Grid https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/power-over-twenty-first-century-electric-gridComparative Pathways Interim Report https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/comparative-pathways-interim-reportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As natural gas has grown in importance as a fuel for electricity generation, have gas pipelines become the electric grid’s Achilles heel? A cybersecurity expert discusses the risk posed by the grid’s growing dependence on gas. --- Natural Gas fuels a third of the nation’s electricity generation, and the strong economics of natural gas are likely to cause its use to widen its use in years to come. Yet the growing reliance on natural gas may increase the risk of electricity supply disruption should pipelines fail due to severe weather, or physical and cyber attacks. States, federal government and electricity market operators are well aware of this vulnerability, but differ in how immediate they view threats to gas networks to be, and whether they believe regulators should dictate preventive action. Kleinman Center Senior Fellow and grid cybersecurity expert Bill Hederman talks about the growing dependence of the electric grid on natural gas, and the implications of gas pipeline vulnerability to the reliability and resilience of the electric grid. Listen to the companion podcast episode on state and federal action to address cyber risk, Grid Resilience in the Cyber Age. Bill Hederman is a Senior Fellow with the Kleinman Center and founder of the Office of Market Oversight and Investigations at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Related Content Grid Resilience in the Cyber Age: https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/grid-resilience-cyber-age New FERC Rule Grows Clean Energy’s Role in Grid Resilience https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/02/21/new-ferc-rule-grows-clean-energys-role-grid-resilience Distributed Energy’s Cyber Risk https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/distributed-energy’s-cyber-riskSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can the U.S. electric grid remain resilient as the threat of cyber and physical attack rises? Pennsylvania PUC Chair Gladys Brown talks about state and federal efforts to safeguard the electric power system. --- The electricity industry has taken advantage of network communications technologies to deliver power more efficiently and reliably. But as information technology becomes interwoven into the electricity system, the industry has also become more vulnerable to cyber attack. In recent years, hackers have gained access to utility customer information and to energy control systems, and may ultimately threaten to disrupt power delivery itself. Gladys Brown, Chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and head of the Critical Infrastructure Committee at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), talks about cyber risk and electric grid resilience. She also looks at current efforts involving state and federal regulators, and agencies such as the Department of Homeland security, to ensure electricity supply as cyber risks proliferate. Gladys Brown is Chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. She also leads the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioner’s Critical Infrastructure Committee, a forum where state utility commissioners examine grid security risks and best practices. Related Content New FERC Rule Grows Clean Energy’s Role in Grid Resilience https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/02/21/new-ferc-rule-grows-clean-energys-role-grid-resilience Distributed Energy’s Cyber Risk https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/energy-policy-now/distributed-energy’s-cyber-riskSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can policymakers effectively prepare for an uncertain future climate? The Kleinman Center’s Mark Alan Hughes discusses emerging decision models for climate mitigation and adaptation. --- Policymakers increasingly face the challenge of deciding on pathways to mitigate and address the impacts of climate change, yet no clear view exists into the impacts of rising temperatures, changing weather patterns, and the timing of sea level rise. And, as we enter unprecedented climate territory, past climate patterns offer an ever less reliable view of the future. As a result, leaders in government and industry can be wary of making bold investments necessary to address a changing climate. Mark Alan Hughes, founding Faculty Director of the Kleinman Center, discusses an emerging area of decision science that aims to provide decision makers with tools that may help them to better account for climate uncertainty, potentially freeing them to make the investments needed to transform energy systems and address climate impacts. Mark Alan Hughes is founding Faculty Director of the Kleinman Center at Penn. Mark leads the center’s Pathways Project, which seeks practical solutions to the challenge of decision making under deep uncertainty (DMDU). Related Content Comparative Pathways Interim Report https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/comparative-pathways-interim-reportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can EPA’s Clean Power Plan replacement survive the courts? An architect of the Clean Power Plan weighs in. --- In August the Environmental Protection Agency revealed its replacement for the Clean Power Plan, the Obama-era regulation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electric power industry. The replacement plan, championed by current EPA acting administrator Andrew Wheeler with backing from President Trump, does away with broad carbon emissions reduction targets for the electricity industry. Instead, the proposed regulation, called the Affordable Clean Energy Rule, or ACE, would require only that existing coal plants become more energy efficient. The result is likely to be modest reductions in carbon emissions, at best, from the electricity sector, while the lives of some coal plants could be extended. Joseph Goffman, a principle architect of the (original) Clean Power Plan during the Obama Administration, weighs in on the litany of legal challenges to ACE that are sure to come, and whether the EPA in fact has the legal latitude to weaken the very carbon dioxide standards that it had deemed essential to limiting climate change, and protecting human health, just a few years ago. Joe also discusses legal challenges facing the EPA’s current, parallel effort to relax automotive emission standards. Joseph Goffman is Executive Director of the Environmental Law Program at Harvard University. From 2009 to 2017, he served as Senior Legal Counsel in the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. Related Content: Not an ACE for Coal: https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/08/22/not-ace-coal Reimagining Pennsylvania’s Coal Communities: https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/reimagining-pennsylvanias-coal-communitiesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a decade of false starts, the U.S. offshore wind industry is poised for real growth. The Chief of the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s renewables office takes a look at offshore wind’s future. --- After years of high hopes but little development, the U.S. offshore wind industry finally seems poised for growth following a series of major offshore project announcements this year. In May and June, the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut selected a combined 1,400 MW of offshore wind projects for contract negotiation. When complete, they’ll generate enough electricity to power 200,000 homes and help the states meet their clean energy and climate goals. The projects are all the more noteworthy given that there is currently just a single, small offshore wind farm operating in U.S. waters. Guest Jim Bennett heads the Office of Renewable Energy Programs at the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and is the individual charged with overseeing the federal government’s involvement in developing the United States’ offshore renewable energy resources. Bennett offers his insights into what’s driving recent investment in US offshore wind energy, the challenges to offshore wind development, and the potential for the offshore industry to become a vital, economically competitive source of clean electricity. Also featured is Brandon Burke, Brandon Burke, an attorney, offshore wind researcher, and soon to be master’s graduate from the University of Pennsylvania. Related Content Tilting at Windmills https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/tilting-windmills New FERC Rule Grows Clean Energy’s Role in Grid Resilience https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/02/21/new-ferc-rule-grows-clean-energys-role-grid-resilience Clean Energy Costs Continue to Fall https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2018/01/22/clean-energy-costs-continue-fallSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fresh water resources are becoming scarce even as water demand from cities, industry and agriculture rises. Can seemingly inevitable conflicts over water, and their environmental consequences, be avoided? --- Access to fresh water has become an immediate concern in the United States. In recent years, unprecedented droughts have gripped central and western parts of the country, even as demand for water to supply cities, industry and farming has grown. And competition for water has led to a history of conflict between the states. Most recently in June, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in a decades-long legal battle between Georgia and Florida over the right to water from a river system that is vital to the city of Atlanta and, downstream, to oyster fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. Yet the court’s ruling leaves the conflict unresolved, a result that reflects the intractability of so many fights over waterway control over the years. New research from Kleinman Center senior fellow Scott Moore suggests, counterintuitively, that water scarcity itself is often not the driving force behind water wars. Instead, a host of political and social factors often drive conflict. Moore discusses his new book on water conflict, Subnational Hydropolitics: Conflict, Cooperation and Institution-Building in Shared River Basins, and how understanding of political and social roots of water conflict can help government and communities find solutions, with positive outcomes for communities and the environment. Scott Moore is a senior fellow with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and a Water Resource Specialist with the World Bank’s Global Water Practice. Related Content: Sea Change: Desalination and the Water-Energy Nexus. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/sea-change Water, Waste, Energy: Lessons from Coca-Cola in Africa https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/water-waste-energySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.