Resources Radio

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Manuela Andreoni, a writer at the climate desk of the New York Times. Andreoni discusses illegal mining operations in the Brazilian Amazon, why so-called wildcat mining has proliferated in recent years, and how these mining activities affect the environment and Indigenous people. Andreoni and Raimi talk about the measures that governments in Brazil and elsewhere could take to stop illegal mining in the Amazon and how the mined materials have been entering the global economy. References and recommendations: “The Illegal Airstrips Bringing Toxic Mining to Brazil’s Indigenous Land” by Manuela Andreoni, Blacki Migliozzi, Pablo Robles, and Denise Lu; https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/02/world/americas/brazil-airstrips-illegal-mining.html “The Falling Sky: Words of a Yanomami Shaman” by Davi Kopenawa and Bruce Albert; https://www.hup.harvard.edu/features/the-falling-sky/ “Ideas to Postpone the End of the World” by Ailton Krenak; https://houseofanansi.com/products/ideas-to-postpone-the-end-of-the-world “Burden of Dreams” documentary film; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burden_of_Dreams

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Ryan Kellogg, a professor at the Harris School of Public Policy and affiliated faculty at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. Kellogg discusses why carbon pricing, long the preferred emissions-reduction tool for most economists, actually may not be as efficient as other policy options. Kellogg and Raimi explore how economic theory has led many to favor carbon pricing, and why the conventional wisdom on carbon pricing may turn out to be wrong in the real world. References and recommendations: “Carbon Pricing, Clean Electricity Standards, and Clean Electricity Subsidies on the Path to Zero Emissions” by Severin Borenstein and Ryan Kellogg; https://www.nber.org/papers/w30263 “Superpower: One Man’s Quest to Transform American Energy” by Russell Gold; https://www.russellgold.net/superpower

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Zia Abdullah, a program manager at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Abdullah and Hayes discuss what sustainable aviation fuels are made of, how they are refined and manufactured, and how they compare to traditional jet fuel. Abdullah also discusses the challenges in store for the United States in reaching the federal government’s sustainable aviation fuel production goals for 2030. References and recommendations: “Climate Friendly Jet Fuel: 3 Strategies for Accelerating its Production” by Zia Abdullah; https://www.energy.gov/eere/bioenergy/articles/climate-friendly-jet-fuel-3-strategies-accelerating-its-production “The economic outlook for converting CO₂ and electrons to molecules” by Zhe Huang, R. Gary Grim, Joshua A. Schaidle, and Ling Tao; https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/ee/d0ee03525d

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Helena Khazdozian, a senior technology manager at the US Department of Energy and program manager for the agency’s Critical Materials Institute. Khazdozian and Hayes discuss why the materials that the institute prioritizes are important to future decarbonization efforts. They also talk about supply chains, research efforts, and breakthroughs happening more broadly with other teams throughout the Department of Energy. References and recommendations: “Securing America’s Clean Energy Supply Chain” from the US Department of Energy; https://www.energy.gov/policy/securing-americas-clean-energy-supply-chain “His Dark Materials” trilogy of books by Philip Pullman, including “The Golden Compass,” “The Subtle Knife,” and “The Amber Spyglass”; https://www.philip-pullman.com/hdm “Happy-Go-Lucky” by David Sedaris; https://www.davidsedarisbooks.com/titles/david-sedaris/happy-go-lucky/9780316392457/

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Jason Samenow, weather editor for the Washington Post and one of the leaders of the Post’s Capital Weather Gang. They discuss the intersection of climate change and weather, with a particular focus on how meteorologists communicate with the public about climate change in a scientifically rigorous way and how that communication has evolved alongside climate science. Samenow and Hayes also talk about the increasing number of extreme weather events occurring both globally and in the Washington, DC, area. References and recommendations: Climate Central; https://www.climatecentral.org/ World Weather Attribution; https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/ Penn State Weather Camps; https://weather-camp.outreach.psu.edu/ Lenticular clouds; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenticular_cloud Mammatus clouds; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammatus_cloud Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds; https://scied.ucar.edu/image/kelvin-helmholtz-clouds Snowmageddon 2010; https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/02/05/remembering-s-snowmageddon-images-scenes/ Eye on the Tropics newsletter by Michael Lowry; https://michaelrlowry.substack.com/ “The Weather” song by Lawrence; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9TYHOARDFI

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Deborah Gordon, a senior principal in the Climate Intelligence Program at RMI and a senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. They discuss Gordon’s new book, No Standard Oil, which elucidates the wide variety of different kinds of crude oils and natural gases and why the differences among those various types matter for climate policy. Gordon and Raimi also talk about the reasons that data transparency and precisely targeted policies are crucial for the evolution of the oil and gas industry in an era of climate change. References and recommendations: “No Standard Oil” by Deborah Gordon; https://www.nostandardoil.com/ Oil Climate Index plus Gas at RMI; https://ociplus.rmi.org/ “Project Escape: Lessons for an Unscripted Life” by Lucinda Jackson; https://lucindajackson.com/project-escape/ “Licorice Pizza” movie; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11271038/

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Beia Spiller, who recently joined Resources for the Future (RFF) as a fellow and the director of RFF’s Transportation Program; she’s also a member of the board of directors at the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. Spiller and Raimi discuss the historical context and current policies related to air pollution exposure in New York City, particularly for schools in the Bronx. They also talk about how community-engaged research produces new knowledge, can inform policymaking, and can benefit the communities that are involved in the work. References and recommendations: PurpleAir sensors that measure air quality data; https://www2.purpleair.com/ “Prehistoric Planet” television series; https://tv.apple.com/us/show/prehistoric-planet/umc.cmc.4lh4bmztauvkooqz400akxav

For this week’s episode, we’re mixing things up a bit by introducing not just an individual guest or two, but an entirely new podcast series for our listeners to consider. Just a few weeks ago, one of Resources for the Future’s closest partner organizations in Europe, the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, launched its own podcast series called “Foresight: Deep into the Future Planet.” We’re pleased to share the first episode of the new podcast with you, in the spirit of solidarity with our fellow scholars and in service of our mission to introduce listeners to a range of perspectives on issues related to our planet. Our regular “Resources Radio” programming will return next week. This first episode of the “Deep into the Future Planet” podcast investigates the future of climate change, acknowledging that the planet is being shaped by today’s ideas, solutions, and decisions. Host Elisabetta Tola features the perspectives of two guests: Carolina Aragón, an artist and assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and journalist Alex Steffen. Aragón and Steffen discuss how to intellectually, physically, and emotionally understand the environmental changes fueled by climate change; how to consider probabilities rather than predictions; and more.

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Michael Craig, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan who studies energy systems. Craig and Raimi discuss a recent study coauthored by Craig that explores how energy models can better incorporate variations in weather and climate and why an exchange of data between energy and climate modelers is crucial to helping keep the lights on. Craig outlines a research agenda that describes near-term and long-term steps to bridge the divide between energy and climate models; he also shares advice for interdisciplinary collaboration. References and recommendations: “Overcoming the disconnect between energy system and climate modeling” by Michael T. Craig, Jan Wohland, Lauren P. Steep, Alexander Kies, Bryn Pickering, Hannah C. Bloomfield, Jethro Browell, Matteo De Felice, Chris J. Dent, Adrien Deroubaix, Felix Frischmuth, Paula L. M. Gonzalez, Aleksander Grochowicz, Katharina Gruber, Philipp Härtel, Martin Kittel, Leander Kotzur, Inga Labuhn, Julie K. Lundquist, Noah Pflugradt, Karin van der Wiel, Marianne Zeyringer, and David J. Brayshaw; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2542435122002379 NextGenEC at the University of Reading; https://research.reading.ac.uk/met-energy/ “Downscaling Techniques for High-Resolution Climate Projections: From Global Change to Local Impacts” by Rao Kotamarthi, Katharine Hayhoe, Linda O. Mearns, Donald Wuebbles, Jennifer Jacobs, and Jennifer Jurado; https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/downscaling-techniques-for-highresolution-climate-projections/C261452F6DECC0372077B7533414CD95 “The Making of the Atomic Bomb” by Richard Rhodes; https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Making-of-the-Atomic-Bomb/Richard-Rhodes/9781451677614

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Dick Schmalensee, a professor emeritus of the MIT Sloan School of Management and a former chair of the board of directors at Resources for the Future. Schmalensee and Raimi cover the takeaways from a recent study on the future of energy storage that Schmalensee coauthored, along with related insights and implications for current and future policy. They discuss the role of energy storage in a net-zero-emissions electricity system, the strengths and weaknesses of key energy storage technologies, and what these technologies might cost. References and recommendations: “The Future of Energy Storage” by Robert Armstrong, Yet-Ming Chiang, Howard Gruenspecht, Fikile Brushett, John Deutch, Seiji Engelkemier, Emre Gençer, Robert Jaffe, Paul Joskow, Dharik Mallapragada, Elsa Olivetti, Richard Schmalensee, Robert Stoner, Chi-Jen Yang, Bjorn Brandtzaeg, Patrick Brown, Kevin Huang, Johannes Pfeifenberger, Francis O’Sullivan, Yang Shao-Horn, Meia Alsup, Andres Badel, Marc Barbar, Weiran Gao, Drake Hernandez, Cristian Junge, Thaneer Malai Narayanan, Kara Rodby, and Cathy Wang; https://energy.mit.edu/research/future-of-energy-storage/ “As the Great Salt Lake Dries Up, Utah Faces an ‘Environmental Nuclear Bomb’” by Christopher Flavelle; https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/07/climate/salt-lake-city-climate-disaster.html “A durable US climate strategy … or a house of cards?” by Richard Richels, Benjamin Santer, Henry Jacoby, and Gary Yohe; https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2022/06/a-durable-u-s-climate-strategy-or-a-house-of-cards/