Resources Radio

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks about the latest developments in nuclear energy innovation, policy, and deployment with Alex Gilbert, a PhD student and fellow at the Payne Institute for Public Policy at Colorado School of Mines and the Director of Space and Planetary Regulation at Zeno Power. Gilbert discusses the types of nuclear technologies in the development pipeline, how they differ from older technologies, which technologies are being piloted, and how recent policies—especially the Inflation Reduction Act—incentivize the deployment of these technologies. References and recommendations: “Global Energy Outlook 2022: Turning Points and Tension in the Energy Transition” by Daniel Raimi, Erin Campbell, Richard G. Newell, Brian C. Prest, Seth Villanueva, and Jordan Wingenroth; https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/global-energy-outlook-2022/ “Our Great National Parks” television series; https://www.netflix.com/title/81086133

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks about drinking water with Gregory Pierce, the codirector of the Luskin Center for Innovation at the University of California, Los Angeles. Pierce discusses who has and who lacks clean drinking water in the United States, what factors have contributed to differing levels of access to clean water, the potential policies and investments that can help expand access to clean water, and the challenges that climate change and pollutants may pose to this expansion. References and recommendations: “Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret” by Catherine Coleman Flowers; https://thenewpress.com/books/waste “The Water Knife” by Paolo Bacigalupi; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/237233/the-water-knife-by-paolo-bacigalupi/

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Destenie Nock, an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Nock shares insights from a recent paper she coauthored that shows how, on hot days, Black and low-income households wait relatively longer than other households to turn on their air-conditioning units, which puts them at a greater risk of heat-related illnesses. She examines the reasons behind this behavior and provides an overview of energy insecurity and energy poverty in the United States. References and recommendations: “Unveiling hidden energy poverty using the energy equity gap” by Shuchen Cong, Destenie Nock, Yueming Lucy Qiu, and Bo Xing; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-30146-5 “Heat-Associated Mortality in a Hot Climate” by Sally Ann Iverson, Aaron Gettel, Carly P. Bezold, Kate Goodin, Benita McKinney, Rebecca Sunenshine, and Vjollca Berisha; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7485058/ “Doughnut Economics” by Kate Raworth; https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/doughnut-economics-paperback/ “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi; https://www.ibramxkendi.com/how-to-be-an-antiracist

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with two fellows at Resources for the Future: Brian C. Prest and Kevin Rennert. Prest and Rennert, alongside a large team of collaborators, recently released a paper in the journal “Nature” that provides a new estimate of the social cost of carbon—the quantification, in dollars, of the economic damages associated with emitting an incremental ton of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. For the podcast, they describe what’s new about this estimate, how it differs from previous numbers, and its implications for policymaking. They also discuss the important uncertainties associated with the estimate, along with assertions made by some critics that we should put less focus on using the social cost of carbon. References and recommendations: “Comprehensive Evidence Implies a Higher Social Cost of CO2” by Kevin Rennert, Frank Errickson, Brian C. Prest, Lisa Rennels, Richard G. Newell, William Pizer, Cora Kingdon, Jordan Wingenroth, Roger Cooke, Bryan Parthum, David Smith, Kevin Cromar, Delavane Diaz, Frances C. Moore, Ulrich K. Müller, Richard J. Plevin, Adrian E. Raftery, Hana Ševčíková, Hannah Sheets, James H. Stock, Tammy Tan, Mark Watson, Tony E. Wong, and David Anthoff; https://www.rff.org/publications/journal-articles/comprehensive-evidence-implies-a-higher-social-cost-of-co2/ An Updated Social Cost of Carbon: Calculating the Cost of Climate Change” RFF Live event; https://www.rff.org/events/rff-live/an-updated-scc/ “The Social Cost of Carbon: Reaching a New Estimate” by Brian C. Prest, Jordan Wingenroth, and Kevin Rennert; https://www.resources.org/archives/the-social-cost-of-carbon-reaching-a-new-estimate Social Cost of Carbon Initiative at Resources for the Future; https://www.rff.org/scc/ Mimi Integrated Assessment Modeling Framework; https://www.mimiframework.org/ “The Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court” by Richard J. Lazarus; https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674238121

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Jennifer Eaglin, an associate professor of history and faculty member in the Sustainability Institute at the Ohio State University. Eaglin discusses the evolution of sugar-based ethanol as a fuel source for transportation and the lessons that governments can draw from that evolution for their own development of alternative energy sources. Eaglin and Raimi also talk about how the ethanol industry came to prominence in Brazil and how its use improved air quality while damaging water quality, ecosystems, and certain Brazilian communities. References and recommendations: “Sweet Fuel” by Jennifer Eaglin; https://global.oup.com/academic/product/sweet-fuel-9780197510681 (offer code “AAFLYG6” provides a discount) “The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River” by Richard White; https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780809015832/theorganicmachine “Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water” by Mark Reisner; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/323685/cadillac-desert-by-marc-reisner/ “Before the Flood: Destruction, Community, and Survival in the Drowned Towns of the Quabbin” by Elisabeth C. Rosenberg; https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Before-the-Flood/Elisabeth-C-Rosenberg/9781643136448 “Dammed Indians” by Michael L. Lawson; https://www.sdhspress.com/books/dammed-indians-revisited-the-continuing-history-of-the-pick-sloan-plan-and-the-missouri-river-sioux

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