Resources Radio

In this episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Jeremy Firestone, a wind energy specialist, professor, and director of the Center for Research in Wind at the University of Delaware. For many years, Firestone has explored people’s attitudes and economic preferences related to wind power development. He and coauthors recently published new research about the intersection of offshore wind development and coastal recreation in the journal “Energy Research & Social Science,” a study that Firestone and Hayes discuss; they also talk more broadly about the opportunities and challenges associated with increasing offshore wind development in the United States. References and recommendations: “Uncharted waters: Exploring coastal recreation impacts, coping behaviors, and attitudes towards offshore wind energy development in the United States” by Michael D. Ferguson, Darrick Evensen, Lauren A. Ferguson, David Bidwell, Jeremy Firestone, Tasha L. Dooley, and Clayton R. Mitchell; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629621001225 “Wind energy: A human challenge” by Jeremy Firestone; https://science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6470/1206.1 “Expert elicitation survey predicts 37% to 49% declines in wind energy costs by 2050” by Ryan Wiser, Joseph Rand, Joachim Seel, Philipp Beiter, Erin Baker, Eric Lantz, and Patrick Gilman; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-021-00810-z “The Economic Costs of NIMBYism: Evidence from Renewable Energy Projects” by Stephen Jarvis; https://haas.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/WP311.pdf “Carbon policy and the emissions implications of electric vehicles” by Kenneth Gillingham, Marten Ovaere, and Stephanie M. Weber; https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w28620/w28620.pdf “Coffeeland: One Man’s Dark Empire and the Making of Our Favorite Drug” by Augustine Sedgewick; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/316748/coffeeland-by-augustine-sedgewick/

In this episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Sheila Hollis, acting executive director of the United States Energy Association (USEA). USEA is an industry association that represents 150 members across the US energy sector, from the largest Fortune 500 companies to small energy consulting firms. The organization supports policy and technical discussions with the US Department of Energy to expand the use of clean energy technology globally; it also works with the US Agency for International Development to expand energy access in developing countries. Hollis describes the changes faced by the energy industry in both mature and developing markets. References and recommendations: “The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations” by Daniel Yergin; https://www.danielyergin.com/books/thenewmap

In February this year, we noticed at Resources for the Future that our explainer about carbon capture and storage—which provides an overview of the technology, along with its uses, benefits, and drawbacks—had suddenly skyrocketed in terms of page use on the website. When we investigated what had prompted this sudden expanded interest, we found Elon Musk’s announcement from the day prior: Musk had offered $100 million in prize money, through the XPRIZE Foundation, to teams that can envision, prototype, and validate scalable carbon capture and removable technology. At the end of the four-year contest period, several prizes will be awarded: $50 million for first place, $20 million for second place, and $10 million for third. In addition, the program will offer 25 six-figure scholarships to competing academic teams. According to XPRIZE officials, the $100 million on offer represents one of the largest—if not the largest—incentive prizes in history. So, this episode is about prizes: how they’ve been used, what we can learn from past successes and failures, and how they compare to other instruments that are designed to spur innovation. Zorina Khan joins the podcast to talk about these fascinating issues. Khan is a professor of economics at Bowdoin College and a member of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Her research examines issues in law and economic history, including intellectual property rights, technological progress in Europe and the United States, antitrust litigation, legal systems, and corporate governance. She’s an award-winning author, and her newest book is called "Inventing Ideas: Patents, Prizes, and the Knowledge Economy." References and recommendations: “Carbon Capture and Storage 101” from Resources for the Future; https://www.rff.org/publications/explainers/carbon-capture-and-storage-101/ “$100M prize for carbon removal” from XPRIZE Foundation and Elon Musk; https://www.xprize.org/prizes/elonmusk “Inventing Ideas: Patents, Prizes, and the Knowledge Economy” by B. Zorina Khan; https://global.oup.com/academic/product/inventing-ideas-9780190936082 “Democratization of Invention” by B. Zorina Khan; https://books.bowdoin.edu/book/the-democratization-of-invention-patents-and-copyrights-in-american-economic-development-1790-1920/ “Unlocking history through automated virtual unfolding of sealed documents imaged by X-ray microtomography” by Jana Dambrogio, Amanda Ghassaei, Daniel Starza Smith, Holly Jackson, Martin L. Demaine, Graham Davis, David Mills, Rebekah Ahrendt, Nadine Akkerman, David van der Linden, and Erik D. Demaine; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-21326-w

In this episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Pilar Thomas, a partner at Quarles & Brady and a professor of the practice at the University of Arizona and Arizona State University. Thomas is an expert on energy development and environmental management on tribal lands and has served in the US Departments of Justice, Interior, and Energy. Raimi and Thomas discuss how different tribes are approaching fossil and renewable energy development, preparing for the energy transition, and addressing energy poverty on tribal lands. References and recommendations: Tribal Energy Atlas from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory; https://maps.nrel.gov/tribal-energy-atlas Writing and analysis from Wood Mackenzie; https://www.woodmac.com/ Studies and analysis from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; https://www.lbl.gov/ Sandia National Laboratories; https://www.sandia.gov/

In this episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Ariel Ortiz-Bobea, an associate professor of applied economics and policy at Cornell University and a faculty fellow at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. Much of Ortiz-Bobea’s research focuses on the links between climate change and agricultural productivity—which is the topic of this conversation. In particular, Ortiz-Bobea discusses a paper that he and colleagues released recently in Nature Climate Change, which covers the historical impact of anthropogenic climate change on global agricultural productivity. The key word here is “historical.” Whereas a large body of research focuses on future impacts, this study looks back to see how much climate change already has affected agriculture globally. Spoiler alert: the impacts today have been fairly large. References and recommendations: “Anthropogenic climate change has slowed global agricultural productivity growth” by Ariel Ortiz-Bobea, Toby R. Ault, Carlos M. Carrillo, Robert G. Chambers, and David B. Lobell; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01000-1 “Creating Abundance” by Alan L. Olmstead and Paul W. Rhode; http://services.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/american-history-general-interest/creating-abundance-biological-innovation-and-american-agricultural-development

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Neil Maher, professor of history at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University-Newark. Maher’s research focuses on the intersection of environmental and political history, and his scholarship includes a 2008 book called “Nature’s New Deal.” Maher and Hayes discuss the Civilian Conservation Corps’s successes, challenges, and legacy in the American conservation and historical landscape. Maher also describes lessons from the Depression-era program that could apply to current policy and political deliberations. References and recommendations: “Nature’s New Deal: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Roots of the American Environmental Movement” by Neil Maher; https://www.neilmaher.com/natures-new-deal/ “Stop Saving the Planet! An Environmentalist Manifesto” by Jenny Price; https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393540871

This week, host Daniel Raimi talks with New Yorker staff writer and Pulitzer Prize–Winning author Elizabeth Kolbert about her new book, “Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future.” The book is a fascinating and darkly funny exploration of how humanity is trying to manage the negative effects we’ve inflicted on the natural world. Using examples such as the Asian carp, endangered desert pupfish, the Great Barrier Reef, and solar geoengineering, Kolbert’s book includes interviews with leading experts around the world who are using new technologies to try and counteract the harms done by old technologies. References and recommendations: “Beloved Beasts” by Michelle Nijhuis; https://michellenijhuis.com/beloved-beasts

In this episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Wesley Look and Daniel Raimi, Resources for the Future (RFF) colleagues who have led RFF's research on enabling fairness for energy workers and communities in transition. Look is a senior research associate and Raimi is a fellow at RFF, and the work they describe in this episode has been carried out over the past year in partnership with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), culminating in a synthesis report released on March 25, 2021. Look and Raimi share some of the lessons that they and their EDF colleagues have learned about this complex topic, including the many facets of transition, how the federal government can improve outcomes for workers, and what researchers and policymakers alike can learn from various communities and countries that already face these changing ties to the energy industry. References and recommendations: “Enabling Fairness for Energy Workers and Communities in Transition” synthesis report by Wesley Look, Daniel Raimi, Molly Robertson, Jake Higdon, and Daniel Propp; https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/enabling-fairness-for-energy-workers-and-communities-in-transition/ Fairness for Workers and Communities in Transition report series by Wesley Look, Daniel Raimi, Molly Robertson, Jake Higdon, and Daniel Propp; https://www.rff.org/fairness-for-workers-and-communities/ “Economic Development Policies to Enable Fairness for Workers and Communities in Transition” by Daniel Raimi, Wesley Look, Molly Robertson, and Jake Higdon; https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/economic-development-fairness-workers-communities/ “Environmental Remediation and Infrastructure Policies Supporting Workers and Communities in Transition” by Daniel Raimi; https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/environment-infrastructure-fairness-workers-communities/ “The Role of Public Benefits in Supporting Workers and Communities Affected by Energy Transition” by Jake Higdon and Molly Robertson; https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/public-benefits-supporting-workers-and-communities-affected-energy-transition/ “Labor Policies to Enable Fairness for Workers and Communities in Transition” by Wesley Look, Molly Robertson, Jake Higdon, and Daniel Propp; https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/labor-policies-to-enable-fairness-for-workers-and-communities-in-transition/ Just Transition Initiative at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS); https://www.csis.org/programs/energy-security-and-climate-change-program/projects/just-transition-initiative The American Jobs Plan from the Biden administration; https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/31/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan/

In this episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with William Acworth, Head of Secretariat at the International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP). ICAP recently released its 2021 status report on global emissions trading, and we're highlighting the group's status report for the second year in a row. This time, Acworth gets us up to speed on China's recently launched national emissions trading scheme, along with programs from elsewhere in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Acworth and Raimi discuss how markets have responded to the pandemic, where prices might be headed, and how markets are expanding to cover new sectors such as buildings and transportation. References and recommendations: "Emissions Trading Worldwide: Status Report 2021" from the International Carbon Action Partnership; https://icapcarbonaction.com/en/icap-status-report-2021 “Prices in the world’s biggest carbon market are soaring” from the Economist magazine; https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/02/24/prices-in-the-worlds-biggest-carbon-market-are-soaring "2020 China Carbon Pricing Survey" from China Carbon Forum; http://www.chinacarbon.info/sdm_downloads/2020-china-carbon-pricing-survey/ "Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life" by William Finnegan; https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/william-finnegan "Under a White Sky" by Elizabeth Kolbert; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/617060/under-a-white-sky-by-elizabeth-kolbert/ "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster" by Bill Gates; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/633968/how-to-avoid-a-climate-disaster-by-bill-gates/

In this week's episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Danielle Wood, assistant professor and director of the Space Enabled research group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. Wood uses her expertise in aerospace engineering, aeronautics and astronautics, and technology policy to enhance societal development, bringing together tools not just from space and engineering, but also from economics and other social sciences. Wood discusses her recent research in Brazil and collaborations with policymakers around the world, who use space-based technologies to improve life here on Earth. References and recommendations: VALUABLES Consortium; https://www.rff.org/valuables/ "Combining Social, Environmental and Design Models to Support the Sustainable Development Goals" by Jack Reid, Cynthia Zeng, and Danielle Wood; https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/combining-social-environmental-and-design-models-to-support-the-sustainable-development-goals/ "Interactive Model for Assessing Mangrove Health, Ecosystem Services, Policy Consequences, and Satellite Design Using Earth Observation Data" by Jack Reid and Danielle Wood; https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/interactive-model-for-assessing-mangrove-health-ecosystem-services-policy-consequences-and-satellite-design-in-rio-de-janeiro-using-earth/ "Decision Support Model and Visualization for Assessing Environmental Phenomena, Ecosystem Services, Policy Consequences, and Satellite Design" by Jack Reid and Danielle Wood; https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/decision-support-model-and-visualization-for-assessing-environmental-phenomena-ecosystem-services-policy-consequences-and-satellite-desig/ Zora Neale Hurston’s books; https://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/ "Barracoon: The Story of the Last 'Black Cargo'" by Zora Neale Hurston; https://www.harpercollins.com/products/barracoon-zora-neale-hurston "Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America" by Ibram X. Kendi; https://www.nationalbook.org/books/stamped-from-the-beginning-the-definitive-history-of-racist-ideas-in-america/ "In & Of Itself" movie; https://www.inandofitselfshow.com/