Resources Radio

This is the second episode in an ongoing webinar series, which is providing Resources Radio listeners the chance to listen to a podcast recording live and ask guests their own questions about pressing energy issues. In this episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Valentina Bosetti, a Bocconi University professor and a senior scientist at the RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment, who has closely studied air quality in Northern Italy. Bosetti finds that, while air pollution decreased in the region during the pandemic lockdowns, pollution did not fall nearly as much as expected, largely because lockdown measures hardly impacted agricultural emissions. In addition, Bosetti warns that the public health benefits of improved air quality pale in comparison to the lives lost from COVID-19, and unless governments take action, pollution will surge again once economic activity returns to pre-pandemic levels. References and recommendations: "Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic" by David Quammen; https://wwnorton.com/books/spillover/ "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/258507/when-breath-becomes-air-by-paul-kalanithi/

This week, host Daniel Raimi talks with Kelly T. Sanders, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California. With her coauthors, Sanders has recently published a series of studies on air conditioning use in southern California, with a focus on who does—and does not—have access to cooling on hot days. This work, which touches on issues of energy and environmental justice, has big implications for managing the COVID-19 pandemic this summer—and managing climate change in the decades to come. References and recommendations: "Utilizing smart-meter data to project impacts of urban warming on residential electricity use for vulnerable populations in Southern California" by Mo Chen, George A. Ban-Weiss, and Kelly T. Sanders; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab6fbe/meta "Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities" by Vaclav Smil; https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/growth "These Truths: A History of the United States" by Jill Lepore; https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393357424

This is the first episode in an ongoing webinar series, which is providing Resources Radio listeners the chance to listen to a podcast recording live and ask guests their own questions about pressing energy issues. In this episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Professor Steve Cicala of the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy (soon to be moving to Tufts University’s Department of Economics). Expounding on research recently highlighted in the New York Times, in which he undertook one of the earliest looks at electricity demand during the peak of the pandemic lockdowns in the United States, Cicala details how electricity demand can serve as a valuable—if incomplete—tool to assess the health of the economy and the outlook for recovering from a recession. Cicala notes that the current crisis has shifted renewable penetration and affected energy consumption, but researchers remain uncertain about the duration of the pandemic and its long-term impacts on the electric grid. References and recommendations: "Another Way to See the Recession: Power Usage Is Way Down" by Quoctrung Bui and Justin Wolfers; https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/08/upshot/electricity-usage-predict-coronavirus-recession.html "Early Economic Impacts of COVID-19 in Europe: A View from the Grid" by Steve Cicala; https://home.uchicago.edu/~scicala/papers/real_time_EU/real_time_EU.pdf "What Is Owed: It Is Time for Reparations" by Nikole Hannah-Jones; https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/24/magazine/reparations-slavery.html

These past few weeks, people across the United States have been horrified by the continuing violence against people of color. Resources for the Future has been working toward contributing energy and thoughtful work—not just words and statements—to support and incorporate diversity in our environmental mission. Toward that end, we are rebroadcasting this Resources Radio episode from last July with Dorceta Taylor. In this episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Professor Dorceta E. Taylor of the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability (soon to be moving to the faculty at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies). Raimi asks Taylor about her research on the history of the environmental movement, focusing on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion within environmental groups—both historically and today. While some progress has happened over the years, major challenges remain, and the field has plenty of room for improvement. References and recommendations: "The Rise of the American Conservation Movement" by Dorceta E. Taylor; https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-rise-of-the-american-conservation-movement "The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations" by Dorceta E. Taylor; https://www.diversegreen.org/the-challenge/

This week, host Kristin Hayes talks with Michael Toman, lead economist on climate change for the World Bank’s Development Research Group. Toman worked at Resources for the Future (RFF) for many years, during which he collaborated with former RFF Vice President for Research Molly Macauley in her pioneering effort to develop the economics of outer space as a topic for research and policy analysis. Hayes and Toman discuss the commercialization and privatization of space, both in light of the recent successful SpaceX launch to the International Space Station, and given that the day of recording (June 10) would have been Molly’s 63rd birthday. References and recommendations: "Racism and Injustice: A Letter from RFF President Richard G. Newell" from RFF; https://www.rff.org/racism-and-injustice-letter-rff-president-richard-g-newell/ "In Loving Memory of Molly K. Macauley" from Resources magazine; https://www.resourcesmag.org/archives/in-loving-memory-of-molly-k-macauley/

This week, host Daniel Raimi talks with Todd Moss, executive director of the Energy for Growth Hub and a nonresident fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute. Moss has years of experience expanding access to energy around the world, particularly in Africa. Here, Raimi and Moss discuss the current strategies that countries, companies, and international organizations are implementing to expand access in Africa; how COVID-19 is affecting these efforts; and the intersection between expanding energy access and mitigating climate change. References and recommendations: "Power Trip: The Story of Energy" show on PBS; https://powertripshow.com/ "Power Trip: The Story of Energy" book by Michael E. Webber; https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/michael-e-webber/power-trip/9781541644380/ "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/220290/between-the-world-and-me-by-ta-nehisi-coates/

In this episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Wil Burns, co-director of the Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy at American University. Raimi and Burns discuss the approaches and technologies that might be helpful in removing large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, what governments and companies are doing to encourage the deployment of these options, and some of the risks and challenges that each approach brings. References and recommendations: "Dam Breaches in Michigan Raise Questions for Dam Maintenance Across the Nation," a Q&A with RFF's Margaret Walls; https://www.resourcesmag.org/common-resources/dam-breaches-michigan-raise-questions-dam-maintenance-across-nation/

This week, host Kristin Hayes talks with Jeffrey Rissman, the industry program director and head of modeling at Energy Innovation, a research firm focused on accelerating clean energy. He leads modeling efforts for the firm’s energy policy solutions focus area, to determine the policies that most effectively help meet climate and energy goals. Rissman is the lead author on a new paper released recently in the journal "Applied Energy," which dives deep into the technologies and policies that might drive decarbonization across global industry. This sector is notoriously difficult to decarbonize, but it's critical to meeting long-term emissions reduction goals. References and recommendations: "Technologies and policies to decarbonize global industry: Review and assessment of mitigation drivers through 2070" by Jeffrey Rissman, Chris Bataille, Eric Masanet, Nate Aden, William R. Morrow III, Nan Zhou, Neal Elliott, Rebecca Dell, Niko Heeren, Brigitta Huckestein, Joe Cresko, Sabbie Miller, Joyashree Roy, Paul Fennel, Betty Cremmins, Thomas Koch Blank, David Hone, Ellen D. Williams, Stephane de la Rue du Can, Bill Sisson, Mike Williams, John Katzenberger, Dallas Burtraw, Girish Sethi, He Ping, David Danielson, Hongyou Lu, Tom Lorber, Jens Dinkel, and Jonas Helseth; https://www.rff.org/publications/journal-articles/technologies-and-policies-decarbonize-global-industry/ Energy Policy Simulator; www.energypolicy.solutions "Sustainable Materials without the Hot Air" by Julian M. Allwood and Jonathan M. Cullen; https://www.ipgbook.com/sustainable-materials-without-the-hot-air-products-9781906860301.php

Along with several co-authors, Resources for the Future (RFF) Senior Fellow Dick Morgenstern has recently released an RFF working paper on China’s new emissions trading program: a “tradable performance standard,” which sets a ratio of emissions to output that individual firms have to meet. Host Daniel Raimi talks with Morgenstern in this episode about the goals of the trading program, how it's designed, some of its strengths and weaknesses, and how the policy fits into the framework of international negotiations on climate change. While the standard is not as efficient as more typical models, it stands to significantly reduce emissions once it expands beyond the power sector—without necessarily curbing China’s economic growth. References and recommendations: "China's Unconventional Nationwide CO2 Emissions Trading System: The Wide-Ranging Impacts of an Implicit Output Subsidy" by Lawrence H. Goulder, Xianling Long, Jieyi Lu, and Richard D. Morgenstern; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/chinas-unconventional-nationwide-co2-emissions-trading-system/ "The Wizard and the Prophet" by Charles C. Mann; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/220698/the-wizard-and-the-prophet-by-charles-c-mann/ "Alaskan glaciers melting 100 times faster than previously thought" by Jenny Howard; https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/07/alaskan-glaciers-melting-faster-than-previously-thought/ (and other "National Geographic" glacier coverage) "The Big Thaw" by Daniel Glick; https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/big-thaw/ (and other "National Geographic" glacier coverage)

This week, host Daniel Raimi talks with Harvard University Professor David Keith about solar geoengineering. Keith describes the variety of ways that solar geoengineering could work; some of its risks at local, regional, and global scales; recent small-scale experiments; and what might be needed to deploy a larger-scale research program. Raimi and Keith also discuss public policies related to potential deployment technologies, including the substantial issues surrounding governance and geopolitics. References and recommendations: "Inner Ranges" by Geoff Powter; https://rmbooks.com/book/inner-ranges/ "Pilgrims of the Vertical" by Joseph E. Taylor III; https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674052871 "Environmental Insights" podcast with Robert Stavins; https://scholar.harvard.edu/stavins/environmental-insights-podcast

This week, host Daniel Raimi talks about carbon capture, use, and storage (CCUS) with Julio Friedmann, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. Friedmann gives an overview of the status of CCUS deployment worldwide, describes the costs of CCUS relative to other approaches for reducing emissions, and notes some emerging federal policies that aim to increase deployment of CCUS in the United States. References and recommendations: "Capturing Investment: Policy Design to Finance CCUS Projects in the US Power Sector" by Julio Friedmann, Emeka Ochu, and Jeffrey D. Brown; https://energypolicy.columbia.edu/research/report/capturing-investment-policy-design-finance-ccus-projects-us-power-sector "To Tackle Climate Change, the (Industrial) Heat Is On" by Julio Friedmann; https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-10-21/amid-climate-change-the-heat-is-on-heavy-industry-to-decarbonize "Low-Carbon Heat Solutions for Heavy Industry: Sources, Options, and Costs Today" by Julio Friedmann, Zhiyuan Fan, and Ke Tang; https://energypolicy.columbia.edu/research/report/low-carbon-heat-solutions-heavy-industry-sources-options-and-costs-today "Engineers of Victory" by Paul Kennedy; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/91616/engineers-of-victory-by-paul-kennedy/ "Innovation and Its Enemies" by Calestous Juma; https://global.oup.com/academic/product/innovation-and-its-enemies-9780190467036?cc=us&lang=en& "45Q&A" blog series about the 45Q tax credit for CCUS; https://www.resourcesmag.org/common-resources/45q-series-comments-45q-tax-credit-carbon-capture-utilization-and-storage-ccus/

This week, host Daniel Raimi talks with Ellen Gilinsky about Waters of the United States, or WOTUS, which refers to the 2015 Clean Water Rule that defined the scope of federal water protection, particularly for streams and wetlands that share a hydrologic system with "navigable waters." Gilinsky was the associate deputy assistant administrator for water at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); she is an expert on all things WOTUS. Raimi and Gilinsky discuss why WOTUS is so important for federal regulation of surface waters; why the waters that fall under regulation are so tricky to define; and how the Trump administration has sought to change the definitions, with implications that reduce regulation. Just last week, EPA and the US Army Corps of Engineers published their Navigable Waters Protection Rule to change the definition of WOTUS and "navigable waters," demarcating four categories for waters under jurisdiction. The new rule becomes effective on June 22 this year, although lawsuits already are challenging it. References and recommendations: "Replenish: The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity" by Sandra Postel; https://islandpress.org/books/replenish "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/567281/where-the-crawdads-sing-deluxe-edition-by-delia-owens/ "Cadillac Desert" by Marc Reisner; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/323685/cadillac-desert-by-marc-reisner/

This week, host Daniel Raimi talks with Maureen Cropper, an economics professor at the University of Maryland and senior fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF). Raimi asks Maureen about a paper she recently coauthored, which takes a retrospective look at the Clean Air Act, as this year we mark the 50th anniversary of its 1970 amendments. With more than 50 years of data since the original Clean Air Act came into existence in 1963, Cropper et al.'s new paper reviews how the law has been implemented, drawing out key lessons and research questions that we may be able to apply to good effect in the next 50 years. References and recommendations: "Looking Back at Fifty Years of the Clean Air Act" by Joseph E. Aldy, Maximilian Auffhammer, Maureen L. Cropper, Arthur G. Fraas, and Richard D. Morgenstern; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/looking-back-at-fifty-years-of-the-clean-air-act/ Fall 2019 issue of the Journal of Economic Perspectives (vol. 33, no. 4), which focuses in part on the fiftieth anniversary of the Clean Air and Water Acts; https://www.aeaweb.org/issues/568 "What Do Economists Have to Say about the Clean Air Act 50 Years after the Establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency?" by Janet Currie and Reed Walker; https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.33.4.3 "Policy Evolution under the Clean Air Act" by Richard Schmalensee and Robert N. Stavins; https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.33.4.27 "US Water Pollution Regulation over the Past Half Century: Burning Waters to Crystal Springs?" by David A. Keiser and Joseph S. Shapiro; https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.33.4.51 Purple Air, a personal monitor for real-time air-quality assessments; https://www2.purpleair.com/

In this week's episode, Kristin Hayes talks with Mary Evans and Matthew Kotchen, two of the authors on a new study published in the journal "Science" last week, which takes a critical look at how the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently updated the benefit-cost analysis of its Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, or MATS. At the risk of skipping to the punchline, the paper's authors suggest that EPA’s analysis is seriously flawed. Evans and Kotchen discuss why they and their colleagues reached this conclusion, what the perceived flaws in the analysis could mean for human health and the environment, and how EPA and the Trump administration should proceed from here. References and recommendations: "Deep flaws in a mercury regulatory analysis" by Joseph Aldy, Matthew Kotchen, Mary Evans, Meredith Fowlie, Arik Levinson, and Karen Palmer; https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/04/08/science.aba7932 "Lead pollution tracks the rise and fall of medieval kings" by Ann Gibbons; https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6486/19 DJ D-Nice spinning on Instagram Live with Club Quarantine; https://www.instagram.com/dnice

This week, host Daniel Raimi talks with RFF Senior Fellow Alan Krupnick about the value of a statistical life, or VSL. As we all try to stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic, some analysts have started to ask the question, How much economic pain is appropriate to withstand to protect public health? The question is studded with ethical and moral land mines that, to some extent, VSL helps to address. In today’s episode, Krupnick takes us through the history of the VSL concept, different methods for calculating VSL, and how VSL might (or might not) be applied in today’s rapidly changing world. References and recommendations: "Mengele: Unmasking the 'Angel of Death'" by David G. Marwell; https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393609530