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...
Nov 13, 2018•28 min•Season 3Ep. 6
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 r...
Oct 30, 2018•34 min•Season 3Ep. 5
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, ...
Oct 16, 2018•45 min•Season 3Ep. 4
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 shoul...
Oct 09, 2018•20 min•Season 3Ep. 4
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,...
Oct 02, 2018•25 min•Season 3Ep. 3
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...
Sep 18, 2018•56 min•Season 3Ep. 2
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 ind...
Sep 04, 2018•44 min•Season 3Ep. 1
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 o...
Jul 24, 2018•25 min•Season 2Ep. 23
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 histor...
Jul 07, 2018•34 min•Season 2Ep. 22
President Trump has acted to boost fossil fuel development in the U.S. But market forces, and disruptive trade policies have more than offset the administration’s pro-oil and coal efforts. --- In his year and a half in office, President Donald Trump has acted to make good on his campaign promises to grow the U.S. oil, natural gas, and coal industries during his presidency. Trump has taken a series of actions aimed at reducing environmental oversight of fossil fuel producers and opening protected...
Jun 25, 2018•24 min•Season 2Ep. 21
In the coming years 1.6 million acres of formerly protected Alaskan wilderness will be the site of new oil exploration and drilling. Can the state balance energy development and its environmental heritage? --- In December the Trump Administration opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to energy development, as part of the administration’s tax reform package. The opening was the culmination of a decades-long battle, fought at federal and state levels, to gain access to possibly 10 billion bar...
Jun 10, 2018•34 min•Season 2Ep. 20
A number of states are pushing legislation that would require 100% renewable energy supply. But challenges ranging from high costs to the duck curve could make such targets hard to reach. --- A number of states are taking it upon themselves to lower carbon emissions by adopting aggressive clean energy targets. In states like California, Washington, and Massachusetts, lawmakers are considering legislation requiring utilities to get 100% of their electricity from renewable sources. California alre...
May 31, 2018•34 min•Season 2Ep. 19
As distributed energy grows, so does cyber risk to the grid. Two energy security experts discuss solutions. --- In recent months the threat of cyber attack on the nation’s electricity system has come into urgent focus. Earlier this year the FBI and Department of Homeland Security made public a series of cyberattacks that penetrated the control systems of several nuclear power stations. Another recent attack on a network of natural gas pipelines threatened fuel supply to gas-fired powerplants in ...
Apr 30, 2018•34 min•Season 2Ep. 18
What might the EPA look like without current Administrator Scott Pruitt? Two regulatory experts discuss the future direction of the agency. --- EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has come under bipartisan fire for an array of ethical missteps that range from lavish spending on travel to the granting of illegal pay raises for select EPA staffers. Over the past week, staunch Pruitt supporters such as Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman John Barrasso have questioned the transparency with which...
Apr 23, 2018•36 min•Season 2Ep. 17
How far can the states go in implementing climate regulations against Washington’s will? Two regulatory experts discuss the legal limits to local climate action. --- Over the past 15 months the Trump administration has moved to eliminate or water down a host of environmental regulations tied to energy use. The administration has rejected the Clean Power Plan, sought to relax rules that limit methane emissions from oil and gas wells, and announced that it will lower national car and truck fuel ec...
Apr 17, 2018•39 min•Season 2Ep. 16
As sea levels rise, nuisance flooding is the first wave of assault on coastal cities. Can we protect our coasts from inundation, or is retreat inevitable? --- Jeff Goodell, author of the New York Times award-winning book, The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World, talks about the impact of rising seas on America’s coastal centers in the decades to come. Will innovative engineering allow cities and towns to be protected, and at what cost? Or, will t...
Apr 02, 2018•37 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Carbon Cap and Trade is gaining momentum, most recently with China’s plan to build the largest carbon market. But how successful has cap and trade been in limiting emissions, and what can new markets learn from past mistakes? --- Carbon cap and trade has made headlines in recent months as governments turn to carbon markets to limit greenhouse emissions. The biggest announcement came in December, when China formally announced the establishment of a national carbon trading system that will initial...
Mar 19, 2018•25 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Self-driving trucks promise to revitalize the trucking industry. But increased energy demand and air pollution are possible downsides. --- Self-driving technology is making its way onto America's roads. Companies including Lyft, Ford and Google's Waymo are investing heavily to develop driverless vehicles and transportation services. Driverless technology is also being developed for the trucking industry, a cornerstone of the economy that moves 70% of manufactured goods yet finds itself challenge...
Feb 27, 2018•46 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Nuclear power plants pump millions of dollars into local economies. As the rate of nuclear retirements accelerates, will surrounding communities find a way forward? -- A growing number of U.S. nuclear power plants are threatened with early retirement as the combination of rising operating costs, and low electricity prices, have eroded the nuclear industry's profits. The reactors are often the economic life blood of the mostly rural communities where they're located. When they close, many good pa...
Feb 13, 2018•43 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Today's electric grid will need to be reimagined to deliver carbon-free power. MIT's Jesse Jenkins talks about what a deeply decarbonized electricity system might look like, and how to build it at lowest cost. --- In its 2014 report on global warming, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that carbon dioxide emissions must fall by as much as 70% by mid century to avoid the most "severe, pervasive and irreversible" damage from climate change. A key to reducing carbon emissi...
Jan 30, 2018•47 min•Season 2Ep. 11
The view of Americans on the environmental and economic implications of fracking continues to be sharply divided a decade after the shale revolution began. But the author of a new book, The Fracking Debate, finds more nuanced perspectives in wellhead communities. -- The shale revolution in the United States is now more than a decade old. In the intervening years, energy companies have tapped vast, previously uneconomical oil and natural gas resources through a suite of technologies, including hy...
Jan 16, 2018•44 min•Season 2Ep. 10
U.S. corporations increasingly look to manage their carbon footprints, and energy costs, by entering into clean energy power purchase agreements (PPAs). The contracts offer a tailwind to renewable energy developers, but can challenge traditional utility-customer relationships. --- Ninety-five percent of the world’s largest 250 companies by revenue issue sustainability reports that disclose their environmental and social impact. On the energy front, this often translates into companies setting go...
Jan 03, 2018•18 min•Season 2Ep. 9
The Energy Department’s proposal to shore up coal and nuclear power plants could undermine the very foundations of competitive electricity markets. PJM Interconnection’s Stu Bresler, SVP for Operations and Markets, weighs in on DOE’s proposal, and explains PJM’s price formation alternative. --- In October, Department of Energy secretary Rick Perry grabbed the attention of US competitive wholesale electricity markets when he issued an unusual request to the federal agency tasked with overseeing t...
Dec 12, 2017•38 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Mass migration to India’s cities will triple the size of its built environment by 2030, driving up energy use and carbon emissions. An expert on India’s energy sector looks at the country’s efforts to balance development and climate impact. --- Few countries face the challenge of balancing economic development and climate change as acutely as India, and in no other country is this balance likely to directly impact the lives of so many people. Over the next decade, some 200 million rural Indians ...
Nov 28, 2017•31 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Owners of rooftop solar could soon begin selling power into wholesale electricity markets, the traditional domain of big coal, gas and nuclear generators. The catch: electricity markets need to get fully behind the switch. --- America’s electricity system is undergoing dramatic change, in particular as distributed energy resources – notably rooftop solar and battery storage – become more common. Taken in aggregate, total rooftop solar and electricity storage now equals the generation potential o...
Nov 14, 2017•30 min•Season 2Ep. 6
A growing number of U.S. cities have set aggressive clean energy and efficiency targets, but the complexity and cost of energy transition can be daunting. Philadelphia’s Energy Manager offers insights into his city’s new plan to go 100% renewable and cut energy use. --- In September, the City of Philadelphia introduced its roadmap to dramatically reduce carbon emissions and move to 100% renewable energy. Philadelphia’s plan is a step toward fulfilling its commitment to lowering its carbon footpr...
Oct 30, 2017•27 min•Season 2Ep. 5
The U.S. government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars over the past decade to rebuild coastal cities and towns following hurricanes, yet coastlines remain vulnerable to repeat disaster. Two Penn urban policy experts discuss coastal resiliency and the process by which government allocates recovery funds. -- Federal spending on hurricane disaster relief has risen dramatically since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. Federal agencies have paid out $200 billion dollars for coa...
Oct 16, 2017•38 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy weighs in on the fate of the Clean Power Plan, and the EPA itself, under current Administrator Scott Pruitt. --- These are challenging times at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In February of this year former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who had sued the EPA more than a dozen times to block environmental and health protections, became the agency’s Administrator. In the months since, he has called for cuts to EPA programs, sought to repea...
Oct 04, 2017•50 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Can tightly regulated coal mining help undo decades worth of environmental damage caused by the coal industry? A Pennsylvania DEP official, and a mining executive, discuss efforts to remediate water and land in the state’s Anthracite coal region. -- Pennsylvania’s economy has long been tied to its coal industry. In the 19th century the state’s pioneering coal companies fueled America’s industrial revolution, and thousands of mining sites opened over the decades that followed. Yet, over a century...
Sep 18, 2017•34 min•Season 2Ep. 2
The electric vehicle market seems poised to take off, with high demand for Tesla’s Model 3 and growing attention from big automakers. Yet challenges that stalled EV growth in the past, namely sparse charging infrastructure and high costs, persist. A Wharton School expert looks at the role policymakers can take to support, or sink, the EV renaissance. --- Thanks for joining the Energy Policy Now podcast for our first episode of Season 2. These are exciting times for fans of electric vehicles. Tes...
Sep 04, 2017•36 min•Season 2Ep. 1
