Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and reducing methane emissions across the oil and natural gas supply chain is an important part of meeting global climate goals. This week, Fiji George and Arvind Ravikumar joined my colleague Ben Cahill to help us understand why this is so important and what needs to be done to speed up emissions reductions. Fiji George is Senior Director for Climate & Sustainability at Cheniere Energy, Inc., and Dr. Arvind Ravikumar is Research Associate Professor in the ...
Mar 07, 2022•42 min
In the United States, states are often leaders in advancing climate and energy objectives. The state regulatory utility commissioners who oversee electricity and gas services can be especially influential in guiding the development of new, clean energy infrastructure. This week on Energy 360, Morgan Higman (Clean Resilient States Initiative, CSIS) spoke with commissioners from Arizona, Colorado, and Washington to understand their roles and learn their perspectives and agendas for climate and ene...
Feb 22, 2022•53 min
This week, the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program looks at some of the energy implications from growing tensions between Ukraine and Russia. Joseph Majkut, Nikos Tsafos, and Ben Cahill look at recent developments to understand what a possible invasion of Russia into the Ukraine would mean for EU energy security and international energy markets. They also discuss the policy and market levers that the United States and the EU have available to counter any interruptions to the energy s...
Feb 07, 2022•45 min
This week on Energy 360, Dr. Joshua Rhodes, an energy expert at the University of Texas at Austin, joins Morgan Higman (CSIS Energy) to look back at the February 2021 electric power crisis in Texas. Last year, a major winter storm caused devastating power outages across Texas. Joshua and Morgan look at some of the underlying reasons that Texas was not able to manage the electric grid during that storm, what preventative and resilience measures or changes to the grid have been put into place sinc...
Jan 24, 2022•40 min
This week, John Larsen (Rhodium Group) joins Joseph Majkut (CSIS) to look at how the United States could create a policy action plan to meet the Biden administration’s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52 percent by 2030. John and his colleagues provided an in-depth look at the federal and state level steps needed to meet this target in their report, Pathways to Paris: A Policy Assessment of the 2030 US Climate Target. https://rhg.com/research/us-climate-policy-2030
Jan 10, 2022•51 min
This week, Sarah Ladislaw (RMI) and Liam Denning (Bloomberg) join Nikos Tsafos (CSIS) to look back at what happened in energy and climate over the last year. 2021 saw the world’s climate leaders focused on the November U.N. Climate meetings in Glasgow and the Biden Administration come in with a sweeping new agenda. Where was real progress made or lost? How could it impact energy and climate policy developments as we move into 2022? (Recorded on December 14, 2021).
Dec 20, 2021•35 min
This week, Artem Abramov (Rystad Energy) and Casey Merriman (Energy Intelligence) join Ben Cahill (CSIS) for a discussion about what’s next for U.S. shale production. They look at recent production trends and investor pressure in U.S. oil and gas sector and what that might indicate for the coming year. They also consider possible impacts from recent policy actions coming from the Biden administration, especially those concerning drilling on public lands.
Dec 13, 2021•36 min
This week, David Terry, Executive Director of the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) joins Morgan Higman (Clean Resilient States Project, CSIS) to look at how states are working together and with the federal government to craft workable and innovative solutions to implement energy policies. They cover the recent fall NASEO meeting and issues important to the agenda, including transportation, grid resiliency, energy efficiency, equity, and workforce development. They also disc...
Nov 29, 2021•34 min
This week, Gaylor Montmasson-Clair with Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) and Srestha Banerjee with iForest join Sandeep Pai (CSIS) to explore the opportunities and challenges for coal dependent regions in India and South Africa to create just and sustainable pathways to diversify their economies. For more, read Understanding Just Transitions in Coal Dependent Communities: Case Studies from Mpumalanga, South Africa, and Jharkhand, India
Nov 15, 2021•43 min
This week, Chandra Bhushan with iFOREST and Jesse Burton with the University of Cape Town join Sandeep Pai (CSIS) to look at how key themes of just transitions are important in the context of CoP26 meetings. They then discuss the key priorities on the ground for a just transition away from coal in the major economies of South Africa and India. For more, read Understanding Just Transitions in Coal Dependent Communities: Case Studies from Mpumalanga, South Africa, and Jharkhand, India
Nov 01, 2021•45 min
This week, Jonathan Pershing, Deputy Special Envoy for Climate at the U.S. Department of State, joins Joseph Majkut (CSIS) to look at what to expect from the upcoming COP26 meetings in Glasgow. Dr. Pershing discusses what is at stake for these international negotiations, which countries are stepping up their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and which are lagging on their national commitments. They also discuss what the Biden Administration brings to this year’s meetings, whether Congr...
Oct 25, 2021•45 min
This week, Alice Hill, climate risk and resilient expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, joins CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program Director Joseph Majkut and discusses her recent book, The Fight for Climate After COVID-19. The two explore lessons from the response to covid-19 to inform building resilience in the face of climate risks, how states can better prepare for climate impacts, and if adaptation might have a role at COP26.
Oct 18, 2021•36 min
This week, CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program Director Joseph Majkut talks with Dr. Robert Kopp, a climate scientist, and professor at Rutgers University, about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report. The contribution of Working Group 1, which reports the physical science of climate change, was released this past August. Dr. Kopp was the lead author of that report's chapter on sea-level rise. They dive into some of the climate science and modeling th...
Oct 11, 2021•39 min
This week, Dr. Cecilia Han Springer with the Global China Initiative at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center joins Nikos Tsafos and Jane Nakano (CSIS Energy) to talk about announcements from China at last week’s U.S. General Assembly meetings. Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the country would stop supporting (or building) new coal-fired power projects overseas and would move towards clean energy projects. Dr. Springer walks us through what this important announcement does ...
Sep 27, 2021•27 min
In today’s special release, Joseph Majkut and Nikos Tsafos (CSIS) talk with Jesse Jenkins (Princeton University) about the new draft legislation in the Congress designed to lower U.S carbon emissions from the electric power sector over the next ten years.
Sep 17, 2021•38 min
This week, Ira Joseph (S&P Global Platts) joins Nikos Tsafos (CSIS) to discuss natural gas markets. They dive into what’s behind recent gas price upheavals, then turn to European supply concerns, LNG exports, and U.S. production levels. They also look at the longer-term future of global gas as it competes not only with coal, especially in parts of Asia, but increasingly with renewables.
Sep 13, 2021•26 min
This week, Kevin Book (Clear View Energy Partners) and Sarah Ladislaw (RMI) join Nikos Tsafos (CSIS) for a look at climate and energy policies under the new Biden administration. The Administration came in with some ambitious climate and energy policies. Kevin, Sarah, and Nikos assess how much progress the Administration has made so far in moving those policies forward, both at home and internationally. They look at its broad emissions reduction plans, the development of climate-leaning industri...
Aug 02, 2021•41 min
This week, Partha Bhattacharyya (former chairman, Coal India Limited) joins Sandeep Pai (CSIS/JTI) to discuss how Coal India Limited is preparing for a clean energy future. Mr. Bhattacharyya was chairman of Coal India from 2006-2011. Coal India Limited (CIL) is the largest coal producer in the world and how it manages the energy transition has major implications for the coal industry in India. They look at the strategies Coal India can use to diversify its portfolio, challenges to Coal India an...
Jul 19, 2021•32 min
This week Christi Tezak (Clear View Energy Partners) joins Ben Cahill (CSIS) to discuss oil pipelines in the United States. Christi and Ben look at how the Biden Administration is approaching pipeline issues, new actions from state-level governments, recent court rulings, and how these decisions may impact future pipeline projects.
Jul 06, 2021•34 min
This week, Ben Cahill (CSIS) is joined by Brian O’Callaghan and Jesse Burton to discuss how Covid-19 recovery can be more just, equitable and green. Brian is Lead Researcher and Project Manager of the Oxford University Economic Recovery Project, and Jesse is with the University of Cape Town and a Senior Associate with E3G, where she provides analysis and policy advice on coal transitions in South Africa and globally. Together, they look at how governments can ensure that their economic spending ...
Jun 21, 2021•34 min
This week, Michael Greenstone (University of Chicago) joins Nikos Tsafos (CSIS) to discuss the recently published roadmap for energy and climate policy published by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC). This roadmap brings to the U.S. climate debate a host of practical recommendations to lead the transition to a decarbonized economy. Nikos and Michael look at key issues including carbon pricing, transportation, and efficiency while also looking at how to apply lessons ...
Jun 07, 2021•38 min
This week, Neelima Jain (CSIS Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies) is joined by Saurabh Kumar (Energy Efficiency Services Limited or EESL) and Rahul Walawalkar (India Energy Storage Alliance) to discuss the role that energy storage can play in helping India meet its clean energy goals. Together, they examine the policy, regulatory, and economic opportunities and challenges facing both energy storage and Indian electricity sector.
May 24, 2021•45 min
This week, Ben Cahill (CSIS) is joined by Daniel Raimi and Wes Look (Resources for the Future) to discuss the latest report in their series focused on ensuring fairness for workers and communities in transition. They talk about the opportunities and challenges facing fossil fuel communities in the United States as well as policy strategies that should be adopted to help workers transition into the clean energy economy. For more read, https://www.rff.org/publications/reports/enabling-fairness-for...
May 10, 2021•39 min
This week we look at whether the Department of Energy is set up to meet the new climate and energy goals set out by the Biden Administration. Our guests, Tim Lieuwen (Georgia Tech), Adam Cohen (AUI and CSIS), and Leland Cogliani (Lewis Burke Associates) talk with Jane Nakano (CSIS Energy) about why modifying DoE’s current organization could help to meet some of the new mission objectives and the challenges and opportunities that come with any federal reorganization plan. Read the white paper: ht...
Apr 26, 2021•39 min
This week, Jane Nakano (CSIS) talks with Representative Elaine Luria about energy and climate priorities for Representative Luria’s district. Representative Luria was first elected to represent Virginia’s Second Congressional District in 2018. Her district includes many coastal communities as well as 8 military installations. Previously, she served two decades in the Navy, retiring with the rank of Commander. Jane talks with Representative Luria about how her background as nuclear-trained office...
Apr 12, 2021•18 min
This week, Bloomberg energy and commodity reporters Javier Blas and Jack Farchy join Ben Cahill (CSIS) for a discussion of their new book, The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources. Their discussion focuses on the influential role that commodity traders have played in global oil markets over the past four decades and looks ahead to how the commodities business may need to respond to new demands of the global energy economy.
Mar 29, 2021•42 min
As the energy transition in India accelerates, how do decisionmakers ensure that the transition is a just and equitable transition? Neha Sharma (CIF and JTI), Ajay Mathur (International Solar Alliance), Srestha Banerjee (iForest), and Mike Ward (CIF) look at the underlying drivers of India’s energy transitions, and key considerations for creating a just transition, including the need for fairness and equity, geographic disparities, lack of social mobility, labor policy, and energy access. This w...
Mar 15, 2021•39 min
This week, Dr. Emily Grubert, a professor at Georgia Tech, joins Stephen Naimoli (CSIS) to look at the recent winter storm in Texas that caused massive grid failures. Emily and Stephen consider what happened in Texas and why the grid there failed to handle the severe storm. They examine the tools and policies that decisionmakers can use to help the grid avoid problems like this and to prepare for worsening impacts as a result of climate change in the future. For more, read Stephen’s recent exami...
Mar 01, 2021•31 min
This week, Justin Wu (BloombergNEF) and Lachlan Carey (CSIS) take a tour of all things climate and energy related across Asia. They start with the outlook for U.S.-China relations on climate under the Biden Administration, consider the recent carbon neutral targets announced by Japan and Korea, move to the Covid recovery efforts and clean energy agenda in Vietnam, Indonesia, and India, and finally take a look at Australia and its technology-forward climate policy.
Feb 15, 2021•55 min
Ken Koyama (IEEJ) and Jane Nakano (CSIS Energy) look at recent energy and climate announcements from Japan. In October, Japan announced a plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. The climate pledge was followed by the launch of the Green Growth Strategy for Carbon Neutrality by 2050, in December. Ken and Jane look at what it will take to reach that target and its implications for Japan’s energy sector. For more, read https://www.csis.org/analysis/japan-seeks-carbon-neutrality-2050
Feb 01, 2021•30 min
