Off The Charts Energy Podcast

Meeting the Biden administration’s goal of transitioning to a carbon-free power sector will mean accelerating a shift away from coal that is already on its way. In our fourth episode in the series, Rob talks with Mark Templeton, the director of the University of Chicago Law School’s Abrams Environmental Clinic, about the many levers that could be used to accelerate the transition from coal and ensure coal communities aren’t left behind during this transition.

In our third episode in this special series, The Atlantic's Rob Meyer talks with Steve Cicala and Michael Greenstone to take a hard look at the barriers that today’s fragmented grid imposes on the growth of renewables, and what steps the government can take to remove those barriers. But taking those steps will likely not be enough, and many in Washington are supporting a Clean Electricity Standard—though not everyone agrees on what qualifies as “clean.”

https://epic.uchicago.edu/area-of-focus/decarbonizing-the-us-economy-with-a-national-grid/

Where does climate and energy policy go from here? In the new podcast miniseries The Roadmap, The Atlantic's Rob Meyer joins EPIC scholars to take a deep dive into timely climate and energy issues and the evidence behind needed policy changes, as described in the U.S. Energy & Climate Roadmap.

For our second episode, Rob talks with EPIC Executive Director Sam Ori and Harris Public Policy's Koichiro Ito about transportation emissions. While new proposals to boost electric vehicles have dominated much of the Biden administration’s transportation agenda, the predominate policy tool to reduce carbon emissions in this sector has historically been fuel economy standards—and they’re due for an update. Rob, Sam and Koichiro explore what they are, where they came from, and where we go from here.

Episode 1 : The Case for a Carbon Price and How to Prevent Leakage

For the first episode, Rob talks with EPIC Director Michael Greenstone and UChicago Law’s David Weisbach about one of the most important and political issues in climate policy: carbon prices. They also discuss one of the biggest questions surrounding carbon pricing, which is how to impose a carbon price without driving industry overseas and without exporting carbon emissions—a phenomenon called carbon leakage. 

https://epic.uchicago.edu/us-energy-and-climate-roadmap/

Over the coming months, The Atlantic's Rob Meyer will join EPIC scholars to take a deep dive on timely climate and energy issues and the evidence behind needed policy changes laid out in the U.S. Energy & Climate Roadmap.

Up first, David Weisbach will talk more about border tax adjustments and his recommendations to prevent carbon leakage. He'll be joined by EPIC Director Michael Greenstone for a larger conversation on carbon pricing.

Having served in several senior energy and environmental policy positions in the House of Representatives, Senate, EPA, and the White House—including most recently as special assistant to President Trump on energy and environmental issues—Michael Catanzaro knows both energy policy and the complicated politics behind it. The Atlantic’s Rob Meyer, a journalism fellow at EPIC, recently interviewed Catanzaro, who is now president of the consulting firm CGCN Group and a policy fellow at EPIC. The two talked about how a potential Biden administration might think about climate and energy policy, what to look for in a second Trump administration, and what steps Congress could take on these issues.

As the former chief economist for the California Air Resources Board, Emily Wimberger has spent her career at the intersection of critical energy and environmental issues, ranging from air pollution to fuel economy to carbon markets. The Atlantic’s Rob Meyer, a journalism fellow at EPIC, recently interviewed Wimberger, who is now a climate economist at the Rhodium Group and a policy fellow at EPIC. The two talked about the challenges of decarbonization, including the economics and politics surrounding fuel economy standards, where Jeff Bezos should spend the $10 billion he’s promised to the climate fight, and how a second-hand Honda Civic led her to a career in environmental economics.

On November 6th, EPIC and The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts convened a conversation about energy geopolitics and their economic implications, with a specific focus on the lessons learned from the Abqaiq attack. The event featured Robert McNally, the president of The Rapidan Group and a former senior director for international energy at the White House National Security Council; Suzanne Maloney, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director for Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution; and Harris Public Policy Professor Ryan Kellogg, an EPIC affiliated scholar who studies the economics of oil markets. The event was moderated by Robinson Meyer, EPIC’s Visiting Fellow in Journalism and a reporter for The Atlantic.

In an era of divided government, there has been concern over Congress’s ability to reach compromise and pass legislation. With Democrats in the majority in the House of Representatives and Republicans in control of the Senate and the White House, progress has been limited. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is one of only five women Republican Senators and is considered by many to be a key leader for forging compromise in this environment. Senator Murkowski has time and again made headlines for key votes on everything from healthcare to climate policy.

The U.S. energy landscape is rapidly changing. As the cost of wind and solar power drops, allowing these energy sources to compete against coal- and natural gas-fired power plants, pressure is mounting to develop an electric grid that can sustain more renewables and deliver their power to more homes and businesses throughout the country.

In the book “Superpower: One Man’s Quest to Transform American Energy,” Wall Street Journal reporter Russell Gold chronicles Michael Skelly’s mission to improve the U.S. electric grid by building a network of transmission lines to connect solar and wind hotbeds to areas of the country where demand for energy is high. Experts in the field broadly agree that this grid integration is the key to unlocking the clean, affordable grid of the future. The book provides deep insights on the challenges of achieving such a system and the opportunities ahead.

Recently, EPIC’s Director Michael Greenstone sat down with Russell Gold to talk about “Superpower,” the characters and lessons it details, and the future of the U.S. electricity grid.