Off The Charts Energy Podcast

On the heels of the Trump administration’s call for massive infrastructure spending, EPIC hosted three experienced leaders in government and industry to talk about the future of energy infrastructure.

Former FERC chairman Jon Wellinghoff, CEO of the transmission developer Anbaric Ed Krapels, and a VP from pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Allen Fore discussed the opportunities and challenges facing development of U.S. energy infrastructure, and how policymakers and markets can overcome barriers to development. The panel was moderated by Steve Cicala, assistant professor at the Harris School of Public Policy.

One year in, President Trump’s climate policy agenda has largely focused on rolling back any progress started by his predecessor—from suspending a rule to limit methane leaks from oil and gas operations on federal land to beginning the process of repealing the Obama Administration’s signature climate change regulation, the Clean Power Plan, and withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. Central to the President's success in rolling back these efforts is a figure called the social cost of carbon. Host Jeff McMahon talks with UChicago Law's Mark Templeton and Roberto Borgert about the legal challenges surrounding the social cost of carbon that may undermine President Trump's efforts.

What is the conservative case for confronting carbon emissions, and the path forward in the current political climate? What environmental achievements are possible under the Trump administration? Our host Jeff McMahon talks with Jim Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and director of the White House Office of Environmental Policy under President George W. Bush.

The Trump Administration has undertaken efforts to expand fossil fuel development on federal lands by lifting a moratorium on new coal leasing, scaling back certain protections on federal lands, and moving to open up new areas for offshore drilling. At the same time, the Administration is moving to alleviate regulatory burdens on industry operations, most recently by proposing to roll-back certain safety requirements and structural reforms put into place after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

What are the implications of the Trump Administration policies? On January 24, 2018, EPIC hosted a conversation with Tommy Beaudreau, former Chief of Staff at the Department of Interior and the first-ever Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The conversation was moderated by Mark Templeton, director of the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at UChicago Law School.

A Conversation with Bill Brown, CEO of NET Power by Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago & UChicago Podcast Network

EPIC Director Michael Greenstone talks with former Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz for an insiders look into his life, the climate threat, and the need for energy innovation in this special edition podcast.

Over the past two decades, rapid economic growth powered by cheap, conventional energy had fueled an incredible increase in Chinese living standards lifting millions out of poverty. Yet today, China is grappling with a new challenge: the environmental costs of that growth, most commonly experienced through dangerously high levels of air pollution that are shortening lives throughout the country.

Chinese environmentalist Ma Jun is helping to change that. After convincing the Chinese government to encourage the release of real-time pollution data from industrial facilities, Jun and his nonprofit Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs created a smart phone app that allows the public to see, and report, where the worst polluters are located. This approach to pollution abatement, built on transparency, focuses on putting information out in the open in an organized and easily-accessible way, allowing citizens to call for change. Many in China credit the effort for helping to usher in recent signs of progress, and other countries are looking to the work as a model.

EPIC hosted Ma Jun for a talk on the role of transparency, citizen engagement, and the future of environmental regulation.

The U.S. Department of Energy recently proposed a rule that would subsidize the ailing coal and nuclear industries, arguing that these sources of electricity are needed to ensure grid reliability as renewable fuels gain market share. Critics of the proposed rule say it is an unnecessary bailout of uncompetitive and dirty energy sources, and that renewables pose no threat to grid reliability. What are the major factors driving change in the U.S. grid? What are the challenges facing regulators? If Secretary Perry’s proposal is adopted, what effect will it actually have?

EPIC and the Harris Energy and Environmental Association, in partnership with The Aspen Institute, hosted a panel discussion on the recent proposal, the underlying Electricity Markets and Reliability report, and the possible impacts to the future of U.S. energy.

As India, Niger, and the southern United States grapple with historic flooding, new research is illustrating the inclusive costs of climate events and whom they affect the most. A changing environment – via floods, droughts, or storms – affects residents indiscriminately, yet it is the economically disadvantaged who struggle to adapt and recover. The World Bank reports that climate change will drive an additional 100 million people into poverty by 2030, disproportionately affecting developing countries. Will changing weather patterns change demographic maps as those that can leave at-risk areas do? How do we factor inequality into resilience planning for climate change at the local and international levels?

A new study by EPIC's Fiona Burlig is the latest of several studies to show the projected savings from energy efficiency investments far outpace the actual returns. 'Off the Charts' guest host Jeff McMahon talks with Burlig to unpack the challenges.