Episodit
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In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Fernando Vidal, a postdoctoral researcher at the Polymat research institute in Spain, about technological and policy options to create a more sustainable plastics economy. Vidal discusses the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the life cycle of plastics, changes to the chemical makeup and recycling of plastics that could reduce the impact of plastics on communities and the environment, and international efforts to reduce the negative impacts of the plastics economy. Vidal shares recommendations for a more sustainable plastics economy from an article that he coauthored, which recently was published in the journal “Nature.”
References and recommendations:
“Designing a circular carbon and plastics economy for a sustainable future” by Fernando Vidal, Eva R. van der Marel, Ryan W. F. Kerr, Caitlin McElroy, Nadia Schroeder, Celia Mitchell, Gloria Rosetto, Thomas T. D. Chen, Richard M. Bailey, Cameron Hepburn, Catherine Redgwell, and Charlotte K. Williams; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06939-z
“Nudes in Nature” photography exhibit by Laura Aguilar at the Phoenix Art Museum; https://phxart.org/exhibition/laura-aguilar/
Photographer Laura Aguilar; https://www.lauraaguilarphotography.com/ -
In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Brad Harris, the director of government affairs at Resources for the Future, about the increasing demand for electricity in the United States. Harris discusses the main sources of this surge in electricity demand, also known as load growth; the challenges that load growth poses to goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that have been set by utilities and the United States; and tools available to utilities and policymakers that can help meet growing demand and mitigate the effects of load growth on ratepayers and emissions.
References and recommendations:
“Harlan County, USA” documentary; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_County,_USA
“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” documentary; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron:_The_Smartest_Guys_in_the_Room -
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In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Lisa Rennels, a PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, about a class of synthetic industrial chemicals used in air-conditioners, refrigerators, and other technologies: hydrofluorocarbons. Rennels discusses the proliferation of these chemicals in recent decades, the cost of hydrofluorocarbon emissions to society, the feedback loop between global warming and increased use of these chemicals for air-conditioning, and global efforts to reduce the emissions of hydrofluorocarbons.
References and recommendations:
“The social costs of hydrofluorocarbons and the benefits from their expedited phase-down” by Tammy Tan, Lisa Rennels, and Bryan Parthum; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01898-9
“Comprehensive Evidence Implies a Higher Social Cost of COâ” by Kevin Rennert, Frank Errickson, Brian C. Prest, Lisa Rennels, Richard G. Newell, William Pizer, Cora Kingdon, Jordan Wingenroth, Roger Cooke, Bryan Parthum, David Smith, Kevin Cromar, Delavane Diaz, Frances C. Moore, Ulrich K. Müller, Richard J. Plevin, Adrian E. Raftery, Hana ŠevÄíková, Hannah Sheets, James Stock, Tammy Tan, Mark Watson, Tony E. Wong, and David Anthoff; https://www.rff.org/publications/journal-articles/comprehensive-evidence-implies-a-higher-social-cost-of-co2/
“The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear” by Paul Rogat Loeb; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/paul-rogat-loeb/the-impossible-will-take-a-little-while/9780465038589
“Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet” by Hannah Ritchie; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/hannah-ritchie/not-the-end-of-the-world/9780316536752/
“Are we the last generation—or the first sustainable one?” TED Talk by Hannah Ritchie; https://www.ted.com/talks/hannah_ritchie_are_we_the_last_generation_or_the_first_sustainable_one
“The High Sierra: A Love Story” by Kim Stanley Robinson; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kim-stanley-robinson/the-high-sierra/9780316306812 -
In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Susan F. Tierney, a senior advisor at Analysis Group and chair of the board of directors at Resources for the Future, about the future of fossil fuels in the United States. Tierney discusses the challenges of meeting climate goals while maintaining energy security, the importance of making energy accessible to citizens, and how to support communities and states that historically have depended on the coal and oil and gas industries for jobs and public revenue.
References and recommendations:
“Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions” by Stephen W. Pacala, Danielle Deane-Ryan, Alexandra Fazeli, Julia H. Haggerty, Chris T. Hendrickson, Roxanne Johnson, Timothy C. Lieuwen, Vivian E. Loftness, Carlos E. Martín, Michael A. Méndez, Clark A. Miller, Jonathan A. Patz, Keith Paustian, William Pizer, Ed Rightor, Patricia Romero-Lankao, Devashree Saha, Kelly Sims Gallagher, Susan F. Tierney, and William Walker; https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/25931/interactive/
“Community Engagement for an Equitable Energy Transition, with Julia Haggerty” from “Resources Radio”; https://www.resources.org/resources-radio/community-engagement-for-an-equitable-energy-transition-with-julia-haggerty/
“Our Homes and Our Climate, with Carlos Martín” from “Resources Radio”; https://www.resources.org/resources-radio/our-homes-and-our-climate-with-carlos-martin/
“The Covenant of Water” by Abraham Verghese; https://www.abrahamverghese.org/the-covenant-of-water/ -
In this weekâs episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Simon Greenhill (PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley) and Hannah Druckenmiller (university fellow at Resources for the Future and assistant professor at the California Institute of Technology). Along with other coauthors, Greenhill and Druckenmiller recently published an article in the journal Science that uses a new machine learning model to predict which waterways are regulated under the Clean Water Act according to different definitions of what the Clean Water Act calls âwaters of the United States.â Greenhill and Druckenmiller discuss the differences in regulation when considering a broader or narrower interpretation of waters of the United States, along with the implications for wetland protection, clean water, and flood mitigation.References and recommendations:âMachine learning predicts which rivers, streams, and wetlands the Clean Water Act regulatesâ by Simon Greenhill, Hannah Druckenmiller, Sherrie Wang, David A. Keiser, Manuela Girotto, Jason K. Moore, Nobuhiro Yamaguchi, Alberto Todeschini, and Joseph S. Shapiro; https://www.rff.org/publications/journal-articles/machine-learning-predicts-which-rivers-streams-and-wetlands-the-clean-water-act-regulates/Clean Water Act regulation map; https://simondgreenhill.github.io/wotus-map/Clean Water Act regulation map explainer video by Simon Greenhill; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkhz5gVUo2w&abâWetlands, Flooding, and the Clean Water Actâ by Charles A. Taylor and Hannah Druckenmiller; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/wetlands-flooding-and-the-clean-water-act/âThe Hungry Tideâ by Amitav Ghosh; https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-hungry-tide-amitav-ghoshâThe High Sierra: A Love Storyâ by Kim Stanley Robinson; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kim-stanley-robinson/the-high-sierra/9780316306812/
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In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with James Cox, a professor at Duke University, about a rule issued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that mandates publicly traded firms to disclose certain greenhouse gas emissions associated with business operations. Cox discusses how the rule standardizes the disclosures of certain climate-related risks that firms face, the differences between the final rule and the initial rule proposed by the commission in 2022, the potential challenges of verifying emissions from a company’s suppliers and customers, and the value of transparency and information for investors.
References and recommendations:
“Special Series: The SEC Climate Disclosure Rule” from the “Common Resources” blog; https://www.resources.org/special-series-sec/ -
In this week’s episode, host Margaret Walls talks with Lala Ma, an associate professor of economics at the University of Kentucky and a new university fellow at Resources for the Future, about the effect on housing prices in California of informing homebuyers about the risk of wildfire. Ma discusses how California classifies and discloses the risk of wildfire throughout the state, the difference in housing prices between areas in which wildfire risk is disclosed and areas where that disclosure isn’t mandated, and factors that may influence the willingness of an individual to pay more to avoid wildfire risk.
References and recommendations:
“Risk Disclosure and Home Prices: Evidence from California Wildfire Hazard Zones” by Lala Ma, Margaret A. Walls, Matthew Wibbenmeyer, and Connor Lennon; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/risk-disclosure-and-home-prices-evidence-from-california-wildfire-hazard-zones
Books by Emily Oster, including “Expecting Better” and “Cribsheet”; https://emilyoster.net/writing/
“The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind” by Melissa S. Kearney; https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/T/bo205550079.html -
In this week’s episode, host Daniel Rami talks with Jeffrey Rissman, a senior director at Energy Innovation and the author of “Zero-Carbon Industry,” a new book about decarbonizing the global industrial sector. Rissman discusses the sources of greenhouse gas emissions in major subsectors—iron and steel, chemicals, and cement—and some technologies and policies that could help reduce or eliminate emissions from these subsectors.
References and recommendations:
“Zero-Carbon Industry: Transformative Technologies and Policies to Achieve Sustainable Prosperity” by Jeffrey Rissman; https://zerocarbonindustry.com/
“Daybreak” board game; https://www.daybreakgame.org/ -
In this week’s episode, host Daniel Rami talks with Heather Randell, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, about dams and reservoirs that have been built on Native American reservations in the United States. Reservoirs are built by damming a river and flooding an area of land; in the United States, Native American reservations have been disrupted by the construction of reservoirs, dispossessed of their land despite longstanding treaties with the US government. Randell discusses the history of the development of dams on reservation lands, the social and economic effects of dams on Native nations, and how the repair or removal of dams can benefit Native nations today.
References and recommendations:
“Dams and Tribal Land Loss in the United States” by Heather Randell and Andrew Curley; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/acd268
“Dammed Indians” by Michael L. Lawson; https://books.google.com/books/about/Dammed_Indians.html?id=uuPAasyix8EC
“Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman’s Search for Justice in Indian Country” by Sierra Crane Murdoch; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/545014/yellow-bird-by-sierra-crane-murdoch/ -
In this week’s episode, host Margaret Walls talks with Carlos Martín, a project director at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University and a university fellow at Resources for the Future, about housing adaptation and resilience amid climate change, using as a primary example New Orleans housing infrastructure after Hurricane Katrina. Martín argues that the resilience of housing infrastructure is key to climate adaptation, particularly for economically disadvantaged communities. He also discusses how residential buildings produce emissions and contribute to climate change; achieving US decarbonization goals will require related upgrades and improvements, which not all households can tackle with ease.
References and recommendations:
“Housing Resilience in Greater New Orleans: Perceptions of and Home Adaptations to Climate Hazards in Post-Katrina Louisiana” by Carlos Martín, Claudia D. Solari, Anne N. Junod, and Rebecca Marx; https://www.urban.org/research/publication/housing-resilience-greater-new-orleans
“Exploring Climate Change in US Housing Policy” by Carlos Martín; https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10511482.2022.2012030
“Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions” by Stephen W. Pacala, Danielle Deane-Ryan, Alexandra Fazeli, Julia H. Haggerty, Chris T. Hendrickson, Roxanne Johnson, Timothy C. Lieuwen, Vivian E. Loftness, Carlos E. Martín, Michael A. Méndez, Clark A. Miller, Jonathan A. Patz, Keith Paustian, William Pizer, Ed Rightor, Patricia Romero-Lankao, Devashree Saha, Kelly Sims Gallagher, Susan F. Tierney, and William Walker; https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/25931/interactive/
“Pathways to Prosperity: Building Climate Resilience” by Allison Plyer, Alysha Rashid, Elaine Ortiz, Taylor Savell, and John Kilcoyne; https://www.p2pclimate.org/
“The Rise of the American Conservation Movement: Power, Privilege, and Environmental Protection” by Dorceta E. Taylor; https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-rise-of-the-american-conservation-movement -
In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Ben Cahill, a senior fellow in the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about the Biden administration’s recent decision to pause approvals on the construction of new facilities that export liquefied natural gas. Cahill discusses the history of natural gas production in the United States and arguments for and against increasing US exports of natural gas, including considerations of energy security in nations that are allies of the United States, national and global climate goals, and environmental justice.
References and recommendations:
“Escaping the Resource Curse” edited by Macartan Humphreys, Jeffrey D. Sachs, and Joseph E. Stiglitz; https://cup.columbia.edu/book/escaping-the-resource-curse/9780231141963
“The Nutmeg’s Curse” by Amitav Ghosh; https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/N/bo125517349.html -
In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Fran Moore, an associate professor at the University of California, Davis, about what it’s like to serve as a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). Moore discusses the function of the CEA within the executive branch of the federal government, the range of economic expertise within the CEA, and how economists can improve the utility and relevance of their research for policymaking.
References and recommendations:
Frontiers of Benefit-Cost Analysis from the US Office of Management and Budget; https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-regulatory-affairs/frontiers-of-benefit-cost-analysis/
“A Progress Report on Climate-Energy-Macro Modeling,” containing a memo on tools to support the management of near-term macroeconomic and financial climate risks, from the Council of Economic Advisors; https://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/written-materials/2023/12/22/a-progress-report-on-climate-energy-macro-modeling/
“Losing Earth: A Recent History” by Nathaniel Rich; https://www.mcdbooks.com/losing-earth/
“If Women Counted: A New Feminist Economics” by Marilyn Waring; https://www.marilynwaring.com/publications/if-women-counted.asp
“The Economist’s View of the World and the Quest for Well-Being” by Steven E. Rhoads; https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/economists-view-of-the-world/ABF1A4B73AA084CB909A3FF498153F16#fndtn-information -
In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Spencer Banzhaf, a professor at North Carolina State University, about the history of the field of environmental economics. Banzhaf discusses the development of the economic definition of value, the early influence of agricultural economists in government, the origins of Resources for the Future and its contributions to the field, and how the field of environmental economics may evolve moving forward.
References and recommendations:
“Pricing the Priceless: A History of Environmental Economics” by H. Spencer Banzhaf; https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/pricing-the-priceless/417AAD8A445E8B64BAD6BC201D2F2163
“Scarcity” by Fredrik Albritton Jonsson and Carl Wennerlind; https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674987081
Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._7_(Beethoven) -
In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Julia Haggerty, an associate professor at Montana State University and university fellow at Resources for the Future, about engaging the public in the US energy transition. Haggerty discusses public engagement in the context of US efforts to decarbonize, the opportunity presented by a transition to clean energy in terms of reducing inequities in the United States, the importance of public trust in government action, and ongoing efforts to ensure that communities take action toward decarbonization.
References and recommendations:
“Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions” by Stephen W. Pacala, Danielle Deane-Ryan, Alexandra Fazeli, Julia H. Haggerty, Chris T. Hendrickson, Roxanne Johnson, Timothy C. Lieuwen, Vivian E. Loftness, Carlos E. Martín, Michael A. Méndez, Clark A. Miller, Jonathan A. Patz, Keith Paustian, William Pizer, Ed Rightor, Patricia Romero-Lankao, Devashree Saha, Kelly Sims Gallagher, Susan F. Tierney, and William Walker; https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/25931/interactive/
“City Hall” film by Frederick Wiseman; https://www.pbs.org/show/city-hall/ -
In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Bernie Bastien-Olvera, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, San Diego, about the benefits of ecosystems for humans and the global economy. Bastien-Olvera discusses the types of benefits that ecosystems provide, methods that economists use to estimate these benefits, how climate change is shifting ecosystems and biomes geographically, and why these shifts may have a relatively larger impact on nations in the Global South.
References and recommendations:
“Unequal climate impacts on global values of natural capital” by B. A. Bastien-Olvera, M. N. Conte, X. Dong, T. Briceno, D. Batker, J. Emmerling, M. Tavoni, F. Granella, and F. C. Moore; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06769-z
“The Biggest Little Farm” movie; https://www.biggestlittlefarmmovie.com/
“Planeteando de Pelicula” podcast; https://planeteando.org/series/planeteando-de-pelicula/ -
In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi reviews developments in energy and environmental policy in 2023 and previews potential developments in 2024 with Karen Palmer, a senior fellow at Resources for the Future, and Joseph Majkut, director of the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Palmer and Majkut discuss reforms that could speed up the construction of energy infrastructure, the increasing prevalence of trade policies that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the intersection of US goals for decarbonization and foreign policy, and notable developments in policy at the state and local levels.
References and recommendations:
“How to Know a Person” by David Brooks; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/652822/how-to-know-a-person-by-david-brooks/
“The Big Dig” podcast; https://www.wgbh.org/podcasts/the-big-dig -
Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced $8.2 billion in funding for selected high-speed rail projects across the country. One major rail project that is receiving support will connect Las Vegas and Los Angeles; another will connect several cities in California, including Los Angeles and San Francisco. “America disinvested over the last many decades in our rail systems,” said Pete Buttigieg, secretary of the US Department of Transportation. “We’re reversing that trend.”
One result of this disinvestment and additional challenges in the rail industry is a large number of abandoned railroad lines. But, although many of these railroad lines no longer carry trains, the lines have been put to new transportational use. In this rebroadcasted episode, host Margaret Walls talks with Peter Harnik, cofounder of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, about grassroots and legislative efforts to repurpose abandoned railroad lines as recreational trails. Harnik discusses why the United States has so many abandoned railroad lines, the process of converting a railroad line into a trail, and the legislation that provides funding for trail projects.
References and recommendations:
“From Rails to Trails: The Making of America’s Active Transportation Network” by Peter Harnik; https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496222060/
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy; https://www.railstotrails.org/
“Stolen Focus” by Johann Hari; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/634289/stolen-focus-by-johann-hari/ -
In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Ann Wolverton, a senior research economist at the US Environmental Protection Agency, about how the agency incorporates environmental justice in its rulemaking and its analysis of agency regulations. Wolverton discusses the history of accounting for environmental justice at federal agencies, how the availability and granularity of data affect this ability to evaluate environmental justice outcomes, and how formally considering environmental justice can inform federal regulations.
References and recommendations:
“Environmental Justice Analysis for EPA Rulemakings: Opportunities and Challenges” by Ann Wolverton; https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/724721
“EPA Draft Revision of Technical Guidance for Assessing Environmental Justice in Regulatory Analysis” public comment period; https://www.epa.gov/environmental-economics/epa-draft-revision-technical-guidance-assessing-environmental-justice
“Toms River” by Dan Fagin; https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/dan-fagin -
In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Isaac Opper, an economist at the Rand Corporation and professor at the Pardee Rand Graduate School, about how natural disasters can affect education outcomes for students and the resulting stock of skills in the US labor force. Opper discusses the relationship between education and skills in the US labor force, which is known as human capital; how natural disasters can disrupt education for students; and how school administrators and policymakers could mitigate learning losses that result from natural disasters.
References and recommendations:
“The effect of natural disasters on human capital in the United States” by Isaac M. Opper, R. Jisung Park, and Lucas Husted; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01610-z
“The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World” by Andrea Wulf; https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/book/?isbn=9780345806291 -
In this weekâs episode, host Margaret Walls talks about improving equity in urban park systems with Norma GarcĂa-GonzĂĄlez, the director of the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, and Catherine Nagel, the executive director of the City Parks Alliance. GarcĂa-GonzĂĄlez discusses how data and community engagement have helped Los Angeles County increase the accessibility and quality of its urban park system. Nagel discusses similar efforts in other cities to create equitable urban park systems and the social, environmental, and economic value of parks in urban areas.References and recommendations:âLos Angeles Countywide Comprehensive Parks & Recreation Needs Assessmentâ by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation; https://lacountyparkneeds.org/final-report/âParks Needs Assessment Plusâ by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation; https://lacountyparkneeds.org/pnaplus-report/People, Parks, and Power: A National Initiative for Green Space, Health Equity, and Racial Justice from Prevention Institute; https://preventioninstitute.org/projects/people-parks-and-powerâPark Equity, Life Expectancy, and Power Buildingâ by Prevention Institute; https://coeh.ph.ucla.edu/park-equity-life-expectancy-and-power-building/âThe association of green space, tree canopy and parks with life expectancy in neighborhoods of Los Angelesâ by Rachel Connolly, Jonah Lipsitt, Manal Aboelata, Elva Yañez, Jasneet Bains, and Michael Jerrett; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023000582âSacred Nature: Restoring Our Ancient Bond with the Natural Worldâ by Karen Armstrong; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/671038/sacred-nature-by-karen-armstrong/
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