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Podcast

Podcast

How Politics Swings Clean Energy Policy in States

August 19, 2020

Over the past 20 years or so, states have been leaders in setting policies to promote renewable energy and other cleaner energy options. But sustaining those policies can be challenging, especially in the face of resistance from traditional energy companies and other interest groups. In this episode of the Columbia Energy Exchange podcast, I talk to a prominent young political scientist, Leah Stokes, whose new book “Short Circuiting Policy” details what’s happened in a number of states. They include Ohio, where a scandal has emerged over a law to help nuclear and coal power plants keep running. To hear this fascinating discussion, go to the homepage for the podcast at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. I hope you enjoy it!

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by Bill Loveless
Podcast

Democrats’ blueprint for action on climate change

July 10, 2020

A new report from Democrats on the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis calls for comprehensive actions by the U.S. Congress to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. as quickly as possible, make communities more resilient to climate change, and build a durable and equitable clean energy economy. Called “Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient and Just America,” the 550-page report contains hundreds of recommendations. Some call it the most far-reaching report on climate change to ever appear on Capitol Hill. In this edition of Columbia Energy Exchange, I reached the chair of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, Rep. Kathy Castor, a Florida Democrat, soon after the report was released by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Castor. It was the second appearance on…

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by Bill Loveless
Podcast

Building coalitions for energy stimulus

April 30, 2020

Governments around the world are consumed now with the challenge of responding effectively to the coronavirus pandemic, including providing adequate healthcare and alleviating the economic impact of the crisis. But policymakers in Washington and other capitals will eventually need to find ways to stimulate a recovery of their economies to put back to work the legions of people who are now unemployed. In this edition of Columbia Energy Exchange, host Bill Loveless talks to Ernest Moniz about the role that energy sectors can play in reinvigorating the U.S. economy, especially those sectors responsible for the early stages of a low-carbon transition that’s taken place over the last decade, and the importance of building coalitions to support such options. Moniz is well known to listeners as a former U.S. secretary of energy during the Obama administration and a key architect of…

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by Bill Loveless
Climate, Environment, Podcast

On climate, Denmark looks past its size to address crisis

October 30, 2019

It’s a small country with big ambitions when it comes to climate change. The new government in Denmark plans to overhaul entirely the way it conducts climate policy, with a goal of reducing emissions by 70 percent by 2030 compared to 1990. And it says it’s doing so based on what science tells us, not what political expedience would suggest. In this edition of Columbia Energy Exchange, I talk with Dan Jørgensen, Denmark’s Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities since June. Minister Jørgensen was elected to the Danish parliament in 2013 and served as minister for food and agriculture between 2013 and 2015. He was also a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2013, and has taught at universities in Denmark, France and the United States. Now, he’s in charge of an ambitious climate policy put in place…

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by Bill Loveless
Podcast

Coal communities face fiscal ruin

July 19, 2019

The coal industry continues to tumble in the U.S. as electric power plants turn increasingly to natural gas and renewable energy as their fuels of choice. And that decline might only worsen for coal mining and the communities that rely on it if Washington someday adopts strong policies to reduce carbon emissions associated with climate change. In this edition of Columbia Energy Exchange, I pay a visit to Adele Morris, a senior fellow and policy director for climate and energy economics at Brookings Institution. Adele and Noah Kaufman, a research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy, and Siddhi Doshi, a senior research assistant at Brookings, have written a new paper from the center that looks at the danger of fiscal collapse in coal-reliant communities. What they tell us is that while climate risks to corporations have received scrutiny in…

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by Bill Loveless
Podcast

Future brightens for Chile as energy leader

April 30, 2019

Big changes are taking place in Chile when it comes to energy, with a strong push for renewable energy in recent years. And there’s more to come, according to the country’s president, Sebastián Piñera. In this edition of the Columbia Energy Exchange podcast, I sit down with Susana Jiménez, Chile’s energy minister, who’s overseeing her government’s plan to change significantly the way the nation produces and uses energy. In the process, she aims to make her nation a model for not only South America but also the world. The fifth largest consumer of energy in South America, Chile is only a minor producer of fossil fuels and therefore has relied heavily on energy imports That’s changing, however, as Chile looks increasingly to solar, wind and other forms of renewable energy. In fact, renewable energy now accounts for about 18% of…

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by Bill Loveless
Podcast, Uncategorized

Climate policy starts hereFeatured

April 15, 2019

The Green New Deal is one of the hottest topics in Washington right now, as it should be. But putting together legislation is a difficult task, especially amid the partisan politics taking place on Capitol Hill today. In a “Columbia Energy Exchange” podcast, I talk to the lawmaker at the start of this process: Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y. Tonko chairs the House Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee, the first start for making climate policy in Congress. Hear him describe what lies in store for climate policy making and the impact of the Green New Deal movement on this effort. You’ll find the podcast here https://bit.ly/2Gfu2Ll.

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by Bill Loveless
International, Podcast

Outlook for Energy in Mexico

January 11, 2019

A new president took office in Mexico on December 1. Andrés López Obrador easily won Mexico’s presidential election on July 1 as a populist representing a party he founded four years ago. His nation’s energy future is among the critical issues he will face. On this edition of the Columbia Energy Exchange, host Bill Loveless interviews Amb. Carlos Pascual, a senior vice president at IHS Markit, where he concentrates on worldwide energy issues and international affairs. Carlos served as U.S. ambassador to Mexico from 2009 to 2011 and to Ukraine from 2000 to 2003. At the U.S. State Department, he established and directed the agency’s Energy Resources Bureau as a special envoy and coordinator for international affairs from 2011 to 2014. He is also a non-resident fellow at CGEP. Bill caught up with Carlos recently during a trip Carlos made…

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by Bill Loveless
Podcast

Taking stock of ESG risks for U.S. utilities

October 25, 2018

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks are becoming increasingly important to judging the credit worthiness of electric utilities, especially as climate change makes their work more challenging. On this episode of the Columbia Energy Exchange, host Bill Loveless talks to Jim Hempstead, a managing director in Moody’s Global Project and Infrastructure Finance Group. In his role at Moody’s, one of the largest credit ratings firms in the world, Jim helps oversee the North American Regulated Utility and Power Team. He also heads Moody’s working group in charge of ESG issues in the Americas. In the conversation with Bill, Jim makes clear that defining ESG standards is still very much a work in progress for the credit rating firms and the companies they assess for credit worthiness. Nevertheless, ESG metrics are an important means of evaluating the utility sector where shifts…

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by Bill Loveless
Podcast

A Boston formula for clean tech success

October 3, 2018

Innovation has resulted in remarkable advances in clean energy technology, like solar and wind energy systems that are becoming increasingly competitive in the U.S. And more breakthroughs are coming, as ambitious scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs make headway on products and services that will change the way we produce, use and save energy. But getting a good head start on innovation is challenging for pioneers, who often lack the wherewithal to design, build and test their inventions. That’s where institutions like Greentown Labs can play a big role. In this edition of the Columbia Energy Exchange, I visit Greentown Labs in Somerville, Mass., and meet with its CEO, Emily Reichert to talk about the outlook for clean technology in the U.S. and what programs like hers can do to help entrepreneurs get a good head start. Greentown Labs bills itself as…

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by Bill Loveless