Resources Radio

Renowned environmental economist Kathleen Segerson, who in addition to her academic and scholarly research and teaching has served on numerous state, national, and international advisory boards, expressed her frustration with the political polarization of climate policy in the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.” The podcast is produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.

Read a transcript of the interview: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/kathleen-segerson-podcast-transcript-6-1-2023.pdf

The Politicization of Climate Policy: A Conversation with Kathleen Segerson

This week’s episode is the fifth and final installment of a multipart series called Climate Hits Home, in which guests discuss the effects of climate change on cities and towns across the United States and how local communities are addressing those effects. In this episode, host Margaret Walls talks with Nico Zegre, an associate professor at West Virginia University, about flooding in Appalachia. Zegre discusses the growing problem of floods in the area, including in West Virginia and eastern Kentucky; the unique vulnerability of local communities to this issue; and how local, state, and federal governments can mitigate flooding risks and impacts.

References and recommendations:

“You’re It!” song by Wookiefoot; https://soundcloud.com/wookie-foot/youre-it

Climate Hits Home: Flooding in Appalachia, with Nico Zegre

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with David Brown, an associate professor at the University of Alberta, about research on the value of electricity reliability that he coauthored with Resources for the Future University Fellow Lucija Muehlenbachs. Brown discusses dollar-value estimates of how much consumers are willing to pay to avoid power outages, the technologies that households and communities are using to improve electricity reliability, and policies for addressing inequitable access to those technologies.

References and recommendations:

“The Value of Electricity Reliability: Evidence from Battery Adoption” by David P. Brown and Lucija Muehlenbachs; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/the-value-of-electricity-reliability-evidence-from-battery-adoption/

“Socioeconomic and demographic disparities in residential battery storage adoption: Evidence from California” by David P. Brown; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421522001021

“What Are the Benefits of Electric Vehicles for Climate, Air Pollution, and Health?” by Joshua Linn and Daniel Shawhan; https://www.resources.org/common-resources/what-are-the-benefits-of-electric-vehicles-for-climate-air-pollution-and-health/

The Value of Electricity Reliability: Evidence from Battery Adoption, with David Brown

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Silvia Pianta, a junior scientist at the sister institution to Resources for the Future (RFF), the RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment. Pianta discusses the influence of social and political factors on climate and energy policymaking, how incorporating these factors into models can help inform the process of climate policymaking, and the efficacy of emissions-reduction strategies at the global and national scales.

References and recommendations:

“Emissions Lock-in, Capacity, and Public Opinion: How Insights from Political Science Can Inform Climate Modeling Efforts” by Silvia Pianta and Elina Brutschin; https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/5462

“On Time and Water” by Andri Snær Magnason; https://www.openletterbooks.org/products/on-time-and-water

Adding the Political Dimension to Climate Models, with Silvia Pianta

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Nikos Zirogiannis, an assistant professor at Indiana University, about excess emissions of air pollutants—emissions that exceed the legal limits. Zirogiannis discusses some potential causes of excess emissions, the health effects of excess emissions, and the gaps in policy and data that could be addressed to help prevent these dangerous events.

References and recommendations:

“Excess Emissions: Environmental Impacts, Health Effects, and Policy Debate” by Alex Hollingsworth, David M. Konisky, and Nikolaos Zirogiannis; https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/723885

“Residents Must Stay Indoors After Texas Chemical Fire” by Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder; https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2019-03-21/deer-park-texas-residents-ordered-to-stay-inside-after-chemical-fire

“The Big Myth” by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway; https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/big-myth-9781635573572/

Consequences of Unplanned and Under-Measured Air Pollution, with Nikos Zirogiannis

Resources Radio is a weekly podcast by Resources for the Future. Each week we talk to leading experts about climate change, electricity, ecosystems, and more, making the latest research accessible to everyone.