In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with McKenna Peplinski, a senior research associate at Resources for the Future, about delays in building up the infrastructure that delivers electricity to the United States. Many electric power projects, such as bids for new generators and transmission lines, are waiting in long queues to connect to the grid. In a recent study she coauthored, Peplinski examines the consequences of these delays in building out power infrastructure by comparing two scenarios that the research team modeled: one in which projects move forward on schedule, and another in which projects get stalled. She shares the research findings, which reveal that these delays have negative consequences for energy costs, emissions from power plants, public health, and the feasibility of adding renewable energy sources to the grid.

References and recommendations:

“Power Delayed: Economic Effects of Electricity Transmission and Generation Development Delays” by Daniel Shawhan, McKenna Peplinski, Sally Robson, Ethan Russell, Ethan Ziegler, and Karen Palmer; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/power-delayed-economic-effects-of-electricity-transmission-and-generation-development-delays/

“Clean Power Delayed: Effects of Infrastructure Delays on Health, Environment, and US Households” by Daniel Shawhan, McKenna Peplinski, Sally Robson, Ethan Russell, Ethan Ziegler, and Karen Palmer; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/clean-power-delayed-effects-of-infrastructure-delays-on-health-environment-and-us-households/

“Decarbonize Your Life” from Heatmap News; https://heatmap.news/decarbonize-your-life

Power Delayed: The Hidden Costs of Postponing Power Projects, with McKenna Peplinski

In n this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Kristen McCormack, Resources for the Future’s newest research fellow, about McCormack’s scholarly work on the impact of extreme temperatures on student absences, disciplinary infractions, and later-life outcomes. McCormack explains how she combined student data from a large urban school district in the United States, information about the presence or absence of air-conditioning, and environmental data to understand the causal link between temperature and student behavior. McCormack’s work reveals that hot temperatures lead to an increase in absences and disciplinary referrals and that school air-conditioning may be especially important in maintaining a safe learning environment for students as extreme temperatures become more common.

References and recommendations:

“Education Under Extremes: Temperature, Student Absenteeism, and Disciplinary Infractions” by Kristen McCormack; https://kristen-mccormack.com/files/mccormack_jmp.pdf

“The School to Prison Pipeline: Long-Run Impacts of School Suspensions on Adult Crime” by Andrew Bacher-Hicks, Stephen B. Billings, and David J. Deming; https://www.nber.org/papers/w26257

“How Much Hotter Is Your Hometown Than When You Were Born?” interactive infographic from the New York Times; https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/30/climate/how-much-hotter-is-your-hometown.html

“Meadowlark Sings and I Greet Him in Return,” a poem from the collection “Devotions” by Mary Oliver; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/536247/devotions-a-read-with-jenna-pick-by-mary-oliver/

Sweating Over Student Behavior in Hot Schools, with Kristen McCormack

A rising star in the field of environmental economics, Anna Russo, a Junior Fellow with the Harvard Society of Fellows, shared her unique perspective on the collaborative environment at Harvard, her research methodology likened to solving puzzles, and the importance of combining diverse data sources to derive meaningful insights in the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.”

Read a transcript of the podcast: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/anna-russo-podcast-transcript-september-2025.pdf

Investigating Complex Market Design Questions: A Conversation with Anna Russo

In this week’s episode, host Margaret Walls talks with Dominic Parker, a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, about the first US government–run environmental management agencies and how they’ve influenced the survival of wildlife in the United States. Parker’s new coauthored journal article discusses the economic, political, and social forces that led to the founding of state wildlife agencies and contributed to their growth over time. Parker explains how wildlife management agencies facilitated the rebound of several well-known species in the United States, including the white-tailed deer, after a period of intense decline. Parker underscores the importance of natural resource management that responds to the needs of both people and the environment, ensuring the continued enjoyment of natural spaces and survival of wildlife in the United States. 

References and recommendations:

“The Creation and Extent of America’s First Environmental Agencies” by Dean Lueck and Dominic Parker; https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/734075

“Federal Funding and State Wildlife Conservation” by Dean Lueck and Dominic Parker; https://le.uwpress.org/content/98/3/461

“The Hunter’s Game: Poachers and Conservationists in Twentieth Century America” by Louis S. Warren; https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300080865/the-hunters-game/

“The Problem of Social Cost” by Ronald Coase; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Problem_of_Social_Cost

“Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History” by Dan Flores; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/dan-flores/coyote-america/9780465098538/

“The Age of Deer: Trouble and Kinship with Our Wild Neighbors” by Erika Howsare; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/731239/the-age-of-deer-by-erika-howsare/

The Role of Government Agencies in Wildlife Abundance, Decimation, and Recovery, with Dominic Parker

Longtime national political advisor John Podesta shared his insights on climate policy, the challenges of securing bipartisan support, and the global push toward clean energy in this episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program.”

Read the transcript of this episode: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/john-podesta-podcast-transcript-september-2025.pdf

Climate Policy Progress and Challenges: A Conversation with John Podesta

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi discusses fossil fuel subsidies with Paasha Mahdavi, an associate professor and cofounder of the 2035 Initiative at the University of California, Santa Barbara. They talk about how subsidies on goods such as gasoline and diesel lead to lower prices for consumers. However, because these subsidies encourage the use of fossil fuels, reforming such policies is important when promoting the use of renewable energy. Mahdavi explores why many attempts to reform fossil fuel subsidies have failed, and he proposes potential avenues for addressing the weaknesses of reforms which could lead to failure of the subsidies.

References and recommendations:

“Fossil fuel subsidy reforms have become more fragile” by Paasha Mahdavi, Michael L. Ross, and Evelyn Simoni; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02283-4

“Why Do Governments Tax or Subsidize Fossil Fuels?” by Paasha Mahdavi, Cesar B. Martinez-Alvarez, and Michael L. Ross; https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/719272

“Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet” by Kate Marvel; https://www.harpercollins.com/products/human-nature-kate-marvel

“Climate Change and National Security” TEDx talk by Josh Busby; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8neK0G0NJ8

Understanding Fossil Fuel Subsidies Around the World, with Paasha Mahdavi

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi discusses subsidies for carbon capture and storage (CCS) with Sheila Olmstead, a professor at the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and a senior faculty fellow at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. Olmstead evaluates the complicated nature of the 45Q policy, a federal subsidy available to firms that implement CCS. While CCS subsidy programs promote the reduction of carbon emissions, Olmstead identifies these subsidies as having the potential to financially burden the federal government, discourage clean energy projects, and motivate more pollution.

References and recommendations:

“How to design better incentives for carbon capture and storage in the United States” by Sheila M. Olmstead, Benjamin D. Leibowicz, Charles F. Mason, Andrew R. Waxman, Emily Grubert, HR Huber-Rodriguez, and Joseph Stemmler; https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2404677122

“Night Watch” by Jayne Anne Phillips; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/540650/night-watch-pulitzer-prize-winner-by-jayne-anne-phillips/

Airing New Concerns with US Carbon Capture Policies, with Sheila Olmstead

This week’s episode features a discussion of the recent US federal investment in a privately held mine—the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine in California—with host Daniel Raimi and podcast guest Tom Moerenhout, a professor at Columbia University and leader of a critical minerals initiative at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Moerenhout talks about the current US dependence on foreign imports for rare earth elements, which are used to manufacture things like wind turbines, batteries, missiles, and airplanes. While recent federal investment in the Mountain Pass mine puts financial risk on the US government, Moerenhout says that this type of approach could help the United States reduce its reliance on other countries for rare earth elements.

References and recommendations:

“MP Materials Deal Marks a Significant Shift in US Rare Earths Policy” by Tom Moerenhout; https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/mp-materials-deal-marks-a-significant-shift-in-us-rare-earths-policy/

The case study of A123 Systems; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A123_Systems

“Clean energy innovation in China: fact and fiction, and implications for the future” by Anders Hove; https://www.oxfordenergy.org/publications/clean-energy-innovation-in-china-fact-and-fiction-and-implications-for-the-future/

An Unprecedented Investment in US Rare Earth Elements, with Tom Moerhenhout

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi discusses carbon removal with Jennifer Wilcox, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who recently coauthored a paper titled, “Elevating Carbon Management: A Policy Decision-Making Framework and Rubric for the 21st Century.” Wilcox discusses the existing gaps in current policies related to carbon removal and important considerations when amending and creating new policies. She also addresses the recent change to the 45Q subsidy (originally included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and revised by Congress in the budget reconciliation bill signed on July 4, 2025), assessing how the updated tax break offers incentives for carbon removal.

“Elevating Carbon Management: A Policy Decision-Making Framework and Rubric for the 21st Century” by Jennifer Wilcox, Noah Deich, and Holly Jean Buck; https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/elevating-carbon-management-a-policy-decision-making-framework-and-rubric-for-the-21st-century/

National Park Service Rehabilitation Tax Credits; https://www.nps.gov/subjects/taxincentives/index.htm

Achieving Societal Goals Through Carbon Removal, with Jennifer Wilcox

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Arvind Ravikumar, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin, about recent federal deregulation of methane emissions in the United States; specifically, the effects on methane emissions from the production of natural gas and liquefied natural gas. Ravikumar highlights some of his recent research, which explores how all steps in the supply chain of natural gas can affect emissions intensity—including transportation of the energy source to end users—and the variation in methane emissions across countries from their natural gas supply chains.

References and recommendations:

“Tracking U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas Supply Chain Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity through Direct Measurements” by Yuanrui Zhu, Greg Ross, Jenna Brown, Olga Khaliukova, William Daniels, Jiayang (Lyra) Wang, Selina Roman-White, Fiji George, Daniel Zimmerle, Dorit Hammerling, and Arvind Ravikumar; https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/6882ca69fc5f0acb52e159e3

“Probabilistic, Measurement-Informed Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Global Liquefied Natural Gas Supply Chains Reveal Wide Country-Level Variation” by Haoming Ma, Yuanrui Zhu, Wennan Long, Mohammad Masnadi, Garvin Heath, Paul Balcombe, Fiji George, Selina Roman-White, and Arvind Ravikumar; https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/6883b68723be8e43d6fdcf73

“AI as Normal Technology” by Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor; https://knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-as-normal-technology

Measuring Emissions from Liquefied Natural Gas, with Arvind Ravikumar

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi and guest Severin Borenstein discuss regulatory punishments for “energy hogs.” Borenstein is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley; faculty director of Berkeley’s Energy Institute in the Haas School of Business; and chair of the board of governors for the California Independent System Operator. These “energy hogs”—households perceived as consuming wasteful and excessive amounts of electricity—may incur higher energy costs as states strive to meet economic and environmental goals. However, Borenstein’s work reveals that benign or even desirable factors, such as having more people in the household, can lead to higher energy use. Borenstein cautions regulators about charging certain households more than is needed to offset the social costs of electricity use. Together, Borenstein and Raimi talk about ways that US states can reach their policy goals without penalizing households that use more energy.

References and Recommendations:

“Energy Hogs and Energy Angels: What Does Residential Electricity Use Really Tell Us about Profligate Consumption?” by Severin Borenstein; https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pandp.20251111

“Infrastructure: A Guide to the Industrial Landscape” by Brian Hayes; https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393349832

Hunting for Energy Hogs, with Severin Borenstein

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.

Power Delayed: The Hidden Costs of Postponing Power Projects, with McKenna Peplinski

Resources Radio

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