In this week’s episode, host Margaret Walls talks with economists Maximilian Auffhammer, Paul J. Ferraro, and John Whitehead. All three guests are recent recipients of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AERE) Fellows Award. The AERE Fellows Program recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of environmental and resource economics, including research, mentorship, service in the AERE community, and policy advising. Auffhammer, Ferraro, and Whitehead reflect on their careers, discuss winning the award, and offer insights into the current state of environmental and resource economics and the evolution of the field.

References and recommendations:

Association of Environmental and Resource Economists; https://www.aere.org/

Berkeley/Sloan Summer School in Environmental and Energy Economics; https://www.auffhammer.com/summer-school

“Pricing the Priceless: A History of Environmental Economics” by Spencer Banzhaf; https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/pricing-the-priceless/417AAD8A445E8B64BAD6BC201D2F2163

“Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr.; https://digitalcollections.libraries.ua.edu/digital/collection/p17336coll22/id/2681/

The Long View: Thoughts on the Economics Field from Three Environmental Economists

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Brent Sohngen, a professor at the Ohio State University and a university fellow at Resources for the Future, about the intersecting forces that are helping curb and reverse deforestation in Latin America. Sohngen discusses the origins of his research on forests in Latin America; the relationship between economic conditions, technological innovations, and the health of forests in Latin American countries; how property rights and community ownership can motivate effective stewardship of forests; and ongoing efforts to protect forests in Latin America and across the world.

References and recommendations:

“Reversing Deforestation: How Market Forces and Local Ownership Are Saving Forests in Latin America” by Brent Sohngen and Douglas Southgate; https://www.sup.org/books/politics/reversing-deforestation

“A Wild Idea” by Jonathan Franklin; https://www.harpercollins.com/products/a-wild-idea-jonathan-franklin

“The Overstory” by Richard Powers; https://www.richardpowers.net/the-overstory/

Reversing Deforestation in Latin America, with Brent Sohngen

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Sanya Carley, a professor and faculty director at the University of Pennsylvania and a university fellow at Resources for the Future, about energy poverty in the United States. Carley discusses the problem of utility disconnections, which occurs when a utility turns off a household’s water, electricity, or heat; the potentially risky strategies that households employ to avoid shutoffs by reducing energy consumption and costs; the groups that are most vulnerable to disconnection; and potential improvements to government programs that help low-income households pay utility bills.

References and recommendations:

“Behavioral and financial coping strategies among energy-insecure households” by Sanya Carley, Michelle Graff, David M. Konisky, and Trevor Memmott; https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2205356119

“Assessing demographic vulnerability and weather impacts on utility disconnections in California” by Trevor Memmott, David M. Konisky, and Sanya Carley; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-53913-y

“Which households are energy insecure? An empirical analysis of race, housing conditions, and energy burdens in the United States” by Michelle Graff, Sanya Carley, David M. Konisky, and Trevor Memmott; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214629621002371

Utility Disconnections Dashboard; https://energyjustice.indiana.edu/disconnection-dashboard/index.html

“The incidence of extreme economic stress: Evidence from utility disconnections” by Steve Cicala; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047272721000979

“High temperatures and electricity disconnections for low-income homes in California” by Alan Barreca, R. Jisung Park, and Paul Stainier; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-022-01134-2

“Minnesota’s energy paradox: Household energy insecurity in the face of racial and economic disparities” by Bhavin Pradhan and Gabriel Chan; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1040619024000587

“The Night Watchman” by Louise Erdrich; https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-night-watchman-louise-erdrich

Energy Poverty and Utility Disconnections in the United States, with Sanya Carley

In this week’s episode, host Margaret Walls talks with Resources for the Future (RFF) scholars Yanjun (Penny) Liao, David Wear, and Matthew Wibbenmeyer about the recent wildfires in Los Angeles, California. They discuss the factors that exacerbated the wildfires, measures that homeowners and communities can take to mitigate wildfire risk and damage, the negative health effects of wildfire smoke, and the evolving landscape in California for insurance that covers wildfires. They also talk about federal responses to the wildfires and recommend organizations that are helping affected communities in Los Angeles and accepting donations.

References and recommendations:

“From Catastrophe to Caution: The Effect of Wildfires on Community Hazard Mitigation Investments” by Yanjun (Penny) Liao, Simon Sølvsten, and Zachary Whitlock; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/from-catastrophe-to-caution-the-effect-of-wildfires-on-community-hazard-mitigation-investments/

“Insurance Availability and Affordability under Increasing Wildfire Risk in California” by Yanjun (Penny) Liao, Margaret A. Walls, Matthew Wibbenmeyer, and Sophie Pesek; https://www.rff.org/publications/issue-briefs/insurance-availability-and-affordability-under-increasing-wildfire-risk-in-california/

“Changing Hazards, Exposure, and Vulnerability in the Conterminous United States, 2020–2070” by David N. Wear, Travis Warziniack, Claire O’Dea, and John Coulston; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/changing-hazards-exposure-and-vulnerability-in-the-conterminous-united-states-20202070/

California Community Foundation; https://www.calfund.org/

World Central Kitchen; https://wck.org/

Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation; https://supportlafd.org/

Grassroots Wildland Firefighters; https://www.grassrootswildlandfirefighters.com/

The Los Angeles Fires, with Yanjun (Penny) Liao, David Wear, and Matthew Wibbenmeyer

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Akhil Rao, a professor of economics at Middlebury College, about the use and management of Earth’s orbit. Rao outlines the significant increase in the number of objects orbiting the Earth in recent decades, challenges caused by this accumulation, and governance of the various layers of Earth’s orbit by countries and international organizations. Rao and Raimi also discuss the management of space as a resource, which is the subject of Rao’s current research on space sustainability technologies.

References and recommendations:

“The Earth Transformed: An Untold History” by Peter Frankopan; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/635264/the-earth-transformed-by-peter-frankopan/

“Building a Ruin: The Cold War Politics of Soviet Economic Reform” by Yakov Feygin; https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674240995

Governing the Satellites that Orbit Earth, with Akhil Rao

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Jenya Kahn-Lang, a fellow at Resources for the Future, about electricity prices in markets where private companies determine the costs for customers. Kahn-Lang explains why households in the same utility service area may pay different prices for the same amount of electricity, why customers may be unaware that they’re paying excessively high prices, and why low-income communities and communities of color often face higher prices for power.

References and recommendations:

“Competing for (In)attention: Price Discrimination in Residential Electricity Markets” by Jenya Kahn-Lang; https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IClpnaf3gVy3X94YWhLtSSTMWKTzi16K/view

CirclesX lawsuit; https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/winter-storm-uri-2021-texas-market-manipulation-lawsuit-circlesx-electric-grid/

Paying the Price for Inattention: Electricity Costs in Retail Choice Markets, with Jenya Kahn-Lang

Producer’s Note: The following episode of the podcast was recorded prior to the 2024 presidential election.

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Holly Buck, an associate professor at the University of Buffalo and climate justice fellow at the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University. Buck shares insights from interviews with 100 experts, government officials, and members of the public across diverse industries and regions of the United States about strategies for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Buck also discusses the broader energy transition, the effect of the federal policies related to this transition, and the challenges that communities face in implementing lower-carbon technologies.

References and recommendations:

“100 Conversations on Carbon Removal, Decarbonization, and Desired Futures” by Holly Jean Buck and Travis Young; https://www.decarb.social/

“Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America” by Alec MacGillis; https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374159276/fulfillment

100 Conversations on Carbon Removal, with Holly Buck

In this week’s episode, host Margaret Walls talks with Resources for the Future (RFF) Fellow Yanjun (Penny) Liao about the Coastal Barrier Resources Act, a bipartisan federal law that was first passed in the 1980s. The law is designed to curb development in coastal areas that are vulnerable to extreme weather events and to protect coastal environments. Liao and Walls discuss the effects of the law, including reductions in the amount of development on coastal lands, the amount of federal funding saved by the government through a reduced need for disaster response as a result, and increases in property-tax revenues for counties in designated coastal areas.

References and recommendations:

“Geeking Out on Geography: Mapping the Effects of the Coastal Barrier Resources Act” by Alexandra Thompson; https://www.resources.org/common-resources/geeking-out-on-geography-mapping-the-effects-of-the-coastal-barrier-resources-act/

“Removing Development Incentives in Risky Areas Promotes Climate Adaptation” by Hannah Druckenmiller, Yanjun (Penny) Liao, Sophie Pesek, Margaret Walls, and Shan Zhang; https://www.rff.org/publications/journal-articles/removing-development-incentives-in-risky-areas-promotes-climate-adaptation/

“Can Removing Development Subsidies Promote Adaptation? The Coastal Barrier Resources System as a Natural Experiment” by Hannah Druckenmiller, Yanjun (Penny) Liao, Sophie Pesek, Margaret Walls, and Shan Zhang; https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/working-papers/can-removing-development-subsidies-promote-adaptation

“Managed Retreat and Flood Recovery: The Local Economic Impacts of a Buyout and Acquisition Program” by Wei Guo, Yanjun (Penny) Liao, and Qing Miao; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/flood-recovery-local-economic-impacts-of-buyout-and-acquisition-hurricane-sandy-new-york/

“Making a Market for Acts of God: The Practice of Risk Trading in the Global Reinsurance Industry” by Paula Jarzabkowski, Rebecca Bednarek, and Paul Spee; https://global.oup.com/academic/product/making-a-market-for-acts-of-god-9780199664764

Promoting Climate Adaptation by Discouraging Development, with Yanjun (Penny) Liao

In this week’s episode, host Margaret Walls speaks with Carolyn Kousky, associate vice president for economics and policy at Environmental Defense Fund, about the instability of markets for homeowners insurance, especially in states that are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events. Kousky and Walls explore the key drivers of this instability, including the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, insurance costs, and consequent strain on insurers that must pay more substantial claims. Kousky discusses challenges in the accessibility and affordability of homeowners insurance, along with policy interventions that can support equitable responses to extreme weather events and improve resilience following future disasters. Kousky also introduces her new nonprofit, Insurance for Good, which aims to bridge gaps between research and practice in terms of this affordability, equity, and resilience.

References and recommendations:

Insurance for Good; https://www.insuranceforgood.org/

“Wildfire Insurance Availability as a Risk Signal” by Xuesong You, Carolyn Kousky, and Ajita Atreya; https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5017469

“Third Millennium Thinking: Creating Sense in a World of Nonsense” by Saul Perlmutter, John Campbell, and Robert MacCoun; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/saul-perlmutter-phd/third-millennium-thinking/9780316438308/

“Change: How to Make Big Things Happen” by Damon Centola; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/damon-centola/change/9781549152092/

Reimagining Homeowners Insurance, with Carolyn Kousky

Rob speaks with Joseph Aldy, the Teresa and John Heinz Professor of the Practice of Environmental Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, about the myriad ways in which the new Trump administration could impact domestic climate, energy, and environmental policy.

Read a transcript of the podcast here: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/2025-03/joseph-aldy-podcast-transcript-march-2025.pdf

Trump 2.0 and its Impact on Climate Policy: A Conversation with Joseph Aldy

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Resources for the Future Fellow Brian C. Prest about the effects of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. As the world’s leading exporter of LNG, the United States has been ramping up capacity to produce and transport LNG to meet global demand. Prest describes how this increasing trend affects domestic oil and gas prices and the extent to which the federal government influences the production of oil and gas. He also discusses the global and domestic effects of increasing LNG production and exports on emissions, including which kinds of energy US LNG exports are substituting or displacing in other countries, variation in methane emissions across different sites of gas production, and the social cost of these methane emissions.

References and recommendations:

“Where Does the Marginal Methane Molecule Come From? Implications of LNG Exports for US Natural Gas Supply and Methane Emissions” by Brian C. Prest; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/where-does-the-marginal-methane-molecule-come-from-implications-of-lng-exports-for-us-natural-gas-supply-and-methane-emissions/

“The greenhouse gas footprint of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exported from the United States” by Robert W. Howarth; https://scijournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ese3.1934

“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/

Economic and Environmental Effects of Natural Gas Exports, with Brian Prest

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.

The Long View: Thoughts on the Economics Field from Three Environmental Economists

Resources Radio

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