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Energy Policy Now
30 episodes
From the Archive: When the Last Mile Turns Hot: Delivery Drivers in a Warming Climate
Ep 8 · Aug 11, 2026 · 48 min
For the month of August, we’re highlighting episodes from the 2025-2026 season of Energy Policy Now. We’ll be back with new content, and a new season, on September the 8th. An economic sociologist discusses the growing heat dangers facing last-mile delivery drivers, and why federal protections remain stalled. --- E-commerce has transformed the way goods move through the American economy, driving unprecedented growth in parcel deliveries and intensifying competition among major carrie…
Agriculture, Energy, and the Challenge of Resilience
Ep 22 · Jul 28, 2026 · 41 min
The modern agricultural system delivers an extraordinary abundance and variety of food at relatively low cost, thanks in part to abundant and affordable energy. Can those benefits be preserved without creating unacceptable exposure to disruption? --- Recent disruptions to food and energy markets have drawn renewed attention to the links between agriculture, energy, and global trade. Fertilizer production, transportation networks, and global supply chains all rely on abundant and affordable energ…
Energy and the Economics of Affordability
Ep 21 · Jul 14, 2026 · 1 hr 7 min
Can the energy choices we make today influence affordability for decades to come? --- Affordability has become one of the defining issues in American politics. Rising costs for housing, healthcare, groceries, and energy continue to strain household budgets. But economist Heather Boushey argues that affordability runs much deeper than prices alone. It reflects how the economy is structured, the kinds of jobs and opportunities the economy creates, and how the benefits of economic growth are shared…
The West’s New Electricity Markets
Ep 20 · Jun 23, 2026 · 48 min
Southwest Power Pool’s expansion into the West marks a major step toward greater regional coordination of the electric grid. --- Earlier this year the Southwest Power Pool, the electric grid operator for much of the central United States, expanded into the Western Interconnection, becoming the first Regional Transmission Organization to operate in both the Eastern and Western grids. The move comes as Western utilities seek to address rising electricity demand, the integration of growing am…
Is a New Era of Electricity Prices Beginning?
Ep 19 · Jun 9, 2026 · 41 min
For years, electricity prices broadly tracked inflation. New pressures may be changing that. --- Electricity prices have become a major political issue in the United States, with policymakers increasingly focused on rising utility bills and the costs of meeting growing electricity demand. At the same time, renewable energy has often been blamed for driving prices higher. But what does the data actually show? Ryan Hledik of The Brattle Group discusses research conducted with Lawrence Berkeley Nat…
The Fight Over the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
Ep 18 · May 19, 2026 · 19 min
Clean energy funding under the GGRF remains frozen, with projects on hold and questions over federal spending authority unresolved. --- The $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund has become a focal point of the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back federal clean energy policy. The program was designed to finance clean energy and emissions-reducing projects by channeling public funds through nonprofit financial institutions to attract private investment, including investments that…
From Corporate Standard to Climate Policy: The Greenhouse Gas Protocol
Ep 17 · May 5, 2026 · 37 min
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the global standard for corporate emissions accounting, is increasingly embedded in policy, drawing new scrutiny of its governance. --- The Greenhouse Gas Protocol is the global standard for how companies measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions. It is used by most large companies worldwide and increasingly underpins climate disclosure requirements in places like the European Union and California. Originally developed outside of government, the Protocol fill…
When Geopolitics Disrupts Energy Systems
Ep 16 · Apr 21, 2026 · 47 min
Helen Thompson, a political economist at Cambridge, examines how geopolitical conflict has shaped global oil and gas markets, with implications for the current Gulf crisis. --- Geopolitical conflict has long shaped the evolution of global energy systems. Over the past 70 years, periods of relative stability in oil and gas markets have repeatedly given way to disruption, from the Suez Crisis to the oil shocks of the 1970s, and more recently to tensions in the Middle East. These episodes have ofte…
Insurance and the Shifting Boundaries of Climate Risk
Ep 15 · Apr 7, 2026 · 46 min
Insurance is on the front lines of climate risk, and may help shape how we respond to it. --- Insurance is one of the quiet pillars of the modern economy. It underpins where we build, how we invest, and whether communities can recover after disaster. In many ways, it defines what risks we’re willing, and able, to live with. But that foundation is under strain. Across the United States, rising losses from wildfires, floods, and other extreme events are driving up insurance costs and pushing…
The Arctic and the Geopolitics of Strategic Minerals
Ep 14 · Mar 17, 2026 · 47 min
The Arctic is emerging as a new front in the global competition over strategic minerals, raising questions about how the supply chains behind the energy transition will be governed. --- In recent months, Arctic resources have moved to the center of geopolitical debate. President Trump has publicly proposed that the United States take control of Greenland, citing its strategic location and mineral wealth, while leaders in Denmark and Greenland have rejected the proposal. The dispute comes at a ti…
The Endangerment Finding and the Future of EPA’s Authority
Ep 13 · Mar 3, 2026 · 57 min
Two Penn legal experts discuss the strategy behind EPA’s rescission of the Endangerment Finding and the court challenges ahead. --- On February 12, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formally rescinded the endangerment finding, the 2009 determination that established the legal basis for federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. For 16 years, that finding has underpinned EPA climate policy, reflecting the agency’s conclusion that greenhouse gases pose a threat to human hea…
When Oil Sanctions Meet Dark Shipping
Ep 12 · Feb 17, 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
Oil sanctions have given rise to dark shipping, reshaping global energy flows and producing far-reaching economic consequences. --- In recent years, oil export sanctions have become a central tool of U.S. foreign policy, targeting major producers including Russia, Iran, and, until very recently Venezuela. These sanctions were designed to limit oil revenues, apply economic pressure, and create geopolitical leverage. But their real-world effects have proven more complex than many anticipated. A gr…
How PJM Is Grappling With Data Center Power Demand
Ep 11 · Feb 3, 2026 · 1 hr 4 min
The nation’s largest electric grid operator outlines its plan to manage rapid growth in data center electricity demand. --- PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest grid operator, is preparing to file a wide-ranging proposal with federal regulators aimed at managing the rapid growth of electricity demand, including AI-driven data centers. The plan stands out as one of the first comprehensive efforts by a grid operator to address surging load from new technologies while maintaining s…
Planning the Grid in an Age of Uncertain Demand Growth
Ep 10 · Jan 27, 2026 · 41 min
AI data centers are driving rapid demand growth, exposing the limits of traditional electricity forecasting and planning. --- Electricity demand in the United States is rising fast, fueled in large part by the rapid expansion of AI data centers. Grid operators have repeatedly revised their demand forecasts upward as they try to anticipate how much new power these facilities, along with other emerging loads such as advanced manufacturing and crypto mining, will require. In January, however, somet…
Why a New Gas Power Boom Is Putting Methane Emissions Back in the Spotlight
Ep 9 · Jan 6, 2026 · 51 min
Gas-fired power is back in favor in the United States, but methane emissions threaten its credibility. --- Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases, and global efforts to curb methane emissions are accelerating. Beginning later this decade, the European Union will impose new methane rules on oil and gas imports, and major energy-importing countries across Asia are paying closer attention to the emissions profile of the fuels they buy. The policy outlook in the United States, howe…
When the Last Mile Turns Hot: Delivery Drivers in a Warming Climate
Ep 8 · Dec 16, 2025 · 47 min
An economic sociologist discusses the growing heat dangers facing last-mile delivery drivers, and why federal protections remain stalled. --- E-commerce has transformed the way goods move through the American economy, driving unprecedented growth in parcel deliveries and intensifying competition among major carriers and the U.S. Postal Service. Yet this push for speed and volume now unfolds amid longer, more intense heat waves, exposing the nation’s roughly 1.5 million delivery drivers to…
The Cost of Pulling Back from China in the EV Transition
Ep 7 · Dec 2, 2025 · 56 min
John Helveston of George Washington University discusses why a U.S. pullback from China on EVs is risky, and why engagement could strengthen America’s auto industry. --- China has rapidly become the center of global EV innovation, producing cars that are cheaper, faster to develop, and increasingly competitive in international markets. The United States, by contrast, is pulling back, eliminating incentives and pursuing policies that distance the country from China just as the global EV tra…
How the Trump Administration Is Reshaping Nuclear Oversight
Ep 6 · Nov 18, 2025 · 45 min
The Trump administration’s nuclear ambitions raise new questions about safety, speed, and regulatory independence. --- The Trump administration has made nuclear power a centerpiece of its energy agenda, launching the most aggressive federal push for new reactors in decades. Through sweeping executive orders, new federal directives and financing support, and an $80 billion deal with Westinghouse, it aims to quadruple America’s nuclear capacity by mid-century and position the technolog…
U.S. Offshore Wind at an Impasse
Ep 5 · Nov 4, 2025 · 47 min
What the U.S. offshore wind power crisis says about energy megaprojects, risk, and political resilience. --- After a surge of optimism, the U.S. offshore wind industry faces its most serious challenges yet. Just a year ago, the sector seemed poised for rapid growth, with East Coast states making offshore wind a centerpiece of their clean-energy and reliability strategies. Today, that progress has been sharply interrupted. The reversal has been swift. Since returning to office, the Trump administ…
Why Energy Inequities Could Persist in the Clean Energy Transition
Ep 4 · Oct 21, 2025 · 51 min
A live discussion with Sanya Carley and David Konisky, authors of the new book Power Lines, on the inequities that define America’s energy system—and how they could carry into the clean energy future if left unacknowledged. --- In this special live episode of Energy Policy Now, recorded before an audience during Climate Week at the University of Pennsylvania, guests Sanya Carley and David Konisky discuss their new book Power Lines: The Human Costs of American Energy in Transition. Th…
Union Leaders Push Clean Energy Jobs Agenda in Pennsylvania
Ep 3 · Oct 7, 2025 · 1 hr 13 min
With federal funding being pulled back, leaders of Pennsylvania’s top labor unions push state policy to deliver clean energy jobs. --- For generations, union members have mined Pennsylvania’s coal, run its power plants, and built its energy infrastructure, helping make the state a top fossil fuel producer and electricity exporter. Now, renewable energy offers the promise of growth, but questions remain about the long-term jobs it will provide. In 2024, the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO and th…
The Conflicted Role of Auditors in Carbon Markets
Ep 2 · Sep 23, 2025 · 42 min
Auditors are billed as carbon market watchdogs. But conflicts of interest may undermine their credibility. --- The voluntary carbon market is poised for rapid growth, with airlines soon required to use offsets for international flights and pressure building on other industries to follow suit. But recent studies show many offsets fail to deliver real climate benefits, raising doubts about their credibility. Independent offset auditors are promoted as the guarantors of trust, yet their role is sha…
U.S.–China Competition in the Age of Trump’s Energy Law
Ep 1 · Sep 9, 2025 · 40 min
Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act reorients U.S. energy policy, redefining its rivalry with China and the global transition. --- Once, climate and clean energy were common ground between the United States and China, most notably in the lead-up to the 2015 Paris Agreement. In the years since, cooperation has given way to competition. China has emerged as the global leader in clean energy manufacturing, while the U.S.—under the Biden administration—moved to catch up through the…
From the Energy Policy Now Archive: How Virtual Power Plants Could Strengthen the Electrical Grid
Ep 24 · Aug 19, 2025 · 26 min
For the month of August, we’re highlighting episodes from the 2024-2025 season of Energy Policy Now. We’ll be back with new content, and a new season, on September the 9th. Virtual power plants can help electric grid operators address supply shortages and reliability concerns, but policy support is needed. --- (This episode was recorded on October 15, 2024.) The U.S. electrical grid is under growing stress, raising concern that recent widescale power outages may signal more grid chal…
From the Energy Policy Now Archive: Bridging the Partisan Climate Divide
Ep 23 · Aug 5, 2025 · 46 min
For the month of August, we’re highlighting episodes from the 2024-2025 season of Energy Policy Now. We’ll be back with new content, and a new season, on September the 9th. Former Republican U.S. congressman Bob Inglis offers a conservative perspective on climate solutions in discussion with Penn climatologist Michael Mann. --- (This episode was recorded on February 13, 2025, during Penn Energy Week) Politically conservative and concerned about climate change? In this special episode…
Why This Energy Transition is Different
Ep 22 · Jul 22, 2025 · 45 min
Though today’s energy transition is often framed as new, it follows patterns we’ve seen before. Cutler Cleveland of Boston University’s Institute for Global Sustainability explores the historical context of today’s shift. --- Today’s shift to carbon-free power is commonly called “the energy transition,” yet the label can suggest that this is the first, or only, transformation of its kind. Throughout history, societies have moved from one dominant e…
Will Interconnection Reform Unlock the Grid?
Ep 21 · Jul 8, 2025 · 50 min
Thousands of clean energy projects are waiting to connect to the grid. How many will make it through, and will it be soon enough to keep the grid reliable? --- Electricity demand in the U.S. is rising fast, fueled by the rapid growth of AI data centers and other power-hungry technologies. At the same time, many fossil fuel power plants are retiring, putting added pressure on the grid to maintain reliability. To meet this challenge, clean energy and battery storage projects are lining up to conne…
Will "Big Beautiful Bill” Derail Clean Energy Growth?
Ep 20 · Jun 17, 2025 · 43 min
BloombergNEF’s Derrick Flakoll discusses the outlook for U.S. clean energy development under the House version of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” --- On May 22, the House of Representatives passed its version of what President Trump has dubbed the “Big Beautiful Bill,” a sweeping budget package addressing taxation, federal spending, and the debt ceiling. Now headed to the Senate, a revised version is expected to emerge by early July. The House bill proposes deep…
Renewable Energy’s Land Use Reckoning
Ep 19 · Jun 3, 2025 · 44 min
As renewable power grows, land use decisions will influence its environmental impact. --- Decarbonizing the electric grid will require a dramatic expansion of renewable energy by mid-century, and significantly more land dedicated to clean power. But where and how that buildout occurs will shape whether the environmental benefits of renewables are fully realized or come at a high cost to ecosystems, farmland, and communities. Grace Wu of the Spatial Climate Solutions Lab at UC Santa Barbara…
Consumers on the Sidelines? The Fight Over the Grid’s Future
Ep 18 · May 20, 2025 · 52 min
As electrical grid operators move to fast-track gas projects, consumer and environmental advocates raise red flags. --- The U.S. electricity grid is undergoing a dramatic transformation. As coal plants retire, wind, solar, and battery storage now dominate the pipeline of new power projects. Yet in recent months, some policymakers and grid operators have called for a new wave of natural gas plants to meet rising electricity demand from AI data centers and industrial growth. Supporters argue that…
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