Energy Policy Now

• Why Energy Inequities Could Persist in the Clean Energy Transition

  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. The book explores how America’s energy system both reflects and reinforces deep social and economic divides, and why a cleaner grid won’t automatically lead to a fairer one. Drawing on a decade of research and stories from communities on the front lines of the energy transition, Carley and Konisky show that before the nation can make progress toward energy justice, it must first recognize the people and places most affected by the inequities built into the system. Power Lines explores how those inequities shape lives and communities across the United States. Sanya Carley is the Mark Alan Hughes Faculty Director of the Kleinman Center and Presidential Distinguished Professor of Energy Policy and City Planning at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design. David Konisky is the Associate Dean for Research and a Lynton K. Caldwell Professor at the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. Together, they co-direct the Energy Justice Lab. Recorded live at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy during Penn’s Climate Week. Related Content: Communicating Climate Policy: Raising Public Awareness through Trusted Sources https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/communicating-climate-policy-raising-public-awareness-through-trusted-sources/ Navigating Tensions in Just Energy Transitions https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/navigating-tensions-in-just-energy-transitions/ Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• Union Leaders Push Clean Energy Jobs Agenda in Pennsylvania

  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 the Building and Construction Trades Council formed Union Energy, with support from the Climate Jobs National Resource Center. The coalition was launched to leverage the Inflation Reduction Act to ensure new clean energy investment creates good-paying union jobs and broad community benefits. But with federal funding being pulled back, state policy is now central. In Pennsylvania, where clean energy targets haven’t been updated in two decades, Governor Josh Shapiro has proposed a “Lightning Plan” with new standards, a cap-and-invest program, and streamlined permitting. Union Energy wants to help shape what comes next. On the podcast, Union Energy’s leaders — Angela Ferritto, president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, and Robert Bair, president of the Pennsylvania Building Trades — discuss the impact of recent policy shifts on their members, policies to expand clean energy with strong labor standards, and their vision for Pennsylvania’s energy future. Related Content: Bringing Fusion Energy to the Grid: Challenges and Pathways https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/bringing-fusion-energy-to-the-grid-challenges-and-pathways/ Navigating Tensions in Just Energy Transitions https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/navigating-tensions-in-just-energy-transitions/ U.S.-China Competition in the Age of Trump’s Energy Law https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/podcast/u-s-china-competition-in-the-age-of-trumps-energy-law/ Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• The Conflicted Role of Auditors in Carbon Markets

  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 shaped by systemic conflicts of interest that make true accountability difficult. Former EPA enforcement chief Cynthia Giles and Penn Law’s Cary Coglianese explore the flaws at the heart of offset auditing—and what they could mean for the future of the offset industry. Cynthia Giles was the senate-confirmed head of EPA’s enforcement office all eight years of the Obama administration. She wrote a book about making environmental rules more effective, titled Next Generation Compliance: Environmental Regulation for the Modern Era, published by Oxford University Press. During the Biden administration she worked on climate regulations as a senior advisor in the Air office. Cary Coglianese is the Edward B. Shils Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, where he is also the founding director of the Penn Program on Regulation. He has taught and studied environmental and regulatory law and policy for more than thirty years, and is a member of the advisory committee for the university’s Penn Climate initiative as well as the Water Center at Penn. Related Content: The Crisis of Confidence in Voluntary Carbon Offsets https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/podcast/the-crisis-of-confidence-in-voluntary-carbon-offsets/ Has Europe’s Emissions Trading Scheme Taken Away a Country’s Ability to Reduce Emissions? https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/has-europes-emissions-trading-scheme-taken-away-a-countrys-ability-to-reduce-emissions/ Third-Party Auditing Cannot Guarantee Carbon Offset Credibility https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5345783 Auditors Cannot Save Carbon Offsets https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4864 Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• U.S.–China Competition in the Age of Trump’s Energy Law

  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 Inflation Reduction Act. Now, President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act has set a very different course. The law rolls back many clean energy incentives, puts new emphasis on fossil fuels and emerging technologies like advanced nuclear and certain hydrogen sources, and sharpens trade and supply chain tensions with China through expanded tariffs and Foreign Entity of Concern restrictions. What does this shift mean for U.S.–China relations, American competitiveness, and the global energy transition? Scott Moore, director of China programs and strategic initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania and a faculty fellow with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, joins Energy Policy Now to explore the stakes. A leading expert on U.S.–China relations, Moore offers perspective on how Trump’s policies could reshape the balance of power between the world’s two largest economies. Scott Moore is practice professor of political science and director of China Programs and Strategic Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a faculty fellow with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. Related Content Climate Action in the Age of Great Power Rivalry: What Geopolitics Means for the Climate https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/climate-action-in-the-age-of-great-power-rivalry-what-geopolitics-means-for-the-climate/ Mitigating Climate Change Through Green Investments https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/mitigating-climate-change-through-green-investments/ Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• From the Energy Policy Now Archive: How Virtual Power Plants Could Strengthen the Electrical Grid

  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 challenges to come. In recent years, electricity demand has grown at an accelerating pace while, at the same time, power supply has tightened as existing power plants have retired and grid operators have struggled to bring new sources of power online. Yet one promising solution to the grid’s challenges may already be in place, if grid operators and regulators can figure out how to use it to full advantage. ‘Virtual power plants’ can combine small, distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar and demand response into a single, virtual whole that grid operators can deploy like a traditional powerplant. VPPs hold the promise of delivering large amounts of readily available and reliable energy services, if a number of regulatory and technological challenges can be overcome. On the podcast Ryan Hledik, a principal with electricity market consultancy The Brattle Group, explores the potential of virtual power plants. He explains how VPPs work, discusses hurdles to their development, and considers policy solutions to speed their growth. Ryan Hledik is a principal with electricity market consultancy The Brattle Group. Related Content: Closing the Climate Finance Gap: A Proposal for a New Green Investment Protocol https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/closing-the-climate-finance-gap-a-proposal-for-a-new-green-investment-protocol/ The Untapped Potential of “Repurposed Energy” https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/the-untapped-potential-of-repurposed-energy/ Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.eduSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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