Energy 360°

In this week’s episode, Sarah Ladislaw (CSIS Energy Program) talks with Manish Bapna (World Resources Institute [WRI]) about global climate adaptation efforts. WRI is part of a new effort that recently launched the year of action to accelerate climate adaptation. Manish talks about the commission’s work and how greater adaptation can benefit not only the climate but also the economy and society. For more, visit the Global Commission on Adaptation and read the report: Adapt Now: a Global Call for Leadership on Climate Resilience.

Tatiana Mitrova (Director of the SKOLKOVO Energy Center in Moscow) joins Nikos Tsafos (CSIS Energy Program) to discuss the outlook for the Russian energy sector. They talk about the outlook for oil and gas, the impact of oil prices and of sanctions on the Russian energy economy, and touch on Russia’s perception of climate change.

Raimi and Ladislaw talk with Hafstead about a raft of recent legislative proposals in the US Congress to price greenhouse gas emissions: the major design elements of these bills, including the proposed carbon price; how revenues are used; how border adjustments can help protect US manufacturers; the political viability of these different proposals, including which policy elements might help build support for carbon price; and whether other policy approaches, such as a Clean Energy Standard, stand more of a chance in today's political environment.   References and recommendations: The Wizard and the Prophet by Charles C. Mann Paying for Pollution: Why a Carbon Tax is Good for America by Gilbert E. Metcalf "Paying for Pollution, with Gilbert Metcalf" Resources Radio podcast episode

Francisco Monaldi (Baker Institute) chats with Andrew Stanley (CSIS) about Venezuela's collapsing oil industry.  Join them as they discuss the current status of U.S. sanctions, geopolitical implications of Russia's involvement in the country's oil industry, and what might come next for the embattled Maduro regime.   For more on the crisis in Venezuela, watch Are Sanctions Working in Venezuela?  

This week, we return to India's ambitious agenda for improving electrification and energy access across its 29 states. Kartikeya Singh (CSIS) is joined by Indra Keshari (Resident Commissioner and former Power Secretary, Government of Madhya Pradesh), and Huda Jaffer (Lead Designer, SELCO Foundation). They discuss how state governments and civil society organizations continue to improve electricity access in India.   For more on Madhya Pradesh: Engaging with India’s Electrification Agenda: Powering Madhya Pradesh   Click here for more on the CSIS U.S.-India State and Urban Initiative.  

Kartikeya Singh (CSIS) chats with Vikram Kapur (Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu) about the dramatic changes facing the state’s electric power sector, ranging from rapid growth in renewables to plans for electric vehicle infrastructure.   Click here for more on the CSIS U.S.-India State and Urban Initiative.  

CSIS Energy Program experts Andrew Stanley and Frank Verrastro are joined by Jon Alterman of the CSIS Middle East Program to discuss developments following the September 14 attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais in Saudi Arabia: what these events might mean for Saudi oil production and the global oil market, and where this leaves U.S. policy toward Iran and more broadly in the Middle East.

Laura Cozzi, Chief Energy Modeler at the International Energy Agency, and Vivien Foster, Chief Economist for the Infrastructure Vice-Presidency at the World Bank, sit down with Sarah Ladislaw (CSIS) to discuss the UN Sustainable Development Goal #7: Affordable and Clean Energy.  Their conversation includes their recent report, Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report, which assesses global progress toward universal energy access, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.   Click for more on the report and SDG #7.

Sam Brannen (CSIS) chats with Sarah Ladislaw and Nikos Tsafos about the role of forecasts and outlooks in the energy sector, examining why the energy policymakers and business leaders use forecasts in strategic planning.  They also discuss forecasts vs. outlooks, the goal of creating an outlook, and how forecasters look at outlooks.

Jane Nakano (CSIS Energy Program) interviews James Kendell and David Wogan of the Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre (APERC) about the recently released APEC Energy Demand and Supply Outlook, highlighting trade, transportation, and demand trends across the region.

Sarah Ladislaw highlights the main findings from Energy as a Source of Economic Growth and Social Mobility, a new report by Jesse Barnett and Sarah Ladislaw of the CSIS Energy & National Security Program.  The report examines energy’s contributions to the U.S. economy and offers recommendations for local and state level policymakers trying to harness energy to create economic opportunity.   For more, check out our recent reports: (1) The Changing Role of Energy in the U.S. Economy and (2) Energy as a Source of Economic Growth and Social Mobility.   This episode is part of Energy in America, a CSIS project examining the ways energy is contributing to social and economic mobility across the United States. 

This week Ranjit Bharvirkar, director of the India Program at the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), and Kartikeya Singh (CSIS Energy Program and the CSIS Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies) discuss the prospects for energy reforms during Modi’s second term and ongoing power sector developments within Indian states.

Koichiro Tanaka, Professor at Keio University, President of JIME Center at the Institute of Energy Economics Japan, and Board Member of IEEJ, joined Jane Nakano, CSIS Energy & National Security Program, to discuss Japanese energy security, including Japan-Iran economic engagement, and the role of the Middle East for Japan’s energy security policies.

Albertan elections this spring brought in a new provincial government promising to revitalize the province’s oil and gas sector. This week on Energy 360°, Laura Dawson (Wilson Center) and Chris Sands (SAIS) join Andrew Stanley (CSIS Energy Program) to unpack the implications of this election. Together, they explain the dynamics behind Alberta’s elections, what we could expect in the lead up to country-wide elections this fall, and what it might mean for Canadian energy policy and for U.S.-Canada energy relations.   Laura Dawson is the director of the Canada Institute at the Wilson Center, and Chris Sands is director of the Center for Canadian Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University and a non-resident senior associate with the CSIS Americas Program.     Note:  This episode was recorded prior to Prime Minister Trudeau’s approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.  See Andrew’s work on U.S.-Canada Energy Trade Read Laura’s recent Op-Ed: Trudeau fi

Nikos Tsafos (CSIS) chats with Mark Thurber (Associate Director, Program on Energy and Sustainable Development (PESD) Stanford) about his new book, Coal.  Mark and Nikos delve into the geopolitics and economics of continued coal use in energy versus the needs and concerns at the local, national, and global levels.   Click here for more on his new book, Coal.

Join Gina McCarthy (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment) and Sarah Ladislaw (CSIS Energy Program) as they discuss the need for breakthrough innovations to create more efficient residential air cooling systems. The two also discuss the importance of emphasizing the public health benefits of addressing climate change and how best to direct the immense energy younger generations have for addressing climate change and issues of inequality. Click to watch Gina McCarthy’s recent keynote address at CSIS.  

This week, 3 CSIS experts discuss the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s global strategy to be at the center of global economics through infrastructure, trade, and energy projects.  In the years since BRI was launched, definitions and expectations for BRI projects and financing have changed. In April, over 3 dozen countries met in China for the second Belt and Road summit, which was posed answer some of the new project concerns which have arisen, including local impacts, environmental concerns, debt, and lack of transparency.   Jon Hillman (CSIS Reconnecting Asia Project) joins Jane Nakano and Nikos Tsafos (CSIS Energy and National Security Program) to look at the importance of energy projects in the BRI, changing expectations from BRI partners, and what defines a successful BRI project for China.

Trevor Houser (Partner, Rhodium Group) talks with Sarah Ladislaw (CSIS) about modeling the physical risks and impacts of climate change at the Climate Impact Lab.  The Climate Impact Lab’s models are providing companies with better tools to see these potential impacts and risks in their portfolios, allowing them to begin taking precautionary steps to increase resilience.

Titans of the Climate , the new book by Kelly Sims Gallagher (The Fletcher School, Tufts University) and Xiaowei Xuan (Development Research Center, the State Council), sheds light on how the United States and China implement their climate and environmental policies. The authors join Jane Nakano (CSIS) to discuss differences in each’s policy process and regulatory structures as well as to explain how the two countries could find common ground again to advance climate solutions. To learn more about the book, visit Titans of the Climate: Explaining Policy Process in the United States and China.

Frank Verrastro (CSIS Energy Program) and Haim Malka (Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, CSIS Middle East Program) discuss the current political developments in Algeria. Their discussion includes the challenges of creating a legitimate transitionary process, ongoing protests, and uncertainty for energy production and oil markets.