Clean Jobs America 2019

The analysis expands on data from the 2019 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) produced by the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) in partnership with the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), using data collected and analyzed by the BW Research Partnership. The report was released last week and is available at www.usenergyjobs.org. E2 is a partner on the USEER, the fourth installment of the energy survey first released by the Department of Energy in 2016 and subsequently abandoned under the Trump administration. Clean energy jobs have grown every year since the first report was released in 2016.…

Managing the Transition Proactive Solutions for Stranded Gas Asset Risk in California

The transition to zero-carbon homes and buildings is a critical step in California’s efforts to fight climate change, but the state must urgently develop a coordinated, equitable and cost-effective plan to proactively manage the decommissioning of the legacy gas system.

That is the conclusion of a new report from Environmental Defense Fund, which lays out strategies to guide decision-makers as they grapple with the question of who will pay for the existing fossil fuel infrastructure when California homes and buildings no longer use gas.…

The Blind Spot in Corporate Sustainability Rankings: Climate Policy Leadership

Corporate climate commitments and initiatives have grown dramatically in recent years: over 60 percent of Fortune 100 companies have one or more clean energy goals, approximately half of Fortune 500 companies have set at least one climate or energy target and over 530 companies are setting greenhouse gas reduction goals through the Science Based Targets initiative.

Alongside this growth, numerous sustainability rankings have emerged to help stakeholders assess corporate environmental performance and identify leaders. Beyond their public relations benefits, these rankings also provide an essential service to companies by helping them define internal performance measures, attract top talent and link …

Banking On Climate Change

In October 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a sobering report on the devastating impacts our world will face with 1.5° Celsius of warming — let alone 2°C — while setting out the emissions trajectory the nations of the world need to take if we are to have any shot at keeping to that 1.5°C limit. This 10th edition of the annual fossil fuel finance report card, greatly expanded in scope, reveals the paths banks
have taken in the past three years since the Paris Agreement was adopted, and finds that overall bank financing continues to be …

Energy Market Update: More Red Flags on Fracking

 Even after three years of oil price increases, US fracking focused oil and gas companies continued their 9-year losing streak through 2018.

 These small and mid-sized US E&Ps reported $6.7 billion in negative cash flows through December.

 E&Ps dipped into cash reserves by $8.4 billion in 2018 to fund capital expenditures and shareholder payouts.…

Utility Energy Efficiency Initiatives Are Good Policy

Researchers have been evaluating and documenting the effects of utility energy efficiency programs for decades, and nearly every state in the nation now has policies providing for utility energy efficiency programs. The research shows that these programs have been generally cost-effective and are well-justified as a way to address market failures such as imperfect information, split incentives, externalities such as environmental costs, and regulatory concerns that arise from utility monopoly power.…

Climate Change and the Federal Reserve

Climate change describes the current trend toward higher average global temperatures and
accompanying environmental shifts such as rising sea levels and more severe storms, floods,
droughts, and heat waves. In coming decades, climate change—and efforts to limit that
change and adapt to it—will have increasingly important effects on the U.S. economy. These
effects and their associated risks are relevant considerations for the Federal Reserve in
fulfilling its mandate for macroeconomic and financial stability.…

The Coal Cost Crossover: Economic Viability Of Existing Coal Compared To New Local Wind And Solar Resources

America has officially entered the “coal cost crossover” – where existing coal is increasingly more expensive than cleaner alternatives. Today, local wind and solar could replace approximately 74 percent of the U.S. coal fleet at an immediate savings to customers. By 2025, this number grows to 86 percent of the coal fleet.

This analysis complements existing research into the costs of clean energy undercutting coal costs, by focusing on which coal plants could be replaced locally (within 35 miles of the existing coal plant) at a saving.

It suggests local decision-makers should consider plans for a smooth shut-down of these …

Attaching a Price to Greenhouse Gas Emissions with a Carbon Tax or Emissions Fee: Considerations and Potential Impacts

The U.S. Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018, concluded that “the impacts of
global climate change are already being felt in the United States and are projected to intensify in
the future—but the severity of future impacts will depend largely on actions taken to reduce
greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions and to adapt to the changes that will occur.” Members of
Congress and stakeholders articulate a wide range of perspectives over what to do, if anything,
about GHG emissions, future climate change, and related impacts. If Congress were to consider
establishing a program to reduce GHG emissions, one option would …

The Changing Role of Energy in the U.S. Economy

The CSIS Energy Program conducted research, commissioned papers, held a workshop, and developed this report on the changing role of energy in the U.S. economy. The purpose is twofold: (1) improve understanding of how energy impacts the U.S. economy at multiple levels; and (2) evaluate the performance of policies designed to create economic opportunity in the energy sector.

The Report : The research, commissioned papers, and workshop culminated into this final report, The Changing Role of Energy in the U.S. Economy. The report identifies 13 propositions, which represent the emerging energy issues that policymakers might not be aware of and …