Intersecting Risk: Heat and Substance Use in Rural Communities

Extreme heat has a direct impact on health and can exacerbate substance use. Rural communities are at high risk given higher rates of hospitalizations for heat related illness and the disproportionate effects of substance use. This commentary explores the connection between heat and substance in rural communities and proposes recommendations within the span of policy, research and practice that can be tailored to fit the local rural context.

If implemented, comprehensive approaches such as Promoting of Local Infrastructure and Safe Spaces, Addressing Structural Health Inequities, Developing Workforce, Developing and Evaluate Public Health Communication Strategies, Engaging the Community in Developing Research, …

Testing Factors that Enhance Private Participation in Payments for Ecosystem Service Programs Targeting Flood Mitigation

To address the severe consequences of low participation, more studies are needed that empirically evaluate how different factors affect enrollment in payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs. In this paper, we provide empirical insight into how different land-leasing, purchase, and management arrangements might affect potential participants’ willingness to enroll in these programs. The authors administer a choice experiment in the coastal plain of the State of North Carolina (USA), to explore how a hypothetical, flood mitigation-focused PES program could optimize participation across a variety of natural infrastructure practices and across multiple aspects of program design.

The authors find evidence that …

California Clean Industrial Hub

California is a national leader in climate policy with state mandates to achieve net zero emissions by 2045. Yet, California is the third largest industrial emitter in the nation, with the state’s refineries, trucks, airports, ports and other industries responsible for 80 million metric tons of CO2 in 2022 or 6% of total industrial emissions in the United States.

Meeting our collective global climate goals requires building more than 700 net-zero industrial projects and purchasing 7 million zero-emissions trucks by 2030. Most of these projects will occur in regional industrial hubs in places like California where the physical, social, regulatory, …

Texas Gulf Coast Clean Industrial Hub

Texas has an opportunity to lead the new era of clean industrial development.

Texas has a long history of energy leadership. The state’s decarbonization journey began two decades ago with early investments in renewable energy leading Texas to be the number one producer of wind power in the United States. Looking to the future, Texas is forecasted to produce 50 percent of the clean hydrogen that will be made in the United States by 2050. In addition to climate benefits, clean industries in Texas can create more than half a million jobs and spur $100 billion in investments in the …

Survey Results: Electric Vehicles Impacts and Opportunities

Electric cooperatives have been active in developing programs to meet the needs of their members as
they increasingly electrify their modes of transportation, whether that be residential consumers with light
duty vehicles or their commercial and industrial consumers that are electrifying fleets. This report
explores the impacts and opportunities presented by electric vehicles (EVs), drawing on existing
research and insights from a recent survey conducted among our cooperative members and other electric
cooperatives. The findings are categorized into five key areas:

1. EV Education & Outreach
2. EV Rebates Rates & Incentives
3. EV Charger Infrastructure Development
4. EV Charging …

Not Set in Concrete: How Advance Market Commitments Can Remake Public Purchasing for Near-Zero or Zero Emissions Concrete

Concrete, the building block of modern society, has an enormous carbon footprint largely resulting from one ingredient: cement. The cement industry, one of the most emissions-intensive heavy industries, accounts for nearly 7 percent of all global human-caused carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. As concrete maintains its position as one of the most widely used materials worldwide, decarbonizing the concrete sector — especially cement production — is critical to reaching climate targets.

In the United States, building and maintaining our nation’s infrastructure accounts for 46 percent of the domestic demand for concrete materials. Manufacturers are ready to invest in innovative technologies to …

A Strategic Framework for Utility Cost Control

The electric grid will require significant investments in the coming years to address a variety of system needs, including replacing aging assets, modernizing the grid and strengthening its resilience, and preparing for projected load growth. Meeting these needs while ensuring utility costs increase no more than necessary will be critical to maintaining affordability for customers.

This report examines the major drivers behind increasing utility costs in recent years. These have included increased spending on T&D infrastructure, reliance on natural gas for electricity generation, extreme weather and wildfires, and the slow adoption of new technologies. Exacerbating these challenges is the traditional …

Get a Load of This: Regulatory Solutions to Enable Better Forecasting of Large Loads

In the United States, electricity demand, or load, has begun to grow following several stagnant decades. This trend appears first in utility forecasts, the backbone of the utility investment plans that inform billions of dollars of infrastructure investments. The scale of projected load growth and its potential risks require regulators to ensure that load forecasts remain useful in guiding consequential decisions.

This report is a resource for regulators who wish to understand the current landscape of large load forecasting and explore options for how to evolve forecasting practices as large loads emerge in their jurisdictions.

Specifically, this report includes:

– …

How “Power Couples” Can Help the United States Win the Global AI Race

The race is on to power the artificial intelligence revolution. AI’s strategic importance to national security and American economic competitiveness is making headlines, but at the same time, companies looking to build out very large data centers are struggling to find enough electric power. Inadequate and outdated market and regulatory processes have led to wait times of nearly five years to get grid access for new generation and lead times of eight years or more to build out new transmission infrastructure.

Big tech companies working to bring data centers online quickly have tried siting these large loads alongside existing power …

Accelerating Zero-Emission Trucking Policies: A Global Policy Handbook with a Roadmap for India

With global trucking demand expected to double by 2050, transitioning to zero-emission trucks (ZETs) is critical to reducing emissions, improving public health, and enhancing energy security. While ZET sales are gaining momentum — global sales surged by 170 percent since 2020 — many regions remain in the early stages of adoption, requiring a dedicated push for ZET-specific policy measures. This report provides a comprehensive policy handbook, detailing how demand, supply, and infrastructure-related interventions can accelerate ZET adoption.

Drawing from successful global case studies, the report illustrates how targeted policies can de-risk investment and scale up adoption, providing valuable insights for …