Analysis & Opinions

On "Resource Radio," a podcast by Resources for the Future, Catherine Wolfram, Visiting Professor at Harvard Kennedy School and Rhodium Group's John Larsen offer insights on 2022’s biggest stories in energy and environmental policy at the state, national, and international levels, including U.S. climate legislation and how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has affected energy markets. They also look ahead to the developments in energy and environmental policy that are likely to become important in 2023.

Last week, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin seemingly dashed Democrats’ hopes for congressional action to slow climate change. Sen. Bernie Sanders accused Manchin of “sabotag[ing] the president’s agenda”; Rep. John Yarmuth, when asked about the consequences of Congress not acting on climate change, said, “We’re all going to die”; and climate activists, as well as some Democrats in Congress, wondered if Manchin should be removed as chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The newly elevated "Major Questions Doctrine" of the Supreme Court's conservative majority puts a vast array of environmental and business regulations at risk, writes John Holdren.

Faced with an accelerating climate crisis, mounting political frustrations, and a congressional stalemate, Joel Clement writes that the White House must take the lead on climate action by curtailing fossil fuel extraction on public lands and providing economic protection to the communities that will be most impacted by the coming energy transition.

It's become something of a blood-sport to attack the Biden administration for not aggressively tackling the climate crisis. But a recent executive order calling for the federal government to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 shows that the federal government is still determined to drive the clean energy transition, with or without the Senate's support.

After Maine voters rejected the Central Maine Power corridor, Joel Clement and Pete Didisheim make the case that public involvement, fair compensation, and wise site selection are critical to the success of clean energy projects.

Kelly Sims Gallagher asserts that politicians' pledges of dramatic long-term reductions should not let them off the hook for their failure to achieve more modest progress in the short term.

Joel Clement outlines how the Interior Department can become a forceful catalyst for a just transition to clean energy. 

Joel Clement describes some immediate opportunities—and emphasize specific recommendations—to establish the Interior Department as a purposeful catalyst for a fair and just transition to clean energy, healthy ecosystems, and thriving communities.

Robert Stavins analyzes the challenges for the Biden administration in producing a quantitative statement of how and by how much U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases will be reduced over time in a new Nationally Determined Contribution.