Energy Resources & Access

Democrats and Republicans alike hope for an energy independent future—an America freed from the whims of a temperamental global energy market. The differences arise when determining what to do today to make that future a reality.

In study findings announced Sept. 28, UCLA researchers report that they measured air pollutants during last year's Carmageddon (July 15–17) and found that when 10 miles of the 405 closed, air quality near the shuttered portion improved within minutes, reaching levels 83 percent better than on comparable weekends. Because traffic dipped all over Southern California that weekend, air quality also improved 75 percent in parts of West Los Angeles and Santa Monica and an average of 25 percent regionally—from Ventura to Yucaipa, and Long Beach to Santa Clarita.

Producing electricity from the sun with solar panels seems like the perfect solution to our energy needs. But solar panels can also create problems for the environment. Switzer Fellow Dustin Mulvaney believes there are win-win solutions out there.

Oxfam, the international nonprofit, issued a report on Tuesday estimating how extreme weather events might affect food prices in the coming decades — forecasting that the prices of a number of food staples could surge far beyond the projected increases. “We will all feel the impact as prices spike but the poorest people will be hit hardest because they often spend up to 75 percent of their income on food,” said Heather Coleman, climate change policy adviser for Oxfam America, in a statement.

Over the past several months, extreme weather and climate events in the form of heat waves, droughts, fires, and flooding have seemed to become the norm rather than the exception. In the past half-year alone, millions of people have been affected across the globe – from Europe suffering from the worst cold snap in a quarter century; to extreme flooding in Australia, Brazil, China, and the Philippines; to drought in the Sahel.

Two energy development scenarios were compared for the Coal River Mountain in Raleigh County, West Virginia: (1) mountaintop mining (MTM) of coal, and (2) wind energy plus underground mining of coal. Economic impact computations over the life of each energy development scenario were made on a county basis for output of goods and services, the number of jobs created, and local earnings. Externality costs were assigned monetary values for coal mining and subtracted from earnings.

In support of DFG’s Science Institute initiative, the Fish and Wildlife Strategic Vision and the upcoming strategic vision process, the DFG Climate Science Program is proud to announce the first of its kind lecture series on climate change as it relates to the mission of DFG. The DFG Climate College is designed to cover the fundamentals of climate science and provide tools and resources necessary to empower participants to better incorporate climate change into their professional responsibilities.