Energy Resources & Access

Fellow Story

Steele quoted on heat islands in Los Angeles area

"I call them heat storms. Because they are so dramatic. In 2006, we had a heat wave and 147 people were documented as dying by the Los Angeles County Coroner. But researchers believe the number was three or four times higher - that over 600 people died as a result of that heat wave," explained Nancy Steele, executive director of the Southern California-based Council for Watershed Health, which used to be called the Los Angeles & San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council.
July 25, 2012
Fellow Story

Pairis on California's new state bird guide highlighting climate change risk

"This is really pivotal research that will help us plan for mitigating the effects of climate change," said Amber Pairis, climate change adviser for the Department of Fish and Game. Pairis said the state agency is building similar lists for rare plant species, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. She said the study and guide provide a platform for allowing climate change to become part of conservation discussions and not treated as a separate topic or chapter.
July 19, 2012
Fellow Story

Hamilton on Peter Gleick's ethics lapse over climate papers

Colleagues said Gleick was acting on the growing frustration that many other scientists are also feeling. "Scientists are up against a political machine trying to create controversy and uncertainty where none exists," said Healy Hamilton, a biodiversity scientist and visiting scholar at UC Berkeley. "How do you deal with an enemy that actually refuses to believe science?"
July 18, 2012
Fellow Story

Aldy profiled in Harvard Magazine

When Joseph Aldy trekked up Mount Kilimanjaro with his father in 2000, he was a long way from the farm in Kentucky where he grew up—but close to the things that matter to him. Aldy is an economist who works on energy and climate-change policy. He loves to hike. On Kilimanjaro’s 19,341-foot peak, he got to see the last vestiges of the 11,000-year-old glaciers there—they are expected to disappear within the next decade or so. Read the full story
July 16, 2012
Fellow Story

Hagan co-authors chapter on regulating legal liability for carbon capture/sequestration projects.

About the book: The United States produces over seventy percent of all its electricity from fossil fuels and nearly fifty percent from coal alone. Worldwide, forty-one percent of all electricity is generated from coal, making it the single most important fuel source for electricity generation, followed by natural gas. This means that an essential part of any portfolio for emissions reduction will be technology to capture carbon dioxide and permanently sequester it in suitable geologic formations.
July 10, 2012
Fellow Story

Morris interviewed on Al Jazeera regarding Rio+20

"There is regulation in market systems all over the place. There is no such thing as [a] free market in existence in the world because government is an actor in our markets. Its job is to regulate .... Markets can work in concert with public policy." - Daniel Morris, a fellow at Resources for the Future Watch the program
July 9, 2012
Fellow Story

Heller collaborates on report about continental US warming trends in past 100 years

Global warming isn’t uniform. The continental U.S. has warmed by about 1.3°F over the past 100 years, but the temperature increase hasn’t been the same everywhere: some places have warmed more than others, some less, and some not much at all. Natural variability explains some of the differences, and air pollution with fine aerosols screening incoming solar radiation could also be a factor. Download the full report
July 5, 2012
Fellow Story

Andrew on how CA Department of Water Resources plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

"It is things like limiting idling time of equipment. It's looking at all of our equipment and seeing that it's sized right for the job," explained John Andrew, assistant deputy at DWR.
July 5, 2012
Fellow Story

Torn's work on how global warming may release carbons in forest soils picked up by several outlets

Climate scientists have long been concerned about the possibility that warming temperatures will speed changes on the earth’s surface that will in turn accelerate global warming. The best illustration of such a feedback loop involves the melting of sea ice in the Arctic. The ice reflects solar radiation back into space rather than absorbing it. When it melts, it leaves open water that absorbs the heat rather than reflecting it. The more warm water there is, the more ice melts, and so on.
June 28, 2012
Fellow Story

Grumet quoted in AOL Energy article on idea of ending subsidies for renewables

Jason Grumet, President of the Bipartisan Policy Center, said there are approaches between simple extensions and cold turkey cutoffs, such as grid operators holding auctions specifically for renewable power. Grumet said the whole tax code should be overhauled to adapt to the new US energy picture, in which an abundance of natural gas has replaced fears of energy scarcity in just five years. Legislators need to rationalize any energy subsidies longer-term, he said, adding, "We need to avoid this year-to-year lobby fest."
June 27, 2012