Payne Institute Fellow Carolyn Kissane writes an opinion piece about how in trade, finance, development, and security, governments are racing to get closer to net-zero. The varying and shambolic responses illustrate the global system’s dysfunction when seeking to respond to a worldwide crisis. Will climate change be a different story? February 8, 2021.
Payne Institute Fellow Brad Handler and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how the Biden administration’s recent pause on new oil and gas leases on federal lands amounts to only a small step in achieving our climate change goals but represents an opportunity to devise a sustainable strategy that can support environmental stewardship, help foster green energy development, and help impacted communities effectively — and successfully — transition away from fossil fuels. February 2, 2021.
Payne Institute Senior Research Associate Sara Hastings-Simon writes an opinion piece on the United States new administration’s plan for vehicle electrification that will trigger a dramatic decrease in oil consumption. U.S. President Joe Biden’s move to rescind the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline has been in the spotlight lately, but domestic actions from his new government are poised to have a much more significant impact on the Alberta oil industry. The new administration has announced its intention to dramatically accelerate the electrification of transportation, including passenger vehicles, buses, light and heavy trucks, and rail, and support the build-out of new transportation infrastructure such as high-speed rail across the country. January 27, 2021.
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Fellow Brad Handler, Deb Chattopadhyay, and Chandrasekhar Govindarajalu write about how the cost of wind, solar, and most recently battery storage has fallen dramatically over the last decade, providing the economic rationale for their widespread adoption to help mitigate climate change. This, coupled with the low cost of natural gas, has provided a key challenge in the power sector: how to economically and equitably decommission ∼2000 GW of installed coal capacity? Although a significant part of the existing coal capacity is older, inefficient, and unprofitable, there are complex technical, social and economic challenges that remain. December 25, 2020.
Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian on a podcast discussing the realpolitik of the current situation, and weigh up the challenges that face us in rebuilding America, as well as what it will take to restore our relationship with the rest of the world and show leadership on climate and energy transition once again. December 23, 2020.
Payne Institute Senior Research Associate Sara Hastings-Simon contributes to this article about how the CleanBC plan, released two years ago, still doesn’t lay out a credible pathway to meet emissions targets. A look at fracking and LNG helps explain why. December 8, 2020.
Payne Institute Senior Research Associate Dr. Sara Hastings-Simon writes an opinion piece on the shortcomings of the newly released Canada Energy Regulator’s Energy Future 2020 report (EF2020) and that in order to be useful, the scenarios must span the full range of likely potential futures. These don’t meet that bar. December 7, 2020.
Payne Institute Senior Research Associate Dr. Sara Hastings-Simon writes about how the CER report falls short in its goal of exploring a range of possible futures and misses major potential shifts in fuel and energy demand that have important economic and policy implications for Canada. December 7, 2020.
Payne Institute Fellow Dr. Jay Lemery, John Balbus, Cecilia Sorensen, Caitlin Rublee, Caleb Dresser, Satchit Balsari, and Emile Calvello Hynes write a commentary article on the effects of climate change that are accelerating and undermining human health and well-being in many different ways. There is no doubt that the health care sector will need to adapt, and although it has begun to develop more targeted strategies to address climate-related challenges, a broad knowledge gap persists. There is a critical need to develop and cultivate new knowledge and skill sets among health professionals, including those in public health, environmental science, policy, and communication roles. This article describes specific initiatives to train future leaders to be proficient in understanding the linkages between climate change and health. December 7, 2020.
Payne Institute Fellows Alexander Gilbert, George Sowers, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how the U.S. actions with regards to development of space resources are poised to help jumpstart a new age of space innovation that has the potential to bring scientific and economic benefits to the whole world. November 27, 2020.