Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Chris Higgins contributes to this video about what makes PFAS chemicals extremely useful—and extremely hard to get rid of—are the bonds between carbon and fluorine atoms that are almost impossible to break. July 22, 2021.
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Chris Higgins contributes to this article about the sudden spike in PFAS contamination in wells serving a Tuscon south-side water treatment plant is a product of humans and nature. June 12, 2021.
Payne Institute Program Manager Laura Singer contributed to this article about how the Earth’s ocean acts as a global climate regulator, and scientists are increasingly studying its chemistry and geology to find potential ways to store carbon dioxide captured from emissions or removed from the air. Oceans are bearing some of the brunt of the climate change. April 22, 2021.
Payne Institute Fellow Griffin Thompson and Director Morgan Bazilian write the second part, of a two part series, about the Palestinian Authority’s efforts towards greater autonomy, prosperity, and peace that can be supported through a new perspective on how energy systems can affect and contribute to broader national and regional political and economic goals. No longer can we afford to ignore the potential for political development that is intrinsic to the processes of economic development. March 1, 2021.
Payne Institute Fellow Griffin Thompson and Director Morgan Bazilian write a two part series about policies for energy service delivery that have for too long been governed by a restrictive sense of the energy system—one that isolates energy from the broader socio-political and diplomatic environments in which they evolve. The energy needs of Israel and the Palestinian Territories and their quest for cleaner, more resilient energy systems offer an opportunity to redefine the way we think about energy systems. Solutions, in turn, help highlight the multiple domestic and foreign policy benefits of a low carbon energy system. February 22, 2021.
Payne Institute Senior Research Associate Sara Hastings-Simon contributes to this report from the Canadian Institute for Climate Choices that highlights the multiple facets of clean growth by unpacking the connections between economic growth, climate change, and human well-being. We identify 11 data-driven indicators that, together, can guide efforts by governments, businesses, and communities to not only tackle climate change but to do so in a way that achieves sustained growth and the best overall outcomes for people and society as a whole. September 22, 2020.
Payne Institute Fellow Jamal Saghir writes about how the Arab world is now the world’s driest region, with several countries being among the world’s most water scarce, where per capita renewable water availability is already less than 500 cubic meters per year. This is the level set by the World Health Organization for severe scarcity at which water becomes a hurdle to economic growth and beyond which water scarcity becomes a key concern in people’s lives and begins to affect the development process. September 11, 2020.
Payne Institute Advisory Board Member Tisha Schuller has a new podcast titled Energy Thinks, where she has conversations with top thought leaders in the energy space focusing on sustainability, ESG and future proofing against social risk. June 11, 2020.
In few weeks or months, the world will have to reconvene to forge a new chapter in humanity, I would call it the Post COVID-19 New World Configuration. It will be an historic moment: the ultimate test of global survival, globalization, and cooperation. Yet the building blocks toward this new World are proceeding so slowly that humanity is in grave danger. If we miss the opportunity to protect ourselves and our planet, there will be no second chance; no way to go back and undo the catastrophic health, economic and social damage of COVID-19. April 10, 2020.
In few weeks or months, the world will have to reconvene to forge a new chapter in humanity, I would call it the Post COVID-19 New World Configuration. It will be an historic moment: the ultimate test of global survival, globalization, and cooperation. Yet the building blocks toward this new World are proceeding so slowly that humanity is in grave danger. If we miss the opportunity to protect ourselves and our planet, there will be no second chance; no way to go back and undo the catastrophic health, economic and social damage of COVID-19. April 10, 2020.