Resources Radio

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes is joined by University of Michigan Associate Professor Johanna Mathieu, who researches the efficiency and environmental impacts of the electric power sector. By breaking down how electricity is supplied in the power system, Mathieu demonstrates how understanding the potential areas of flexibility in power consumption can point to system-level improvements for when energy demand is straining the electric grid. Mathieu’s research has explored how data centers themselves can be sources of capacity flexibility and be a tool to reduce congestion on the electric grid, if coordinated properly. While engineering allows for a technical understanding of current complications in the electric power sector, Mathieu notes that her research with the Center for Informed Voices for Infrastructure Choices (CIVIC) Forum at the University of Michigan showcases how interdisciplinary perspectives can make headway in developing technical and policy solutions alongside the growth of artificial intelligence. Grid solutions exist, Mathieu notes, and can result in better outcomes for utilities, data centers, and communities.

References and recommendations:

The Center for Informed Voices for Infrastructure Choices Forum; https://thecivic.forum/

“Data Centers” episode of the “Behind the Meter” podcast; https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/data-centers/id1800217998?i=1000748223283

Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

In this episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Deborah Gordon, a senior principal at the Rocky Mountain Institute and senior fellow at the Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Together, they discuss the hit television show “Landman,” which exposes an up-close view of working and living in the oil and gas industry. “Landman” portrays some of the major risks and complications that arise when working for an oil company in the Permian Basin of Texas: injuries, accidents, contaminants, reckoning with automation and climate change, and more. Gordon pulls from her expertise to separate the “frack” from the fiction of working in oil and gas. She also expands on the future-facing questions of the fossil fuel industry and its role in shaping society and addressing climate change. With a third season on the way, Gordon and Raimi riff on some ideas for what the next plotline in “Landman” could be, and the off-screen realities for the oil and gas industry.

References and recommendations:

“Landman” television show; https://www.paramountplus.com/shows/landman/

“There Will Be Blood” film; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Will_Be_Blood

“Argo” film; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argo_(2012_film)

“Dallas” television show; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_(TV_series)

“Private Empire” by Steve Coll; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/303537/private-empire-by-steve-coll/

“Lessons of Darkness” documentary film; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lessons_of_Darkness

Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes is joined by podcast-host-turned-guest Daniel Raimi, a fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF) and director of RFF’s Communities in the Energy Transition initiative, to discuss Raimi’s research on energy communities and his work establishing a highly collaborative ongoing project: the Resilient Energy Economies initiative. Though all communities depend on energy, “energy communities” are communities whose economic livelihoods are dependent on fossil fuels. Raimi recounts how his early career experiences inspired him to study the complex dynamics of fossil fuel–dependent communities amid a shifting energy sector. The oft-overlooked economic complications that arise in energy communities have been motivating federal, state, and local efforts to preserve and protect financial stability for residents after energy companies leave town. Whether in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Texas, or a Tribal nation, Raimi maintains that engaging with the people who actually are living in these fossil fuel–dependent local economies enables a holistic understanding of the mammoth impact of the fossil fuel industry in the development of the United States and in the communities where the industry is central to their life and livelihoods.

References and recommendations:

Resilient Energy Economies initiative; https://www.resilientenergyeconomies.org/

“Building More Resilient Energy Economies,” a webinar series hosted by Resources for the Future; https://www.rff.org/topics/communities-in-the-energy-transition/webinar-series-building-more-resilient-energy-economies/

“Vigil” by George Saunders; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/564991/vigil-by-george-saunders/

Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

In this episode, Sarah Armitage, an assistant professor at Boston University, sits with host Daniel Raimi to share findings from a working paper she wrote with coauthors about the transfer sales of oil and gas wells and why this practice of oil and gas companies selling wells to each other can lead to negative consequences of “unplugged,” or “orphaned,” or abandoned wells. Armitage explains why unmaintained oil and gas infrastructure, such as orphaned wells, can lead to negative environmental consequences if not “plugged” or sealed after use; these abandoned wells often contain pollutants that can leak into the environment. She also lays out key factors behind project financing that can mitigate a mismatch in business incentives and environmental safety. Given that oil and gas wells, new and old, are spread across the United States, Armitage points to the continued challenges of navigating the state regulations and potential financial solutions that can make proper maintenance easier for old oil and gas wells. Policies that ensure some level of financial assurance, Armitage and coauthors find, can help fill a gap in incentives and put a plug on pollution before it starts.

References and recommendations:

“Cutting Costs or Cutting Corners: Asset Reallocation in Oil and Gas Production” by Sarah C. Armitage, Judson Boomhower, and Catherine Hausman; https://www.nber.org/papers/w34961

“Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade” by Adam Minter; https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/junkyard-planet-9781608197934/

“The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources” by Jack Farchy and Javier Blas; https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-world-for-sale-9780197651537

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In this episode, host Margaret Walls talks with Jade Stevens, founder and executive director of 40 Acre Conservation League, a Black-led nonprofit land trust in California. The organization, named after the historic promise of “40 acres and a mule” given to formerly enslaved Black Americans after the Civil War, honors the legacy of the promise by expanding land stewardship and outdoor recreation throughout California. A complementary objective of the land trust focuses on wildfire prevention and forest preservation, which involves extensive efforts to thin out overcrowded trees and restore wildlife. Despite challenges in site acquisition and dense tree regrowth, Stevens notes that maintaining outdoor space creates lasting improvements to quality of life for nearby communities. By merging the two aims of conserving land and expanding public lands, 40 Acre Conservation League aims to make the great outdoors more accessible to urban families in California while protecting the ecosystems within it.

References and recommendations:

40 Acre Conservation League; https://www.40acreleague.org/

“The Wild” podcast with Chris Morgan; https://www.thewildpod.org/

Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/