Energy Policy | Penn Today

A dried up desert with a small amount of water on the right-hand side. The sun is blazing in the background, in front of mountains.

Four things to know about the latest IPCC climate report

The assessment describes ‘unequivocal’ human influence that no doubt caused ‘widespread and rapid changes’ to the atmosphere, oceans, and more. Professors Mark Alan Hughes and Michael Weisberg discuss the findings, plus how we can avoid passing the point of no return.

On-farm opportunities and challenges for solar development

On-farm solar development is increasingly becoming a financially viable and environmentally friendly alternative on American farmland.

Eighteen-wheeler truck driving on the highway at dusk.

The infrastructure bill could fix trucking for the long haul

As the country explores major infrastructure investments, urban truck ports have the potential to increase the fuel efficiency of trucks, reduce air pollution, and improve the lives of truckers who deliver our critical goods.

International leaders celebrate the Paris Climate Accord

The outlook for science under the Biden-Harris administration

Penn Today spoke with experts in various areas of science and environmental policy about what they anticipate will shift now that President Biden has assumed the nation’s leadership.

College Hall in daylight in autumn surrounded by fall foliage.

By the Numbers

By the Numbers: The FY20 climate and sustainability annual report

Highlights from the report show progress on reducing carbon emissions, expanding sustainable transit, and increasing academic outreach.

Philadelphia rowhouse roofs with solar panels in foreground and city skyline in background.

Architecture’s William Braham on energy, carbon, and buildings for the future

For Climate Week 2020, The Weitzman School speaks with Braham about Penn’s Climate and Sustainability Action Plan, and what he’s learned about the build environment and its carbon footprint over time.

Person standing outside in front of a dark column, arms crossed.

The striking shift in climate politics in a post-Sandy New York City

Analysis of conversations with 75 disaster responders, social activists, and others revealed that immediately following the superstorm, the city moved away from cutting greenhouse gas emissions and toward adaptation.

Offsetting carbon emissions, one ton at a time

Carbon offsets are a small but meaningful market in its mission to contribute to greenhouse gas reducing industries and practices in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere.

Absent from stimulus packages: Overhauling energy, climate programs

Ioana Marinescu of the School of Social Policy & Practice said it’s a good time for governments to invest in climate change solutions. “Sometimes it takes a good crisis to finally move in a whole new direction just like the New Deal,” she said.

Sign on the wall inside an empty public transit trolley that reads Please practice social distancing.

A shaky future for U.S. transit systems, and why we need to save them

The pandemic lockdown in cities has impacted transit systems around the world. While the federal stimulus package includes transit agencies, experts at Kleinman Center for Energy Policy argue that the decrease from local and state sources could be substantial.

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