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Energy Policy
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.
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.
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.
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.
Penn signs Power Purchase Agreement for largest solar project in Pennsylvania
The agreement will result in the construction in central Pennsylvania of two new solar energy facilities that combined can generate 220 megawatts of electricity.
Bailout or subsidy: Oil in the age of pandemic
COVID-19 is disrupting all sectors of the global economy, and the energy sector is far from immune. Energy storage has implications for both the government stimulus efforts and the shape of our future economic recovery.
Greener economy ‘not science fiction anymore’
A new book from Penn sociologist Daniel Aldana Cohen and colleagues describes four key facets of the Green New Deal and why they could become a reality in the not-too-distant future.
What to do when cutting emissions alone is no longer enough
Four factors to consider in the race to solve the climate crisis, including how to scale up a tool called negative emissions and why the oceans can only help so much.
The many lives of charcoal
Catherine Nabukalu, an alumna of the Master in Environmental Studies program, worked with School of Arts and Sciences Professor Reto Gieré to track the charcoal supply chain through research in Nabukalu’s native Uganda.
In the News
Del. Gov. Matt Meyer searches for a new Public Advocate in the face of anger over skyrocketing utility bills
Shelley Welton of Penn Carey Law and the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design discusses the economic link between cold temperatures and increased energy bills.
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In a reversal, plans for U.S. natural gas power grow, complicating progress on climate
John Quigley of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that the construction of every new natural gas plant is a setback for climate goals.
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EPA head urges Trump to reconsider scientific finding that underpins climate action, AP sources say
Michael Mann of the School of Arts & Sciences says that the latest form of climate denial is to pretend climate change isn’t a threat rather than denying that it’s happening.
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California’s controversial new fuel rules rejected by state legal office
A report by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design predicted that fuel standard changes in California could increase the cost of gas by 85 cents a gallon through 2030.
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As California pushes increased ethanol use, experts sound the alarm on environmental impacts
Danny Cullenward of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design says that the negative impacts of biofuels on land are difficult to overstate.
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Decoding Trump’s climate priorities—or lack thereof
In an opinion essay, Sanya Carley of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the Weitzman School of Design examines the implications and possibilities of Donald Trump’s energy and climate agenda.
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