Twice a month, we’re compiling the most relevant news stories from diverse sources online, connecting the latest environmental and energy economics research to global current events, real-time public discourse, and policy decisions. Keep reading, and feel free to send us your feedback.
Here are some questions we’re asking and addressing with our research chops this week:
How is climate change affecting the geographic distribution of extreme weather disasters, like Hurricane Helene?
The governor of North Carolina has signed five executive orders to support communities in the western part of the state that were affected by Hurricane Helene, which struck the region in September. Safe housing remains scarce for thousands of residents, and infrastructure in the area still needs repair or rebuilding. That Hurricane Helene reached western North Carolina took many by surprise, given that the region is hundreds of miles from where the storm made landfall. Because of climate change, “no place is really immune to these kinds of events and these kinds of costs,” says Margaret Walls, a senior fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF) and director of RFF’s Climate Risks and Resilience Program. Hurricane Helene was one of the top stories in 2024 for Walls, who joined RFF colleagues on this week’s episode of the Resources Radio podcast to review notable stories in energy and environmental policy in 2024 and preview some things to watch in 2025.
How can nature-based infrastructure help communities improve resilience to the effects of climate change?
Artificial oyster reefs and new seagrasses are helping protect a stretch of coastal highway along the Florida Panhandle. The reefs and seagrass form a “living shoreline” that helps shield the coast from everyday erosion. A regional planning council based in Tallahassee sponsored the project to reduce the deterioration of the coastline; sea levels there are expected to rise six inches in the next 50 years. Living shorelines are a type of nature-based solution, which involves “practices that weave natural features or processes into the built environment to protect places from floods and other environmental harms,” say RFF scholars Margaret Walls, Emma DeAngeli, and Brandon Holmes in a new installment about nature-based solutions in RFF’s series of explainers. “Natural approaches often provide a range of benefits, or ecosystem services, beyond flood mitigation,” they say. “These benefits include water-quality improvements, carbon sequestration, temperature regulation, recreational amenities, and protection of wildlife habitat.”
What’s it like to attend the world’s largest climate conference as a first-timer?
The 29th Conference of the Parties, the annual climate conference organized by the United Nations, concluded late last year with a deal to increase funding from $100 billion to $300 billion, which more-developed countries will annually provide for developing countries to address climate change. Delegates also agreed on standards for an international carbon market, which will allow countries to exchange credits that represent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. On the sidelines of these official negotiations, thousands of attendees met in “exhibits, side events, organized meetings, and informal conversations, where more intimate circles form[ed] around particular subtopics,” says RFF Research Associate Katarina Nehrkorn, who discusses her experience as a first-time attendee at the conference in a recent blog post. “I left the conference uncertain about the future of international climate negotiations, inspired by the inclusion of diverse people in the conversation about climate change, and well over my weekly step goal,” says Nehrkorn.
Wildfires Ignite Across Los Angeles
More than 200,000 residents in Los Angeles County have been ordered to evacuate their homes due to wildfires that were exacerbated by high-speed winds in the area. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved a grant to California to help pay for the cost of firefighting efforts. Drier conditions and warmer temperatures that are caused by climate change are extending the wildfire season in the state.
“Minimizing the barriers that communities face in improving resilience to wildfires is increasingly important,” says RFF Fellow Yanjun (Penny) Liao, who recently published research about wildfire mitigation in the western United States. “Wildfires are becoming more frequent and intense in California and across the country. Resilience is important also because of the decreasing availability of insurance that covers wildfire damage and the surging costs of the insurance that does exist for these disasters. Programs like Firewise, which helps households and communities take measures to protect property from wildfires, are an excellent resource. Policymakers can consider additional incentives to encourage participation in these programs, especially for communities of color, which disproportionately do not participate in the Firewise program.”
Biden Administration Releases Final Guidance for Hydrogen Subsidy
Last week, the US Department of the Treasury finalized the requirements that companies must meet to qualify for the 45V tax credit, which subsidizes the production of clean hydrogen. Difficulties in specifying what qualifies as “clean” hydrogen have contributed to delays in releasing the final requirements. Hydrogen could replace fossil fuels in certain sectors that are considered difficult to decarbonize, such as steelmaking and shipping.
“The Treasury Department has to walk a fine line,” says RFF Fellow Aaron Bergman, who has written about the proposed guidance from Treasury on the tax credit. “If the requirements are too strict, the hydrogen industry might struggle to get the jump start it needs from the tax credit. The agency also faces concerns that a tax credit with looser requirements could subsidize the production of hydrogen in a way that increases emissions. The final version of the tax credit provides additional ways that hydrogen producers can comply, even as Treasury did not go as far as some in the industry may have wanted. Securing customers for the hydrogen that is produced remains a challenge.”
Big Decisions for Energy and the Environment in 2025
On the agenda for 2025 may be shifts in federal policy related to US energy production and environmental regulations, given the stated aims of the incoming Congress and Trump administration. Join RFF on Wednesday, January 29, for RFF’s annual Big Decisions event, where experts will convene to discuss these potential shifts in federal policy, along with issues related to international trade, permitting reform, and state policymaking. Panelists at the event include Eliza Barclay, Climate Opinion Editor at the New York Times; Carlos Curbelo, Co-Chair of the Climate Solutions Foundation, Principal at Vocero, and a former Congressperson from Florida; Roger Martella, Chief Sustainability Officer at General Electric Vernova; and Kevin Rennert, an RFF fellow and director of RFF’s Federal Climate Policy Initiative.
Federal Power Plant Regulations Could Reduce Emissions and Speed Up Retirements of Coal-Fired Power Plants
In 2024, the US Environmental Protection Agency finalized regulations that limit greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants and new natural gas–fired power plants. These regulations could reduce emissions from the US power sector by 73 to 86 percent below 2005 levels by 2040, according to a new article in the journal Science that reviews modeling of emissions reductions done by RFF and partner institutions. While emissions are projected to decrease by 60 to 83 percent without the regulations, the regulations increase the probability that emissions will decrease more steeply. “The rules could have the largest impacts on reducing installed coal capacity and generation, which historically have been the largest source of power-sector carbon dioxide and conventional air pollutants,” write the authors of the article.
Defining “Clean” Electricity
Governments and companies often target certain percentages of clean electricity use in plans and goals that are related to addressing climate change. In a new blog post, RFF Fellow Aaron Bergman breaks down a common misunderstanding: the claim that a consumer can be using clean electricity at any given time. “Even though electricity can be cleanly produced—that is, produced without emitting greenhouse gases—‘clean’ electricity cannot be traced across the grid from a generator to a consumer,” says Bergman. He discusses the physics of the transmission of electricity via the electric grid and why the concept of clean electricity is primarily financial. “When you purchase clean electricity, you really are purchasing something more than just electricity, and that can make a difference in emissions,” he says.
🎨 Climate in the Culture 🎵
Credit: Washington Post
Hundreds of residents of Washington, DC, gathered Monday morning for a snowball fight that was dubbed the “Great Meridian Chill.” The snowball fight took place at Meridian Hill Park, also known as Malcolm X Park, in the Adams Morgan/Columbia Heights neighborhood. “When I heard that this was happening just down the street, I knew I had to go,” said RFF Media and Communications Specialist Annie Tastet. The event, which was organized by the Washington DC Snowball Fight Association, followed a night of heavy snowfall that continued all day on Monday. Around eight inches of snow accumulated in the city, though snowfall in the region has decreased over the past century. Participants in Monday’s snowball fight seized the opportunity to enjoy the winter weather and threw with enthusiasm; at least one RFF scholar received a face full of powder. “The joy in the air was palpable,” said RFF Digital Media and Marketing Specialist Donnie Peterson. “I can’t wait for the next one.”
