Energy 360‪°‬ Center for Strategic and International Studies

This week, Jane Nakano (CSIS) talks with Representative Elaine Luria about energy and climate priorities for Representative Luria’s district. Representative Luria was first elected to represent Virginia’s Second Congressional District in 2018. Her district includes many coastal communities as well as 8 military installations. Previously, she served two decades in the Navy, retiring with the rank of Commander. Jane talks with Representative Luria about how her background as nuclear-trained officer played a role in her move to become a member of Congress as well as some of the key issues and policies she is advancing not only for her district but for country at large.

This week, Bloomberg energy and commodity reporters Javier Blas and Jack Farchy join Ben Cahill (CSIS) for a discussion of their new book, The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources. Their discussion focuses on the influential role that commodity traders have played in global oil markets over the past four decades and looks ahead to how the commodities business may need to respond to new demands of the global energy economy.

As the energy transition in India accelerates, how do decisionmakers ensure that the transition is a just and equitable transition? Neha Sharma (CIF and JTI), Ajay Mathur (International Solar Alliance), Srestha Banerjee (iForest), and Mike Ward (CIF) look at the underlying drivers of India’s energy transitions, and key considerations for creating a just transition, including the need for fairness and equity, geographic disparities, lack of social mobility, labor policy, and energy access.
This week’s episode is part of the Just Transitions Initiative, a partnership of the CSIS Energy Program and the Climate Investment Funds. For more, visit the Just Transition Initiative.
Neha Sharma is Evaluation and Learning Specialist at the Climate Investment Funds and a core team member of the Just Transitions Initiative
Ajay Mathur is Director General–designate for the International Solar Alliance, and formerly the Director General at the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in India
Srestha Banerjee is Program Head for Climate Justice and Natural Resource Management at iForest
Mike Ward is Senior Sustainability Specialist at the Climate Investment Funds

This week, Dr. Emily Grubert, a professor at Georgia Tech, joins Stephen Naimoli (CSIS) to look at the recent winter storm in Texas that caused massive grid failures. Emily and Stephen consider what happened in Texas and why the grid there failed to handle the severe storm. They examine the tools and policies that decisionmakers can use to help the grid avoid problems like this and to prepare for worsening impacts as a result of climate change in the future.
For more, read Stephen’s recent examiner: https://www.csis.org/analysis/extreme-weather-tests-grid-resilience-across-much-united-states
And see Emily's bio for more of her work: https://spp.gatech.edu/people/person/emily-grubert

This week, Justin Wu (BloombergNEF) and Lachlan Carey (CSIS) take a tour of all things climate and energy related across Asia. They start with the outlook for U.S.-China relations on climate under the Biden Administration, consider the recent carbon neutral targets announced by Japan and Korea, move to the Covid recovery efforts and clean energy agenda in Vietnam, Indonesia, and India, and finally take a look at Australia and its technology-forward climate policy.

Ken Koyama (IEEJ) and Jane Nakano (CSIS Energy) look at recent energy and climate announcements from Japan. In October, Japan announced a plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. The climate pledge was followed by the launch of the Green Growth Strategy for Carbon Neutrality by 2050, in December. Ken and Jane look at what it will take to reach that target and its implications for Japan’s energy sector.
For more, read https://www.csis.org/analysis/japan-seeks-carbon-neutrality-2050