In a Charged Environment, FERC Faces Demands for Energy
Columbia Energy Exchange
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulates the United States’ energy transmission, pipeline networks, and wholesale rates for electricity. For much of its history, FERC was a little-known federal agency. But that’s changing. Today, topics like energy affordability and the urgent build-out of data centers to support AI are putting FERC in the spotlight. The Trump administration is also exerting pressure on the agency. This fall, Energy Secretary Chris Wright directed the commission to fast-track grid connections for certain large loads, such as data centers. But many...
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World Energy Outlook 2025: Navigating Divergent Futures
Columbia Energy Exchange
Around the globe, and here in the United States, energy markets face huge uncertainties. They include everything from rising geopolitical tensions to a wave of new liquefied natural gas supply, and from concentrated critical mineral supply chains to growing demand for electricity. These uncertainties are reflected by the International Energy Agency in this year’s , which explores a range of possible energy futures — particularly around oil and gas demand. So how have energy policies at the country level, growing economic warfare, and rising prices impacted the IEA’s outlook? How...
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Building Energy Policy on Evidence
Columbia Energy Exchange
Elected officials face huge challenges when it comes to energy policymaking. They have very little time to learn complicated, nuanced issues. They're bombarded by information — some of it from organizations that are tightly aligned with ideological or political movements. Whether it’s from industry or civil society, the information policymakers receive, even if accurate, can often come with an agenda. Plus, translating academic research into policy comes with its own challenges. All of this makes building energy policy based on independent, trusted expertise difficult, especially in...
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A Changing Atmosphere at the Upcoming UN Climate Summit
Columbia Energy Exchange
The ten years since the Paris Agreement was signed at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP 21, have been the ten hottest years on record. And the outcome that the Paris Agreement sought — limiting global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — is now widely considered unattainable. There are other hurdles as well. Many nations have not submitted climate action plans, or nationally determined contributions, to the UN. And President Trump says he plans to re-withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement. Still, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change marches on....
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Unpacking Recent Sanctions on Russian Oil
Columbia Energy Exchange
Last week, President Trump announced that he was imposing significant new sanctions on Russia. It’s an effort to cut off revenue Russia needs for its war in Ukraine. This comes at a time when Russia’s oil industry is also under pressure from intensifying Ukrainian attacks on refineries, crude pipelines, and export terminals. It’s also happening as producers have been ramping up output amid signs of cooling demand growth. Yet the sanctions could still bite. Especially given that the Treasury sanctions announcement came with the explicit warning that secondary sanctions—targeting...
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‘The Return of the Energy Weapon’
Columbia Energy Exchange
Energy has long been used as a weapon. The United Kingdom blocked oil exports to Germany during World War I. Hitler’s fall was due in part to losing access to oilfields in the Caucasus. And the most recent example: the 1973 Arab oil embargo, which shocked the global economy. During the following fifty years, the energy weapon largely receded from the geopolitical stage, and in many countries energy security started to feel like a given. But developments including Russia's weaponization of natural gas against Europe, China's restrictions on critical minerals, and growing trade tensions...
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What Drives ‘Breakneck’ Development in China?
Columbia Energy Exchange
Trade tensions between the US and China have hit a new high mark. Last week, after China announced plans to ratchet up its export controls of some rare-earths and magnets with strategic uses, President Trump threatened to retaliate with 100% tariffs, which would go into effect on November 1 or sooner. But the competition between these two world powers goes far beyond trade disputes and tariffs. It's a contest between fundamentally different approaches to governance, technology, and economic development. China, of course, dominates critical supply chains for clean energy technologies. But many...
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Building a New Energy Industrial Strategy
Columbia Energy Exchange
Industrial policy, supply chain security, and economic competitiveness are central to how we think about clean energy deployment. As the Trump administration pulls back federal support for the clean energy transition, there are more and more calls for pragmatism and realism. The shifting conversation around clean energy is visible in other ways, too. During last month’s Climate Week in New York, there was more focus on a broader set of energy policy goals that included not only decarbonization but also energy security, energy affordability, and energy for economic development. So what...
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Is Permitting Reform About to Break Through?
Columbia Energy Exchange
Last year, an energy permitting reform bill sponsored by Senators Joe Manchin and John Barrasso passed out of committee but failed to gain full support in the US Senate. Since then, rising energy costs and infrastructure backlogs have only heightened pressure on Congress to take another run at reforming the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). As a result, momentum behind permitting reform is building again. Several legislative efforts are underway, most notably the bipartisan SPEED Act, which would change NEPA requirements in order to streamline the permitting process. It would also set...
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US Energy Policy in a Partisan Era
Columbia Energy Exchange
Following the rollback of key climate provisions from the Inflation Reduction Act, the debate over America's energy future is increasingly contentious. The passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has eliminated, or at least cobbled, many of the clean energy incentives that were centerpieces of Biden-era climate policy. This week, climate policymakers, business leaders, investors, and advocates are converging in New York City for Climate Week. With so much happening and many questions around the pace of the energy transition, it’s a crucial moment in US energy policy. So how are...
info_outlineCalifornia has long led the nation in pioneering clean air regulations, from grappling with smog to setting ambitious zero-emission vehicle mandates. The Golden State's unique authority under the Clean Air Act has allowed it to set emissions standards that exceed federal requirements. Around a dozen other states have followed California’s lead.
But that leadership now faces an unprecedented challenge. Last month, Congress voted to revoke three Clean Air Act waivers that the Biden administration had granted California. It was the first time in over sixty years that federal lawmakers blocked any of California's dozens of car and truck rules, and the state quickly responded with a lawsuit.
So what happens next? Can California slash emissions from the transportation sector without this federal support? If not, how can it reach its overall climate goals? And what does this political battle mean for the future of clean transportation—and states’ abilities to regulate emissions—nationwide?
This week, Bill Loveless speaks with Mary Nichols about California’s role in clean air policy, the impact of losing its vehicle emission waivers, how the auto industry is reacting, and what all of this means for the future of climate action in America.
Mary is a distinguished environmental lawyer and policy expert with over five decades of experience in clean air regulation. She held a number of senior posts in federal and state government, including a long tenure as chair of the California Air Resources Board. She is also a former distinguished visiting fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia SIPA.
Credits: Hosted by Jason Bordoff and Bill Loveless. Produced by Mary Catherine O’Connor, Caroline Pitman, and Kyu Lee. Engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive producer.