Last week, an extreme cold front swept through the middle of the country, and people in Texas suffered dramatic impacts as the state’s grid was subject to blackouts.

Sit in on a fireside chat between Duke University Energy Initiative director Brian Murray and former Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC), founder of republicEn. Then join a subsequent workshop (sign up now--space limited!) with Ariana Eily (Duke Science & Society) or Ivan Urlaub (North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association).

Organized by the Sanford Energy & Environment Club as part of Energy Week at Duke.

Mark your calendar for the 3rd annual Energy Week at Duke University.

Join Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions 10 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Friday, February 23, to learn about the Department of the Interior's Southeast Climate Science Center, one of eight regional climate science centers managed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center.

Brian Murray of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and the Duke University Energy Initiative (DUEI) will moderate a webinar featuring a panel discussion on the future of California’s Cap-and-Trade Program, July 18, 12–1:15 p.m.

The webinar co-hosted by the Nicholas Institute, DUEI, the Smart Prosperity Institute, the University of Ottawa Institute of the Environment, and Resources for the Future will explore the next chapter of California's innovative greenhouse gas trading program. Last year the state adopted a legally binding 40 percent emissions reduction goal for 2020 to 2030, but the role of cap and trade in meeting this target is uncertain. This summer the California legislature is considering what that role should be. Important program changes could include facility-specific emissions reductions requirements to address environmental justice concerns, limitations on the banking of allowances, limitations on the use of offset credits, a strict price collar to limit the range of allowance prices, a border price adjustment mechanism or other tools to address emissions leakage, and changes in the allocation of allowance value to various parties. These changes, if implemented, could have possibly destabilizing spillover effects on jurisdictions linked to the California program, including Quebec (currently linked) and Ontario (which plans to link next year).

Webinar panelists will discuss the proposed features of competing pathways for the California program, the modifications or amendments that may be considered during the legislative process, potential implications for the California carbon market, and the potential effects on existing and future linkages with other jurisdictions.

Registration is required.

The Nicholas Institute, Resources for the Future, and the Georgetown Climate Center will present a webinar on the results of an analysis of an emissions containment reserve (ECR) for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), June 14. The analysis, for which the Nicholas Institute’s Brian Murray served as a technical advisor, will be presented by Dallas Burtraw of Resources of the Future and Bill Shobe of the University of Virginia. The webinar will begin with an introduction and brief review of the ECR concept, followed by a presentation of results from simulation modeling and laboratory experiments that illustrate how the RGGI market would work with the addition of an ECR. Following the presentations, representatives from industry, environmental advocacy groups, think tanks, and state environmental agencies will respond to the analyses with a look at what they view as opportunities for and potential challenges of introducing an ECR program as part of RGGI.

The Sustainable Energy Transitions Initiative (SETI), which aims to foster global interdisciplinary research on energy transitions and energy access, will hold its second annual conference at Duke University, May 9–11. Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions Director Tim Profeta and Subhrendu Pattanayak of the Nicholas School of the Environment will open the conference’s Practitioners’ Day, May 9, at 8:30 a.m. Profeta will describe the Nicholas Institute Program on Access and Transitions to Sustainable Energy.

In honor of Green and Fair Chapel Day, the Duke University Chapel will host a public conversation that explores how different disciplines can work together for the same environmental goals during a time of political challenge. The role of faith will be one aspect of discussion, including the deeper religious or philosophical beliefs that help guide the panelists’ work. Moderated by the Rev. Luke A. Powery, dean of Duke Chapel, the panel includes:

The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions Brian Murray and Amy Pickle will be among the Duke University experts discussing how changes in Washington, D.C., could affect the energy sector's future at "The Uncertain Future of Energy," 4-5 p.m. Tuesday, January 31. 

Sponsored by the Duke University Energy Initiative, the event is open to Duke students, faculty, and staff. For more information, visit the event website.

Brian Murray, director of the Environmental Economics Program at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and interim director of the Duke University Energy Initiative, will present a talk on "The Global Challenge of Accessible, Affordable, Reliable and Safe Energy" as part of the Nicholas School of the Environment's Mega Trends course.

The Clean Power Plan aims to reduce carbon emissions from power plants. Assuming the rule survives judicial review, the Clean Power Plan is likely to intensify the electricity industry's already underway shift from coal-fired generation to natural gas and renewables generation. 

Join the authors of a new Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions working paper for a webinar, 10 a.m. ET August 16. Lead author Martin Ross will discuss how the Nicholas Institute’s Dynamic Integrated Economy/Energy/Emissions Model was used to evaluate electricity industry trends and Clean Power Plan impacts on the U.S. generation mix, emissions, and industry costs. The analysis suggests that industry trends are likely to make Clean Power Plan compliance relatively inexpensive; cost increases are likely to be on the order of 0.1% to 1.0%. However, policy costs can vary substantially across states and may lead some of them to adopt a patchwork of policies that, although in their own best interests, could impose additional costs on neighboring states.

The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Resources for the Future and the Georgetown Climate Center will host the workshop "RGGI's Role in Achieving State Climate Goals: The Opportunities and Challenges of Expanding Trading to States Outside RGGI," 10 a.m. -3:30 p.m. July 12 in New York City.

Advance registration is required but attendance is free. For more information, please contact Sonia Hamel at Sonia.hamel@gmail.com.

The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions' Jonas Monast and Brian Murray will be among the speakers at a panel on "On Markets, Morals, and Climate Change" at the Law & Markets Symposium on May 6.

Brian Murray, director of the Environmental Economics Program at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, will present "How has British Columbia’s Revenue-Neutral Carbon Tax Worked? A Synthesis of the Evidence" at the Harvard Kennedy School April 11. 

For more information, visit the event website.  

Brian Murray, director of the Environmental Economics Program at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, will present "Evolution of U.S. Climate Policy: From Kyoto to the Clean Power Plan" at the Economics and Environmental Policy Research Network Symposium March 7.

For more information, view the event agenda. 

The Nicholas Institute's Brian Murray, Billy Pizer, and Martin Ross will be among the speakers on the panel "Equity and Models in Climate Policy: Looking Ahead," at the Climate Ethics and Economics Workshop March 4 at Duke's Fuqua School of Business. For more information, visit the event website. 

In Paris, world leaders signed an unprecedented climate agreement to limit temperature rise to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels by 2100. On February 1, Duke faculty and students who attended the climate change conference will reflect on the significance of the new climate accord, what we can expect from it, and how the Duke community was involved in the conversation.