A North Carolina Clean Energy Fund would support economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by equitably investing in clean and efficient energy solutions for the state, according to a new market assessment from Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and the Coalition for Green Capital (CGC).

A new report from the Climate Risk Disclosure Lab highlights the need for a thorough, robust, and mandatory disclosure framework for climate-related information.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and protests of disproportionate police killing of Black Americans opened up political opportunities for addressing racial disparities across our social institutions in the United States, including greater consideration of environmental justice. Kay Jowers and Kate Konschnik write about movement on environmental justice at both the state and federal levels over this year.

Twelve graduate student teams have been selected to compete virtually for $15,000 in prize money during the 8th annual 2020 Energy in Emerging Markets Case Competition, one of the signature events of Energy Week at Duke to be held Nov. 9–12. The competition is organized by the Duke MBA Energy Club and sponsored by the Energy Access Project at Duke.

More than 20 million people in the United States lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19-imposed economic shutdowns, and less than half of those jobs have returned in the ensuing months. As a result, the pre-pandemic, pervasive struggle of low- and middle-income families to pay utility bills has been exacerbated by job losses and reductions in income, write Scott Bechler and Jennifer Weiss.

Kate Konschnik was among 30 energy sector experts who spoke during a virtual Federal Energy Regulatory Commission conference on carbon pricing in regional wholesale power markets. Konschnik told the commission that the Federal Power Act "poses no fundamental obstacle to markets incorporating state carbon pricing," according to a story by Energywire.

The Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI)—a collection of Northeast and mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia—is considering a carbon price on transportation fuels, with revenues to be invested in modernizing the transportation sector. Three organizations—Resources for the Future (RFF), Environmental Defense Fund, and Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions—organized a two-day virtual workshop to inform conversations among the states about how this effort can be most effective.

Microsoft has made a new commitment to replenish even more water than it uses for its global operations by 2030, making the company “water positive." Martin Doyle spoke to The Verge about how large data centers can put additional pressure on already water-stressed basins.

A global "Build Back Better" sustainable infrastructure program could help the U.S. regain the soft-power advantage it has ceded to China while repairing relations with U.S. allies in the fight against climate change, writes Elizabeth Losos in an op-ed for The Hill.

The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions is pleased to welcome six student assistants from the Nicholas School of the Environment for the 2020–21 academic year.