Recent federal orders that keep retiring coal-fired power plants open run the risk of reducing U.S. energy policy to "episodic exercises of emergency authority, untethered from economics, planning or climate reality," writes Nicholas Institute Director Brian Murray. In an op-ed for The Hill, Murray lays out steps the United States could take to ensure its energy policy supports national security goals in the long run.

Energy executives told The Associated Press that companies can't make billion-dollar investments in clean energy projects with so much policy uncertainty. Consequently, greenhouse gas emissions will fall at a much lower rate than previously projected in the U.S., Nicholas Institute Director Brian Murray said.

U.S. energy policy is colliding with explosive electricity demand from AI, rising power prices and growing political backlash. Nicholas Institute Director Brian Murray writes about how policy uncertainty, grid constraints and the Intelligence Age are reshaping the energy landscape in 2025—and what to watch next.

For 20 years, the Nicholas Institute has pursued the “quest for yes”— bringing people together across differences, grounding big ideas in evidence and co-creating durable solutions to environmental and energy challenges. On Oct. 23, the institute welcomed students, scholars, alumni and partners in the community to an anniversary celebration that blended reflection with forward momentum.

Established and emerging environmental leaders came together Oct. 23 for a celebration of the Nicholas Institute’s 20th anniversary, where University stakeholders reflected on a legacy of innovation and looked to carry the torch forward in a collective “quest for yes,” reports The Chronicle.

At Climate Week New York City 2025, two themes resonated throughout Duke University’s presence: innovation and connections. Duke Today recapped some of the nearly dozen events across the week that Duke experts—including several from the Nicholas Institute—participated in. The events connected climate to finance, health, oceans, technology and more.

After a whirlwind of panels, side conversations, and informal discussions, Nicholas Institute Director Brian Murray shared the themes and insights that stuck with him from Climate Week NYC 2025. "If there was one unifying thread, it was this: the global energy transition is real, accelerating, and yet deeply uneven," Murray wrote.

Nicholas Institute Director Brian Murray shares highlights from a series of conversations at Axios House during Climate Week NYC, moderated by Axios Co-Founder Mike Allen and National Energy Correspondent Amy Harder. Topics spanned the spectrum of U.S. energy—past, present, and future—covering everything from fossil fuels and permitting reform to nuclear, renewables, and long-duration energy storage.

Duke student Aaron Siegle is tackling the climate crisis from nearly every angle—policy, research, clean energy, marine science and tech entrepreneurship—as he pursues dual undergraduate and master's degrees. Duke Today profiled Siegle and his impact for a series on student leaders working on climate and sustainability. For the profile, Nicholas Institute experts Brian Murray and Tom Cinq-Mars discussed their experience working with Siegle through the FOCUS Energy Policy course.

President Donald Trump has reordered U.S. energy policy in pursuit of “energy dominance.” The National Interest's Energy World section recently invited 14 leading experts to write articles addressing what "energy dominance" should mean and how America can best achieve it. Four of the contributing authors—including Nicholas Institute Director Brian Murray—joined a webinar to discuss their varied perspectives.

A team of Duke University students snagged the $20,000 Geothermal Technologies Office Bonus Prize during the 2025 EnergyTech University Prize (EnergyTech UP) Competition organized by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Commercialization. The national competition challenges student teams to showcase creative ways to bring a DOE National Laboratory-developed or other high-potential energy technology to market.

What should energy dominance mean—and how can America best achieve it? Nicholas Institute Director Brian Murray offers his take in a commentary for The National Interest's Energy World blog.

Decarbonizing the global economy will require trillions of dollars, largely from private sector investors. What could help accelerate the mobilization of private capital to advance climate solutions? Leaders from finance, government, industry, and academia exchanged ideas about this at the second annual “From Billions to Trillions” summit at Duke University on April 9, 2025. 

The SALA & Duke Climate and Sustainability Summit gathered more than 100 leaders, researchers and advocates May 21–22 at Duke University to explore bold climate solutions and institutional commitments. Duke Today wrote about some of the university scholars who participated in the summit, including Brian Murray, Nicholas Institute director, and Alison Taylor, Duke Climate Leader in Residence.

During the launch of The Duke Campaign, a session featuring Nicholas Institute experts Brian Murray and Jackson Ewing and Duke students highlighted how the university and stakeholders are collaborating on climate finance and policy to achieve global energy goals and create a more equitable and sustainable world. “This is an interdisciplinary set of challenges, and we attempt to match them to Duke’s interdisciplinary resources,” Ewing said.