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Switchbox
Приєднався 15 чер 2022
Switchbox is a think tank producing rigorous, accessible data for advocates, policymakers, & the public.
Curt Stokes: Community Voices in Energy (SB Speaker Series)
States are in the driver's seat of the energy transition, and have the opportunity to make tomorrow's energy system vastly more just than today's. But energy justice starts with real opportunities participation-what energy justice advocates call “procedural justice.”
The Community Voices in Energy project from Blacks in Green and EDF brings community voices into public utility commissions to reach more equitable outcomes. Curt Stokes from EDF discusses the project's impact in IL and expansion to other states.
The Community Voices in Energy project from Blacks in Green and EDF brings community voices into public utility commissions to reach more equitable outcomes. Curt Stokes from EDF discusses the project's impact in IL and expansion to other states.
Переглядів: 7
Відео
Mikhail Haramati: What are states doing on industrial decarbonization?
Переглядів 32Місяць тому
While industry accounts for a fourth of US emissions, industrial decarbonization is in its infancy. The IRA has kickstarted work on the issue, however, and states have a key role to play. Join us for a chat with Mikhail Haramati, NRDC’s new lead on state industrial decarb policy, for an overview of the industrial decarbonization challenge and what states are starting to do about it.
Allison Considine: NY's Utility Thermal Energy Network Pilots (SB Speaker Series)
Переглядів 155Місяць тому
Utility Thermal Energy Networks-neighborhood-scale building heating and cooling built by utilities-are all the rage in the Northeast. Advocates increasingly see UTENs as a way enlist utilities in large-scale building decarbonization. This isn't a pipe dream: the nation’s first system was recently turned on in Massachusetts, and utilities across the border in New York are advancing 9 pilot proje...
Marie Venner: Climate Policy in Colorado (SB Speaker Series)
Переглядів 82 місяці тому
Colorado is the Mountain West’s undisputed climate leader (let’s not get into semantics over what region California is in!) And while much has been accomplished in recent years, utilities like XCel Energy are very powerful and have often worked to slow down climate policy across the state. Marie Venner of System Change Not Climate Change, a former National Academies researcher on public infrast...
DeAndrea Salvador: Climate Legislating in North Carolina (SB Speaker Series)
Переглядів 62 місяці тому
Contrary to popular belief, climate policy-making does happen in states without Democratic trifectas! It just often goes by other names, and the sausage-making can look quite different. North Carolina State Senator DeAndrea Salvador gives the low-down on recent policy progress in NC, and what it takes to reach across the aisle to get it done.
Olivia Prieto: Building Decarbonization in New Jersey (SB Speaker Series)
Переглядів 252 місяці тому
While often overlooked compared to its neighbors, New Jersey has had recent wins on building decarbonization (e.g. a 2030 heat pump target, new money for incentives). RMI’s Olivia Prieto provides an overview of climate policy in the Garden State, unpacks these recent building decarbonization wins, and explains where the state can still make progress (new construction policy, elimination of gas ...
Eli Gold: What's new with climate policy in Michigan? (SB Speaker Series)
Переглядів 193 місяці тому
In 2022, Democrats won a legislative trifecta in Michigan for the first time in nearly four decades. Before the end of their first year in office, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her razor-thin Democratic majority passed a sweeping package of climate bills, targeting clean electricity and permitting reform. Michigan climate expert Eli Gold gives an inside look at how Michigan's climate and energy pol...
Larry Chretien: What's up with climate policy in Massachusetts? (SB Speaker Series)
Переглядів 713 місяці тому
Massachusetts has long been a climate leader. But even the Commonwealth does not have all the policies in place to meet its ambitious targets for emission reductions, especially in the building sector. Can the Bay State pull it together? Larry Chretien, Executive Director of the Green Energy Consumers Alliance, provides an overview of the Bay State's climate policy landscape: what's working, wh...
Kate Courtin: What's up with cap-and-invest in New York State? (SB Speaker Series)
Переглядів 603 місяці тому
New York is preparing to cap emissions and put a price on carbon through a new statewide program-only the third state to do so, and an essential step towards decarbonization. But what exactly is cap-and-invest? If we design it well, how could it benefit New York State? What are the risks of designing it poorly? And how far along are we with fleshing out these crucial details? Kate Courtin, a se...
How to Decarb a State!
Переглядів 3,9 тис.Рік тому
A bird's eye view of what it really looks like to fix climate change in New York State. Live in another state? Check out decarbmystate.com
WC Buffalo Report: Press Conference
Переглядів 20Рік тому
Press conference hosted by PUSH Buffalo to announce the release of Win Climate new report on how New York's Climate Act will make Buffalo safer in the next blizzard: climate.win/buffalo - Clarke Gocker, PUSH Buffalo - Juan-Pablo Velez, Win Climate - Steve Lapage, REAP - Dawn Wells-Clyburn, PUSH Buffalo - Sarah Burger, PUSH Buffalo - Rahwa Ghirmatzion, NYS Climate Justice Working Group - Leslie ...
WC Buffalo Report: Spectrum News 1 Spot
Переглядів 105Рік тому
WC Buffalo Report: Spectrum News 1 Spot
Amazing content! Looking forward to the future events.
Great work!
Great explainer video! Would love a follow up on what types of materials we should be looking at to support EVs and Solar Panel production so that we aren't kicking pollution down the road.
Interesting! Can you say more about that? Are you concerned that the extraction of raw materials for EVs / panels, and the way these are manufactured, is going to create a new source of pollution?
@@switchbox-data Yes exactly! I think it’s important to keep in mind a lifecycle assessment of all the raw materials that will be needed to make this electrification a reality. For Ex: lithium in batteries
This was super helpful. What’s your opinion on building new nuclear plants?
Thanks so much! On nukes: to be honest, I'm not sure yet! Haven't done enough thinking. This is my current take, which isn't based on a ton of research: nukes are safe, and expensive. In the US, a lot the existing nukes are starting to fail mechanically or economically. (IMO, we should keep them operating as long as it's safe to, but also plan for them to fail.) On the other hand, the countries that have cut their carbon pollution most dramatically so far did it by building lots of nukes. But they did that decades ago! Doing that today is a different story: the US nuclear industry is more or less dead--only one new power plant launched in the last 30 years, they started building it in 1973! So the industry would have be rebooted in order to be viable. Older nukes (2nd generation) aren't just expensive because of federal regulations-but also because they're very complex and bespoke. Things only get cheap when you can build them on assembly lines in a standardized way. Which is exactly what people are trying to do with advanced nuclear! My (very novice) understanding of advanced nuclear is that it 1. solves a lot of the problems with older nukes, and 2. isn't proven yet. But even if they end up working out, there's a deeper issue with advanced nuclear that folks tend to overlook: gen 4 nuclear plants are super small, by design! They're roughly the same size as the 60MW solar farm I featured in the video. And that means you'd need literally hundreds of them in every state to get all the power we need, just like we need hundreds of solar farms. And that presents two problems: 1. Competing with solar: Solar is already super cheap, and will continue to get cheaper. It's hard to imagine that nuclear-even mass produced gen 4 reactors-will ever be able to compete. That said, since nuclear plants operate almost constantly, it might be worth paying more for them anyway, so we need less (intermittent) wind and solar. 2. NIMBYs: But that leads to the second problem: there's already a huge NIMBY backlash to solar farms! Solar farms. You know, the power plants that produce zero-pollution and have zero risk of any kind. Now imagine trying to get permits to install dozens or hundreds of nukes. If people can get intensely upset about solar forms, the fact that gen 4 nukes theoretically can't melt down and some can recycle their own nuclear waste won't convince anybody who would have to live next to them. All that said, it's probably worth trying?
This is a well made video