Energy Explained
Get the latest as our experts share their insights on global energy policy.
Trade Policy Disputes at COP Are Here to Stay
This year’s Conference of the Parties (COP-29) broke new ground with the Baku Initiative for Climate Finance, Investment, and Trade (BICFIT)—the first high-profile COP initiative to place trade...
Podcasts
Hear in-depth conversations with the world’s top energy and climate leaders from government, business, academia, and civil society.
Transforming America’s Power System
This week host Jason Bordoff talks with Cheryl LaFleur and David Hill about the incoming Trump administration, its impact on FERC, and the status of permitting reform measures.
Events
Find out more about our upcoming and past events.
January 30, 2025
• 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
est
Can AI Help Reduce Emissions of Greenhouse Gases?
Please join the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs for a special webinar "Can AI Help Reduce Emissions of...
Webinar
• Zoom Webinar
Ever since Thomas Edison lit up lower Manhattan in 1882, New York has long been at the forefront of many energy and environmental issues, and that remains true today. New York recently adopted groundbreaking targets to decarbonize the state’s electricity, and eventually its entire energy system. This comes on the heels of an innovative set of regulatory initiatives to modernize and decarbonize New York’s electric grid, called Reforming the Energy Vision, led by Richard Kauffman, now an Adjunct Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy. As the Cuomo administration emerges from the hardest-hit days of the COVID-19 pandemic, questions remain as to how the state plans to achieve these ambitious goals and perhaps show the rest of the nation what a pathway to decarbonization might look like.
In this edition of Columbia Energy Exchange, host Jason Bordoff is joined by Ali Zaidi, Chairman of Climate Policy and Finance and Deputy Secretary for Energy and Environment in the Office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Ali served as top energy official at the White House Office of Management and Budget during the Obama administration, among other positions. Since leaving the Obama administration, Ali has also worked as a transactional and regulatory attorney, co-founded Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy, and was a Non-Resident Fellow at CGEP.
More Episodes
Transforming America’s Power System
This week host Jason Bordoff talks with Cheryl LaFleur and David Hill about the incoming Trump administration, its impact on FERC, and the status of permitting reform measures.
COP29: A Veteran’s Account of the UN Process
The international climate negotiation process stands at a critical juncture. At the recent COP29 summit in Azerbaijan, nations struggled to find common ground on financial support and carbon...
The Cybersecurity Stakes of the Energy Transition
The energy transition is transforming how we power our world – clean energy systems are becoming more interconnected, automated, and reliant on digital infrastructure. But with this transformation...
Minimizing Damage as Mining for Critical Minerals Ramps Up
The clean energy transition has a dirty underside. To move away from fossil fuels and toward solar, wind, batteries, and other alternative sources of energy, we have to intensify mining operations for critical minerals like lithium, copper, and cobalt.
Relevant
Publications
A Last Chance for Iran
America should give diplomacy a final shot—while preparing to use military force.
More energy is more security
The incoming Trump administration should embrace a diverse energy mix, including renewables, for the sake of economic and national security.
Fossil Fuel Provisions of the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 and Their Effects on Climate Goals
A bipartisan permitting-reform proposal in the US Senate includes provisions that reduce barriers to an improved electricity transmission system, which would help fortify the country’s energy system and accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.
Fact Sheet
by Noah Kaufman • December 20, 2024
