Zach Whitlock

What are the EPA's Community Change Grants? The Trump administration is trying to "terminate" this government program. Perhaps extralegally? Here's info on grant awardees, their community demographics, and what we can learn from the mess.

For folks following IIJA and IRA funding freezes, I wrote a bit of a dive into the EPA's Community Change Grant Program, which was targeted for "termination" in its entirety: open.substack.com/pub/zachwhit...

Our Approach to Climate Policy Has Failed. It’s Time for Climate Realism U.S. policymakers need a new strategy to confront the risks of climate change, compete in the global energy transition, and stay the course regardless of which political party is in power. A doctrine…

"climate realism" reading a lot like "sacrificing the global south and just shooting for 3 C"

www.cfr.org/article/our-...

Senate votes to spare D.C. from dramatic budget cuts You can't spell funding without "fun," but this week wasn't that

ICYMI: After a whirlwind week, Senators voted last night to spare D.C. from dramatic budget cuts that could have resulted in spending freezes and government layoffs.

So BP's in the news for walking back its climate commitments — and it's not exactly surprising. Here's what I wrote back in October, as the company telegraphed its rollback...

ieefa.org/resources/bp...

US oil and gas are at an all time high. But lots of producing communities are struggling economically. How can both those things be true?

www.rff.org/publications...

In this @rff.org issue brief w/ @noahqkaufman.bsky.social, @zachwhitlock.bsky.social, and Sarah Doctor, we describe the trends:

That is the state border of Michigan b/c state borders include bodies of water.

Today we announced the initial research portfolio for Resilient Energy Economies, 22 policy-focused projects that will contribute to the economic strategies of fossil fuel-reliant communities across the USA.
Please check them out!

www.resilientenergyeconomies.org/grants

Building Economic Resilience in Western Colorado’s Oil and Gas Communities This report seeks to understand the opportunities and challenges facing US oil- and gas-producing communities as they seek to build economic resilience against an uncertain energy future.

This spring, I went to western CO with @zachwhitlock.bsky.social, @gruberte.bsky.social, @noahqkaufman.bsky.social, & @eleanorkrause.bsky.social. We interviewed folks about what the regional economy might look like in a world where oil and gas declines. What we found:
www.rff.org/publications...

Looking for economic analysis on climate and energy policy?

Resources for the Future is now on Bluesky!

Follow @rffresources.bsky.social for cutting-edge research from the #1 Energy Economics institution (RePEc: ideas.repec.org/top/top.ene....).

#GreenSky #EnergySky #ClimateSky #EconSky

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