From the recent OPEC agreement to energy security issues in Europe, few countries are more important to the global energy picture than Russia. On this episode of the Columbia Energy Exchange, host Jason Bordoff speaks with Dr. Jonathan Eyal, International Director of the Royal United Services Institute, a leading think tank on military and defense issues in the United Kingdom. They discuss: How Russia's position in the global energy order might shift as a result of growing U.S. and Australian LNG exports; What affect continued, if not harsher, U.S. sanctions will have on the Russia; How Brussels and Eastern Europe should handle energy ties with Russia; The development of Nordstream II; Russia's Middle East policy and implications for its relationship with OPEC.
During his campaign for President of the United States, one of the many advisors Donald Trump turned to on energy issues was Kevin Cramer, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Dakota, the second leading state in oil production as a result of the boom in shale drilling.
On this episode of the Columbia Energy Exchange host Bill Loveless talks with Congressman Cramer about his vision for American energy and environmental policy. They discuss: What being a climate skeptic means to the Congressman and where he stands on the issue; Insights on being tapped to advise Donald Trump on energy issues; What energy and environment issues the federal government should be regulating; Whether or not climate change is an urgent issue; Donald's Trumps commitment to the Paris Accord; The Congressman's advice to EPA-nominee Pruitt on the environment.
Among the most important federal agencies assisting President Obama's energy and environment agenda has been the Department of Interior, which manages one-fifth of the nation’s lands and has a critical role to play in energy and climate issues. Host Jason Bordoff sits down with U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, in front of a live audience to discuss President Obama’s energy and environment legacy, as well as the Interior’s new report and guidance on coal leasing and how it will withstand a new administration, shifts in energy consumption and effects on local communities, offshore Arctic drilling, environmental activism and how to balance the need to produce resources while simultaneously addressing climate change, and the role of oil and gas in a low carbon transition.
Host David Sandalow speaks with Jonathan Pershing, the United States Special Envoy for Climate Change, about the future of climate diplomacy and different climate objectives around the world. Prior to his current role, Jonathan served as Senior Climate Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy and the Principal Deputy Director of the Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis at the Department of Energy. He has also worked as lead negotiator representing the United States at meetings of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, as the Director of the Climate, Energy and Pollution Program at the World Resources Institute, and as the Head of the Environment Division at the International Energy Agency in Paris. David and Jonathan discuss: how climate diplomacy has changed over time; the Trump Administration and what his cabinet picks mean for the future of climate and the environment; the future of the Paris Agreement; and climate change issues around the world including the U.S., China, India and Indonesia and African nations.