Over the last six years coal prices have gone from record highs to plummeting lows, putting three of the four largest U.S. coal firms into bankruptcy. Although coal mining employment has been declining for decades, Donald Trump campaigned for the U.S. presidency on a platform that promised to reverse what he called his predecessor’s “war on coal.” Since taking office, the new administration has begun to reverse Obama-era environmental policies, and is fielding increasing calls from policymakers and industry alike to do more for coal firms and jobs. This month, West Virginia governor Jim Justice proposed that the federal government provide subsidies to revive the Appalachian coal industry, calling the issue a matter of national security. Yet the Trump Administration rejected a coal industry push to win a rarely used emergency order to protect coal-fired power plants, a decision that has angered some coal executives. To put all of these recent developments into context, host Jason Bordoff sits down with Trevor Houser, a partner at the Rhodium Group, to discuss a report they co-authored together with Peter Marsters this year--Can Coal Make a Comeback?--about the U.S. coal industry, its decline, and prospects for its recovery.
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From the effect of low prices on U.S. oil and gas production, to battles over energy infrastructure, to the impact of U.S. LNG around the world, significant shifts are underway in global energy markets. Host Jason Bordoff (@JasonBordoff) sits down with Rusty Braziel,President and Principal Energy Markets Consultant for RBN Energy, to discuss the economic and policy changes that are shaping the oil and gas sector, including: Oil and natural gas production in a low price environment; The future of Keystone XL pipeline; Impacts of U.S. LNG on global markets; The outlook for oil demand.
Follow and engage with the Center on Global Energy Policy: @ColumbiaUEnergy; http://energypolicy.columbia.edu
From what was hailed by some analysts as an historic agreement to curb oil production and stabilize markets alongside OPEC, to growing tensions with the United States and new economic sanctions that will target its energy sector, to the protracted fight over the Nordstream-2 pipeline and questions about European energy security, Russia plays and important and changing role in the global energy sector. Columbia Energy Exchange host Jason Bordoff sits down with Dr. Tatiana Mitrova, a fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy, to discuss Russia and the global energy sector including topics such as: Russia's compliance with OPEC oil production cuts and the future of the agreement; Gazprom's response to changes in the global gas market; The future of clean energy in Russia; and European energy security and the Nordstream-2 pipeline.
Follow and engage with the Center on Global Energy Policy: @ColumbiaUEnergy; http://energypolicy.columbia.edu
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is facing funding cuts under President Trump's budget proposal. As one of the leading institutions supporting clean energy R&D, these cuts would have significant implications for the future of U.S. leadership in energy innovation and clean technologies, not to mention ramifications for the U.S. economy.
To discuss the importance of clean energy innovation and what it will take to transition to a de-carbonized world, host Bill Loveless (@bill_loveless) interviews former U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. They discuss issues such as: The path toward deep decarbonization and obstacles to overcome; President Trump's budget proposal and its impact on the Department of Energy and innovation; Secretary of Energy Perry's controversial baseload study; Iran's compliance to the nuclear deal and its future under the new administration.
Follow and engage with the Center on Global Energy Policy: @ColumbiaUEnergy; www.energypolicy.columbia.edu