Podcast appearances and mentions of Michael Greenstone

O Brasil acolhe desde esta segunda-feira a 30a Conferência das Nações Unidas sobre o clima. O economista guineense Carlos Lopes é o enviado especial do evento para África, por decisão do chefe de Estado brasileiro, Lula da Silva. Este também docente universitário na cidade sul-africana do Cabo está, em Belém do Pará para esta COP30. Carlos Lopes, enviado especial da COP30 para África, e economista guineense, começa por nos revelar em que consiste a sua tarefa nesta cimeira. Somos sete para as regiões consideradas pelo Brasil como estratégicas para a discussão climática. No que me toca, eu responsabilizo-me pela África. Estive envolvido na Organização da Cúpula Africana do Clima, que teve lugar em Adis Abeba há cerca de um mês e, portanto, faço a ponte entre as lideranças africanas e a presidência brasileira para poder fazer com que esta COP ouça melhor cada uma das regiões. No meu caso, a África, mas também possa, digamos, articular as várias conexões que são necessárias para negociações desta natureza, que são sempre muito complexas.  E é sempre o mesmo chavão. Mas, ao fim ao cabo, um chavão acertado em relação à realidade, ou seja, um continente que padece sobremaneira das alterações climáticas e que pouco polui. Esta constatação continua a ser válida em 2025, na COP de Belém em relação a África ? Sim, eu penso que nós temos agora até uma narrativa mais forte sobre o facto de regiões como a África precisarem de muito mais foco nos problemas de adaptação climática... E menos na mitigação, que normalmente domina os debates. E isso graças ao Brasil, digamos, ter também a mesma preocupação e estar orientada na mesma direcção. Portanto, o Brasil oferece à África essa possibilidade de maior concentração na adaptação, que é, de facto, o que nos interessa.  Fala-se muito em perdas e danos, precisamente em mitigação. O que é que se pode esperar em relação a esse prisma, sendo que houve já anúncios feitos desde a pré-COP e agora o início da COP propriamente dita... por exemplo, o lançamento do Fundo de Florestas Tropicais para sempre. Na prática, há já avanços aí a registar ? Na realidade, é o único fundo novo que aparece nesta COP porque a presidência brasileira quis dar ênfase à implementação e não a novos acordos. Mas tratando-se de uma COP que tem lugar numa zona que é considerada a maior floresta mundial, achou oportuno que se lançasse, digamos, uma iniciativa particularmente orientada para as florestas tropicais e centrada sobretudo na protecção de três grandes zonas do planeta, que são a principal reserva florestal que é a Amazónia, a África, na Bacia do Congo e também a Indonésia e o Sudeste Asiático.   E, portanto, a inovação desse fundo é que ele tem características um pouco diferentes de tudo o que foi até agora lançado na COP, porque é um fundo para pagar aquilo que já existe e não para fazer coisas. Portanto, é para permitir a protecção da floresta existente, e com uma ênfase também nas populações locais: as populações indígenas, as comunidades locais, a quem será reservada a 20% da utilização dos fundos apropriados. E com, digamos, características que são menos de compensação, e que são mais de aposta e investimento no futuro através da conservação. Portanto, têm de facto uma inovação muito grande. É importante sublinhar que o Fundo já está, digamos, com contribuições anunciadas importantes, sendo que dos 5 biliões que foram anunciados, cerca de três são da Noruega, que é o país que toma a dianteira e vai muito para além até das expectativas que se poderia ter nesta etapa da discussão. E há, digamos, uma adesão muito importante neste momento política para a criação desse fundo.    Como é que é o ambiente aí, sendo que, uma vez mais, os Estados Unidos ficam de fora? É claro que já não é uma novidade. Em que medida é que o "climato-cepticismo", por assim dizer, continua a pairar como uma sombra sobre as negociações da COP?    As negociações deste ano não são tão importantes porque não se trata de conseguir mais. Há um mapa do caminho, como se chama, de Baku para Belém, que foi definido na COP 29 e que é o assunto principal de negociações. E à volta de quais são os montantes de financiamento que até agora não foram cumpridos, e qual é o nível de ambição que se tem que acrescentar em matéria de financiamento climático? Mas, para além disso, as outras discussões estão mais ou menos alinhavadas. Não vai haver grandes controvérsias. A ausência dos Estados Unidos vai-se fazer sentir em termos de resultados, porque não é só o facto de os Estados Unidos estarem ausentes do debate climático. É a importância que tem indirecta nos comportamentos, equipamentos, por exemplo, corporativos, regulatórios. O facto de, por exemplo, os financiamentos privados estarem muito orientados pelas preocupações da principal bolsa de valores que é a Bolsa de Valores de Nova Iorque e, portanto, acaba por ter resultados indirectos muito negativos e que vão muito para além de os Estados Unidos propriamente ditos fazerem ou não fazerem o necessário.    Que olhar é que se pode ter acerca da proposta da economista francesa Esther Duflo, que apresenta uma solução original e na COP 30 de Belém, com o economista indiano Abhijit Banerjee, que é o seu esposo, que ganhou com ela o Prémio Nobel da Economia em 2019, mais o economista americano Michael Greenstone, que foi conselheiro de Barack Obama ? Eles estão a propor um sistema de transferências de dinheiro em troca de acções ambientais. Acha que este sistema pode ter pernas para andar? Eles propõem um esquema em que os países ricos se comprometem a arrecadar fundos e a enviá-los directamente às entidades, às pessoas para as ajudar a se proteger contra os excessos do clima na forma de transferências financeiras ?   Digamos que não é tão original. Tem a ver com as várias iniciativas para regular de uma forma ética, a emergência de um mercado de carbono. Eu sou defensor de que, no caso da África, nós precisamos ter um mercado de carbono regulado pelos africanos e liderado pelo Banco Africano de Desenvolvimento, porque é assim que nós podemos contornar o facto de que do exterior se faz a certificação, se faz a taxonomia, se faz, digamos, o controlo daquilo que é verde e do que não é verde, o que é o bom e o mau carbono e qual é o valor do carbono? Portanto, isto não são coisas que podem ser decididas por outrém, devem ser decididas por aqueles que detém, de facto, uma espécie de crédito histórico de carbono que não contribuíram para o problema e estão a sofrer mais do que os outros. E, portanto, é necessário poder de facto, conseguir transferir aquilo que nós consideramos como problema, que é o problema da dívida de um aspecto financeiro para um aspecto de carbono.    É adquirido, portanto, que não se consegue cumprir a meta de um máximo de 1,5 graus de aquecimento do planeta. Já se está a trabalhar num patamar superior: de menos de dois graus e meio do aquecimento, é assim ?   É de 2,4 graus ! Mas eu acho que o problema maior é de que mesmo essa segunda meta, que é uma meta, digamos, de realismo, também não será atingida se não se fizerem muito mais esforços do que aqueles que estão anunciados. E nós temos ainda o déficit sempre verificado daquilo que se promete e daquilo que se faz. Portanto, há contribuições dos vários países anunciadas aqui na COP, porque este era o ano em que se deveria fazer a revisão dos planos nacionais. Apenas 100 países, mais ou menos, vão apresentar esses planos nacionais. Se tivermos sorte, chegar aos 100. Portanto, faltarão cerca de 80 e poucos países. Mas mais importante do que isso é que esses países que não estão presentes, digamos, na mesa, alguns deles são os maiores emissores e, portanto, nós temos aqui já, digamos, comprometimento muito menor do que anteriormente, mas daqueles que anunciam temos um nível de ambição que está em redução, em vez de aumento.    Como o senhor professor está, nomeadamente responsável pela parte africana. Eu pedir-lhe-ia que nos desse um pouco um olhar da dimensão dos africanos presentes em Belém. Em que estado de espírito é que viu as delegações chegarem? São de alto nível? Isso é promissor, a seu ver, em relação à visibilidade de África nesta conferência ?   Nós não temos delegações lideradas por chefes de Estado em grande número, não é? E também a nível ministerial, a presença é bastante limitada e há várias explicações para isso. Uma delas é o facto de que estamos quase com as mesmas datas com a cimeira do G20, em que a África, pela primeira vez, tem uma importância maior, porque está a hospedar a cimeira do G20 e é a primeira vez que a União Africana participa a pleno. E há uma série de países africanos convidados pela presidência sul-africana. Portanto, isso não joga a favor da COP. A segunda razão é a logística. A logística aqui em Belém é muito complexa, é também muito cara. Portanto, as delegações africanas acabaram por ser penalizadas por causa dessa logística. A terceira razão é o facto de nós estarmos numa COP em que, digamos, os principais protagonistas estão ausentes e, portanto, não vamos ter aqui os três principais emissores actuais, que são os Estados Unidos, a China e a Índia. E podemos juntar de todo o G7. A nível de lideranças vieram apenas cerca de três, portanto há 17 países do G20 e do G7 e do G20, que não estarão presentes. E isso é, digamos, um desincentivo para a própria presença de outros países, nomeadamente africanos.      No discurso de abertura, o presidente brasileiro, Lula da Silva, lembrava que, de facto, em 92 tinha havido um pontapé de saída importante já no Brasil em relação às questões ambientais. E esta conferência volta, então, ao Brasil e agora à a Amazónia e a Belém, onde se encontra o senhor professor.  O que é que nos pode dizer acerca, precisamente, da expectativa dos habitantes desta grande cidade da Amazónia brasileira, relativamente ao acolhimento desta conferência, para a qual o mundo inteiro tem os olhos virados ?     Há uma grande excitação em Belém e há uma atitude, digamos, de grande euforia que se vê, que se sente. É palpável. Portanto, há um défice de visibilidade na Amazónia e esta é uma grande oportunidade. É uma janela para se poder mostrar que a Amazónia é muito mais do que apenas árvores. Tem pessoas, tem cultura, tem gastronomia, tem cultura musical também muito importante para o Brasil o carimbó. Enfim, temos aqui uma atitude de grande celebração e uma atitude de grande entusiasmo, a tal ponto que não vai haver problema de números em termos de participantes da COP. Pode haver problema de participação internacional, mas todo o espaço que não for ocupado por presença de delegações internacionais seguramente é ocupado com grande pompa e circunstância e entusiasmo por participantes paraenses, amazónicos, brasileiros.    Belém do Pará é mesmo uma área particularmente vulnerável às alterações climáticas ?  Seguramente, porque a Amazónia tem um problema de desmatamento, mas também tem um problema de grilagem, como aqui se chama, de ocupação ilegal de terras. Tem um problema de populações que vivem em regime quase escravo, segundo a definição da Organização Internacional do Trabalho. E nestes três quesitos, um dos Estados que sofrem mais é justamente o Estado do Pará. Portanto, não estamos muito longe dos grandes problemas que afectam a Amazónia. 

A warmer world is here. Now what? Listen to Shocked, from the University of Chicago's Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, and hear journalist Amy Harder and economist Michael Greenstone share new ways of thinking about climate change and cutting-edge solutions: https://lnk.to/shockedpodcastFD!thepie

Electricity prices are the biggest economic issue in the New Jersey governor's race, which is perhaps next month's most closely watched election. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic candidate and frontrunner, has pledged to freeze power prices for state residents after getting elected. Can she do that? On this week's episode of Shift Key, Rob talks to Skanda Amarnath, the executive director of Employ America, a center-left think tank that aims to encourage a “full-employment, robust-growth economy.” He's also a nearly lifelong NJ resident. They chat about how New Jersey got such expensive electricity, whether the nuclear construction boom is real, and what lessons nuclear companies should take from economic history.Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap, and Jesse Jenkins, a professor of energy systems engineering at Princeton University. Jesse is off this week.Mentioned: How Electricity Got So ExpensiveNew Jersey's Next Governor Probably Can't Do Much About Electricity Prices, by Matt Zeitlin for HeatmapPreviously on Shift Key: The Last Computing-Driven Electricity Demand Boom That Wasn'tMeta lays off 600 workersAmazon lays off 14,000 workers--This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by …Hydrostor is building the future of energy with Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage. Delivering clean, reliable power with 500-megawatt facilities sited on 100 acres, Hydrostor's energy storage projects are transforming the grid and creating thousands of American jobs. Learn more at hydrostor.ca.A warmer world is here. Now what? Listen to Shocked, from the University of Chicago's Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, and hear journalist Amy Harder and economist Michael Greenstone share new ways of thinking about climate change and cutting-edge solutions. Find it here.Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simply operating America's buildings uses more than a third of the country's energy. A major chunk of that is temperature control — keeping the indoors cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Heating eats into families' budgets and burns a tremendous amount of fuel oil and natural gas. But what if we could heat and cool buildings more efficiently, cleanly, and cheaply? On this week's episode of Shift Key, Rob and Jesse talk to Dulcie Madden, the founder and CEO of Dig Energy, a New Hampshire-based startup that is trying to lower the cost of digging geothermal wells scaled to serve a single structure. Dig makes small rigs that can drill boreholes for ground source heat pumps — a technology that uses the bedrock's ambient temperature to heat and cool homes and businesses while requiring unbelievably low amounts of energy. Once groundsource wells get built, they consume far less energy than gas furnaces, air conditioners, or even air-dependent heat pumps. Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap, and Jesse Jenkins, a professor of energy systems engineering at Princeton University. Jesse is an adviser to Dig Energy.Mentioned:Dig EnergyTechCrunch: “Geothermal is too expensive, but Dig Energy's impossibly small drill rig might fix that”Princeton University's Geo-Exchange SystemJesse's downshift; Rob's downshift. --This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by …Hydrostor is building the future of energy with Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage. Delivering clean, reliable power with 500-megawatt facilities sited on 100 acres, Hydrostor's energy storage projects are transforming the grid and creating thousands of American jobs. Learn more at hydrostor.ca.A warmer world is here. Now what? Listen to Shocked, from the University of Chicago's Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, and hear journalist Amy Harder and economist Michael Greenstone share new ways of thinking about climate change and cutting-edge solutions. Find it here.Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julian Brave NoiseCat is a writer, Oscar-nominated filmmaker, champion powwow dancer, and student of Salish art and history. His first book, We Survived the Night, was released this week — it uses memoir, reporting, and literary anthology to tell the story of Native families across North America, including his own. NoiseCat was previously an environmental and climate activist at groups including 350.org and Data for Progress. On this week's episode of Shift Key, Rob talks with Julian about Native American nations and politics, the complexity and reality of Native life in 2025, and the “trickster” as a recurring political archetype.Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap, and Jesse Jenkins, a professor of energy systems engineering at Princeton University. Jesse is off this week.Mentioned:We Survived the Night, by Julian Brave NoiseCatHow Deb Haaland Became the First Native American Cabinet Secretary--This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by …Hydrostor is building the future of energy with Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage. Delivering clean, reliable power with 500-megawatt facilities sited on 100 acres, Hydrostor's energy storage projects are transforming the grid and creating thousands of American jobs. Learn more at hydrostor.ca.A warmer world is here. Now what? Listen to Shocked, from the University of Chicago's Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, and hear journalist Amy Harder and economist Michael Greenstone share new ways of thinking about climate change and cutting-edge solutions. Find it here.Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China announced a new climate commitment under the Paris Agreement at last month's United Nations General Assembly meeting, pledging to cut its emissions by 7% to 10% by 2035. Many observers were disappointed by the promise, which may not go far enough to forestall 2 degrees Celsius of warming. But the pledge's conservatism reveals the delicate and shifting politics of China's grid — and how the country's central government and its provinces fight over keeping the lights on. On this week's episode of Shift Key, Rob and Jesse talk to Michael Davidson, an expert on Chinese electricity and climate policy. He is a professor at the University of California, San Diego, where he holds a joint faculty appointment at the School of Global Policy and Strategy and the Jacobs School of Engineering. He is also a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and he was previously the U.S.-China policy coordinator for the Natural Resources Defense Council.Shift Key is hosted by Robinson Meyer, the founding executive editor of Heatmap, and Jesse Jenkins, a professor of energy systems engineering at Princeton University. Mentioned:China's new pledge to cut its emissions by 2035What an ‘ambitious' 2035 electricity target looks like for ChinaChina's Clean Energy Pledge is Clouded by Coal, The Wire ChinaJesse's upshift; Rob's upshift.--This episode of Shift Key is sponsored by …Hydrostor is building the future of energy with Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage. Delivering clean, reliable power with 500-megawatt facilities sited on 100 acres, Hydrostor's energy storage projects are transforming the grid and creating thousands of American jobs. Learn more at hydrostor.ca.A warmer world is here. Now what? Listen to Shocked, from the University of Chicago's Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, and hear journalist Amy Harder and economist Michael Greenstone share new ways of thinking about climate change and cutting-edge solutions. Find it here.Music for Shift Key is by Adam Kromelow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Summer Playlist 2025, we welcome Michael Greenstone into the SmarterMarkets™ studio. Michael is Director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC), Founding Director of the University's Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth, and Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics.   David Greely sits down with Michael to discuss how EPIC is translating the insights of cutting edge energy and environmental research into real world impact, including building cap-and-trade particulate emissions markets in India.  

David & Ed chat with University of Chicago's Michael Greenstone. Show Notes:(02:52) Engineering the Planet(03:25) The future of the Temperature–Mortality Relationship(04:48) Valuing the Global Mortality Consequences of Climate Change(07:36) Climate Damages and Adaptation Potential Across Sectors of the US(09:35) Heat Exposure & Poverty(11:30) Seasonality of Mortality Under Climate Change(13:59) Evaluating the 35°C Wet-Bulb Temperature Adaptability Threshold(15:30) Relationship Between Season of Birth, Temperature Exposure, & Wellbeing(17:35) Heat & Learning(20:14) Slow Burn: The Hidden Costs of a Warming World(22:06) Air Pollution on Life Expectancy from China's Huai River Policy(25:10) Introducing the  Air Quality Life Index(26:52) The Clean Air Act of 1970 & Adult Mortality(26:58) US: Clean Air Act (1970)(28:34) China's War on Pollution(32:45) For Breathable Air(34:31) Social Cost of Carbon(40:48) The Social Cost of Carbon Is Now US$225 Per Tonne(42:07) Rising Temperatures, Melting Incomes(42:11) The Macroeconomic Impact of Climate ChangeProduced by Amit Tandon___Energy vs Climatewww.energyvsclimate.com Bluesky | YouTube | LinkedIn

Most observers are convinced that America's healthcare system needs reform. This episode of The Pie features a discussion among MIT health economist Amy Finkelstein, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration and current Duke professor Mark McClellan, and professor at the Harris School Joshua Gottlieb on what these reforms should entail. Michael Greenstone, director of UChicago's Climate and Energy Institute, moderated the conversation.

What is the social cost of carbon? What can it tell us about the effects of, and the feasibility of policies to cope with, climate change? Michael Greenstone tells Tim Phillips about how the process of assigning a value to the cost of emissions, and how that can help us to think clearly about the choices we make.

Anyone who has even casually glanced at the news over the past several weeks would be hard pressed to miss the plethora of headlines about north India's air pollution crisis. Every year as late Fall rolls around, air pollution across north India—including in the nation's capital of Delhi—climbs to levels that make life almost unlivable for hundreds of millions of residents.As bad as the crisis is, the situation is not helpless. Milan's guest on the show this week, the economist Anant Sudarshan, has spent years trying to evaluate solutions to what seems like an intractable problem. Anant is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick and a Senior Fellow at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).Milan and Anant discuss the contours of India's air pollution crisis, the country's environmental data challenge, and the efficacy of Delhi's controversial “odd-even” scheme. Plus, the two discuss strategies for managing industrial pollution, the potential of Indian emissions markets, and whether voters sufficiently value the air they breathe.Episode notes:Michael Greenstone et al., “The Solvable Challenge of Air Pollution in India,” India Policy Forum 2017-18: 1-51.Michael Greenstone et al., A Roadmap Towards Cleaning India's Air (EPIC India and Harvard Kennedy School, 2018).Michael Greenstone et al., “Can Pollution Markets Work in Developing Countries? Experimental Evidence from India,” Working Paper, January 27, 2023.

In this episode, ICE's Gordon Bennett sits down with Michael Greenstone, the Milton Friedman Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and co-founder of Climate Vault. Michael shares how his career led to the creation of Climate Vault to attach the dollars of damage done by each ton of CO2 emissions to the cost of doing business. He explains how his organization uses the carbon compliance markets to accomplish its goals of addressing climate change by putting a fair value on carbon and using its proceeds to fund carbon removal technology.

Dr. Michael Greenstone: Decoding the social cost of carbon and the carbon offset market In this episode, Chris and Georges do a deep dive into the economic implications of carbon emissions with one of the world's leading climate finance experts, Dr. Michael Greenstone. As a former chief economist for President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, Dr. Greenstone played a pivotal role in developing the "social cost of carbon." The trio discusses the significance of understanding the economic cost of carbon emissions and the tools policymakers have at their disposal to combat climate change. Guest Dr. Michael Greenstone, Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics Background Michael Greenstone is the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics as well as the Director of the Becker Friedman Institute and the interdisciplinary Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. As a co-director of the Climate Impact Lab, he is producing empirically grounded estimates of the local and global impacts of climate change. He is also the co-director of the King Climate Action Initiative at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, and co-founder of Climate Vault, a 501(c)(3) that uses markets to allow institutions and people to reduce their carbon footprint. Conversation Sheds light on the concept of the social cost of carbon, its current applications, and the overarching importance of carbon pricing in shaping future climate policies, especially in the United States. Touches upon the controversial topic of carbon offsets, distinguishing between the voluntary offset market and regulated cap and trade permitting systems. Introduces Climate Vault, a non-profit startup co-founded by Dr. Greenstone that not only allows entities to offset emissions using regulated permits but also aids in purchasing carbon removal, thereby supporting emerging carbon removal companies to scale their technologies.   

On today's episode of Free Range, Livermore is joined by Michael Greenstone, the Milton Freedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and the Director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. He served as the Chief Economist for President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors and has worked for decades engaged in research and policy development on environmental issues. Livermore and Greenstone begin by discussion the climate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act and their policy implications (0:47-4:47) Greenstone offers his take on what the IRA means (if anything) concerning the role of economists in debates over climate policy (4:48-8:49) and the two discuss the relationship between energy prices and politics. (8:50-14:10) Livermore and Greenstone agree that transparency of pricing mechanisms can be both a feature and a bug. Greenstone mentions that while the US is viewed as a free market place, our instinct is to approach the situation as engineers. (14:11-20:20) He then offers thoughts on why the engineering approach won out in the IRA. (20:21 - 25:34) The two discuss the factors that helped lead to lower technology costs green cleaner energy sources, which helped pave the way for the IRA. (25:35-28:12) The sulfur dioxide trading mechanism in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments is a classic example of policy that promoted low cost emissions reductions; R&D funding is another area where government is justified. (28:13-30:24) The two turn to the question of economic forecasting in climate debates. (30:25-34:17) Greenstone discusses the work of the Climate Impact Lab, which he directs, which is improving estimates of climate damages and the social cost of carbon. (34:18-40:55) The two discuss the role of adaptation in climate damage estimates (40:56-47:05) and the role of distributional analysis. (47:06-51:15) The two then discuss an alternative to the social cost of carbon that is based on “marginal abatement costs” associated with achieving a given climate goal. (51:16-57:11) To conclude, Livermore asks about the potential path forward for global cooperation on climate change. For Greenstone, he focuses on areas of policy that he can influence, and in particular on driving down the difference (delta) between the private cost of clean energy and dirty energy and looking for opportunities to leverage our policies for reductions elsewhere in the world. (57:12-59:36)

The explosion of youth climate activism in recent years has focused the world's attention on the problem like never before, but Michael Greenstone, the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, argues that young activists often err by trying to turn climate change into a moral issue rather than an environmental one. Greenstone shared his thoughts during the newest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program,” a podcast produced by the Harvard Environmental Economics Program. Read a transcript of the interview here: https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/michael-greenstone-podcast-transcript-oct-6-2022.pdf

Maybe we should be talking about the problems with pollution, instead of climate change. And maybe the solution could be the use of free market and private property principles.We include an excerpt from the Freakonomics radio podcast #472 in which Stephen Dubner interviews Michael Greenstone concerning pollution.audio editing by: http://JayPrescott.com

In our third episode in this special series, The Atlantic's Rob Meyer talks with Steve Cicala and Michael Greenstone to take a hard look at the barriers that today's fragmented grid imposes on the growth of renewables, and what steps the government can take to remove those barriers. But taking those steps will likely not be enough, and many in Washington are supporting a Clean Electricity Standard—though not everyone agrees on what qualifies as “clean.” https://epic.uchicago.edu/area-of-focus/decarbonizing-the-us-economy-with-a-national-grid/

When was the last time you heard a positive story about climate change, a story about someone with a new idea or innovative solution to help reduce our carbon footprint? This is that story. Michael Greenstone is a Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, Director of the Energy Policy Institute of the University of Chicago (EPIC) and former chief economist in the Obama White House. Now, he's developed a new nonprofit called Climate Vault, which could be a powerful new tool in the fight against climate change, and it's built around a simple idea: outbidding polluters for the right to pollute.

Weekly nonprofit podcast news.    Nonprofit Fights Carbon Emissions With Financial Marketplace University of Chicago professor Michael Greenstone has created a nonprofit called Climate Vault, which could revolutionize how we offset carbon emissions in the marketplace. Using the current cap and trade infrastructure to its advantage, the organization seeks to redirect capital to environmentally-conscious startups in exchange for “pollution permits.” The goal is to merge financial profit with environmental sustainability in hopes of driving investment in products that help the planet in the long-run. Read more ➝ Nonprofit Advocacy Groups & Native Tribes Team Up To Combat Voter Suppression New voting legislation in Montana, which critics cite as an attempt to suppress the vote of indigenous communities, is facing a legal challenge from a joint effort of multiple tribes and nonprofits. The tribes challenging the legislation include the Blackfeet Nation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Fort Belknap Indian Community and Northern Cheyenne Tribe. These tribes, along with Native get-out-the-vote organizations Western Native Voice and Montana Native Voice, are being represented by the Native American Rights Fund, in conjunction with the ACLU. Not only do nonprofits fill a vital gap in our social safety infrastructure, but they are an essential part of our democratic society, and constitute a rapidly growing civil society movement both in the U.S. and abroad. Read the legal complaint here. Read more ➝ Summary YMCA brings in new CEO to revamp struggling nonprofit Greenpeace Stops Accepting Bitcoin Donations, Cites High Energy Use Steve Bannon's Nonprofit Sued for Destroying Wild Butterflies' Habitat with Donald Trump's Border Wall S.F. nonprofit lost $650,000 to hackers and a 'money mule.' The boss had to investigate it herself Nonprofit takes veterans on flights on WWII-era biplane      

Weekly nonprofit podcast news.    Nonprofit Fights Carbon Emissions With Financial Marketplace University of Chicago professor Michael Greenstone has created a nonprofit called Climate Vault, which could revolutionize how we offset carbon emissions in the marketplace. Using the current cap and trade infrastructure to its advantage, the organization seeks to redirect capital to environmentally-conscious startups in exchange for “pollution permits.” The goal is to merge financial profit with environmental sustainability in hopes of driving investment in products that help the planet in the long-run. Read more ➝ Nonprofit Advocacy Groups & Native Tribes Team Up To Combat Voter Suppression New voting legislation in Montana, which critics cite as an attempt to suppress the vote of indigenous communities, is facing a legal challenge from a joint effort of multiple tribes and nonprofits. The tribes challenging the legislation include the Blackfeet Nation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Fort Belknap Indian Community and Northern Cheyenne Tribe. These tribes, along with Native get-out-the-vote organizations Western Native Voice and Montana Native Voice, are being represented by the Native American Rights Fund, in conjunction with the ACLU. Not only do nonprofits fill a vital gap in our social safety infrastructure, but they are an essential part of our democratic society, and constitute a rapidly growing civil society movement both in the U.S. and abroad. Read the legal complaint here. Read more ➝ Summary YMCA brings in new CEO to revamp struggling nonprofit Greenpeace Stops Accepting Bitcoin Donations, Cites High Energy Use Steve Bannon's Nonprofit Sued for Destroying Wild Butterflies' Habitat with Donald Trump's Border Wall S.F. nonprofit lost $650,000 to hackers and a 'money mule.' The boss had to investigate it herself Nonprofit takes veterans on flights on WWII-era biplane      

Some of the world’s largest companies (and biggest emitters of CO2) boast big investments in carbon offset programs to reduce their reported carbon footprint. Do these programs work ? If so, for whom? Michael Greenstone and Barbara Haya join to take a close look at proposed solutions to reducing on carbon emissions.

There's no denying the world is already paying for climate change. The price is stronger hurricanes, bigger wildfires, and unpredictable heat waves. So, how can people living on a changing globe literally pay to mitigate the effects of climate change? One solution is to utilize the social cost of carbon, says economist Michael Greenstone. He co-led the development of the US government’s social cost of carbon as chief economist for President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. President Biden has raised carbon's value back to Obama-era levels after the Trump Administration lowered it. Greenstone, who leads the Energy Policy Institute at Chicago, speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist Juliet Eilperin about how we're just beginning to experience what the climate has in store.

Economics has a solution to halt rapid deforestation but can it be implemented? This year has seen some of the worst-ever fires destroy vast tracts of the Amazon rainforest as land there is cleared for farming. We hear how the field of economics may have come up with a solution to halt the Amazon’s rate of deforestation - and what’s needed to set that in motion. Manuela Saragosa speaks to Michael Greenstone, Professor of economics at the University of Chicago and to Professor Luciana Gatti, a researcher at Brazil's National Institute for Space Research which monitors greenhouse gas emissions in Amazon.

Nearly a billion people around the world are not connected to the electricity grid, and even more have unreliable access. In this VoxDevTalk, Robin Burgess discusses his paper with Michael Greenstone, Nicholas Ryan, and Anant Sudarshan in which the authors argue that a social norm that all people deserve access to electricity regardless of payment may actually be undermining the universal access called for in Sustainable Development Goal 7.  When people feel no compulsion to pay for the electricity they use, whether or not they are able to, government-owned distribution companies need to ration supply to limit their losses, either by enforcing blackouts or restricting access. This tends to affect those living in the poorer areas of countries more, and research on the relationship between electricity consumption and GDP suggests that it also has a macro impact on economic growth. One possible way to move from this low-payment, low-access equilibrium to a high-payment, high-access one is for governments to provide targeted subsidies towards getting connected to the grid, and for people to then pay for the electricity they use.

Incentivising agent performance is a double-edged sword: while it can encourage agents to perform better, it might also nudge them into cheating and manipulating results to their benefit. In this VoxDevTalk, Guojun He discusses his work with Michael Greenstone, Ruixue Jia, and Tong Liu on this classic principal-agent problem in the context of how Chinese local governments self-report meeting air pollution-reduction targets imposed (and incentivised) by the central government. An analysis of these reports reveals evidence of significant under-reporting by local governments before the central government installed automated real-time pollution monitoring devices across the country. Under-reporting was larger in areas with higher levels of actual pollution, ostensibly since these local governments face greater challenges in meeting pollution-reduction targets. How accurately local governments report pollution figures also has impacts on public welfare, with people exposed to pollution information more likely to search for information on face masks and air filters. Biased information thus prevented people from optimally protecting themselves prior to the introduction of automation.

Swarthmore College Men's Basketball alumnus Michael Greenstone, class of 1991, appeared on this week's episode of Then & Now to discuss his time at Swarthmore and his career in economics with host Brandon Hodnett. Greenstone was a 1,000-point scorer for Swarthmore Men's Basketball and earned his bachelor's with high honors in economics. He earned his PhD in economics from Princeton and is now the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, the College, and the Harris School, as well as the Director of the Becker Friedman Institute and the interdisciplinary Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. Greenstone previously served as the Chief Economist for President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, where he co-led the development of the United States government's social cost of carbon. His research has influenced policy globally and focuses largely on uncovering the benefits and costs of environmental quality and society's energy choices. In this episode, he recounted scoring his 1,000th point while being guarded by his brother, how Swarthmore encouraged his intellectual curiosity, how his Air Quality Life Index has helped visualize pollution's impact on life expectancy, and how he's currently studying COVID testing. Watch this interview on YouTube or Facebook or listen to it on your podcasting platform of choice. Help more people find this interview and more great content from Swarthmore Athletics by leaving a review, sharing this interview and by subscribing to our channels.

How you experience the global energy crisis and climate change depends in large part on where you live. For this special deep dive episode, Michael Greenstone and Amir Jina discuss long-term research on one place – Bihar, India – and the lessons it offers to the rest of the world. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this new episode of Capitalism After Coronavirus I talk with Michael Greenstone, a professor of Economics at University of Chicago and Ph.D from Princeton. He is on the board of several research and policy institutes. He was the Chief Economist for President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors. In this episode we talk about how to tackle carbon emissions, and how there is "no free lunch" when it comes to climate policy.

American economist, professor and chief economist during the Obama administration, Michael Greenstone, joins Adam this week to discuss transitioning our economy during a pandemic, balancing safety with the economy and what the costs and benefits truly are, and how economics can clarify policy disputes.  

Life is not priceless. But it’s also not cheap. Michael Greenstone describes how economics puts a value on life, and why it is so important to save as many lives as possible. Read more about this research here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we dig into what may be the most important issue of our time: climate change. On the heels of a climate-focused World Economic Forum in Davos, the unveiling of Europe's new Green Deal, and increased attention on climate change by the world's largest asset managers and banks, climate change is undoubtedly Top of Mind. We speak with Michael Greenstone of the University of Chicago, Nathaniel Keohane of the Environmental Defense Fund and Goldman Sachs' Steve Strongin about the climate challenge, and what it will take to address it. We also discuss how capital markets and climate policy are driving transformational shifts in the energy industry, and what it means for sector returns. Finally, the head of the Goldman Sachs Sustainable Finance Group, John Goldstein, provides insight and advice on ESG investing and integration, and the growing implications of shareholders and clients increasingly demanding more accountability on climate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we dig into what may be the most important issue of our time: climate change. On the heels of a climate-focused World Economic Forum in Davos, the unveiling of Europe’s new Green Deal, and increased attention on climate change by the world’s largest asset managers and banks, climate change is undoubtedly Top of Mind. We speak with Michael Greenstone of the University of Chicago, Nathaniel Keohane of the Environmental Defense Fund and Goldman Sachs’ Steve Strongin about the climate challenge, and what it will take to address it. We also discuss how capital markets and climate policy are driving transformational shifts in the energy industry, and what it means for sector returns. Finally, the head of the Goldman Sachs Sustainable Finance Group, John Goldstein, provides insight and advice on ESG investing and integration, and the growing implications of shareholders and clients increasingly demanding more accountability on climate.

The United States is facing a range of challenging policy issues, from trade to inequality to climate change. The good news is that academic economists are doing cutting-edge work to help solve the challenges of the day, at the University of Chicago and institutions around the world. Over the past 20 years, there has been increasing momentum toward evidence-informed policymaking. While this seems promising, barriers still exist to bridging the divide between academia and government. On November 19, the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics (BFI) welcomed MIT Professor of Economics Abhijit Banerjee, recipient of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics and co-author of the forthcoming book, Good Economics for Hard Times. Banerjee joined a panel of experts, including UChicago's Katherine Baicker, Michael Greenstone and Steve Levitt, along with the Obama Foundation's Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo, to share their experiences and perspectives on the potential for economics to improve policy outcomes, the obstacles that exist to evidence-informed policymaking, and opportunities for improvement. Follow along with Banerjee's opening remarks and view his presentation: https://bfi.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/CanEconomicsSavetheWorld_Presentation.pdf For more on the event, visit: https://bfi.uchicago.edu/event/can-economics-save-the-world/

Host Kristin Hayes talks with Dr. Denise Reed, an internationally recognized expert in coastal marsh sustainability and the role of human activities in modifying coastal systems. They discuss Louisiana's coastal master plan, on which Denise has be an adviser to state officials leading the plan development. This ambitious, long-term planning process has grown even more important in the face of rising sea levels. References and recommendations: Richard Campanella books on New Orleans; http://www.richcampanella.com/index.php "Do Renewable Portfolio Standards Deliver?" by Michael Greenstone and Ishan Nath; https://bfi.uchicago.edu/working-paper/do-renewable-portfolio-standards-deliver/

World-famous economist Michael Greenstone tells Mike about his main professional mission: to apply the tools of economics to reduce human suffering. But that wasn’t always the case. No indeed. For many years, including all of college, Michael’s main goal in life was to have a career in the NBA. Happily for economics, Division III basketball […]

As climate change continues to stir concern and debate around the world, Prof. Michael Greenstone knows the importance of using his research to better explain the connection between the environment, health and global energy. The challenge for he and his colleagues at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) is waiting for others to put that information into action.   “I’m in charge of my research, and I’m not in charge of the world,” Greenstone said of Big Brains. “What we can do as scientists is make sure that the information is being articulated as clearly and in an accessible way as possible. It’s ultimately up to societies to judge what they’re going to do with it.”   Greenstone’s work has already had global impact. He and his EPIC colleagues developed a new pollution index that found air pollution cuts the global life expectancy by nearly two years. The Air Quality Life Index establishes air particulate pollution as the single greatest threat to human health globally.   On this episode of Big Brains, the environmental economist discusses how the global energy challenge is one of society’s most important problems and something he calls “the social cost of carbon”—the most important number you’ve never heard of when it comes to climate change.   Subscribe to Big Brains on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify, and rate and review the podcast.

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. Economic growth depends critically on access to reliable energy. However in much of the world, access to energy remains low and supply is often unreliable. At the same time, the world’s energy choices are leading to levels of pollution that are substantially shortening people’s lives and causing climate change. The energy and growth challenge requires identifying solutions to these problems of access to inexpensive and reliable energy, while limiting environmental damage and guarding against disruptive climate change. In this Friedman Forum talk, Michael Greenstone explores key energy trends and outlines both the market and technology forces at play to meet this challenge.

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. With a lack of consensus among policymakers on the causes, risks and proposed solutions to climate change our national debate remains at a standstill. Yet economists across the spectrum are weighing in with thoughts on economic solutions that would put us on a different path. UChicago professors, Steve Cicala and Michael Greenstone, and former Republican Congressman and IOP fellow Bob Inglis discussed how they believe famed UChicago economist Milton Friedman would respond to climate change.

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. With a lack of consensus among policymakers on the causes, risks and proposed solutions to climate change our national debate remains at a standstill. Yet economists across the spectrum are weighing in with thoughts on economic solutions that would put us on a different path. UChicago professors, Steve Cicala and Michael Greenstone, and former Republican Congressman and IOP fellow Bob Inglis discussed how they believe famed UChicago economist Milton Friedman would respond to climate change.