Podcast appearances and mentions of sue tierney

Season 4 of Electrify This!  kicks off the new year to unpack a big question: “What's really needed to cut U.S. emissions faster this decade?” Guests Ed Rightor and Sue Tierney are co-authors of a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine titled Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions, which evaluates how we can successfully implement current decarbonization policies and what else is  needed to reach U.S. emission targets in 2030. Tune in to learn more about the critical role that electrification will play in achieving these goals and what policymakers should consider in the transition to an equitable, climate safe future.  Guest Bios Ed Rightor is the Principal of Rightor Consulting. As an independent consultant, Ed supports his clients in the areas of industrial decarbonization, identification of unmet market needs, and sustainability.  Previously, he served as the Director of the Center for Clean Energy Innovation at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Director of the Industrial Program for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).  Ed also held several leadership roles at Dow Chemical during his 31-year career. He earned a PhD in chemistry from Michigan State University and a BS in chemistry from Marietta College. Susan Tierney is a Senior Advisor at Analysis Group and an expert on energy and environmental economics, regulation, and policy, particularly in the electric and gas industries. She has consulted to businesses, federal and state governments, regional grid operators, tribes, environmental groups, foundations, and other organizations on energy markets, economic and environmental regulation and strategy, and energy projects.  She has testified before Congress, state and federal regulatory agencies, and federal and state courts.  Previously, she served as the Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Secretary of Environmental Affairs in Massachusetts, a Commissioner at the MA Department of Public Utilities, Chairman of the Board of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, and Executive Director of the Energy Facilities Siting Council. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in regional planning at Cornell University. To dig in deeper, check out these must-read resources: Analysis GroupRightor Consulting National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (Report) – Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Innovation Amplifiers: Getting More Bang for the Buck on GHG Reductions (Information Technology & Innovation Fund) ** We want to hear from you! Please take our brief survey and give us your ideas, thoughts, and suggestions for the podcast! Be a part of shaping this show.  **Contact us at electrifythis@energyinnovation.org. 

The Reserve Bank has announced the Official Cash Rate is going up 25 basis points to 5.5%. In this special episode, financial advisor Sue Tierney talks through how this might affect you.

Questions have been asked as to what the impact of the Official Cash Rate hike is going to be on mortgages. The Reserve Bank lifted it by 50 basis points to 4.75 percent on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the banks are supposedly discounting one and two-year fixed rates, but it's behind closed doors. Financial advisor Sue Tierney joined Kate Hawkesby to explain. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Questions have been asked as to what the impact of the Official Cash Rate hike is going to be on mortgages. The Reserve Bank lifted it by 50 basis points to 4.75 percent on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the banks are supposedly discounting one and two-year fixed rates, but it's behind closed doors. Financial advisor Sue Tierney joined Kate Hawkesby to explain. LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A mortgage broker is dismissing changes to new lending rules as too little, too late.The Government is further tweaking consumer lending regulations, after earlier changes blocked some borrowers from getting loans.Three changes are planned, including narrowing the expenses lenders have to take into account.But mortgage broker Sue Tierney told Kate Hawkesby it's not good enough.She says they're ignoring the issue of "buy now, pay later" loans.Tierney says the whole idea of the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act was to protect the vulnerable, and it's just not addressing that.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Interest rates are set to rise again, with the Reserve Bank tipped to raise the Official Cash Rate this afternoon. The central bank is releasing its latest OCR decision and Monetary Policy Statement at 2pm. It increased the OCR by 25 basis points last month after it had remained unchanged at a record low point-25 percent for 18 months. Mortgage broker Sue Tierney told Mike Hosking another rise is likely today, followed by further rises next year - but lenders should still be able to afford their loan. “When the banks assess their loans in the first place, they're using a test rate anyway so the banks are building at a margin to ensure that clients can afford a higher interest rate anyway.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The lack of rainy day savings is coming back to haunt some mortgage holders.The mortgage deferral scheme ended this week, after a year's relief for some home owners hit by the Covid crunch.Mortgage broker Sue Tierney says many felt forced to take up the offer, with no savings to fall back on.She says on average, New Zealand families save just over $400 a year -- so there's little to cushion when hardship hits.Cooking The Books podcast host Frances Cook joined Simon Barnett & Phil Gifford to discuss our savings habits.LISTEN ABOVE

There are suggestions the Government's new housing policies ignore a fundamental problem for first home buyers.Cabinet's putting up nearly $4 billion for new housing infrastructure.It's also made first home grants and loans more accessible, by raising income and house price caps.But mortgage broker Sue Tierney told Heather du Plessis-Allan those buyers still need loans."To get a loan, you've got to get improved by the bank and you've got to meet government criteria, which is the Responsible Lending Code. "This package has done absolutely nothing to assist people over the line."LISTEN ABOVE

In this week's episode, guest hosts Richard Newell and Sue Tierney talk with each other about the difference it makes for policymakers to have access to sound economic and policy analysis, economic and climate policy in the near-and longer term, the best ways to deploy resources to achieve ambitious policy outcomes, and highlights from prior episodes in the "Big Decisions" series they've spearheaded on the Resources Radio podcast. Newell is president and CEO of Resources for the Future (RFF). Tierney serves as the chair of RFF's Board of Directors and is a senior advisor at Analysis Group. This is the final episode of our month-long spin-off series, “Big Decisions: The Future of US Environmental and Energy Policy.” For this series, which has aired in our same Resources Radio time slot every Tuesday in October, RFF Board of Directors Chair Sue Tierney and RFF President Richard G. Newell have shared guest-hosting duties and talked with leading decisionmakers, analysts, researchers, and reporters about the big decisions that will impact US environmental and energy policy in the years to come. References and recommendations: "The New Map" by Daniel Yergin; https://www.danielyergin.com/books/thenewmap "Growth" by Vaclav Smil; https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/growth "Occupied" TV series; https://www.netflix.com/title/80092654 "The Comey Rule" TV miniseries; https://www.sho.com/the-comey-rule "The Trial of the Chicago 7" film; https://www.netflix.com/title/81043755 "The Splendid and the Vile" by Erik Larson; https://eriklarsonbooks.com/book/the-splendid-and-the-vile/ "A Crisis Wasted" by Jeffrey L. Cummings and Reed Hundt; https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/A-Crisis-Wasted/Reed-Hundt/9781948122313

In this week's episode, guest host Sue Tierney talks with Paula Glover, president and CEO of the American Association of Blacks in Energy and incoming president of the Alliance to Save Energy. Glover and Tierney discuss policy priorities for Black professionals in the energy industry; creating coalitions to make progress with good policy; support systems and professional pipelines that help diversify the energy field; and energy justice as the intersection between energy, the environment, social justice, and community collaboration. This episode is the penultimate in our month-long spin-off series, “Big Decisions: The Future of US Environmental and Energy Policy.” For this series, which airs in our same Resources Radio time slot every Tuesday in October, RFF Board of Directors Chair Sue Tierney and RFF President Richard G. Newell share guest-hosting duties and talk with leading decisionmakers, analysts, researchers, and reporters about the big decisions that will impact US environmental and energy policy in the years to come. The final episode next week will be a conversation between Sue and Richard. References and recommendations: "The Energy within Us" by Joyce Hayes Giles, Carolyn Green, Rose McKinney-James, Hilda Pinnix-Ragland, and Telisa Toliver; https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/YJfawQEACAAJ

In this week's episode, guest host Sue Tierney talks with Jody Freeman and Jeffrey Holmstead. Freeman is a professor at who specializes in administrative law and environmental law at Harvard, founded their Environmental and Energy Law Program, and established the Harvard Law School’s first environmental law clinic. Holmstead is an attorney at the Houston-based law firm Bracewell LLP and a former assistant administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency; he is also a member of the president's council at Resources for the Future. Tierney, Freeman, and Holmstead discuss past "shenanigans" in presidential transitions; how a new or sitting president will prioritize goals in office, particularly during a troubling pandemic and highly unstable economy; the need for congressional action to make headway on climate change; and more. This episode continues our month-long spin-off series, “Big Decisions: The Future of US Environmental and Energy Policy.” For this series—which will air in our same Resources Radio time slot every Tuesday in October—RFF Board of Directors Chair Sue Tierney and RFF President Richard G. Newell share guest-hosting duties and talk with leading decisionmakers, analysts, researchers, and reporters about the big decisions that will impact US environmental and energy policy in the years to come. References and recommendations: "This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage" by Ann Patchett; https://www.harpercollins.com/products/this-is-the-story-of-a-happy-marriage-ann-patchett "Chernobyl" miniseries; https://www.hbo.com/chernobyl "The Rule of Five" by Richard J. Lazarus; https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674238121 "Borgen" TV series; https://www.netflix.com/title/70302482 "Schitt's Creek" sitcom; https://www.netflix.com/title/80036165 "Watchmen" TV series; https://www.hbo.com/watchmen

Kiwibank has followed ANZ Bank in slashing its one-year fixed home loan rate to a record low.Home buyers with at least 20 per cent equity will be able to secure the new 3.09 per cent one year special deals beginning next Monday."The one-year fixed term will be the lowest rate Kiwibank has ever offered. It demonstrates how we are supporting our lending customers in uncertain times, while remaining mindful of our deposit customers," the bank said.It comes a day after ANZ Bank cut its fixed home loan rates to what it says were the lowest ever offered by a major Kiwi bank.It now offered a one-year fixed rate special of 3.05 per cent and two-year fixed rate of 3.35 per cent."These new rates will provide some relief and support for customers during a difficult anduncertain time," said, Ben Kelleher, managing director retail and business banking for ANZ NZ.The banks standard one-and-two year home loan rates would also drop, while term deposits had been reduced 0.25 per cent across the board - except for 30 days.Like ANZ, Kiwibank had now also cut the returns customers would get from term deposits.Sixty-day to 150-day term deposit rates would decrease by 0.25 per cent, while 200 day and 9-month rates would decrease by 0.15 per cent and 1 year to 5 year rates drop to 0.1 per cent.

Dr. Susan Tierney, renowned energy expert with the Analysis Group and former head of policy at the U.S. Department of Energy, recently completed a study of our proposal to add a “social cost” of carbon dioxide emissions to New York's wholesale energy markets. In this interview with Kevin Lanahan, Vice President of External Affairs and Corporate Communications at the NYISO, Tierney explains how carbon pricing would make cleaner energy more profitable, and carbon-emitting energy more expensive by incorporating the cost of carbon emissions. It would also help New York achieve its clean energy goals faster and more cost-effectively. Tierney later concludes that since New York is the world's 11th-largest economy, “people will be watching. Not only from the other states and the other markets but around the world for an example of a workable solution.” 

As China prepares to introduce a national emissions trading program this year, what can global leaders learn from other carbon markets? 'Off the Charts' host Jeff McMahon discusses the United States' first mandatory carbon market, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), with Sue Tierney, who served as assistant secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Energy during the Clinton administration and is currently a senior advisor at the Analysis Group. RGGI, now almost a decade old, is made up of a collection of Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states that may soon include New Jersey and Virginia. What impacts has RGGI had on emissions and on the local economies of participating states? How does its design compare to other emissions trading programs, such as the California-Quebec-Ontario market and European Union market? And, what lessons can be drawn from its successes and challenges as China and other states and countries launch or contemplate their own market?

Hydraulic fracturing is perhaps the most important innovation in the energy system in the last half century. As a result of this innovation, U.S. production of oil and natural gas has increased dramatically. This has led to abruptly lower energy prices, stronger energy security and even lower carbon dioxide and air pollution emissions by displacing coal. That is certainly good news for our climate, and our health—with large reductions in air pollution dispersed around the country. But, while there are relatively few coal mines, conventional oil drilling sites and nuclear plants in the United States, tens of thousands of hydraulic fracturing wells have been drilled over the past few years from Pennsylvania to Colorado, Texas to North Dakota. With it being an everyday experience for many Americans, the practice has raised questions about the local impacts. Communities have reached very different conclusions about the benefits and costs, with some places banning it and others embracing it. Two recent studies have shed light on the impacts. On the benefits side, one study by EPIC Director Michael Greenstone and his coauthors found that fracking increases economic activity, employment, income and housing prices, with the average household benefitting by about $2,000 a year. However, if people’s understanding of the health impacts were to change, it is likely that this would alter the net benefits of allowing fracking. Since health is such a critical factor, Greenstone decided to dig in further by looking at the health of those born near fracking sites. He and his coauthors found that infants born to mothers living up to about 2 miles from a hydraulic fracturing site suffer from poorer health. The largest impacts were to babies born within about a half mile of a site, with those babies being 25 percent more likely to be born at a low birth weight. The United States’ continued access to the widely-dispersed benefits from hydraulic fracturing depends on local communities allowing it. How should we as a nation balance this challenge? What options do policymakers have at the federal, state and local levels? EPIC Director Michael Greenstone and EPIC’s inaugural policy fellows Jeff Holmstead and Sue Tierney explored these competing variables and the policy pathways to addressing them at the federal, state and local levels. The conversation was moderated by Axios reporter Amy Harder. This event was part of EPIC’s Energy Inquiry & Impact Series, designed to explore the latest energy data coming out of the University of Chicago and their impacts on policy discussions. Cutting-edge findings will serve as the launching pad to frame these deep-dive conversations, as researchers and EPIC policy fellows navigate ways to translate research into solutions.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s proposed rule on grid resilience has existed for two weeks now, and is nothing if not controversial. The rule that DOE would have the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission enact would invent a new “resilience” value based on on-site fuel availability (a 90-day supply, to be specific) that could only (or mostly) be provided by merchant coal and nuclear plants. In the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, the rule would award these power plants a payment in addition to the clearing price they receive in wholesale energy, capacity and ancillary service markets in order to help them cover their going forward costs and stay in business. This effective bailout for coal and nuclear plants would provide a life line to power plants that are losing in the market place and therefore uneconomic to keep online. The action would undermine the existence of competitive, technology-neutral wholesale energy markets. In addition, the proposal requires a significant leap in logic from determining that the grid needs something called “resilience,” defining that term as on-site fuel security, and then formulating criteria that ensure only merchant coal and nuclear plants qualify to provide the service. Sue Tierney, Senior Advisor at the Analysis Group and former DOE Assistant Secretary, and Doug Smith, partner at Van Ness Feldman and former FERC General Counsel, join me to consider the market and legal aspects of DOE’s proposal.

In April 2016, the Center on Global Energy Policy brought together senior energy and climate leaders to discuss pressing issues at the intersection of energy policy, financial markets, the environment and geopolitics for the 2016 Columbia Global Energy Summit. This panel focused on the changes underway in the power generation sector and how technological innovations may increase access in developing countries. Participants included: Ralph Izzo, CEO, PSEG Incorporated; Dr. Cheryl Martin, former Acting Director, ARPA-E, US Department of Energy; Jim Rogers, former President, Chairman and CEO, Duke Energy; and Cathy Zoi, CEO, Frontier Power. The session was moderated by Sue Tierney, a Senior Advisor at Analysis Group and a member of the Center’s Advisory Board.   Event website: http://energypolicy.columbia.edu/events-calendar/2016-columbia-global-energy-summit