iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

We started Resilient Energy Economies because we don't know enough about effective policies to support fossil fuel-reliant economies through a transition. Evaluating existing policies is a key way to change that. That's the topic of our webinar later today- join us! www.rff.org/events/webin...

rff.org

Resilient Energy Economies | Evaluating the Effectiveness of Local, Regional, and Federal Efforts to Support Fossil Fuel-Dependent Communities

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Thanks to the @rooseveltinstitute.org for publishing my essay with @hboushey.bsky.social that describes why the federal government has failed to usefully incorporate climate change and the energy transition into economic modeling, based on our experiences at the White House 🧵

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

What can oil-reliant communities learn from the OG oil community, Titusville and the surrounding Oil Region in Pennsylvania?

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Climate advocates have tried to motivate action with precise projections of future harms. But it's actually the deep uncertainty about how bad things could get that makes the strongest case for action. Jason Bordoff and I wrote about this in @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/30/s...

foreignpolicy.com

Doomsday Climate Scenarios Were Wrong. That Doesn’t Help Europe.

Recent scientific reassessments strengthen the case for rapid climate action rather than weaken it.

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Communities with waterway restoration in mined areas had 6 percentage points (!) more population growth than otherwise similar communities whose waterways remained impaired, according to new research by Jeremy Weber, Max Harleman et al. www.resilientenergyeconomies.org/publications

resilientenergyeconomies.org

Publications

We’re helping fossil fuel–dependent communities across the United States develop strategies to support their local economies.

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

The next installment of our results webinars for Resilient Energy Economies initiative grantees is about to start. Please join us: www.rff.org/events/webin...

rff.org

Resilient Energy Economies | Local Perspectives on Economic Futures: The View from Oil and Gas Communities

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

I don't think it's possible to navigate the challenges of the energy transition without a realistic understanding of the economic benefits of fossil fuels (on both the consumer and producer sides)

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

At some point I’d like to live somewhere with such a coherent climate strategy that people debate other energy policy issues on their own merits instead of thru a climate lens. Too much to ask?

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

With most industries journalists know not to pass along advocates’ propaganda as fact but for whatever reason this happens all the time with energy efficiency (EE programs are sometimes expensive and sometimes cheap)

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

I think this is actually a pretty good climate policy article from a politician, with generally accurate info and reasonable opinions. I remain utterly baffled why the two sides can't come to a reasonable compromise in a state like NY. Do your jobs! 2 issues with the oped🧵

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Listening to today’s Daily on this article, I don’t get the sense the reporters understand the absurdity of Roberts’ claim about a regulation to reduce coal to ~25-30% of power generation by 2030.

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Wild symptom of a broken epistemic environment: in 2015 the evidence showed the Clean Power Plan to be a weak, inexpensive regulation. But climate opponents said it would have huge costs, and climate advocates said it would have huge benefits. And the Chief Justice was fooled.

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

The diverse coalition against useful emissions targets: -Opponents of climate policy -Advocates who insist on infeasible targets -Economists who think we can value damages instead -Advocates who think we just need to make clean energy cheap And they’re all wrong 🙃

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Fights in the northeast over emissions targets remind me of fights with my kids when they’re already late for school. Governors: We can’t make it to school on time! Advocates: You must make it to school on time! Meanwhile, nobody’s making a plan to get to school… www.nytimes.com/2026/04/11/c...

nytimes.com

Northeast States Set Big Climate Goals. Now Those Plans Are in Trouble.

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Howarth and Jacobson respond to Zeke's post. They ignore his substantive argument about the merits of GWP-20, focusing instead on the importance of near-term climate action. But the case for GWP-20 shouldn't rest whether we like the policy outcomes it produces. www.howarthlab.org/docs/GWP20_i...

howarthlab.org

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Great new Resilient Energy Economies policy brief from scholars at the U of Wyoming about fiscal shocks to energy producing states: cdn.prod.website-files.com/65f9f863036e...

cdn.prod.website-files.com

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Great discussion here, including the age-old question of how to properly scope industrial policy. I have a view on this that I've recently learned is unpopular (but, as it turns out, is also entirely correct 😊) A 🧵 www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/daleep-singh...

energypolicy.columbia.edu

Daleep Singh on the Need for a US Industrial Policy Playbook - Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA | CGEP

Hear in-depth conversations with the world’s top energy and climate leaders from government, business, academia, and civil society.

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

What's so frustrating about the New York climate policy situation is that the loud propaganda on all sides seems to be getting in the way of fairly clear and good compromises that state policymakers could pursue. Maybe I'm missing something, but... 🧵

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

This suggestion that we should ignore climate impacts beyond 20 years (the premise of GWP20) because we implement policy over that time horizon is a very misleading defense of GWP20. The long term impacts are what make climate change scary!

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

One point from our new blog: the GWP metric is supposed to put CO₂ and methane on equal footing, but GWP-20 does this by counting 80% of methane's lifetime climate impact against less than 10% of CO₂'s

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

New York is genuinely in a difficult spot. Our new blog tries to lay out some key facts to help stakeholders forge a pathway that balances climate, economic, and other concerns www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/new-yorks-cl...

energypolicy.columbia.edu

New York's Climate Law: Understanding the Trade-offs - Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA | CGEP %

Get the latest as our experts share their insights on global energy policy.

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

A newly published Resilient Energy Economies policy brief assesses the place-based support from the federal government to fossil fuel-reliant communities during the Biden Era. Take a look and let us know your thoughts! cdn.prod.website-files.com/65f9f863036e...

cdn.prod.website-files.com

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Advocates for more domestic production or electrification will always use global shocks to argue for preferred policies, but these are 2nd order solutions. More international cooperation/integration and less geopolitical conflicts are the ways to avoid these shocks.

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Such an important point made on this pod: work like @gruberte.bsky.social's on the mid-transition is the natural consequence of actually taking the energy transition seriously...something far too few people in the energy world do www.volts.wtf/p/the-fate-o...

volts.wtf

The fate of fossil fuel systems in the "mid-transition"

I talk with Emily Grubert about the hidden dangers of letting the free market manage the decline of our legacy energy infrastructure.

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

We often leap from “every tenth of a degree matters” (basically true) to “all incremental climate progress matters equally” (not true). We’re no longer pursuing the major economic shifts needed to sustain emissions reductions over decades. heatmap.news/ideas/trump-...

heatmap.news

The Energy Transition Won’t Work Without Coal Towns

A senior scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy on what Trump has lost by dismantling Biden’s energy resilience strategy.

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

The Biden-era climate strategy involved trying to make households, communities, and the U.S. economy less vulnerable to a decline of fossil fuels (with limited success). That strategy has been abandoned. heatmap.news/ideas/trump-...

heatmap.news

The Energy Transition Won’t Work Without Coal Towns

A senior scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy on what Trump has lost by dismantling Biden’s energy resilience strategy.

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Reposted by Noah Kaufman

Chris Bataille @chrisbataille.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

I have lots of opinions, but here's a published one with @noahqkaufman.bsky.social. Energy modelling, when done properly, can be scientific, but isn't "a science". At best, it's an iterative learning tool that should be used combined with real world experiments. www.researchgate.net/publication/...

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

And, the key takeaways from their deep decarbonization policy lecture. Thoughts?

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

Dumb question: if the Trump admin isn't going to regulate GHGs regardless of the endangerment finding, and the real risk is that supreme court rules in a way that hamstrings future presidents that want to regulate GHGs, why would climate groups want to litigate this decision?

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

We’ve got a new report out assessing Biden-era federal efforts to boost economic resilience in fossil fuel-reliant parts of the country. The findings are a mixed bag 🧵 www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/wp-content/u...

energypolicy.columbia.edu

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Reposted by Noah Kaufman

Chris Bataille @chrisbataille.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

I've been privileged over the years to write a sequence energy modelling methodology papers with (now Professor 🥳) Steve Pye of UCL, along with a rotating cast of amazing people. The latest dropped today in Nature Energy ➡️ rdcu.be/e2tt6

rdcu.be

Addressing context-specific energy modelling risks and dynamics in low- and middle-income countries

Nature Energy - Low- and middle-income countries face unique challenges when it comes to balancing growing energy needs with broader, long-term development needs. This Perspective argues for...

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

At the end of a 2 hour lecture on technologies for deep decarbonization (polices are next week) I left my students with these 5 takeaways. Thoughts?

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

I learned a ton from this podcast with David Sandalow and Peter Fox Penner on power prices and the new PJM agreement podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...

podcasts.apple.com

Power Prices, Data Centers and the Bipartisan PJM Agreement: Peter Fox-Penner

Podcast Episode · AI, Energy and Climate Podcast · 01/21/2026 · 53m

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

I’m a big supporter of putting monetary values on death risks caused by pollution. But imagine you are one of the many (most?) people who dislike this practice but still want regulations. How would you feel about this framing? www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/c...

nytimes.com

Trump’s E.P.A. Has Put a Value on Human Life: Zero Dollars

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

I'm grateful for the responses to this. I also understand the pushback, even if I don't agree, that highlighting the limits of our capabilities will only add ammo to those stripping away climate protections. It may also be worth noting that nobody has seriously pushed back on...🧵

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Even tho we disagree I’m really grateful to Bob for engaging. In my experience people don't want to have these debates about aggregated climate damage estimates due to concerns that legitimate disagreements will be weaponized by opponents of climate action. I think we really need these debates now.

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Reposted by Noah Kaufman

Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

NOW ONLINE: Heatmap’s 2026 Climate Insider Survey This is our annual questionnaire of climate academics, business leaders, engineers, and former officials… …answering some of the biggest open questions in the field. And you can find it all online now: heatmap.news/insiders-sur...

a screenshot of the landing page, including questions like:

The Most Promising Company in Climate Tech
Will Data Centers Slow Down Decarbonization?
Who’s the Worst Trump Official for Climate — Other Than Trump Himself?

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Most economists disagree with extreme voices on debates about climate risks, and yet we keep providing fuel to both sides. This article tries to explain why. www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...

theatlantic.com

The Climate Question That Economists Cannot Answer

Models can predict catastrophic or modest damages from climate change, but not which of these futures is coming.

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Here's a few things I learned digging into electricity affordability and decarbonization in Connecticut 🧵

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Big fan of Jigar but I hate this comparison. Lomberg fraudulently claims there's empirical evidence to show climate risks are small. Gates may have somewhat different priorities or expectations about future tech evolution. If we can't differentiate between these two, I think we're in trouble.

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

🚨A new funding opportunity from the Resilient Energy Economies initiative! For research projects that will help communities facing acute economic risks from the energy transition. Check it out: www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/resilient-ec...

energypolicy.columbia.edu

Resilient Economies Initiative Announces New RFP to Help US Fossil Fuel-dependent Communities Transition - Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA | CGEP

The Resilient Energy Economies (REE) initiative, a collaborative project of the Center on Global Energy...

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Fascinating stuff is happening in Minnesota. Tomorrow (Fri) at 2pm ET we have Carla Vita, who directs the Energy Transition Office, discussing efforts to diversify the state economy and support fossil fuel workers affected by the energy transition. Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

us02web.zoom.us

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Noah Kaufman @noahqkaufman.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

I wrote an article about the policy irrelevance of the social cost of carbon in the hopes of prompting an uncomfortable conversation about the future use of the metric. So I was excited to see that @Revkin asked @CassSunstein about my critique 🧵 revkin.substack.com/p/a-fresh-lo...

revkin.substack.com

A Fresh Look at Climate [In]Justice (and Trump 2.0) with Cass Sunstein

I hope you’ll listen to, and share, this conversation on climate policy in the age of Trump (and lots more) with the wide-ranging Harvard economist Cass Sunstein. Sunstein worked under two presidents ...

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