Resources Radio

For this week’s episode, Miyuki Hino, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, joins host Margaret Walls to discuss Hino’s latest research on high-tide flooding (also called “sunny day flooding” or “nuisance flooding”) in North Carolina. Hino recounts the complications of measuring increasingly frequent and disruptive floods and some innovative solutions to technical challenges—including creating water-level sensors and engaging communities to understand local geographies. By specializing data collection to suit a research area in murky waters, Hino and her research collaborators have noted more accurately the extent to which sea level rise has affected coastal communities. With improved data on hand, Hino reports that previous estimates of flood frequency are serious, but unsurprising, understatements of current realities and that updated findings can help communities better adapt to changing tides. References and recommendations: “Land-based sensors reveal high frequency of coastal flooding” by Miyuki Hino, Katherine Anarde, Tessa Fridell, Ryan McCune, Thomas Thelen, Elizabeth Farquhar, Perri Woodard, and Anthony Whipple; https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02326-w Sunny Day Flooding Project; https://sunnydayflooding.com/ “Good Hang with Amy Poehler” podcast; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Hang_with_Amy_Poehler Subscribe to stay up to date on news and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

In this episode, host Kristin Hayes is joined by Andy Rankin and Dave McGimpsey—both partners at Dentons, a global law firm—to explore how an overlooked tax policy in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act can spur clean energy development, to the benefit of both local communities and companies. Despite recent rollbacks of solar and wind energy tax credits, Rankin and McGimpsey insist that newly expanded Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) provide ample opportunity for energy developers to gain a solid footing in project financing and equity growth. Unlike the original 2017 iteration of the QOZ program, new adjustments ensure that QOZ tax benefits have no sunset date in sight, hinting at a new dawn for renewable energy build-out. References and recommendations: “The Qualified Opportunity Zone Program and Clean Energy: A New Era for Natural Gas, Solar, Wind, Energy Storage and Nuclear Projects” from Dentons; https://www.dentons.com/en/insights/articles/2025/september/4/the-qualified-opportunity-zone-program George F. Will op-ed writings; https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/george-f-will/ “The Water Values Podcast” with Dave McGimpsey; https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/water-values-podcast/id843026539 Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

This week, host Margaret Walls talks with Benji Backer about attracting nonpartisan support for environmental conservation. Backer is the founder and CEO of Nature Is Nonpartisan—a nonprofit organization focused on redefining environmental issues as nonpartisan—and serves on the board of the American Conservation Coalition. In this episode, Backer discusses his approach to environmental issues by describing his conservation work, which includes helping to stop a recent policy proposal that aimed to sell public lands, aiding in the creation of a domestic conservation caucus in the Senate, and assisting in forming the Make America Beautiful Again Commission. He also speaks to the importance of accurately communicating the risks of climate change; people connecting with their land; and promoting conservation at all levels, including local, state, federal, and corporate. References and recommendations: “The Conservative Environmentalist: Common Sense Solutions for a Sustainable Future” by Benji Backer; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/730880/the-conservative-environmentalist-by-benji-backer/ Nature Is Nonpartisan; https://natureisnonpartisan.org/ American Conservation Coalition; https://acc.eco/ “The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey” by Candice Millard; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/114422/the-river-of-doubt-by-candice-millard/ Subscribe to stay up to date on news and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Kate Gordon about California’s recent raft of climate policies. Gordon, the CEO of California Forward who also has held senior policy positions in California and the US Department of Energy, discusses the various Senate bills that have been proposed and passed recently in the state. She talks about the importance of considering energy affordability when addressing California’s energy and climate concerns and what she’s noticed as evolving perceptions of carbon management. Gordon also touches on specific bills that extend California's cap-and-trade program and ramp up permissions for oil drilling, sharing her own take on the current state of climate policy in California. References and recommendations: “California’s Innovative Vision for Climate Policy and Energy Affordability” by Dallas Burtraw; https://www.resources.org/common-resources/californias-innovative-vision-for-climate-policy-and-energy-affordability/ Blog posts by Severin Borenstein through the Energy Institute at Haas; https://energyathaas.wordpress.com/author/severinborenstein/ “The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity” by Tim Wu; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/691177/the-age-of-extraction-by-tim-wu/9780593321249 Subscribe to stay up to date on news and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

In this week’s episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Kaitlin Raimi about public perceptions of solar geoengineering. Raimi, a social psychologist and associate professor at the University of Michigan, describes how only around 15 or 25 percent of people know what solar geoengineering is, and those who are aware tend to be wary of the concept. She discusses techniques to inform the public about the benefits and pitfalls of solar engineering, avoid political polarization, and prevent solar geoengineering from being seen as the only solution needed to tackle climate change. References and recommendations: “Public perceptions of geoengineering” by Kaitlin T. Raimi; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352250X21000385 Solar geoengineering research at Resources for the Future; https://www.rff.org/topics/comprehensive-climate-strategies/solar-geoengineering/ “Cane Toads: An Unnatural History” documentary; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_Toads:_An_Unnatural_History Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Dave Foster, a distinguished associate at the Energy Futures Initiative, about the story of how labor unions and environmental organizations have found ways to work together on issues that affect both contingents. As a former director of United Steelworkers District 11, Foster recalls the “Donora incident” as the main catalyst for the union’s interest in environmental affairs. Foster shares his firsthand recollection of the history behind the creation of the BlueGreen Alliance, including some of the various struggles, wins, and early initiatives that helped secure the partnership between labor and environmental organizations. References and recommendations: “Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin, and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie” by Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/712585/sea-of-grass-by-dave-hage-and-josephine-marcotty/ “Power Lines: The Human Costs of American Energy in Transition” by Sanya Carley and David Konisky; https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo254000286.html Subscribe to stay up to date on news and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Arvind Ravikumar, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin, about recent federal deregulation of methane emissions in the United States; specifically, the effects on methane emissions from the production of natural gas and liquefied natural gas. Ravikumar highlights some of his recent research, which explores how all steps in the supply chain of natural gas can affect emissions intensity—including transportation of the energy source to end users—and the variation in methane emissions across countries from their natural gas supply chains. References and recommendations: “Tracking U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas Supply Chain Greenhouse Gas Emissions Intensity through Direct Measurements” by Yuanrui Zhu, Greg Ross, Jenna Brown, Olga Khaliukova, William Daniels, Jiayang (Lyra) Wang, Selina Roman-White, Fiji George, Daniel Zimmerle, Dorit Hammerling, and Arvind Ravikumar; https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/6882ca69fc5f0acb52e159e3 “Probabilistic, Measurement-Informed Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Global Liquefied Natural Gas Supply Chains Reveal Wide Country-Level Variation” by Haoming Ma, Yuanrui Zhu, Wennan Long, Mohammad Masnadi, Garvin Heath, Paul Balcombe, Fiji George, Selina Roman-White, and Arvind Ravikumar; https://chemrxiv.org/engage/chemrxiv/article-details/6883b68723be8e43d6fdcf73 “AI as Normal Technology” by Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor; https://knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-as-normal-technology