Climate Crossroads: Navigating the Energy Transition
Christopher Goncalves, Daniela Bambaci, Nancy Cherashore, Yury Issaev, Steven Klemenic, Athanasia Arapogianni Konisti, Phillip Solomon, Matthew Tanner, Alayna Tria, Michael Whalen, and Lieza Wilcox
As the global drive to reach net-zero emissions goals rapidly intensifies—through waves of new policy, investment, and innovation—it can be tempting and is common to think of the energy transition as a zero-sum game between winners and losers.
We see it everywhere: in the idea that China’s progress on solar panels and electric vehicles is America and Europe’s loss; that the Inflation Reduction Act’s domestic subsidies are Europe and Asia’s loss; that the sustained production of natural gas is a loss for renewable energy sources.
But as Christopher Goncalves writes in his feature piece debunking these and other myths, “Zero-sum thinking is flawed, is counterproductive, and must be replaced by global systemic thinking and collaborative problem solving as a matter of increasing urgency.”
In a wide-ranging collection of articles, BRG experts strive to enact just this brand of thinking—and meaningfully contribute to complex conversations to guide businesses through the climate crossroads.
This issue’s release comes at a pivotal moment as Americans head to the polls in what Alayna Tria calls “the year of climate elections.” The idea of Republicans and Democrats being diametrically opposed on energy policy is yet another zero-sum misapprehension—and her article discusses a novel bipartisan path forward.
Several other articles examine where the US stands in the ongoing transition, whether it’s Michael Whalen’s treatise on the unexpected success of the transferable renewable energy tax credit market, Matthew Tanner’s take on what large US commercial consumers can do to manage an unprecedented demand for power, or Lieza Wilcox and Yury Issaev’s article on how to maximize the country’s biogas potential.
Meanwhile, in a Q&A with Steven Klemencic—who developed and implemented the threat assessment review process for the intelligence community’s support to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS)—we learn about CFIUS’s heightened scrutiny of renewable energy deals.
The issue takes a global view too. Tria and Goncalves discuss the rise of disputes related to the energy transition and highlight key areas to watch in the years to come. Athanasia Arapogianni Konisti covers obstacles to (and solutions for) emissions reporting and measurement. Daniela Bambaci and Nancy Cherashore shine a light on Argentina’s progress toward becoming a clean energy powerhouse. And Phillip Solomon argues that blue hydrogen with carbon capture can fill the gap for large emitters around the world until green hydrogen becomes economically feasible.
Finally, the issue considers the hurdles that arise when old energy infrastructure needs to be retired to make way for the new and offers tips to landowners undertaking the process.
As business leaders around the world assess where they stand in their clean energy journeys, we hope this issue of ThinkSet can push past zero-sum thinking—and help inform decision-making in the critical years to come.
