Resources Radio

This week, host Margaret Walls investigates the world of weather forecasting with Jeffrey Shrader, an associate professor at Columbia University whose recent research examines inequalities in forecast accuracy among countries across the globe. While the accuracy of weather forecasts has improved steadily over the past few decades, low-income countries experience notably less reliability in their local and regional weather predictions. Shrader explains how factors such as topography and proximity to the tropics impact the ability to get a read on the weather, while lack of investment in weather-observing infrastructure exacerbates such inequalities. In the course of breaking down his findings, Shrader gives an overview of the public-private partnership behind US weather forecasting (including how the context and outcomes may be poised to shift with recent policy proposals) as well as the changes that national and global leaders can implement to improve the complex weather forecasting system. References and recommendations: “Global Inequalities in Weather Forecasts” by Manuel Linsenmeier and Jeffrey Shrader; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-77630-w “Weather Forecasts Become More Important for Reducing Mortality as the Climate Warms” by Jeffrey G. Shrader, Stephan Thies, Laura Bakkensen, Manuel Linsenmeier, and Derek Lemoine; https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2523372123 “On the Impossibility of Informationally Efficient Markets” by Sanford J. Grossman and Joseph E. Stiglitz; https://www.jstor.org/stable/1805228 “Princess Mononoke” film; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Mononoke “All the World” by Liz Garton Scanlon; https://parents.simonandschuster.com/9781481431217 “Balanced Weather” blog from Alan Gerard; https://balancedweather.com/author/wxinms1/ “Balanced Weather” substack from Alan Gerard; https://substack.com/@balancedweather Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

In this episode of the podcast, host Kristin Hayes invites Zehra Khan and Lauren Sidner to discuss their work on the Electricity Price Hub, a collaboration that involves Heatmap News, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Clean Economy Project. The Hub visualizes national, state-level, and regional electricity prices—a feat that previously has been elusive due to the fragmentation of data across many sources. By putting prices in comparison for ZIP codes across the country, Khan, Sidner, and their colleagues are able to illuminate broad nationwide trends and the differences among states and regions when it comes to changing electricity prices and key drivers of that change. They discuss the role of data centers in electricity rate increases; what’s behind the notable price spike in Washington, DC; considerations for state regulators and policymakers; and more. References and recommendations: “How to Fix the Fastest-Rising Electricity Prices in the U.S.” by Zehra Khan, Lauren Sidner, and Steven Berit; https://heatmap.news/ideas/pepco-exelon-prices Electricity Price Hub data tool from Heatmap News, MIT, and CleanEcon; https://electricity.heatmap.news/ “The Affordability and Climate Agendas Run Through State Regulators. It’s Time to Rethink Their Roles.” by Arjun Krishnaswami and Megan Husted; https://fas.org/publication/rethinking-state-regulators-climate/ The Kyoichiro Kaga series of mystery novels by Keigo Higashino; https://us.macmillan.com/series/thekyoichirokagaseries “A Bad, Bad Place” by Frances Crawford; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/803124/a-bad-bad-place-by-frances-crawford/ 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 Daniel Raimi brings Gabrielle Wong-Parodi on the podcast to discuss how people connect climate change to their personal experiences with extreme weather events—and whether these experiences impact their willingness to take action. As a social scientist at Stanford University with a psychology background, Wong-Parodi offers a glimpse into the complicated, and often unpredictable, path between experiencing a consequence of climate change and deciding to contribute to solutions. Research has shown that extreme weather events can lead to increased desire to take adaptation measures (like making homes more resilient) and mitigation actions (like purchasing electric vehicles or solar panels). However, translating these cognitive responses to behavior isn’t always straightforward; Wong-Parodi explains how psychological biases and political affiliation can affect the actions that result from observed attitudinal trends. References and recommendations: “Personal experiences matter for climate action” by Gabrielle Wong-Parodi; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-026-02640-x “Households’ Perceived Personal Risk and Responses in a Multihazard Environment” by Michael K. Lindell and Seong Nam Hwang; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2008.01032.x “The effects of weather experiences on climate change attitudes and behaviors” by Matthew Ryan Sisco; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877343521001160 “Experience of extreme weather affects climate change mitigation and adaptation responses” by Christina Demski, Stuart Capstick, Nick Pidgeon, Robert Gennaro Sposato, and Alexa Spence; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32355377/ “All That Breathes” documentary; https://www.allthatbreathes.com/ 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 Daniel Raimi brings Ishan Sharma on the podcast to discuss the beginnings of the geologic hydrogen industry. Sharma, director and founder of a fund at Renaissance Philanthropy that seeks to grow hydrogen into a competitive energy provider, draws upon the trajectories of sectors such as oil and gas—and newer additions, like geothermal energy—to argue that with enough investment, the abundant hydrogen gas trapped beneath the Earth’s surface could be a major player in the energy game. As hydrogen is a natural output of common chemical reactions, such as the interaction of iron and water, there’s no shortage of the resource; the issue is how to find it. While interest in geologic hydrogen is ramping up, the industry faces feasibility issues related to incomplete public information, lack of understanding about the subsurface world, and regulatory voids—however, Sharma believes this low-carbon source has a bright future. References and recommendations: Chimaera Fund; https://www.renaissancephilanthropy.org/chimaera-fund “Designing a Life That Matters” episode of the “Hidden Brain” podcast; https://www.hiddenbrain.org/podcast/designing-a-life-that-matters/ “Odd Lots” podcast from Bloomberg; https://www.bloomberg.com/oddlots “Ministry for the Future” book; https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/kim-stanley-robinson/the-ministry-for-the-future/9780316300162/ Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/

In this episode, host Kristin Hayes invites Sara Baldwin-Griffin to give her perspective on Utah’s growing renewable energy sector—a product of the state’s abundant resources, increasing energy demand, and collaborative policy landscape. Baldwin-Griffin, as chief executive officer of Utah Clean Energy, is supporting the industry’s boom as solar, wind, geothermal, and battery power have grown from less than 5 percent to approximately 20 percent of Utah’s energy generation within just two decades. Not only do sustainable sources of energy offer solutions for affordability and reliability issues, which have been exacerbated by the state’s emerging data center projects, but renewable energy can inject vitality back into struggling local economies. Baldwin-Griffin elaborates on the factors that have led to Utah’s clean-energy success so far, including bipartisan support and community engagement, and speculates on next steps to increase renewable energy adoption across the Western United States. References and recommendations: Utah Clean Energy; https://utahcleanenergy.org/ Subscribe to stay up to date on podcast episodes, news, and research from Resources for the Future: https://www.rff.org/subscribe/