NEW YORK — The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs announced today that Erin Blanton has joined CGEP as a Senior Research Scholar. Blanton will lead the natural gas research initiative and will conduct research focused on the role of natural gas in the energy transition, energy markets and geopolitics. Blanton will also manage collaborative projects that contribute to the University’s wider research and engage with public and private sector leaders, journalists and students.

“Global natural gas markets are in the midst of a major transformation. Investors, regulatory agencies and policymakers are working to understand the economic, environmental and geopolitical impacts of this transformation,” said Jason Bordoff, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs and Founding Director of CGEP. “Erin can speak fluently on everything from the impact of increased LNG flows on Russia’s leverage over European gas buyers to the environmental implications of natural gas methane leakage and flaring. We are confident she will help us continue to drive our work in this space ahead successfully. Her deep expertise in energy markets will help bring into context the impact this transformation will have on global trade, energy security and efforts to address climate change.”

“The natural gas industry has made a case that gas can be a critical factor in the ongoing energy transition as a bridge fuel, primarily by displacing more-polluting coal in the energy system,” said Blanton. “But methane leaks, flaring and venting — which are receiving steadily greater attention in recent years — all have the potential to undermine the role of the industry in this transition and their profitability moving forward. I’m excited to join the team at CGEP and am looking forward to engaging the industry on the importance of the environmental, social and governance aspects of transforming the sector.”

About Erin Blanton

Before joining the Center, Blanton spent 16 years at Medley Global Advisors, an independent macro-policy research firm. Blanton was a managing director and led natural gas and renewable coverage as part of the firm’s energy team. Her clients consisted of the world’s leading hedge funds, asset managers and investment banks. Blanton has a master’s degree in Energy Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Cornell University.

NEW YORK — Climate change is undermining the foundations of good health; threatening the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the hospitals and clinics we depend on. However, the response to climate change could be the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century. New research published today in the British medical journal The Lancet, The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change, tracks annual indicators of progress, empowering the health profession and policymakers to accelerate their response. Dr. Melissa C. Lott, Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA is co-author of the section on mitigation in the energy sector, which provides new data and insights that show how climate change and air pollution from burning fossil fuels is already harming human health.

According to this research, in 2018, we experienced 831 climate-related extreme events around the globe, resulting in $166 billion in economic loses. Every child born today will be affected by climate change, says its authors. Without significant intervention, this new era will come to define the health of people at every stage of their lives, particularly children.

At the core of the challenge – and its solution – are our global energy systems.

Existing datasets clearly show that the energy sector (including not only power plants, but also transportation and industry) not only produces the majority of global greenhouse gas emissions but also the vast majority of key air pollutants that damage our bodies including particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. For example, exposure to this air pollution leads to increasing instances of childhood asthma, heart disease, respiratory illness, cancers, and early death.

This research shows how the transition to cleaner sources of energy could be one of the world’s greatest public health opportunities. We have already made some progress with using renewable energy to generate electricity and adopting electric vehicles. But, we are not on track to meet Paris Agreement targets. From 2016 to 2018, global carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector still grew by 2.6% from 2016 to 2018. Here in the United States, after almost a decade of decline, air pollution rose from 2016 to 2018, leading to nearly 10,000 additional early deaths.

According to this research, we are currently facing a world in which we are more likely to get lung cancer even if we don’t smoke and where more children will develop asthma, suffer infectious disease, and be faced with a lifetime of health challenges due to the combined effects of climate change and air pollution. But, such outcomes are not inevitable, and we know the solutions. By transitioning to clean energy systems as soon as possible, we can mitigate the damage to our health.

Read the Report

For media inquiries, please contact Artealia Gilliard at ag4144@sipa.columbia.edu or (212) 853-1337, or Genna Morton at gam2164@sipa.columbia.edu or (212) 853-0298. 

NEW YORK – The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs announced today that Dr. Erica Downs has joined as a Senior Research Scholar to focus on Chinese energy markets and geopolitics. Dr. Downs was formerly a CGEP non-resident Fellow and a Senior Research Scientist in the China Studies division of the CNA Corporation.
 
“China is the world’s largest energy user and greenhouse-gas emitter. Its future production and consumption patterns at home, as well as its massive global energy investments abroad through its Belt and Road Initiative, have enormous consequences for the global economy, geopolitics, and environment,” said Jason Bordoff, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs and Founding Director of the CGEP. “Erica’s deep expertise in these areas illustrate the value she brings to our growing team. We are so pleased to have her on board.”
 
“We’re thrilled Erica is joining our team,” added David Sandalow, inaugural Fellow and Director of the China Energy and Climate Research Program at CGEP.  “China plays a central role in global energy markets, the world’s response to climate change and much more. Her deep expertise on these topics will contribute greatly to understanding of critical issues at this important time.”
 
Dr. Downs has a distinguished career in Eurasian energy policy with a focus on China. She has over 15 years of experience working in the public and non-profit sectors. She previously worked as a Senior Analyst in the Asia practice at Eurasia Group, a Fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, an Energy Analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, and a lecturer at the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing, China.
 
“I’m excited to join the excellent team at CGEP to help inform leaders across the public, private, and non-profit sectors on critical energy issues,” said Downs. “Jason and David have built a first-rate China research program at CGEP, and I look forward to helping build the Center’s work on China’s climate change policies, domestic energy markets and production, and geopolitical influence in global energy infrastructure and markets. These issues are central to understanding the current and future energy landscape.”
 
Dr. Downs has managed more than 50 publications in the areas of Chinese energy production and development and its geopolitical positioning. She holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. from Princeton University and a B.S. from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She is an honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy at the University of Dundee.

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About the Center on Global Energy Policy

CGEP’s mission is to enable public and private sector leaders to make more informed choices about the world’s most pressing energy issues by providing an independent and interdisciplinary platform for insights and data-driven analysis, convening and information-sharing, education and training, and actionable recommendations on the current and future global energy system.

India’s energy challenges are diverse and compounded by a growing global commitment to climate change, which has serious implications for India’s reliance on cheap coal to power its cities and villages alike. On this episode, host Jason Bordoff talks with Sunita Narain, Director General of the Center for Science and Environment, one of India’s leading environment NGOs based in Delhi, and one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People for her work on climate change and the poor. They discuss: The role energy access and energy poverty play in India’s energy narrative; How to prevent fossil-fuel addiction among India’s citizens; The challenge of transitioning India off of cheap coal and the role of natural gas in the developing world; The need for smart fuel subsidies; Whether the Paris Agreement is a good deal for India and other developing nations.