Through the Inflation Reduction Act and other programs, the federal government has unleashed unprecedented investment in our transition to green, renewable energy. While these investments are vital to our clean energy future, there is unfinished business in the government’s approach to our energy transition. Even as more clean energy projects are approved and built, fossil fuels continue to make up a large portion of our energy diet. If we wish to meet our climate goals and stave off the worst effects of climate change, we must reject an “all-of-the-above” energy approach and wind down fossil fuel usage while simultaneously increasing our green energy production.
On Wednesday, October 9 the Roosevelt Institute hosted a webinar to discuss the unfinished business of winding down fossil fuel energy. We were joined by Roosevelt Institute Fellow Kate Aronoff, recent author of Green Industrial Policy’s Unfinished Business: A Publicly Managed Fossil Fuel Wind-Down and Roosevelt Senior Fellow and former Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Sarah Bloom Raskin. Introduced by the Roosevelt Institute’s Deputy Director of Climate Policy Kristina Karlsson, Kate and Sarah discussed why markets alone are insufficient to manage the fossil fuel wind-down and the ways in which the public sector must take the lead in the transition away from fossil fuels.
In Conversation
Kate Aronoff
Staff Writer, The New Republic & Fellow, Roosevelt Institute
Kate Aronoff is a staff writer at The New Republic and the author of Overheated: How Capitalism Broke the Planet and How We Fight Back.
Kate is also the coeditor of We Own the Future: Democratic Socialism, American Style and the coauthor of A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal. Previously, she has held fellowships at the Type Media Center and the Climate Social Science Network. Her work has appeared in outlets including the New York Times, The Nation, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, and Dissent, where she serves on the editorial board. She is a regular commentator on climate politics and has appeared on (among other programs) All In with Chris Hayes, Democracy Now!, On the Media, and the Brian Lehrer Show.
Sarah Bloom Raskin
Senior Fellow, Roosevelt Institute & former Deputy Secretary, US Department of Treasury
Sarah Bloom Raskin is the former deputy secretary of the US Department of the Treasury and the Colin W. Brown Distinguished Professor of the Practice of Law and senior fellow at the Duke University Center on Risk. Raskin was previously second-in-command at the Treasury Department, where she was known for her pursuit of innovative solutions to enhance Americans’ shared prosperity, the resilience of the country’s critical financial infrastructure, and the defense of consumer safeguards in the financial marketplace. Prior to serving at Treasury, Raskin was a governor of the Federal Reserve Board and a member of the Federal Open Market Committee, where she helped conduct the nation’s monetary policy and promote financial stability. She currently is a member of the Regenerative Crisis Response Committee, a group of leading experts in law, economics, and public policy focused on the use of fiscal, monetary, and regulatory policies in a climate-transitioned economy.
Kristina Karlsson
Deputy Director, Climate Policy, Roosevelt Institute
Kristina Karlsson is deputy director of Roosevelt’s climate work as part of the climate and economic transformation program. Her work focuses on democratic implementation of the renewable transition, equity and environmental justice, fossil fuel wind-down and climate finance, and the intersection of climate and macroeconomics.
Most recently, Kristina’s research has focused on the importance of incorporating climate financial risk into the oversight and management of public pension funds and the connection between volatile fossil fuel prices and inflation.
Prior to joining the climate policy team, Kristina was a corporate power researcher at Roosevelt focused on antitrust, financialization, and corporate governance.
Kristina holds a BA in economics and French from Bowdoin College and an MA in economics from the New School for Social Research.