Noah Kaufman
@noahqkaufman.bsky.social
Climate economist. Opinions are my own.
Big fan of Jigar but I hate this comparison. Lomberg fraudulently claims there's empirical evidence to show climate risks are small. Gates may have somewhat different priorities or expectations about future tech evolution. If we can't differentiate between these two, I think we're in trouble.
Bill Gates hasn’t made sense on Climate since he teamed up with Bjorn Lomberg in 2009. This is just a restating of Bjorn’s book from this year about how we have a finite amount of money and we shouldn’t use it for climate. What they get wrong is that climate solutions are now fully profitable.
Bill Gates has a new memo out calling for a “strategic pivot” on climate change, downplaying “doomsday” talk to focus on filling enormous post-USAID budget gaps in global health and vaccine funding. I got an early glimpse of his thinking last week:
November 3, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Big fan of Jigar but I hate this comparison. Lomberg fraudulently claims there's empirical evidence to show climate risks are small. Gates may have somewhat different priorities or expectations about future tech evolution. If we can't differentiate between these two, I think we're in trouble.
🚨A new funding opportunity from the Resilient Energy Economies initiative! For research projects that will help communities facing acute economic risks from the energy transition. Check it out:
www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/resilient-ec...
www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/resilient-ec...
Resilient Economies Initiative Announces New RFP to Help US Fossil Fuel-dependent Communities Transition - Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA | CGEP
The Resilient Energy Economies (REE) initiative, a collaborative project of the Center on Global Energy...
www.energypolicy.columbia.edu
September 30, 2025 at 7:07 PM
🚨A new funding opportunity from the Resilient Energy Economies initiative! For research projects that will help communities facing acute economic risks from the energy transition. Check it out:
www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/resilient-ec...
www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/resilient-ec...
Fascinating stuff is happening in Minnesota.
Tomorrow (Fri) at 2pm ET we have Carla Vita, who directs the Energy Transition Office, discussing efforts to diversify the state economy and support fossil fuel workers affected by the energy transition.
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Tomorrow (Fri) at 2pm ET we have Carla Vita, who directs the Energy Transition Office, discussing efforts to diversify the state economy and support fossil fuel workers affected by the energy transition.
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
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us02web.zoom.us
September 11, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Fascinating stuff is happening in Minnesota.
Tomorrow (Fri) at 2pm ET we have Carla Vita, who directs the Energy Transition Office, discussing efforts to diversify the state economy and support fossil fuel workers affected by the energy transition.
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Tomorrow (Fri) at 2pm ET we have Carla Vita, who directs the Energy Transition Office, discussing efforts to diversify the state economy and support fossil fuel workers affected by the energy transition.
Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
I wrote an article about the policy irrelevance of the social cost of carbon in the hopes of prompting an uncomfortable conversation about the future use of the metric.
So I was excited to see that @Revkin asked @CassSunstein about my critique 🧵
revkin.substack.com/p/a-fresh-lo...
So I was excited to see that @Revkin asked @CassSunstein about my critique 🧵
revkin.substack.com/p/a-fresh-lo...
A Fresh Look at Climate [In]Justice (and Trump 2.0) with Cass Sunstein
I hope you’ll listen to, and share, this conversation on climate policy in the age of Trump (and lots more) with the wide-ranging Harvard economist Cass Sunstein. Sunstein worked under two presidents ...
revkin.substack.com
August 13, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I wrote an article about the policy irrelevance of the social cost of carbon in the hopes of prompting an uncomfortable conversation about the future use of the metric.
So I was excited to see that @Revkin asked @CassSunstein about my critique 🧵
revkin.substack.com/p/a-fresh-lo...
So I was excited to see that @Revkin asked @CassSunstein about my critique 🧵
revkin.substack.com/p/a-fresh-lo...
Reposted by Noah Kaufman
@noahqkaufman.bsky.social has a very interesting, and certainly controversial, take on trump administration abandoning the SCC. I strongly agree with many of his SCC critiques, but the alternative is also unclear, and very well could be worse. 💡🔌
www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/the-social-c...
www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/the-social-c...
The Social Cost of Carbon Is Gone — and That May Be Good News for Future US Climate Policy - Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA | CGEP %
Get the latest as our experts share their insights on global energy policy.
www.energypolicy.columbia.edu
August 6, 2025 at 6:33 PM
@noahqkaufman.bsky.social has a very interesting, and certainly controversial, take on trump administration abandoning the SCC. I strongly agree with many of his SCC critiques, but the alternative is also unclear, and very well could be worse. 💡🔌
www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/the-social-c...
www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/the-social-c...
Question for state climate policy folks: digging into how RGGI operates in CT is depressing me.
A carbon price should be making clean energy more attractive than dirty energy, but as far as I can tell, we don’t really let RGGI do that here (1/2)
A carbon price should be making clean energy more attractive than dirty energy, but as far as I can tell, we don’t really let RGGI do that here (1/2)
May 29, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Question for state climate policy folks: digging into how RGGI operates in CT is depressing me.
A carbon price should be making clean energy more attractive than dirty energy, but as far as I can tell, we don’t really let RGGI do that here (1/2)
A carbon price should be making clean energy more attractive than dirty energy, but as far as I can tell, we don’t really let RGGI do that here (1/2)
ICYMI, I wrote about ending federal support for regional economic development, including diversification efforts in fossil fuel communities.
A fossil fuel behemoth like the USA will not decarbonize if doing so will wreck local economies. heatmap.news/ideas/trump-...
A fossil fuel behemoth like the USA will not decarbonize if doing so will wreck local economies. heatmap.news/ideas/trump-...
Trump’s Budget Would Be a Bust for Oil Boomtowns
And coal communities and fracking villages and all the rest.
heatmap.news
May 29, 2025 at 1:17 PM
ICYMI, I wrote about ending federal support for regional economic development, including diversification efforts in fossil fuel communities.
A fossil fuel behemoth like the USA will not decarbonize if doing so will wreck local economies. heatmap.news/ideas/trump-...
A fossil fuel behemoth like the USA will not decarbonize if doing so will wreck local economies. heatmap.news/ideas/trump-...
Reposted by Noah Kaufman
“Communities that depend on fossil fuel industries will be vulnerable to severe economic shocks when demand for their products eventually declines,” writes @noahqkaufman.bsky.social.
How Trump’s budget bill would wreck fossil fuel communities:
How Trump’s budget bill would wreck fossil fuel communities:
Trump’s Budget Would Be a Bust for Oil Boomtowns
And coal communities and fracking villages and all the rest.
heatmap.news
May 28, 2025 at 2:23 PM
“Communities that depend on fossil fuel industries will be vulnerable to severe economic shocks when demand for their products eventually declines,” writes @noahqkaufman.bsky.social.
How Trump’s budget bill would wreck fossil fuel communities:
How Trump’s budget bill would wreck fossil fuel communities:
I wrote about how we were finally helping fossil fuel-reliant communities build more resilient local economies. And now we're taking that support away.
heatmap.news/ideas/trump-...
heatmap.news/ideas/trump-...
Trump’s Budget Would Be a Bust for Oil Boomtowns
And coal communities and fracking villages and all the rest.
heatmap.news
May 28, 2025 at 2:12 PM
I wrote about how we were finally helping fossil fuel-reliant communities build more resilient local economies. And now we're taking that support away.
heatmap.news/ideas/trump-...
heatmap.news/ideas/trump-...
Reposted by Noah Kaufman
Our next Resilient Energy Economies virtual brownbag is tomorrow featuring Wade Buchanan who directs the Colorado Office of Just Transition.
Register here! us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Register here! us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Resilient Energy Economies: Colorado's Wade Buchanan. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Resilient Energy Economies: Colorado's Wade Buchanan. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
us02web.zoom.us
May 15, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Our next Resilient Energy Economies virtual brownbag is tomorrow featuring Wade Buchanan who directs the Colorado Office of Just Transition.
Register here! us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Register here! us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Our next Resilient Energy Economies virtual brownbag is tomorrow featuring Wade Buchanan who directs the Colorado Office of Just Transition.
Register here! us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Register here! us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Resilient Energy Economies: Colorado's Wade Buchanan. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Resilient Energy Economies: Colorado's Wade Buchanan. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
us02web.zoom.us
May 15, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Our next Resilient Energy Economies virtual brownbag is tomorrow featuring Wade Buchanan who directs the Colorado Office of Just Transition.
Register here! us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Register here! us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
I was lucky to part of this amazing group exploring Oklahoma's plans for future economic resilience given its heavy reliance on the oil and gas industry.
Here's our summary report (1/3)
cdn.prod.website-files.com/65f9f863036e...
Here's our summary report (1/3)
cdn.prod.website-files.com/65f9f863036e...
May 14, 2025 at 3:03 PM
I was lucky to part of this amazing group exploring Oklahoma's plans for future economic resilience given its heavy reliance on the oil and gas industry.
Here's our summary report (1/3)
cdn.prod.website-files.com/65f9f863036e...
Here's our summary report (1/3)
cdn.prod.website-files.com/65f9f863036e...
Seems like energycommunities.gov, which provided resources to help enable economic revitalization in fossil fuel dependent communities, has been taken down by DOE
May 12, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Seems like energycommunities.gov, which provided resources to help enable economic revitalization in fossil fuel dependent communities, has been taken down by DOE
When policymakers claim expertise that isn't real, it degrades trust in actual expertise.
Here @bataille_chris and I provide some guidance on when NOT to use energy-economic modeling tools to support climate change policymaking www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here @bataille_chris and I provide some guidance on when NOT to use energy-economic modeling tools to support climate change policymaking www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Avoiding misuses of energy-economic modelling in climate policymaking - Nature Climate Change
Energy-economic models are increasingly being used to inform climate mitigation policies. This Comment describes three situations where models misinform policymakers and calls for more iterative, poli...
www.nature.com
May 12, 2025 at 10:54 AM
When policymakers claim expertise that isn't real, it degrades trust in actual expertise.
Here @bataille_chris and I provide some guidance on when NOT to use energy-economic modeling tools to support climate change policymaking www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here @bataille_chris and I provide some guidance on when NOT to use energy-economic modeling tools to support climate change policymaking www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Noah Kaufman
Solar panels!
You can put them on a hill, you can put them on a mill,
You can put them on a barn,
You can put them on a farm,
You can put them on a field and still get some crop yield,
You can put them on a lake,
Makes it slow to evaporate,
Solar panels!
You can put them on a hill, you can put them on a mill,
You can put them on a barn,
You can put them on a farm,
You can put them on a field and still get some crop yield,
You can put them on a lake,
Makes it slow to evaporate,
Solar panels!
May 9, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Solar panels!
You can put them on a hill, you can put them on a mill,
You can put them on a barn,
You can put them on a farm,
You can put them on a field and still get some crop yield,
You can put them on a lake,
Makes it slow to evaporate,
Solar panels!
You can put them on a hill, you can put them on a mill,
You can put them on a barn,
You can put them on a farm,
You can put them on a field and still get some crop yield,
You can put them on a lake,
Makes it slow to evaporate,
Solar panels!
I'm thinking we need to stop saying "solar" to mean rooftop and utility-scale. Just like we shouldn't say "nuclear" to mean fission and fusion. The differences are too large. We need to use separate words.
May 9, 2025 at 3:51 PM
I'm thinking we need to stop saying "solar" to mean rooftop and utility-scale. Just like we shouldn't say "nuclear" to mean fission and fusion. The differences are too large. We need to use separate words.
For lawyers: is "nonaquiescence" just a fancy way to say ignore court rulings?
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
May 8, 2025 at 11:12 PM
For lawyers: is "nonaquiescence" just a fancy way to say ignore court rulings?
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
Our next Resilient Energy Economies virtual brownbag is tomorrow featuring Chris Knittel of MIT and his fascinating work mapping vulnerabilities to the energy transition across US regions.
Register here:
us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Register here:
us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Resilient Energy Economies "brownbag:" Chris Knittel. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Resilient Energy Economies "brownbag:" Chris Knittel. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
us02web.zoom.us
April 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Our next Resilient Energy Economies virtual brownbag is tomorrow featuring Chris Knittel of MIT and his fascinating work mapping vulnerabilities to the energy transition across US regions.
Register here:
us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Register here:
us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
P.S. come work with us! www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.p...
April 11, 2025 at 3:52 PM
P.S. come work with us! www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.p...
Nailed it. And we've created the Resilient Energy Economies initiative to help avoid repeating the mistakes of the China Shock with the inevitable shocks caused by an energy transition.
April 11, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Nailed it. And we've created the Resilient Energy Economies initiative to help avoid repeating the mistakes of the China Shock with the inevitable shocks caused by an energy transition.
This terrific new book explains in painstaking detail why EPA's social cost of carbon estimate is not a policy relevant metric
April 8, 2025 at 1:33 PM
This terrific new book explains in painstaking detail why EPA's social cost of carbon estimate is not a policy relevant metric
Support for these actions in coal communities make little sense if we view energy solely thru the lens of costs/prices -- coal is expensive and dirty -- but we often fail to account for energy production being core to local economies and cultures.
www.reuters.com/business/ene...
www.reuters.com/business/ene...
Trump to sign executive orders to boost coal industry, sources say
U.S. President Donald Trump will sign executive orders on Tuesday aimed at boosting the nation's coal industry, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
www.reuters.com
April 8, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Support for these actions in coal communities make little sense if we view energy solely thru the lens of costs/prices -- coal is expensive and dirty -- but we often fail to account for energy production being core to local economies and cultures.
www.reuters.com/business/ene...
www.reuters.com/business/ene...
I spoke with @jtemple.bsky.social before the tariff announcement so I probably wasn't pessimistic enough here
www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/03/1...
www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/03/1...
April 4, 2025 at 2:10 PM
I spoke with @jtemple.bsky.social before the tariff announcement so I probably wasn't pessimistic enough here
www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/03/1...
www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/03/1...
My amateur pundit take on the abundance debate is the critiques are correct but the outrage/blame is an anti-establishment shtick by establishment critics
March 28, 2025 at 1:05 PM
My amateur pundit take on the abundance debate is the critiques are correct but the outrage/blame is an anti-establishment shtick by establishment critics
Reposted by Noah Kaufman
"The bedrocks of successful climate action are limits on greenhouse gas emissions & cooperation with countries where emissions are growing fastest. A myopic & imperialistic focus on domestic energy production will take the world in the opposite direction"
We wrote this to push back against suggestions that an energy abundance strategy is, in itself, a climate strategy nationalinterest.org/blog/energy-...
Energy Abundance Alone Won't Fix the Climate
Energy abundance isn't a climate strategy—it delays clean energy progress, harms global cooperation, and repeats past policy mistakes.
nationalinterest.org
March 27, 2025 at 8:05 PM
"The bedrocks of successful climate action are limits on greenhouse gas emissions & cooperation with countries where emissions are growing fastest. A myopic & imperialistic focus on domestic energy production will take the world in the opposite direction"