Research Library

Non-medical drivers of health, also known as social determinants of health, have a significant impact on health outcomes. As fellow Sandra McKay and her co-authors explain, adequate funding to identify and address non-medical drivers — housing and food insecurity, transport issues, and financial strain — can improve patients’ health and health care delivery systems, while also reducing costs.

The authors write that enormous volumes of “energy transition waste” — waste from wind turbines, solar panels, lithium-ion batteries, etc. — are anticipated in the coming decades. To cope with this waste and ensure a sustainable energy transition, they call for more data, planning and coordination across the entire global supply chain, in addition to waste management and recycling policies that align with environmental and sustainability goals.

The authors take a realistic look at what's needed for the global energy transition to succeed and warn that moving away from fossil fuels too quickly could backfire — stranding climate progress in the so-called “valley of death.”

As a nation, we need to immediately focus on the availability of advanced materials that can drive the performance of both legacy and alternative energy fuels and systems and ensure sustainable footprints. This brief lays out why it is vital to do so.

Experts from the Center for Energy Studies offer nine climate policy recommendations for the Biden administration and argue that a bipartisan legislative push could accelerate a move toward significant action on climate change.

A pending bill in Congress would hobble OPEC by opening the door to anti-trust lawsuits against government-owned oil companies. This brief examines the multiple ways such legislation, known as NOPEC, would undermine critical U.S. interests. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25611/rezh-fc53

Fellows Gabriel Collins and Jim Krane argue in this issue brief that despite changes in U.S.-Persian Gulf trade relations, the U.S. retains an enduring interest in preserving political stability and securing oil flows from the region.

U.S. energy policy is evolving under President Trump, and the changes will affect trade, foreign policy and relations with key global energy suppliers, including the Gulf Cooperation Council member countries. Fellow Jim Krane and Elsie Hung explore how U.S. energy and climate policies could change under the Trump administration and what implications these could have in the U.S. itself, for energy markets globally and for the GCC states.

Despite many differences, the United States and Saudi Arabia maintain important mutual interests. Fellow Jim Krane explains why rebuilding ties with Saudi Arabia could incentivize the kingdom to place more importance on U.S. goals.

Fossil fuel subsidies have allowed energy exporting countries to distribute resource revenue, bolstering legitimacy for governments, many of which are not democratically elected. But subsidy benefits are dwarfed by the harmful consequences of encouraging uneconomic use of energy. Now, with consumption posing a threat to long-term exports, governments face a heightened need to raise prices that have come to be viewed as entitlements. While reforms of state benefits are notoriously politically dangerous, previous experience shows that subsidies can be rolled back without undermining government legitimacy — even in autocratic settings — given proper preparation.