Research Library

Three key Texas runoffs in the Texas Democratic congressional primaries demonstrate the ongoing battles between establishment and progressive wings of the Democratic party, writes the author, and the outcomes will either enhance or undermine Democratic efforts to retain control of the U.S. House in the 2022 midterms. Read his opinion on the Baker Institute Blog.  This opinion originally appeared in The Hill on May 24, 2022.

"With the pressures of climate change and the urgency to incorporate alternative energy resources like wind and solar, the fixation on the purported benefits of energy transition technologies overshadows the glaring reality — an absence of strategy around identifying and quantifying other life cycle externalities, such as waste disposal or environmental impacts," write fellow Rachel Meidl and research assistant Mathilde Saada. Read more on the Baker Institute Blog.

As the world faces the latest wave of COVID-19, a vaccine produced by health fellow Peter Hotez and his colleague Maria Elena Bottazzi is ready to be deployed. Their CORBEVAX vaccine is inexpensive, effective, safe and easy to store and distribute, they write. Read their article in Scientific American: https://bit.ly/3n28isA

In the push for decarbonization, "turquoise" hydrogen offers a unique, commercially viable technology that reduces CO2 emissions, argue Rachel A. Meidl and Kenneth B. Medlock III.

Three of Argentina's provinces are the largest oil and gas producers in the country. In each one, the governor's political power took a blow in last Sunday's primaries.

Argentina's September primaries thwarted the plans of MPN party leaders in Neuquén province, home to the Vaca Muerta shale play. With the current elections, power in the region may be shifting.

The leader of Argentina's most influential oil and natural gas workers union is handing off the reins to a more combative successor. The government and energy firms active in the Vaca Muerta are concerned. Read more in Mark Jones' Forbes post on the Baker Institute Blog.

Circular processes cannot solve the sustainability problem, but critically implementing circularity with system-level thinking can help to urgently adopt a more resilient, regenerative model for avoiding resource scarcity while fostering economic growth, argues a Forbes piece co-authored by Rachel Meidl.

Circular economy principles are oftentimes used in conjunction or synonymously with the term “sustainability.” However, although there is a relationship between sustainability and circularity, these two concepts are very different. Energy fellow Rachel A. Meidl explains the distinction in a new post for the Baker Institute Blog.