Energy Security and Climate Initiative Media Mentions and External Appearances

[On COP24 and the Paris Agreement on climate negotiations] Paris has to be brought to life in an operational sense. One page on transparency might need 15 or 20 pages of technical definitions.

[On Russia, Saudi Arabia and oil prices] This is testing out what prices everyone can live with, and it sounds like the Russians can live with prices slightly lower than what the Saudis want to live with. How durable is this Russia-Saudi agreement? They made it under some serious duress after the price drops from 2014-16, and they didn't have much choice. Do their interests align over the long term? We may begin to see the answer as they begin to chat at the G20.

[On oil prices] The question is whether they want to get crosswise with the Saudis or not. It's not friendly cooperation, especially the Saudis and the Russians. This is definitely more a marriage of convenience than love.

[On climate change] ...that old comic book sensibility of uniting in the face of a common danger threatening the earth. Because that’s what we have here. It’s not a meteor or a space invader, but the damage to our planet, to our community, to our children, and their children will be just as great. There is no time to lose.

[On Obama Administration fuel economy standards for vehicles] They were a big deal because vehicle travel is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. And they sent a long-term signal to Detroit that they need to make vehicles that produce fewer emissions. Attempting to loosen them has sent the exact opposite signal to Detroit.

Ironically, the precise strength of the U.S. energy sector—that it is driven by the market and not by a government—also means that it is not a stick to beat people with.

If Brazil did leave [the Paris Climate Agreement], it would absolutely be a bad development.

The United States has shown on many occasions that it has many other values that supersede oil, including international norms of behavior, free democratic elections, and freedom of speech. Trump can’t afford to have skyrocketing oil prices and rising gasoline prices at the pump going into the midterm elections.

[The Saudis] don’t want to give the US any reason to back away. Using oil as a weapon would hurt Saudi Arabia more than it would hurt the US.

[On the Trump's administration's national security arguments to boost coal production] When you want to intervene in the energy markets, national security is the nuclear option.That's what they tried to do with the reliability order, and it sounds like what they're trying to do here.