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Energy Explained
Get the latest as our experts share their insights on global energy policy.
How DOE’s Announcement on Data Centers Could Impact the Grid
The US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to make a rule that would help rapidly move electricity onto the US grid in large amounts.
Podcasts
Hear in-depth conversations with the world’s top energy and climate leaders from government, business, academia, and civil society.
Amy Harder on Climate and Energy Reporting
The national conversation around climate change is shifting. There’s more focus on energy affordability and demand, as well as on the dual role artificial intelligence plays as both...
Events
Find out more about our upcoming and past events.
December 10, 2025
• 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
est
Responsible Mining in Latin America: The Extractive Transition and Social License, a Crossroad for the Andean Region
The event is for CUID holders only. Please note: space is limited. The Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA invites Columbia University students to a...
Event
• Large Conference Room
Center on Global Energy Policy
Center on Global Energy Policy
Podcast
Gary Sick & Richard Nephew – Trump’s Ultimatum & the Future of the Iran Deal
January 14, 2018
President Trump has taken new steps to fulfill his campaign promise to either end the Iran nuclear agreement or get a better deal. After much speculation over whether he would extend the deal at all, the President issued an ultimatum to Congress and European allies indicating that if they don’t overhaul the deal in the next 120 days, the United States will have no choice but to pull out of it.
To discuss what these developments, alongside growing protests in Iran over the state of the nation’s economic affairs, mean for energy markets and international affairs, host Jason Bordoff sits down with two colleagues at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), Gary Sick and Richard Nephew.
Gary is a senior research scholar at Columbia’s Middle East Institute and an adjunct professor at SIPA. He served on the National Security Council under Presidents Ford, Carter, and Reagan and he was the principal White House aide for Iran during the Iranian Revolution and the hostage crisis. Richard, a senior research scholar at CGEP and adjunct professor at SIPA, served as Principal Deputy Coordinator for Sanctions Policy at the Department of State. He was the lead sanctions expert for the U.S. team negotiating with Iran and also Director for Iran on the National Security Staff where he was responsible for managing a period of intense expansion of U.S. sanctions on Iran.
Jason, Gary, and Richard discuss issues including: What happens next in EU countries and U.S. Congress in response to President Trump’s ultimatum; Growing protests in Iran and the future of the Iranian regime; Whether or not there are links between economic sanctions against Iran and growing protests in the country; Implications for energy markets should the Iran Deal fall through.
More Episodes
Amy Harder on Climate and Energy Reporting
The national conversation around climate change is shifting. There’s more focus on energy affordability and demand, as well as on the dual role artificial intelligence plays as both...
In a Charged Environment, FERC Faces Demands for Energy
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulates the United States’ energy transmission, pipeline networks, and wholesale rates for electricity. For much of its history, FERC was a little-known...
World Energy Outlook 2025: Navigating Divergent Futures
Around the globe, and here in the United States, energy markets face huge uncertainties. They include everything from rising geopolitical tensions to a wave of new liquefied natural...
Building Energy Policy on Evidence
Elected officials face huge challenges when it comes to energy policymaking. They have very little time to learn complicated, nuanced issues. They're bombarded by information — some of...
Relevant
Publications
Regulatory Progress for Project-Based Carbon Credit Markets: Pre-COP30 Roundtable Summary
On November 6, 2025, in the lead-up to the annual UN Conference of the Parties (COP30), the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University SIPA convened a roundtable on project-based carbon credit markets (PCCMs) in São Paulo, Brazil—a country that both hosted this year’s COP and is well-positioned to shape the next phase of global carbon markets by leveraging its experience in nature-based solutions.
Summaries
by Gautam Jain, Preetha Jenarthan, Victoria Barreto Vieira do Prado + 3 more • December 04, 2025
America’s Toothless Sanctions on Russian Oil
Last month, the Trump administration imposed fresh sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, signaling a renewed desire to drive Moscow to the negotiating table in its war against Ukraine. But although these measures have the potential to harm the Russian economy, just how much damage they inflict will depend largely on one actor: Beijing. China bought almost half the oil Russia exported in 2024, evading Washington’s existing restrictions in the process. And new sanctions alone will do little to push China into significantly reducing its purchases.
What the Global Electric Vehicle Market Signals for US Automakers and Policymakers
Commentary
by Pierpaolo Cazzola • November 24, 2025
Opinion: Time for CT to rethink its climate strategy
Connecticut needs an honest debate, and fresh thinking, to shape a climate strategy fit for today, not 2022.
