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Energy Explained
Get the latest as our experts share their insights on global energy policy.
Making Nuclear Regulatory Reform Durable: Efficiency Backed by Credibility and Predictability
The United States is at a rare inflection point for nuclear energy, with unprecedented momentum behind deployment and regulatory reform as nuclear becomes central to energy security, AI competitiveness, and state and corporate climate goals.
Podcasts
Hear in-depth conversations with the world’s top energy and climate leaders from government, business, academia, and civil society.
Laura Holgate on the Promise and Perils of Nuclear Innovation
The Trump administration has prioritized nuclear energy expansion, aiming to increase US nuclear capacity fourfold by 2050. This nuclear energy resurgence in the US is a rare issue...
Events
Find out more about our upcoming and past events.
February 16, 2026 - February 18, 2026
• 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
est
The Energy Transition from a Fiscal Angle – A Two Part Workshop
This workshop will be conducted in two parts: Part one on February 16 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM EST, and Part two on February 18 from 1:00 PM to...
Event
• Center on Global Energy Policy
1255 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10027
1255 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10027
Podcast
William Reilly – President George H.W. Bush’s Energy and Environmental Legacy
December 17, 2018
The recent passing of President George H.W. Bush has spurred an interest in his energy and environmental policy and its legacy. In the latest Columbia Energy Exchange podcast, host Jason Bordoff sat down with William Reilly, who was the EPA Administrator during President George H.W. Bush’s Administration.
Bill recounts the significance of the environment in Bush’s presidential campaign, which led to landmark environmental policies, and discusses the challenges, opportunities, and significance of the Clean Air Act of 1990. He describes what it was like working for the Administration, including internal divisions on the environment. Jason and Bill discuss other notable milestones like the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Global Change Research Act of 1990, and the Energy Policy Act of 1992. Jason and Bill also cover carbon pricing, climate policy, and what needs to happen to encourage both sides of the aisle to work together in solving these pressing issues.
In addition to his time with the Bush administration, Bill served as a senior staff member at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, under President Nixon. President Clinton appointed him as a founding Trustee of the Presidio Trust of San Francisco. President Obama appointed him co-chair of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and the Future of Offshore Drilling. Bill served as president of World Wildlife Fund and later chairman of the board. He has also served in the U.S. Army. He’s currently on a number of private sector and non-profit boards. Bill holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Yale University, a Law Degree from Harvard, and a Master’s Degree from Columbia University.
More Episodes
Laura Holgate on the Promise and Perils of Nuclear Innovation
The Trump administration has prioritized nuclear energy expansion, aiming to increase US nuclear capacity fourfold by 2050. This nuclear energy resurgence in the US is a rare issue...
Jigar Shah Wants to Depoliticize Energy
As political support for clean energy has waxed and waned over the past twenty years, so has the government’s financial backing. In the 2010s, critics pointed to the...
Michael Webber on What’s Behind Rising Energy Costs
With electricity prices on the rise, the future of our power grid is attracting a lot more attention. Surging demand is at the center of the story, but...
Reporters’ Roundtable: What’s Driving US Energy Policy News in 2026?
From the affordability crisis and the data center boom, to the US government’s campaign to reinvigorate the Venezuelan oil market, energy is dominating headlines in unusual ways. And...
Columbia Energy Exchange Podcast
• January 20, 2026
Relevant
Publications
Assessing US Government Efforts to Support Fossil Fuel–Reliant Communities
The decline of domestic fossil fuel production in the United States poses serious economic risks for communities that rely on fossil fuel industries for jobs and public revenues. Many of these communities lack the resources and capacity to manage those risks on their own. The absence of viable economic strategies for affected regions is a barrier to building the broad, durable coalitions needed for an equitable national transition to cleaner energy sources.
Reports
by Noah Kaufman • February 05, 2026
Making Nuclear Regulatory Reform Durable: Efficiency Backed by Credibility and Predictability
The United States is at a rare inflection point for nuclear energy, with unprecedented momentum behind deployment and regulatory reform as nuclear becomes central to energy security, AI competitiveness, and state and corporate climate goals.
How a Conflict in Iran Could Affect Oil Markets in the Gulf Arab States
Multiple US–Iran conflict scenarios carry materially different risks for global oil infrastructure, transit routes, and prices.
Where China Gets Its Oil: Crude Imports in 2025 Reveal Stockpiling and Changing Fortunes of Certain Suppliers, Including Those Sanctioned
China’s crude oil imports hit a record-high 11.6 million barrels per day in 2025, as geopolitical tensions, low oil prices, and global oversupply spurred China to increase its oil stockpiles, a trend likely to continue in 2026.
