Mapping, Measuring, and Managing Methane: The Critical Role of a Potent Climate Pollutant

Published November 2019

DEBORAH GORDON,  FRANCES REULAND

Short-lived climate pollutants like methane are rapidly accelerating global warming in the near term. The authors highlight a multi-pronged approach for mapping and measuring methane and provide new tools to more effectively manage this super pollutant.

Oil Shake-Up: Refining Transitions in a Low-Carbon Economy

Published April 2018

DEBORAH GORDON,  MADHAV ACHARYA

It is critical to assess how shifting to a low-carbon economy will impact oil refining—piecemeal or isolated policy efforts could lead to unintended consequences.

Advancing Public Climate Engineering Disclosure

Published May 2018

DEBORAH GORDON,  SMRITI KUMBLE,  DAVID LIVINGSTON

The idea that climate engineering provides a get-out-of-jail-free card is fraught with risk. More transparency is needed to help ensure it successfully addresses climate change.

Corruption in the Oil Industry

Published September 2017

Guest host Deborah Gordon is joined by Carnegie Senior Fellow Sarah Chayes, dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and author Steve Coll, and Nigerian anticorruption activist Olarenwaju Suraju to discuss how corruption can become an inextricable part of an economy and how civil society and the U.S. government can work to prevent it.

Need to Know: The Case for Oil Transparency in California

Published March 2017

DEBORAH GORDON, SAMUEL WOJCICKI

By simply knowing more about its oil, California has an opportunity to further transform a critical sector that must rapidly respond to the realities of a warming world.

Getting Smart About Oil in a Warming World

Published OCTOBEr 2016

JONATHAN KOOMEY,  DEBORAH GORDON,  ADAM BRANDT,  JOULE BERGERSON

Focusing mainly on petroleum products has handicapped efforts to help the oil industry make choices consonant with a low-carbon world.

Deborah Gordon on Unconventional Oils and the Oil Climate Index

Published OCTOBEr 2016

The world of oils is becoming increasingly complex. Compared to a decade ago when there were very few types of oils, new technologies such as fracking have allowed around 300 new oils to come on-stream. Figuring out which oils are the most carbon intensive—depending also on how they are refined and used—has become very complex but also very important for investors and regulatory agencies. Tom Carver, vice president for communications and strategy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, sat down with Deborah Gordon to discuss the ways the OCI describes the new world of unconventional oils.

Oil Innovations to Reduce Climate Impacts

Published OCTOBEr 2016

DEBORAH GORDON,  JEFFREY FELDMAN

Reducing emissions through innovation is technically feasible, and despite a regulatory focus on other fossil fuels, oil will increasingly offer ways to mitigate climate change.

Know Your Oil: Creating a Global Oil-Climate Index

Published March 2015

DEBORAH GORDON,  ADAM BRANDT,  JOULE BERGERSON,  JONATHAN KOOMEY

With a shift from the production of conventional oil to unconventional oil, the world is at a key moment to determine the future energy balance between oil and low-carbon alternative fuels.

Managing China’s Petcoke Problem

Published May 2015

WANG TAO

Petroleum coke (petcoke), a by-product of petroleum refining that is high in contaminants, has quietly emerged in China as an inexpensive, but very dirty, alternative to coal. A significant share of the petcoke used in China is imported from the United States, where it is generally considered waste. The Chinese government is committed to reducing coal consumption for environmental reasons, but petcoke is not yet well-known to the country’s policymakers. Still, its use and resulting emissions must be addressed if efforts to reduce air pollution and climate change are to be effective.

The Carbon Contained in Global Oils

Published December 2012

DEBORAH GORDON

Policy guidance is needed to strike a balance between exploiting new energy assets from unconventional oils and protecting the climate.

The Role of Transportation in Driving Climate Disruption

Published December 2010

DEBORAH GORDON

Supporting a new, low-carbon, location-efficient, productive, and high-growth economy for the twenty-first century will be key to maintaining U.S. leadership in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.