U.S. Climate Policy at a Crossroads: A Conversation with Mary Nichols

Off The Charts Energy Podcast

U.S. climate policy is in a state of significant uncertainty. Over the past year, federal policy has lurched backward through a series of regulatory rollbacks aimed at easing emissions limits on power plants, vehicles, and industry. Yet, in spite of this shift at the national level, policy in California—the world’s fifth largest economy—has grown more ambitious. Over her 40 year career, California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols has played a pivotal road in developing and implementing the state’s environmental and climate policy agenda. What have been the major successes and challenges for California’s climate policy? What lessons can California offer the nation and world? And how will the state move forward at a time of significant uncertainty at the federal level? Nichols sat down with EPIC Director Michael Greenstone to discuss these questions and more. The discussion, hosted by EPIC and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, was moderated by Juliet Eilperin, senior national affairs correspondent for The Washington Post. It was part of a two-part series on the lessons national and global policymakers can glean from California’s climate policies.