We’re helping fossil fuel–dependent communities across America develop strategies to support their local economies.
The United States is the world’s largest producer of oil and gas and the fourth-largest producer of coal. At COP28 in Dubai, countries agreed that the world should transition away from fossil fuels in the energy sector. Yet there is little understanding of how communities that rely on fossil fuels as engines of economic growth can build economic diversification and resilience against an uncertain future.
The goal of the Resilient Energy Economies (REE) initiative is to provide US economic policymakers with the information and new thinking they need to help US communities along the fossil fuel value chain build that economic resilience. At the same time, it will elevate this topic in the scholarly community by increasing the quantity and quality of analysis and, in doing so, build a community of scholars and a research agenda that will last for years to come. It will also create strong partnerships between this community of scholars and the policymakers designing and implementing strategies for these economic transitions.
Bezos Earth Fund
Dr. Leon Clarke is the Director of Decarbonization Pathways at the Bezos Earth Fund. Leon joined the Earth Fund from the University of Maryland (UMD), where he served as the Research Director for the Center for Global Sustainability and Acting Director.
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University of Notre Dame
Emily Grubert is a civil engineer and environmental sociologist who studies how we can make better decisions about large infrastructure systems, particularly related to justice-centering decarbonization of the US energy system.
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Montana State University
Julia Haggerty is a faculty member in Montana State University's Earth Science Department where she holds a joint appointment with the Montana Institute on Ecosystems. She is working to understand the interactions between natural resource use and the social and economic well being of rural communities.
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Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy
Dr. Noah Kaufman is an economist who has worked on energy and climate change policy in both the public and private sectors. Noah is Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA. He is also an External Fellow in the Transition Economics Program of the Bezos Earth Fund.
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Resources for the Future
Daniel Raimi is a fellow at RFF and a lecturer at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He works on a range of energy policy issues with a focus on tools to enable an equitable energy transition.
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About the Bezos Earth Fund
The Bezos Earth Fund is helping transform the fight against climate change with the largest ever philanthropic commitment to climate and nature protection. Jeff Bezos has committed $10 billion in this decisive decade to protect nature and address climate change. By providing funding and expertise, we partner with organizations to accelerate innovation, break down barriers to success and create a more equitable and sustainable world. Join us in our mission to create a world where people prosper in harmony with nature.
About Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy
The Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs develops evidence-based research to help address the world’s most challenging energy and climate problems through research, education, and dialogue. They accomplish this by producing best-in- class research, providing a global platform to communicate, and training tomorrow’s leaders and communicators.
About Resources for the Future
Resources for the Future (RFF) is an independent, nonprofit research institution in Washington, DC. Its mission is to improve environmental, energy, and natural resource decisions through impartial economic research and policy engagement. RFF is committed to being the most widely trusted source of research insights and policy solutions leading to a healthy environment and a thriving economy.
The REE Steering Committee includes expert scholars from universities around the country, with an emphasis on states and regions with substantial fossil fuel production.
Advisory Board members provide high-level guidance on the strategic direction of the REE initiative. They represent a diverse group of stakeholders with unique expertise on how US fossil fuel–dependent communities are charting their economic futures.