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Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions

Completed

Regional focus

North America

Topics

CO2 is the largest driver of climate change and the greenhouse gas most intimately integrated into the U.S. economy and way of life. This ad hoc committee will examine the status of technologies, policies, and societal factors needed for decarbonization and recommend research and policy needs, focused on the near and midterm (5-20 years). Specific questions that will be addressed by the committee include sectoral interactions and systems impacts; technology research, development, and deployment at scale; social, institutional, and behavioral dimensions, particularly equity; and policy coordination and sequencing at local, state, and federal levels.

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Description

Building off the needs identified at the Deployment of Deep Decarbonization Technologies workshop in July 2019, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will appoint an ad hoc consensus committee to assess the technological, policy, social, and behavioral dimensions to accelerate the decarbonization of the U.S. economy. The focus is on emission reduction and removal of CO2, which is the largest driver of climate change and the greenhouse gas most intimately integrated into the U.S. economy and way of life. The scope of the study is necessarily broad and takes a systemic, cross-sector approach. The committee will summarize the status of technologies, policies, and societal factors needed for decarbonization and recommend research and policy needs. It will focus its findings and recommendations on near and mid-term (5-20 years) high- value policy improvements and research investments and approaches required to put the United States on a path to achieve long-term net zero emissions. This consensus study will also provide the foundation for a larger Academies’ initiative on Deep Decarbonization.The committee will produce an interim report and a final report. The interim report will provide an assessment of no regrets policies, strategies, and research directions that provide benefits across a spectrum of low carbon futures. The final report will assess a wider spectrum of technological, policy, social, and behavioral dimensions of deep decarbonization and their interactions. Specific questions that will be addressed in the final report include the following:
• Sectoral interactions and systems impacts—How do changes in one sector (e.g., transportation) impact other sectors (e.g., electric power) and what positive and negative systems level impacts arise through these interactions; how should the understanding of sectoral interactions impact choices related to technologies and policies?
• Technology research, development, and deployment at scale—What are the technological challenges and opportunities for achieving deep decarbonization, including in challenging activities like air travel and heavy processing; what research, development, and demonstration efforts can accelerate the technologies; how can financing and capital effectively support decarbonization; what are key metrics for tracking progress in deployment and scale up of technologies and key measurements for tracking emissions?
• Social, institutional, and behavioral dimensions—What are the societal, institutional, behavioral, and equity drivers and implications of deep decarbonization; how do the impacts of deep decarbonization differ across states, regions, and urban versus rural areas and how can equity issues be identified and the uneven distribution of impacts be addressed; and what is the role of the private sector in achieving emissions reductions, including companies influence on their external supply chains; what are the economic opportunities associated with deep decarbonization; and what are the workforce and human capital needs?
• Policy coordination and sequencing at local, state, and federal levels—What near-term policy developments at local, state, and federal levels are driving decarbonization; how can policies be sequenced to best achieve near, medium, and long-term goals; and what synergies exist between mitigation, adaptation, resilience, and economic development?
The study will coordinate with and leverage other efforts within the Academies and outside groups that cover energy technologies, innovation, science, behavior, and policy. The committee will have expertise across engineering, policy, social and behavioral sciences, economics, and the physical sciences.

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Conflict of Interest Disclosure

The conflict of interest policy of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (http://www.nationalacademies.org/coi) prohibits the appointment of an individual to a committee authoring a Consensus Study Report if the individual has a conflict of interest that is relevant to the task to be performed. An exception to this prohibition is permitted if the National Academies determines that the conflict is unavoidable and the conflict is publicly disclosed. A determination of a conflict of interest for an individual is not an assessment of that individual's actual behavior or character or ability to act objectively despite the conflicting interest.

Michael Méndez has a conflict of interest in relation to his service on the committee on Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions, because of his ownership of stock in Tesla Inc., an electric vehicle and clean energy company. The National Academies has concluded that the committee must include a member with current experience working at the state and local levels in the policy-making process focusing on connecting climate change and communities of color, and helping to bring local knowledge, culture, and history into policymaking to address the complexities of climate change.. As his biographical summary makes clear, Dr. Méndez has extensive current experience at the state and local levels, and in linking issues of sustainability, health, and environmental justice into climate change policy. His multifaceted expertise in planning, regulation, legislation, and advocacy uniquely positions him to help the committee evaluate and elucidate the implications of its analysis to impacted communities.

The National Academies has determined that the experience and expertise of Dr. Méndez is needed for the committee to accomplish the task for which it has been established. The National Academies could not find another available individual with the equivalent expertise and breadth of experience who does not have a conflict of interest. Therefore, the National Academies has concluded that the conflict is unavoidable. The National Academies believes that Dr. Mendez can serve effectively as a member of the committee, and the committee can produce an objective report, taking into account the composition of the committee, the work to be performed, and the procedures to be followed in completing the study.

Keith Paustian has a conflict of interest in relation to his service on the Committee on Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions, because he is a paid advisor to Indigo Agriculture, a company that works to build a system for “carbon farming,” and was the founder and part owner of Soil Metrics (acquired by Indigo Agriculture in October 2021), which provides modeling software for estimating agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Dr. Paustian served through June 14, 2022 on the Science Advisory Team at Carbon Direct, which works to expand the development of carbon removal technologies.* The National Academies has concluded that the committee must include a member with current experience in and understanding of the mitigation measures for reducing agricultural sector emissions, their costs, and their overall potential to contribute to emissions reductions. This topic and specific expertise was identified as a critical need after the publication of the first report from this committee. The committee also requires a member with current direct transdisciplinary experience in the modeling, field measurement, and development of assessment tools for soil carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions from soils. As his biographical summary makes clear, Dr. Paustian has extensive current experience in soil organic matter dynamics, carbon and nitrogen cycling in agricultural ecosystems, and assessment of agricultural climate change mitigation strategies.

The National Academies has determined that the experience and expertise of Dr. Paustian is needed for the committee to accomplish the task for which it has been established. The National Academies could not find another available individual with the equivalent expertise and breadth of experience who does not have a conflict of interest. Therefore, the National Academies has concluded that the conflict is unavoidable. The National Academies believes that Dr. Paustian can serve effectively as a member of the committee, and the committee can produce an objective report, taking into account the composition of the committee, the work to be performed, and the procedures to be followed in completing the study.

*Updated on June 17, 2022

Ed Rightor has a conflict of interest in relation to his service on the Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions, because he owns shares in Dow Chemical Company and DuPont. The National Academies has concluded that the committee must include a member with current experience in industrial energy efficiency and reductions in GHG, waste, and water use to accomplish the tasks for which it was established. It also requires current direct experience in business strategy, capital fundraising, and market analysis to drive corporate sustainability programs. As his biographical summary makes clear, Dr. Rightor has extensive current experience providing technical and strategic analyses of sustainability, energy-efficiency, and GHG emission reduction for manufacturing industries.

The National Academies has determined that the experience and expertise of Dr. Rightor is needed for the committee to accomplish the task for which it has been established. The National Academies could not find another available individual with the equivalent expertise and breadth of experience who does not have a conflict of interest. Therefore, the National Academies has concluded that the conflict is unavoidable. The National Academies believes that Dr. Rightor can serve effectively as a member of the committee, and the committee can produce an objective report, taking into account the composition of the committee, the work to be performed, and the procedures to be followed in completing the study.

Susan Tierney has a conflict of interest in relation to her service on the committee on Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions, because she is currently employed by a consulting company (Analysis Group) that provides analyses of energy markets, clean energy regulatory policy, and resource planning and procurement for a broad range of clients (including grid operators, utility and other energy companies, governments, non-governmental organizations, and energy consumers) in the electric and natural gas industries.The National Academies has concluded that in order for the committee to accomplish the tasks for which it was established, it must include a committee member with current and extensive experience in electric power markets, natural gas markets, federal and state regulations, and utility planning processes. As her biographical summary makes clear, Dr. Tierney has extensive current experience providing technical and market analyses for electricity and gas system policy, planning, and operations.

The National Academies has determined that the experience and expertise of Dr. Tierney is needed for the committee to accomplish the task for which it has been established. The National Academies could not find another available individual with the equivalent expertise and breadth of experience who does not have a conflict of interest. Therefore, the National Academies has concluded that the conflict is unavoidable. The National Academies believes that Dr. Tierney can serve effectively as a member of the committee, and the committee can produce an objective report, taking into account the composition of the committee, the work to be performed, and the procedures to be followed in completing the study.

Committee Membership Roster Comments

Jennifer Wilcox resigned from the committee January 2021.
Colin Cunliff resigned from the committee May 2021.
Adrienne Hollis, Alexandria Fazeli, Carlos Martin, Michael Mendez, Jonathan Patz, Keith Paustian, Patricia Romero-Lankao, Devashree Saha, and William Walker were added to the committee May 2021.
Jesse Jenkins resigned from the committee March 2022.
Esther Takeuchi resigned from the committee April 2022.
Varun Rai resigned from the committee April 2022.
Adrienne Hollis resigned from the committee October 2022.

Sponsors

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

ClearPath Foundation

Gates Ventures

Heising-Simons Foundation

Incite Labs

National Academy of Sciences Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fund

National Academy of Sciences Arthur L. Day Fund

National Academy of Sciences Thomas Lincoln Casey Fund

Quadrivium Foundation

Staff

K. John Holmes

Lead

Hannah Stewart

Kyra Howe

Stephen Godwin

Elizabeth Finkelman

Catherine Wise

Alex Reich

Jasmine Victoria Bryant

Kasia Kornecki

Elizabeth Zeitler

Rebecca DeBoer

Brent Heard

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