News & Publications

Many Green Light projects are confidential or produce no public document available for linking. Shareable, public projects are listed below.

2023

• 2023 year-in-review now available

• Prepares a report on energy transition and decarbonization challenges in the United States and globally, capturing the discussions at the 2023 Aspen Energy Week (released January 2024)

• Co-authors a report for NRDC ranking the 50 states on their transportation investments and policies, based on a suite of metrics related to climate and equity (with David Gardiner and Associates) (released November 2023)

• Prepares a report on global energy turbulence and trends and their implications for global decarbonization and trade, capturing the discussions at the 2023 Aspen-Columbia Global Energy Forum (released September 2023)

• Prepares a report on recent federal clean energy policy gains, trends in capital markets and geopolitics, developments in the oil and gas sector, progress in electricity decarbonization, and the potential for carbon removal and cement decarbonization, capturing the discussions at the 2023 Aspen Winter Energy Forum (released June 2023)

• Edits a paper for the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) on zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty transportation (released March 2023)

• Captures some of the key takeaways from the Aspen Institute’s Roundtable on the Swift Implementation of New Federal Clean Energy Programs (released March 2023)

2022

• 2022 year-in-review now available

• Develops a white paper on data center sustainability for CO2EFFICIENT / the Digital Climate Alliance (released March 2023)

• Prepares a report on the global energy crisis and opportunities to accelerate the clean energy transition, capturing the discussions at the 2022 Aspen Energy Week (released October 2022)

• Assists the Pennsylvania Environmental Council in preparing climate and energy policy recommendations for the Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidates (released October 2022)

• Edits a series of papers for the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) on topics including engineered carbon dioxide removal, reporting on embodied emissions, and precision agriculture (released October/November/December 2022)

• Prepares a summary of an expert convening on Pennsylvania’s path forward for carbon capture, use, and storage, organized by Clean Air Task Force, Great Plains Institute, and Pennsylvania Environmental Council (released June 2022)

• Prepares a report on advancing technologies, markets, and policies to achieve a net-zero economy, capturing the discussions at the 2022 Aspen Institute Winter Energy Forum (released June 2022)

• Prepares a report on tackling climate change and facilitating global development, capturing the discussions at the 2021 Aspen-Columbia Global Energy Forum (released March 2022)

2021

• 2021 year-in-review now available

• Helps the Pennsylvania Environmental Council prepare a fact sheet on clean energy standards (released January 2022)

• Helps the Aspen Institute and The Nature Conservancy prepare a summary of a convening on the expected surge in federal funding for U.S. wildfire resilience (released January 2022)

• Helps prepare an op-ed on climate change and national security by Holly Kaufman, Sherri Goodman, and John Conger (released December 2021)

• Conducts research for the Electrification Coalition’s new State Plug-In Adoption Resource Kit (SPARK) for states looking to electrify their vehicle fleets, with the ability to browse resources related to procurement, policy, planning, funding, and operations (released December 2021)

• Helps the Aspen Institute prepare guidance for ocean-based carbon dioxide removal projects, exploring what governance structures, scientific research, and community engagement should look like as practitioners explore the potential of ocean-based CDR to help address climate change (released December 2021)

• Prepares a report on decarbonizing the power sector, capturing the dialogue from Aspen Energy Week 2021 (released November 2021)

• Edits a paper for Clean Air Task Force (CATF) explaining the potential, status, and path forward for superhot-rock (SHR) geothermal energy (released October 2021)

• Edits a series of “closer look” papers for the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) on topics including power infrastructure needs for decarbonization, green banks, carbon dioxide removal, industrial clean heat, and using digitalization to achieve decarbonization goals (released spring/summer/fall 2021)

• Prepares reports reflecting discussions in the Aspen Institute’s Clean Energy Innovation Roundtables regarding climate and energy policy in Congress, transmission and reliability, clean energy project finance, a federal clean electricity standard, and hydrogen (winter/spring 2021)

2020

• 2020 year-in-review now available (December 2020)

• Prepares a report on deploying and scaling a zero-carbon future, reflecting discussions at Aspen - Columbia Energy Week 2020 (released March 2021)

• Prepares an electric vehicle funding and financing guidebook for the Electrification Coalition (released January 2021)

• Helps the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) develop its 2021 energy and climate policy recommendations (released January 2021)

• Helps edit a report from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) on climate resilience and city competitiveness (released October 2020)

• Co-authors a case study for the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) on the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission’s benefit-cost analysis framework, which enables the PUC to evaluate the benefits and costs of significantly different types of utility investments as the grid and electricity technologies evolve (released June 2020)

• Prepares a report on the role of the electricity sector, finance, policy, and politics in unlocking mid-century deep decarbonization, reflecting discussions at the Aspen Institute’s 2020 Winter Energy Roundtable (released June 2020)

2019

• 2019 year-in-review now available (December 2019)

• Prepares a report on the status of and barriers to renewables deployment in Southwestern Pennsylvania for the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (released July 2020)

• Prepares a report on electricity sector decarbonization, decarbonization of other sectors, innovation, finance, policy, equity, and adaptation, reflecting discussions at the Aspen Institute’s 2019 Energy Week (released March 2020)

• Prepares a report on global oil and gas supply and demand, geopolitics, climate change, and industry diversity, reflecting discussions at the Aspen Institute's Global Energy Forum (released December 2019)

• Helps the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) research, write, and edit a policy agenda for the next decade to get the United States on a path to a net-zero economy by 2050 (released November 2019)

• Prepares a report on deep decarbonization in the electricity sector and beyond, reflecting discussions at the Aspen Institute's Winter Energy Roundtable (released July 2019)

• Researches and writes a brief for the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) describing business risks, opportunities, and leadership related to climate change (released April 2019)

• Helps the Pennsylvania Environmental Council put together a policy agenda (and supporting white paper) to move Pennsylvania towards zero-carbon energy leadership (January 2019)

• Prepares a report for the Smart Electric Power Alliance as a capstone to its 51st State Initiative, conveying the key learnings and frameworks that emerged from four years of collaborative discussions on the future of the electric power sector (released January 2019)

2018

• 2018 year-in-review now available (December 2018)

• Helps Environment & Enterprise Strategies produce a report on marine plastic pollution for presentation to the InterAction Council plenary meeting in Beijing (September 2018)

• Attends and serves as rapporteur for four Aspen Institute energy dialogues: the Clean Energy Innovation Roundtable; the Forum on Global Energy, Economy, and Security; Aspen Energy Week; and the Energy Governance Forum (Winter, Summer, Fall 2018)

• Provides research and writing support to the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices on an energy innovation roadmap for states (July 2018)

• Co-authors an article for Climate Law & Policy Project on how pricing carbon and using some or all of the proceeds to provide strategic, cost-effective subsidies could achieve deeper, faster emissions cuts than a conventional price alone, in the Environmental Law Institute's The Environmental Forum (March 2018)

2017

• 2017 year-in-review now available (December 2017)

• Co-authors a white paper for Climate Law & Policy Project showing the potential power of a "price-and-subsidy" approach to help states take climate leadership and spur much larger, much faster emission reductions (July 2017)

• Attends and serves as rapporteur for five Aspen Institute forums: the Energy Policy Forum; the Clean Energy Innovation Forum; the Energy and Governance Forum; the Forum on Global Energy, Economy, and Security; and the Roundtable on the Future of Nuclear Energy (Summer 2017)

• Develops a white paper for the Pennsylvania Environmental Council that begins to lay out pathways for deep decarbonization in Pennsylvania (June 2017)

• Provides research support for the Smart Electric Power Alliance's EV managed charging report, Utilities and Electric Vehicles: The case for managed charging (April 2017)

2016

• 2016 year-in-review now available (December 2016)

• Edits two issue briefs – on energy storage and utility business models – for the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (August 2016)

• Attends and serves as rapporteur for seven Aspen Institute forums: the North American Carbon Price Roundtable; the Roundtable on Shale Production and Governance; the Forum on Global Energy, Economy, and Security; the Energy Policy Forum; the Clean Energy Innovation Forum; the Forum on the Future of Nuclear Energy; and a convening on Activating Latino Millennial Civic Power (Summer 2016)

• Authors a report capturing discussions from SEPA's 51st State Phase II Summit about the dynamic transformation of the electricity marketplace (June 2016)

• Co-authors a white paper for Climate Law & Policy Project about Using "Action Caps" to Boost Ambition and Lower Costs for Clean Power Plan Compliance (April 2016)

2015

• 2015 year-end highlights letter now available (December 2015)

• Attends and serves as rapporteur for six Aspen Institute forums: the Aspen-Nicholas Water Forum; the Modern Shale Gas and Oil Production Forum; the Forum on Global Energy, Economy, and Security; the Energy Policy Forum; the Clean Energy Innovation Forum; and a convening on Unlocking Latino Civic Potential (Summer 2015)

• Attends and serves as rapporteur for ACORE's 2015 Renewable Energy Policy Forum, in Washington, DC (April 2015)

2014

• 2014 year-end highlights letter now available (December 2014)

• Helps Climate Law & Policy Project draft and submit comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan, encouraging the agency to ensure and make clear that states can incorporate "action approaches" (e.g., reinvestment of proceeds from carbon taxes or cap-and-trade auctions into achieving additional reductions) in their compliance plans (December 2014)

• Helps develop and draft portions of Waste Management's Sustainability Report 2014 (with BuzzWord) (December 2014)

• Attends and serves as rapporteur for the Aspen Institute's first Forum on Modern Shale Gas & Oil Production, in Aspen, CO (July 2014)

• Attends and serves as rapporteur for the Aspen Institute's 5th annual Clean Energy Forum in Aspen, CO (final report here) (July 2014)

• Attends and serves as rapporteur for the Aspen Institute's 38th annual Energy Policy Forum in Aspen, CO (final report is here) (July 2014)

2013

• 2013 year-end highlights letter now available (December 2013)

• Helps the Edwards Mother Earth Foundation organize the 4th forum for its grantees focused on state-level energy efficiency utility policy (with David Gardiner & Associates) (October 2013)

• Attends and serves as rapporteur for the Aspen Institute's 37th annual Energy Policy Forum in Aspen, CO (final report is here) (July 2013)

• Authors, in conjunction with SustainAbility, GEO-5 for Business: Impacts of a Changing Environment on the Corporate Sector for the UN Environment Programme, describing how the environmental trends described in UNEP's 5th Global Environment Outlook (GEO-5) affect 10 different business sectors (June 2013)

• Attends and serves as rapporteur for the Aspen Institute's 4th annual Clean Energy Forum in Aspen, CO (final report is here) (June 2013)

• Attends and serves as rapporteur for the Aspen Institute's first roundtable on developing smart electricity networks (final report is here) (May 2013)

• Co-authors a report for a group of philanthropic foundations (the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Energy Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Living Cities, MacArthur Foundation, and Rockefeller Foundation) exploring the role of charitable giving in supporting energy efficiency retrofits in commercial office and retail buildings (with David Gardiner & Associates) (March 2013)

2012

• 2012 year-end highlights letter now available (December 2012)

• Helps NRDC prepare its 6th annual report Ranking States' Gasoline Price Vulnerability and Solutions for Change (with David Gardiner & Associates) (November 2012)

• Helps the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) prepare a white paper reviewing the impacts of extreme weather events on public transit agencies (with David Gardiner & Associates) (November 2012)

• Helps the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) prepare a white paper reviewing how transit agencies have been on the cutting edge of adopting clean technologies and fuels (link no longer available) (with David Gardiner & Associates) (September 2012)

• Co-authors a report with Ceres analyzing the SEC disclosures of major oil & gas companies on climate risk and deepwater drilling risk (link no longer available) (with David Gardiner & Associates) (August 2012)

• Attends and serves as rapporteur for the Aspen Institute's Clean Energy Roundtable in Aspen, CO (July 2012)

• Presents on the Ceres white paper on investor risks from oil shale development at a Congressional oil shale briefing (via David Gardiner & Associates) (June 2012)

• Produces a guide for companies and investors on disclosure and management of physical risks from climate change, released by Oxfam America, Calvert Investments, and Ceres (view Greenwire coverage here) (with David Gardiner & Associates) (May 2012)

• Produces a white paper for Ceres about investor risks from oil shale development (view Greenwire coverage here) (with David Gardiner & Associates) (May 2012)

• Helps the Edwards Mother Earth Foundation organize the 3rd forum for its grantees focused on state-level energy efficiency utility policy (with David Gardiner & Associates) (April 2012)

• Helps Ceres prepare the final report on the 2012 Investor Summit on Climate Risk and Energy Solutions held at the United Nations HQ in January (link no longer available) (with David Gardiner & Associates) (April 2012)

2011

• 2011 year-end highlights letter now available (December 2011)

• Helps the Environmental Defense Fund analyze and prepare a report on the pollution-related health care spending that will be avoided because of the EPA's Clean Air Act rules: Saving Lives and Reducing Health Care Costs: How Clean Air Act Rules Benefit the Nation (with David Gardiner & Associates) (November 2011)

• Helps the Energy Future Coalition draft its progress report, Change the Rules, Hurry the Future: Challenges and Opportunities on the Path to a New Energy Future (with David Gardiner & Associates) (September 2011)

• Helps NRDC prepare its 5th annual report Ranking States' Gasoline Price Vulnerability and Solutions for Change (with David Gardiner & Associates) (May 2011)

• Prepares a report on The Economic Affliction of Asthma and Risks of Blocking Air Pollution Safeguards for Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE), and the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) (with David Gardiner & Associates) (April 2011) 

2010

• 2010 year-end highlights letter now available (December 2010)

• Helps Ceres prepare a report on Investor Risks from Development of Oil Shale and Coal-to-Liquids (with David Gardiner & Associates) (December 2010)

• Helps Ceres coordinate the drafting of the Global Investor Statement on Climate Change: Reducing Risks, Seizing Opportunities & Closing the Climate Investment Gap, which was released with 259 asset owners and asset managers from North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Latin America and Africa with collective assets totaling more than $15 trillion (with David Gardiner & Associates) (November 2010)

• Helps NRDC prepare its 4th annual report Ranking States' Gasoline Price Vulnerability and Solutions for Change (with David Gardiner & Associates) (November 2010)

• Helps NRDC prepare an update to its regular reports Ranking States' Oil Vulnerability, with a particular focus on the economic impact of a possible spike in gasoline prices (with David Gardiner & Associates) (March 2010)

• Drafts a report for the UN Environment Programme - Finance Initiative's North American Task Force on Green Buildings and the Finance Sector, providing an overview of financial institution involvement in green building in North America (with David Gardiner & Associates) (March 2010)

• Helps Ceres coordinate the drafting of the 2010 Investor Statement on Catalyzing Investment in a Low-Carbon Economy, which was released at the fourth Investor Summit on Climate Risk at the United Nations and was endorsed by four global investor groups representing over $13 trillion in combined assets; also helps draft the Report of the Summit (link no longer available) (with David Gardiner & Associates) (January 2010)

• Helps Ceres prepare a summary of Investor Progress on Climate Risk & Opportunities since the third Investor Summit on Climate Risk at the United Nations in 2008 (link no longer available) (with David Gardiner & Associates) (January 2010)

2009

• 2009 year-end highlights letter now available (December 2009)

• Co-authors a paper for the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE) on Cost Effective Management of National Climate Policy: Application of Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Indicators (link no longer available) (December 2009)

• Dave Grossman's 2003 article Warming Up to a Not-So-Radical Idea: Tort-Based Climate Change Litigation cited by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in its landmark climate public nuisance decision Connecticut v. American Electric Power  (September 2009)

• Helps NRDC prepare its 3rd annual report Ranking States' Oil Vulnerability and Solutions for Change (with David Gardiner & Associates) (August 2009)

• Dave Grossman authors a chapter on tort-based climate litigation (e.g., public nuisance) in new book Adjudicating Climate Change (July 2009)

• Presents on Action Targets for the Climate Law & Policy Project at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference in Eugene, OR (February 2009)

2008

• 2008 year-end highlights letter now available (December 2008)

• Helps NRDC prepare a report Ranking States' Oil Vulnerability and Solutions for Change (with David Gardiner & Associates) (July 2008)

• Dave Grossman speaks at Princeton University on a panel on The Greening of Business, along with Andrew Winston (co-author of Green to Gold) and Jesse Johnson (co-founder and CEO of Q Collection) (May 2008)

• Helps Ceres prepare a Toolkit for Investors on climate change (with David Gardiner & Associates) (April 2008)

• Helps Ceres prepare a summary of Investor Progress on Climate Risks & Opportunities (link no longer available) (with David Gardiner & Associates) (February 2008)

2007

• 2007 year-end highlights letter now available (December 2007)

• Supervises research and production of a report for the Northeast Regional Biomass Program (part of the CONEG Policy Research Center) on Bioheat Laws, Regulations, and Policies (link no longer available) (with David Gardiner & Associates) (September 2007)

• Dave Grossman speaks on "Climate Litigation as a Business Risk" at the Let it Flow conference of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists and the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (May 2007)

• Publishes a report for Ceres with David Gardiner and Vivian Thomson of David Gardiner & Associates on TXU's Expansion Proposal: A Risk for Investors (link no longer available) (February 2007)

2006

• 2006 year-end highlights letter now available (December 2006)

• Publishes a report with Andrew Logan of Ceres on ExxonMobil's Corporate Governance on Climate Change (with David Gardiner & Associates) (May 2006)