Sustainability | Yale Insights

Microplastic collected from the Sargasso Sea. Photo: Tom Gruber.

Transforming Energy Infrastructure

Elliot Mainzer
September 29, 2020

We talked to Elliott Mainzer ’98, who recently began a role overseeing California’s electrical grid, about the progress he’s witnessed and the challenges that remain in creating a fully sustainable energy network.
A Climate for Change

Judith F. Samuelson
August 13, 2020

Judy Samuelson ’82, executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program, explores whether this cataclysm will trigger lasting change.
Can We Make Recycling Work?

Robert Klee
July 29, 2020

The ubiquitous blue bin for single-stream recycling obscures a set of tradeoffs and challenges, including contamination that complicates processing and lowers the value of recyclable materials.
Faculty Viewpoints: Will COVID-19 Set Us on a More Sustainable Path?
May 28, 2020
In the short term, COVID-19 has brought about what activists and governments haven’t been able to achieve: a sharp drop in carbon emissions. What does the pandemic mean for the longer-term trajectory of efforts to remake our economy in a sustainable way?
Consumption, Numbers and Time: The Arithmetic of Sustenance

Shyam Sunder
April 22, 2020
On the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day in 1970, Yale SOM’s Shyam Sunder writes that humankind must grapple with a fundamental threat to our survival.
Can Jeff Bezos’s $10 Billion Climate Pledge Make a Difference?

Todd Cort
February 21, 2020

We asked Todd Cort, co-director of the Yale Center for Business and the Environment and an expert on sustainable finance, if Bezos’s money was a significant step toward a solution.
Researchers Propose New Method to Hedge against the Risk of Climate Disaster

Stefano Giglio Bryan T. Kelly
October 29, 2019
Markets could be a huge part of mitigating climate risk. A proposal from Yale finance faculty seeks to make that a reality.
For a Path to a Decarbonized Economy, Look to the States

Robert Klee
October 21, 2019

Robert Klee, a lecturer at Yale and the former commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, says that state-level approaches to the climate crisis provide a roadmap for a 10-year, trillion-dollar effort to put the U.S. on a path to decarbonization.
Energy Companies Have the Power to Act with Purpose

Rich Lesser Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
September 06, 2019
Rich Lesser, CEO of the Boston Consulting Group, and Yale SOM’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld write that when government fails to address the threat of climate change, businesses must lead.
Why We Need Finance to Fight Climate Change

Jeff Schub
August 27, 2019

There won’t be a transition to clean energy without a way to finance what could be the largest infrastructure project ever undertaken. Yale Insights talked with Jeffrey Schub ’13 of the Coalition for Green Capital about what a National Climate Bank could achieve.