Europe and the U.K. are legally bound to net zero. The U.S. nearly was too. In a new op-ed for @theammind, NCEA Senior Fellow @RupertDarwall traces how close the country came and why it changed course. Cap-and-trade stalled in the Senate, the Supreme Court limited EPA’s authority, and the ESG push retreated under antitrust pressure and market losses. Darwall argues the 2024 election ended America’s commitment to net zero, leaving a widening divide with Europe. In his NCEA issue brief, he goes further, examining what Europe’s net-zero commitment means for its ability to fund its own defense. Op-ed: americanmind.org/salvo/ameri… Brief: energyanalytics.org/research…

NCEA Energy Chat shows the research behind its answers. Open the Sources panel to review the NCEA publications and original sources connected to an answer. Related media is labeled separately—and the chat says when NCEA research doesn’t address a question. Ask your first question: ai.energyanalytics.org/

The federal government just called two Indiana coal plants back to work. On Sept. 19, DOE directed two Indiana coal plants slated for closure to stay available through Dec. 18, citing elevated reliability risks in the Midwest. Electricity demand is climbing fast, while new generation and transmission are stuck in permitting and construction delays. In that gap, the plants we already have are worth a lot. In their new @_RCEnergy op-ed, "Coal's Real Value Is Optionality," NCEA's Deputy Executive Director @portiamills and Visiting Fellow @lars_schernikau explain why coal keeps proving its worth: ▪️Months of fuel can be stockpiled on-site, giving grid operators a backstop when demand spikes, gas prices jump, or wind and solar underperform. ▪️Coal plants supply the synchronous generation that keeps the grid stable, which wind and solar can't provide. ▪️The world never stopped using it. Global coal demand hit a record in 2025, and China added more coal capacity than Europe has left. The Indiana order warns against energy subtraction, which shuts down reliable plants long before the grid has anything to replace them. 🔗realclearenergy.org/articles…

NCEA advisor Julio M. Ottino and Brian Uzzi have a new piece in @FortuneMagazine on a question every leadership team should be asking as AI moves from a tool for doing to a tool for thinking. Their framing: AI can act as a peacemaker or a sensemaker. A peacemaker resolves contradictions and hands back a coherent answer. A sensemaker does the harder thing: it exposes contradictions, surfaces hidden assumptions, and keeps competing interpretations alive long enough to teach us something. Drawing on Meta's "CEO agent" experiment and its Project OT rollout, Ottino and Uzzi make the case that the most efficient AI systems risk becoming sophisticated mirrors, reflecting a leader's own worldview back to them, more articulate and more persuasive, rather than challenging it. Their prompt for leaders evaluating AI tools: does it just make you faster, or does it also make you better at seeing beyond yourself? Read the full piece: fortune.com/2026/09/15/ai-ce…

$3.4 trillion. That's how much the world is projected to invest in energy in 2026. The war in Iran hasn't slowed that number down. It's reshaping where the money goes. In our new issue brief, Energy Investment and the Iran War, NCEA Senior Fellow @NeilAtkinson58 breaks down what the data show: ▪️ Renewables, nuclear, grids, and energy efficiency are expected to account for roughly two-thirds of total global energy investment in 2026. ▪️ Natural gas investment is set to rise more than 10%, to approximately $330 billion, the highest level in ten years. ▪️ Coal investment is projected to reach $180 billion, driven largely by China and heightened energy-security concerns. ▪️ Global grid investment is projected to reach $550 billion, compared with just over $100 billion for power-sector battery storage. The central question is whether the crisis will lead countries to prioritize more diversified, resilient, and secure energy systems. 🔗energyanalytics.org/research…

Senior Fellow Patrick J. McCormick III will testify before the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs on Wednesday, September 2 at 10:00 am ET. The hearing, "No Flame, More Pain: How State and Local Bans on Natural Gas Increase Costs," examines the cost impact of state and local restrictions on natural gas. Details and livestream: oversight.house.gov/hearing/…

Are regional transmission organizations still working the way they were designed to? RTOs coordinate two-thirds of America's electricity supply, but rising demand, plant retirements, and more intermittent generation are straining the markets they oversee. A new issue brief, Regional Transmission Organizations: Problem or Solution, from Senior Fellows Jonathan A. Lesser, PhD, and @drbennettTX breaks down why: ▪️ Frequent rule changes are discouraging investment in new generation and transmission. ▪️ Price caps can starve generators of revenue, while capacity markets rely on rules vulnerable to manipulation. ▪️ Transmission costs are often socialized — sometimes subsidizing poorly located renewables over reliable generation near demand. ▪️ Nearly 1,000%. PJM's capacity auction price jumped from ~$29/MW-day (2024–25) to $333+/MW-day (2027–28) — an est. $16B/year hit to ratepayers. RTOs were built for a grid that no longer exists. 🔗Read the brief or listen on the go: energyanalytics.org/research…