United States
Energy development on federal lands
In today’s rapidly changing energy landscape, local communities are grappling with the challenge of sustaining their public finances amid increasingly volatile shifts in the value and availability of resources from fossil fuel extraction. The energy transition in the United States raises pressing questions about the financial implications for communities that have long relied on fossil fuel production to fund essential public services, such as K-12 education and local public infrastructure. Central to this issue is the need to better understand how local economies can adapt and thrive in a world where energy dynamics are continuously evolving.
Resources:
- Federal Land Leasing, Energy, and Local Public Finances
- To Grow Local Support, Washington Must Share Renewable Energy Revenues
People
Dustin Tingley is the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy with a joint appointment in the Harvard Kennedy School…
Ana Martinez (She/Her) is a Pre-Doctoral Research Fellow at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science, working on the Strengthening Communities…
Corporate energy engagement with local communities
County fairs are a staple of American community life and offer companies a chance to sponsor events, promote their brand, and demonstrate local engagement. Energy companies, in particular, have long played a complex role, bringing jobs and funding, but also at times creating local environmental externalities. Understanding their community involvement is key to grasping the broader context of energy transitions. This study provides a unique perspective on firm-level activities, revealing that fossil fuel companies maintain a significantly stronger local sponsorship presence than renewable energy firms.
People
Dustin Tingley is the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy with a joint appointment in the Harvard Kennedy School…
Pranav Moudgalya (he/him) is an undergraduate at Harvard College studying government and environmental studies. He is studying the political economy…
Ana Martinez (She/Her) is a Pre-Doctoral Research Fellow at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science, working on the Strengthening Communities…
Crossed Wires
This study examines the legal and political institutions and the social context within which transmission lines are built in the United States, and the challenges that an aggressive extension of the grid faces. We focus on one aspect of the grid: long-distance transmission lines. Several recent studies (DOE, NREL, Princeton) offer a technical road map for different ways that the U.S. can develop its long-distance electricity transmission system. These studies are the starting point for this inquiry. They lay out a picture of what the future electricity transmission system might be. This study examines how we get there: the process for developing, scrutinizing, and approving long-distance transmission lines. We examine, side-by-side, the regulatory, economic, and social challenges that arise with the development of long-distance transmission lines. The essential lesson of this study is that local communities and the public broadly should be treated as partners in the development of new transmission infrastructure. In tandem with this study, we have explored transmission line developments in four different areas of the country (for more details, see “How Grid Projects Get Stuck”). In all four cases, the marginalization of community and public preferences fueled opposition and delayed the process. We draw lessons from these cases, especially in developing recommendations for how to improve public engagement in the permitting and siting processes.
Resources:
People
Stephen Ansolabehere is the Frank G. Thompson Professor of Government at Harvard University. He is an expert in public opinion…
Jason Beckfield (he/him/his) is the Robert G. Stone Jr. Professor of Sociology at Harvard University. He took his PhD. in Sociology…
Major Eason is a PhD student in Sociology. His research interests are broadly centered around environmental justice and sustainable development….
Pranav Moudgalya (he/him) is an undergraduate at Harvard College studying government and environmental studies. He is studying the political economy…
Liz is a PhD Candidate in Government & Social Policy at Harvard University and a Malcolm Wiener Scholar in Poverty…
Dustin Tingley is the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy with a joint appointment in the Harvard Kennedy School…
Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania’s Political Science Department
Former Staff Attorney, Environmental Law and Energy Program at Harvard Law School
Research Collaborator
Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School
Politics of Delay
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and moving to more renewable sources of energy will require a dramatic expansion and reconfiguration of the U.S. electrical grid. This is especially true given that areas of the country with the highest capacity to generate electricity using wind, solar, hydro dams, and other low-GHG sources of electricity are located far from the nation’s industrial and urban centers. Connecting these regions will bring social and political conflict. We often observe these conflicts play out in the development of long-distance transmission lines that cross multiple states and jurisdictions. Today, transmission projects around the country take about 15 years to move from the initial planning stage to project approvals and breaking ground for construction. These timelines are simply too long if the United States wants to meet its climate goals. In this book project, we develop a theory that helps explain this phenomenon, what we call the politics of delay. We draw on insights from political economy, regulatory policy, business incentives, and community engagement to offer a framework that helps explain why different sets of actors engage in the politics of delay and how we can ultimately overcome these dynamics to meet clean energy goals in a timely and just manner.
People
Liz is a PhD Candidate in Government & Social Policy at Harvard University and a Malcolm Wiener Scholar in Poverty…
Stephen Ansolabehere is the Frank G. Thompson Professor of Government at Harvard University. He is an expert in public opinion…
Ana Martinez (She/Her) is a Pre-Doctoral Research Fellow at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science, working on the Strengthening Communities…
Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania’s Political Science Department
Harvard Environment and Law Data Repository (HELD)
Strong environmental and public health protections rely on comprehensive, high-quality data, which only the federal government has the capacity to collect and maintain at scale. Recognizing this, Congress has long mandated agencies to gather and publish national data. During the first Trump administration, Harvard Law School’s Environmental & Energy Law Program (EELP) documented efforts across the federal government to weaken agencies’ scientific functions, including halting vital data collection. After Trump’s reelection in 2024, EELP joined an interdisciplinary initiative to identify and preserve key federal datasets on pollution, health, and climate. This effort evolved into a partnership with the Public Environmental Data Partners coalition, through which the Harvard team archived hundreds of crucial files in the Harvard Environment and Law Data (HELD) collection.
External partners:
Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI)
Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC)
Resources:
- HELD Repository
- HELD Codebook
- Harvard Climate Blog: Why We Are Rescuing Government Environmental Data
People
Hannah Perls (she/ella) is a Senior Staff Attorney with the Harvard Environmental & Energy Law Program (EELP) where she supervises…
Stephen Ansolabehere is the Frank G. Thompson Professor of Government at Harvard University. He is an expert in public opinion…
Jason Beckfield (he/him/his) is the Robert G. Stone Jr. Professor of Sociology at Harvard University. He took his PhD. in Sociology…
Dylan Carlson Sirvent León (he/him) is a Pre-Doctoral Research Fellow at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science, working on the…
Ana Martinez (She/Her) is a Pre-Doctoral Research Fellow at Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science, working on the Strengthening Communities…
Legal Fellow, Environmental and Energy Law Program at Harvard Law School
Public Data on Transportation and Climate Change
The US Department of Transportation Climate Change Center was established in 1999 and taken offline in 2025. For almost 30 years, it served as a central public resource for state, regional, urban, and rural transportation planners interested in adapting to climate change, building resilience to extreme weather events, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This project is rebuilding taxpayer-funded online resources that used to be available on the US Department of Transportation’s website, and is part of the larger Salata Transportation Initiative.