The Center for Global Sustainability is pleased to welcome Professor Sanya Carley to the first CGS Forum of the Spring 2019 semester.
Sanya Carley is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Policy Analysis and Public Finance faculty at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. Her research focuses on electricity and transportation policy, and the effects, effectiveness, and justice implications of these policies. She also researches energy-based economic development and public perceptions of emerging energy technologies. Dr. Carley has extensive consulting experience with the World Bank, RTI International, ARCeconomics, The Nicholas Institute, and the Environmental Protection Agency. She is a co-editor of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management and on the editorial boards of Public Administration Review and Energy Research & Social Science. She received her Ph.D. in public policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and bachelor’s degrees in economics and sustainable development from Swarthmore College.
Associate Professor and Chair of the Policy Analysis and Public Finance faculty at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University
Carley will be presenting on “The U.S. Energy Transition and The Ability of Vulnerable Communities to Adapt.”
The United States is in the midst of a massive energy transition that will generate important societal benefits including new innovations and improved environmental conditions. This transition, however, may also have serious implications for vulnerable populations. The transition may exacerbate income inequality, disrupt labor markets, perpetuate energy poverty, and reduce government revenue critical to funding the social safety net. Our ability to manage the energy transition in a way that takes vulnerable communities into account is immensely important to the stability of our political, economic, and social institutions. In this presentation, Carley will discuss the distribution of benefits and burdens related to the U.S. energy transition, such as access to low-carbon energy technologies (e.g., solar energy) and unemployment in legacy energy industries. She will highlight findings from her ongoing research, including insights into how vulnerable populations are adapting to the energy transition, and what opportunities they envision for themselves. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of advancing an action-oriented research agenda focused on the just transition.