News + Media
![Maps indicating transition and physical risks related to fossil fuels: (a) employment in fossil fuels (transition risk); (b) population below poverty level; (c) combined fossil employment and poverty (transition risk); (d) flood risk; (e) combined fossil employment and flood risk (physical risk); and (f) combined fossil employment, flood risk and poverty (both transition and physical risk). (Source: MIT Joint Program) Schlosser_FIC_WEB.jpg](https://globalchange.mit.edu/sites/default/files/styles/490x340_manual/public/news/Schlosser_FIC_WEB.jpg?itok=Qe-vxpf5)
A computational tool developed by researchers at the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change pinpoints specific counties within the United States that are particularly vulnerable to economic distress resulting from a transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources...
![Nuclear power plant (Source: Flickr/llee_wu) Morris_WashPo.jpg](https://globalchange.mit.edu/sites/default/files/styles/490x340_manual/public/in-the-news/Morris_WashPo.jpg?itok=PjmOX4kv)
MIT Joint Program Principal Research Scientist Jennifer Morris comments on the viability of the nuclear power option (Washington Post)
CLIMATE LAB
America needs clean electricity. These states show how to do it.![An MIT study shows that if U.S. nuclear power plants are retired, the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas to fill the energy gap could cause more than 5,000 premature deaths. Credits :Image: iStock MIT-Nuclear-Air-01_WEB.jpg](https://globalchange.mit.edu/sites/default/files/styles/490x340_manual/public/in-the-news/MIT-Nuclear-Air-01_WEB.jpg?itok=L0z0AR8A)
If reactors are retired, polluting energy sources that fill the gap could cause more than 5,000 premature deaths, researchers estimate (MIT News)
Nearly 20 percent of today’s electricity in the United States comes from nuclear power. The U.S. has the largest nuclear fleet in the world, with 92 reactors scattered around the country. Many of these power plants have run for more than half a century and are approaching the end of their...
![This map shows each U.S. county’s relative risk of having both high energy expenditures and high poverty rates. Credit: System for the Triage of Risk from Environmental and Socio-Economic Stressors, MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change. Heating-Oil-energy_poverty_WEB.png](https://globalchange.mit.edu/sites/default/files/styles/490x340_manual/public/in-the-news/Heating-Oil-energy_poverty_WEB.png?itok=ZjM1zp9p)
MIT Joint Program's STRESS platform shows that Maine counties have the highest risk in the region of having both high energy expenditures and high poverty rates (The Maine Monitor)
HOOKED ON HEATING OIL
Hooked on heating oil: Maine’s reliance on a dirty, expensive fuel Maine relies on home heating oil more than any other state. Ending that costly dependence could improve lives and fight climate change, but it won’t be easy.BY ANNIE ROPEIK | APRIL 8, 2023
![Photo: The XLV (45th) MIT Global Change Forum explored how decision-makers can stay on course in achieving climate change goals as the world confronts multiple and expanding crises. (Source: NASA) Forum Cover_WEB.jpg](https://globalchange.mit.edu/sites/default/files/styles/490x340_manual/public/news/Forum%20Cover_WEB.jpg?itok=wDeHml8z)
At the XLV (45th) MIT Global Change Forum on March 23-24, 2023, about 90 attendees from industry, academia, government and NGOs gathered at the Samberg Conference Center on the MIT campus to explore how the world can continue to pursue and achieve climate change goals amid turbulent times.