Helen Thompson, a political economist at Cambridge, examines how geopolitical conflict has shaped global oil and gas markets, with implications for the current Gulf crisis.

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Geopolitical conflict has long shaped the evolution of global energy systems. Over the past 70 years, periods of relative stability in oil and gas markets have repeatedly given way to disruption, from the Suez Crisis to the oil shocks of the 1970s, and more recently to tensions in the Middle East. These episodes have often prompted governments and markets to rethink how energy is produced, sourced, and used, sometimes reducing vulnerability, and at other times creating new risks that only emerge over time.

But these disruptions have not all played out in the same way. Some have triggered significant shifts in how energy systems are organized, while others have had more limited and short-lived effects. In some cases, efforts to manage risk have led to lasting changes. In others, they have introduced new dependencies that only became visible later.

On the podcast, Helen Thompson, professor of political economy at the University of Cambridge, explores how major geopolitical disruptions have reshaped energy systems in the United States and globally, and the policy and market responses that have followed. She also examines the vulnerabilities and pressure points in today’s oil and gas markets, and what recent tensions in the Persian Gulf may reveal about the resilience of the current system.

Helen Thompson is professor of political economy at the University of Cambridge.

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Policy Design Issues for Border Carbon Adjustments https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/policy-design-issues-for-border-carbon-adjustments/

Climate Change and Migration in Central America: Evidence from New Environmental Event Data https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/climate-change-and-migration-in-central-america-evidence-from-new-environmental-event-data/

Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Insurance is on the front lines of climate risk, and may help shape how we respond to it.

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Insurance is one of the quiet pillars of the modern economy. It underpins where we build, how we invest, and whether communities can recover after disaster. In many ways, it defines what risks we’re willing, and able, to live with.

But that foundation is under strain. Across the United States, rising losses from wildfires, floods, and other extreme events are driving up insurance costs and pushing insurers out of some markets. In states like California and Florida, homeowners are finding it harder, and more expensive, to secure coverage. When insurance becomes unavailable, the consequences extend beyond individual households, affecting housing markets, local economies, and community stability.

Carolyn Kousky, founder of Insurance for Good and a senior fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, explores how climate change is reshaping insurance markets and what that means for the future of risk, investment, and resilience. She explains how insurance doesn’t just respond to risk, but can also influence it by shaping investment in resilient infrastructure, guiding development decisions, and affecting the flow of capital into cleaner energy systems.

Carolyn Kousky if a senior fellow with the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and founder of Insurance for Good.

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Measuring What Matters: Rethinking Energy Insecurity Metrics https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/measuring-what-matters-rethinking-energy-insecurity-metrics/

Policy Design Issues for Border Carbon Adjustments https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/policy-design-issues-for-border-carbon-adjustments/

Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Arctic is emerging as a new front in the global competition over strategic minerals, raising questions about how the supply chains behind the energy transition will be governed.

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In recent months, Arctic resources have moved to the center of geopolitical debate. President Trump has publicly proposed that the United States take control of Greenland, citing its strategic location and mineral wealth, while leaders in Denmark and Greenland have rejected the proposal.

The dispute comes at a time when critical minerals are becoming central to the global energy transition. Electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, and advanced technologies all depend on them. Yet much of the world’s refining and processing capacity is concentrated in a small number of countries, most prominently China. That concentration has intensified concerns about how geopolitical rivalry could shape access to the materials that underpin the transition to cleaner energy.

Saleem Ali, Professor of Energy and the Environment at the University of Delaware and a leading voice on mineral diplomacy, discusses where frontier resources, in the Arctic and beyond, fit into this evolving landscape. He assesses whether emerging resource frontiers can meaningfully rebalance global mineral supply chains, or whether their importance has been overstated.

Ali also discusses a proposal for a governance framework, a Global Minerals Trust, designed to reduce resource nationalism and prevent critical minerals from becoming instruments of geopolitical leverage. He examines whether cooperation is realistic in a period of growing competition for strategic resources.

Saleem Ali is the Blue and Gold Distinguished Professor of Energy and the Environment at the University of Delaware.

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Policy Design Issues for Border Carbon Adjustments. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/policy-design-issues-for-border-carbon-adjustments/

Battling for Batteries: Li-Ion Policy and Supply Chain Dynamics in the U.S. and China. https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/battling-for-batteries-li-ion-policy-and-supply-chain-dynamics-in-the-u-s-and-china/

Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.