November 2020 North America Newsletter
Good afternoon,
After a November election featuring record turnout, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have made clear that one of their administration’s four priorities will be climate change. The issue has been especially noticeable here on the West Coast since September, when multiple wildfires across the west coast blew smoke into the Bay Area that created an ominous orange sky that affected our air quality.
The California orange sky is just one example of how climate change is affecting our everyday lives around the world, with profoundly disproportionate impacts on people living in poverty and people of color. For me, it’s another motivating reason why J-PAL should continue our work in climate change. Ten years ago, when I first joined J-PAL, I was excited to collaborate with my colleagues at J-PAL South Asia on randomized evaluations of industrial pollution audits and cookstoves projects. This summer, J-PAL launched the King Climate Action Initiative to study and scale solutions that effectively address climate change.
In our November newsletter, we learn about our climate change research agenda. In a new J-PAL affiliate spotlight, Chris Knittel of MIT shares evidence and open questions for addressing climate change in North America. We also highlight our new J-PAL Voices podcast that tells the stories behind the impact of summer jobs programs, and we announce four new partnerships through our Housing Stability Evaluation Incubator to evaluate strategies to reduce and prevent homelessness.
Mary Ann Bates
Executive Director, J-PAL North America
Building a research agenda for environment, energy, and climate change: interview with J-PAL affiliate Chris Knittel
Building upon the existing evidence base, J-PAL North America is developing a research agenda to identify equitable programs that address the causes and consequences of climate change. In a new Affiliate Spotlight, Chris Knittel (MIT Sloan) illuminates open research questions on firm and consumer responses to environment and energy policies that can help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions and carbon co-pollution. In this post, Chris discusses his research to better understand the impacts of energy efficiency policies on commercial and industrial facilities. To date, much of the research on energy efficiency has focused on residential programs, and findings show that many produce limited returns. Chris also discusses recent research that aims to determine how consumers think about fuel economy and the best ways to decarbonize transportation. Through these efforts, Chris aims to inform policymakers on more efficient policy options to address climate change. J-PAL North America’s research agenda is also informed by J-PAL’s King Climate Action Initiative, which seeks to generate evidence and catalyze the scale-up of high-impact policy solutions at the nexus of climate change and poverty alleviation.
Listen to J-PAL Voices: The Impact and Promise of Summer Jobs
“The way that you help young people isn't just by giving them a wage. You help young people by making sure that they understand that there are people out here who care about them and who are invested in their success.” - Angela Rudolph, Deputy Commissioner of Youth Services at the City of Chicago.
Rigorous research paired with visionary public policy has shaped a program that empowers communities to lower violent crime, reduce incarceration, and save lives. In our new podcast series, listeners can hear the stories behind the impact through conversations with people like Angela Rudolph. Hosted by Senior Research and Policy Manager Rohit Naimpally, the inaugural season of J-PAL Voices explores how summer jobs programs fit into the broader goals of fostering mobility from poverty in the United States. Over six episodes, we will hear from advocates and program coordinators, researchers, and most importantly, the participants themselves about why these programs matter to them and why they should matter for all of us. Episodes are released every other Wednesday. Subscribe to J-PAL Voices today, wherever you listen to podcasts.
Housing Stability Evaluation Incubator launches new partnerships
This month, J-PAL North America announced four new partnerships through the inaugural round of our Housing Stability Evaluation Incubator to rigorously research strategies to reduce and prevent homelessness. With support from J-PAL, Local Initiatives Support Coalition, Oakland Housing Authority, Project Hope Boston, and New Mexico Legal Aid will develop randomized evaluations to generate widely applicable lessons about strategies that are most effective at reducing homelessness and increasing housing stability for youth, families, and individuals. These partners will evaluate a variety of policies and programs, including anti-eviction and anti-foreclosure initiatives, affordable housing development, legal assistance for those at risk of eviction in housing court, and tenancy-sustaining support services for families experiencing housing instability. During a pandemic and economic recession where housing instability and eviction rates are increasing across the country, efforts to reduce and prevent homelessness are especially important. We are excited to collaborate with these organizations to add to the growing evidence base on strategies for promoting housing stability.