The Human Costs of American Energy in Transition

Energy Policy Now host Andy Stone moderates a discussion with energy scholars Sanya Carley and David Konisky about their new book release, “Power Lines”. This will be a critical conversation unpacking the human‑centered complexities of America’s energy transition.

In the United States, the promise of a green-energy future is complicated by its realities. The country’s legacy energy systems are decrepit; the rollout of new technologies is unequal and piecemeal; households find themselves increasingly without reliable or affordable access; and Americans are excluded from the decisions that shape their energy futures. Having power in America has become an exercise in race, class, and wealth—in more ways than one.

Power Lines is a sweeping portrait of American energy in the twenty-first century, rendered in terms of its increasing—and inevitable—human costs. Coal miners in West Virginia lose their livelihoods as energy markets change; historically marginalized households cannot easily access new technologies; children in “sacrifice zones” adjacent to mineral-mining sites suffer health problems and limited resources; and cities and towns are burdened by the production of alternative energies.

In the words of one reviewer, "In an era when far too many of us advocate simplistic 'solutions' and technofixes to address the climate and energy crises, Carley and Konisky offer a hard-hitting, much-needed dose of truth-telling that centers people, equity, and justice in how we imagine and realize decarbonized futures. The evidence, analysis, and conclusions in Power Lines are exceptionally strong and will stand the test of time."

This discussion examines the human-centered challenges of America’s energy transition, highlighting how aging infrastructure and unequal access to clean technologies perpetuate divides across race, class, and wealth. It considers the disproportionate burdens faced by displaced workers, marginalized households, and communities in “sacrifice zones,” while stressing that past inequities and policy missteps must inform future strategies to ensure the clean energy shift is rooted in justice, equity, and community resilience.

Sanya Carley is the Mark Alan Hughes Faculty Director of the Kleinman Center and Presidential Distinguished Professor of Energy Policy and City Planning at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design. She holds secondary appointments at the Wharton School and the School of Social Policy and Practice. She also co-directs the Energy Justice Lab and is a Resources for the Future (RFF) university fellow.

Carley’s research focuses on energy justice and just transitions, energy insecurity, electricity and transportation markets, and public perceptions of energy infrastructure and technologies. With the Energy Justice Lab team, she built and maintains the Utility Disconnection Dashboard. Carley is an author of the Fifth National Climate Assessment report and a member of the Innovation Policy Forum and the Roundtable on Macroeconomics and Climate-related Risks and Opportunities, respectively, for the National Academies.

David Konisky is the Associate Dean for Research and a Lynton K. Caldwell Professor at the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. He received his Ph.D. in political science from MIT, has master’s degrees in environmental management and international relations from Yale University, and bachelor’s degree in history and environmental studies from Washington University in St. Louis.

Konisky’s research and teaching focuses on U.S. environmental policy and politics, with emphasis on environmental and energy justice, regulation, federalism, and public attitudes. Konisky is a founding co-director of the Energy Justice Lab, a research collaboration between Indiana University and the University of Pennsylvania to explore, measure, and improve the equity and justice dimensions of society’s ongoing energy transition.

Andy Stone is producer and host of the Kleinman Center podcast series Energy Policy Now and an independent consultant on energy policy and communications. Prior to starting the podcast, Andy was a senior energy reporter at Forbes Magazine, ran an executive meeting series on energy investment in New York, and worked on corporate planning issues at electric grid / market operator PJM Interconnection. Earlier, he worked as an editorial advisor to the World Bank’s Carbon Finance Unit and was a management consultant with PwC in Tel Aviv, Israel. Andy has a master’s degree in management from Boston University and an undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Cincinnati.

This event is part of Climate Week at Penn. Check out the rest of the programming at climateweek.provost.upenn.edu.

Please note this is an in-person event. We look forward to welcoming guests to the Kleinman Center’s Energy Forum. A recording will be available on the Kleinman Center website the following day.

Host or Publisher Kleinman Center for Energy Policy