I’m an energy and climate analyst with over a decade of experience studying the fossil-fuel industry and the stakes of the energy transition.
I’m the Chief Programs Officer at Global Energy Monitor, an international nonprofit, based out of San Francisco, California. Over the past six years, I’ve provided technical review, and state-of-play data insights for the International Energy Agency, United Nations Environmental Program, Climate TRACE, Project Drawdown, and others.
Trained as a historian, I earned a Ph.D. from Rutgers University, and held fellowships with the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming and the Center of the American West at the University of Colorado. In 2026, I’m publishing my first book on coal development in the Powder River Basin.
I’ve written essays and provided commentary for a number of popular outlets, including the Washington Post, TIME, the Economist, The Guardian, The Progressive, Sydney Morning Herald, Times of India, South China Morning Post, and elsewhere.
Essays & Commentary
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The Federal Government Subsidized the Carbon Economy. Now it Should Subsidize a Greener One
Washington Post
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How Climate Activists Benefit from Solidarity with Kentucky Coal Miners
The Progressive
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Politics of the Public Domain
Chicago Review of Books
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An Affront to Justice
Cleveland Review of Books
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Why Are Federal Workers Selling Oil Drilling Rights in the Midst of a Shutdown?
In These Times
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Moneyfest Destiny
Los Angeles Review of Books
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Of Coal Mines and Coal Slurry
Contingent Magazine
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‘This is the Third World:’ Coal Fired America in Montana and Powwow Highway
Book: American Energy Cinema
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The Work of Strip Mining in the American West
Book: Violence of Work
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Places of Overburden
Book: The Greater Plains
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Hard Hat Cowboys: Energy Workers in the American West
Book: New Energy Histories
Research & Analysis
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Bright Side of the Mine
Global Energy Monitor
Solar’s opportunity to reclaim coal’s footprint: Abandoned coal mines offer vast solar potential, turning liabilities into clean power assets.
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Scraping By: Global Coal Miners and the Urgency of a Just Transition
Global Energy Monitor
Global coal mine employment report: nearly half a million jobs at risk by 2035, highlighting urgent need for just transition initiatives.
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Bigger than Oil or Gas? Sizing up Coal Mine Methane
Global Energy Monitor
Global coal mine methane mapped: country emissions, climate risks, and priority mitigation strategies for the energy transition.
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Coal’s Gambit
World Coal
Nearly 400 new coal mines planned worldwide—tracking climate impacts, stranded-asset risks, and transition obstacles
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Colombian Coal Mining at the Crossroads
Global Energy Monitor
Colombia’s coal plans could double methane, challenging climate targets and reshaping communities and transition efforts.
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Methane Corporates
Global Energy Monitor
Corporate methane emissions ranked—exposing gaps and charting actions for a cleaner energy future.
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Why India’s New Coal Mines Won’t Solve its Power Crisis
Global Energy Monitor
India’s coal mines mapped: active and proposed projects, local impacts, and pathways toward cleaner energy.
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U.S. Coal Producers Eye $5 Billion for Asian Steel Markets
Global Energy Monitor
US–Canada metallurgical coal expansion: $4.8B in new mines face export volatility and net-zero pressure.
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Deep Trouble: Tracking Global Coal Mine Proposals
Global Energy Monitor
Global tracker charts coal mines worldwide, spotlighting expansion zones and climate risks.
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Coal Mine Methane on the Brink
Global Energy Monitor
New high-methane coal mines could rival U.S. coal CO₂ emissions.
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Covid-19 on the Rise in Coal Mines
Global Energy Monitor
COVID-19 disruptions exposed coal’s fragility—job losses, supply chain shocks, and pressure to pivot to clean energy.
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Why China’s Coal Boom Jeopardizes Short Term Climate Targets
Global Energy Monitor
China’s coal surge lifts production and methane emissions, complicating climate and transition goals.
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Coal-project financing outside of China hits 12-year low
Carbon Brief
Coal project financing outside China falls to 2010 lows—banking stopped $7.7B, projects canceled, transition momentum accelerating
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Hundreds of planned coal mines ‘incompatible with 1.5C target’
Carbon Brief
Hundreds of planned coal mines clash with the 1.5 °C target, putting climate pledges at risk.
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Carbon Bombs - Mapping Key Fossil Fuel Projects
Energy Policy
Global “carbon bombs”: 425 mega-projects mapped, exceeding 1.5 °C carbon budget.
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Rural Revolt: A History of Power Line Protests in the United States
Technology and Culture
How rural communities in the US challenged utility giants, and fueled alternative energy politics.
In Conversation
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Future Black as Coal
Guest on Radio Ecoshock with Alex Smith
On coal mine methane, China’s expansion plans, and the balance of economic and climate commitments.
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Just Transition in Coal Communities
Guest on Climate Adaption with Doug Parsons
On what it means to unwind an industry that shaped communities for generations, and why the transition defines what comes next
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Solar, Nuclear, and AI: The Race for Clean Energy
Guest on Know More, Know Less with Michael Cecchin
A conversation about global momentum in the energy transition, current bottlenecks, and how asset-level tracking changes the picture.
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Coal in the American West
Guest on Stories from the Stacks with Hagley Center
Conversation about archival research and Ph.D. research on coal development in the American West
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Global Gridlock
Guest on Phantom Electric Ghost with Keith Gitten-Jones
Conversation on how systems adapt under pressure, and what structural energy transition actually looks like
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Perspective on Methane
Speaker at International Forum for Coal Regions in Transition
Remarks on methane emissions from coal mining and their implications for climate accountability and transition strategies.
I hosted podcast about the American West for the New Books Network in the early 2020s with highlights on energy: