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Biden stumbles, endangering climate action
Though control of the Senate and White House still were unknown as of 5 a.m., it was clear by then that a Democratic landslide forecast in polling averages hadn’t materialized. No matter the final result, the horizons of possibility appear to have narrowed. Barring a late sweep in a key races, Democrats likely will struggle to advance transformative energy policy through Congress, while President Trump’s brand of fossil fuel politics remains intact — and could remain in power too. [ read more … ]
Chamber’s majority uncertain. So is climate legislation
Control of the Senate remained up in the air this morning, with races in five states still undecided, creating uncertainty around Democrats’ plans to push an aggressive climate agenda if they won control of Congress and the White House. The undecided races include Republican-held seats in Maine, Georgia, North Carolina and Alaska and a Democratic-held seat in Michigan. Democrats ousted Republican senators in Colorado and Arizona, replacing them with moderates who have called for action on climate change but criticized the Green New Deal. [ read more … ]
What happened in 8 state energy battlegrounds
Coal-rich Montana elected its first Republican governor in more than a decade last night as ballot initiatives and statehouses were decided that could affect energy policy for years to come. Voters in North Carolina and Texas kept the GOP in power in the state legislature, despite a push from Democrats, although several battles — including the fate of the Pennsylvania Legislature — were not fully clear at press time. [ read more … ]
Wind Energy
American wind industry posts record quarter
The U.S. wind industry set a record in the third quarter, installing nearly 2,000 megawatts (MW) of new wind power capacity, according to the American Wind Energy Association’s Wind Powers America Third Quarter 2020 Market Report. These strong third-quarter numbers bring the total American wind capacity to nearly 112,000 MW. The report says U.S. wind is on pace for a record year as installations through the third quarter are up 72 percent over the first nine months of 2019. Market fundamentals and consumer demand continue to drive U.S. wind development. [ read more … ]
Climate
Climate permeated the race, overcoming denial and a virus
Voters say climate action is more important than ever, and both campaigns have responded accordingly. Biden retooled his general election campaign around a $2 trillion climate plan, while Trump mostly dropped his overt climate denial to instead campaign on saving fossil fuel jobs. That attention has been uneven. At times, hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters steered the candidates toward climate politics — just as the coronavirus pandemic, protests over racial injustice, an economic crisis and a Supreme Court opening pulled attention elsewhere. [ read more … ]
U.S. will exit Paris Agreement today. Here’s how
The U.S. will officially depart the Paris climate agreement today no matter who wins today’s presidential election. The withdrawal from the 2015 pact was promised by President Trump in his vitriolic Rose Garden announcement on June 1, 2017, and it was formally initiated in a letter to the United Nations last year. The question now is how long the U.S. will be out of the global agreement. [ read more … ]
Grid
How would Trump or Biden deal with grid hacking threats?
The next U.S. president will face a growing number of grid cybersecurity threats as new energy technologies emerge and attacks on critical infrastructure become more common. But experts are questioning whether President Trump or Democratic nominee Joe Biden will prioritize a thorny issue that tends to stay out of the limelight until hackers strike. “I think the incoming administration is very much aware of the threat,” retired NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Wesley Clark said in an interview. “But is it something that we can push front and center? That’s the question.” [ read more … ]
Campaign 2020
What would Biden do with Interior? Look to N.M.
While New Mexico remains a fossil fuel state, it also represents a shifting relationship to those fuels. With a New Mexico pick, the Biden team thus would also be choosing a secretary familiar with that shift. “New Mexico is very much a crucible for the interwoven climate, environmental justice, and energy issues animating our country’s policy discourse as a whole,” said Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, whose work at the Western Environmental Law Center has tried to move federal oil and gas policy through the court, pressing Interior to more broadly consider the emissions impact of its decisions. [ read more … ]
Biden weighing ‘deep’ transition for coal
If Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wins the White House, a sweeping plan to help struggling coal communities may take root. That’s the aim of a coalition of advocates who have been quietly drafting a federal policy to create a division within the White House dedicated to reinventing local economies ravaged by the coal industry’s decline and planning for future economic loss tied to the energy transition. [ read more … ]
Biden energy plan may be more similar to Trump policy than expected
American presidents have long wanted the U.S. to be self-sufficient when it comes to oil, and if former Vice President Joe Biden wins the presidency, he will likely have a similar agenda but with an added emphasis on clean energy. During the President Donald Trump’s administration, the U.S. has become the world’s largest energy producer, surpassing both Russia and Saudi Arabia in oil production. It also became a net exporter of oil, when including refined products like diesel, jet fuel and gasoline.
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The oil industry thinks it can work with Biden, despite call for ‘transition’ away from it
There is a lot that the American Petroleum Institute, Washington’s biggest lobbying group for the U.S. oil and gas industry, does not like about the former vice president’s sweeping plan for addressing climate change. But on the eve of an election in which Biden is favored to win, Mike Sommers, the head of the trade association, says he sees room to work with a Democratic administration — even as the rise in global temperatures and the oil industry’s contributions to it become a bigger concern for the party’s voters. [ read more … ]
EVs
EV Makers’ Course Hinges on U.S. Election and Fuel-Economy Rules
Both of the major-party presidential candidates have said they support electric vehicles, but a Joe Biden win could bring changes to significantly speed up the adoption of cars and trucks built by the likes of Tesla Inc. and Nikola Corp. Most transportation experts envision a future with road travel dominated by electric-powered autos. The outcome of the election could determine whether it takes a decade to get there, or much longer. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.