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The big climate battle of the Biden era will be natural gas
The night Barack Obama claimed victory in the Democratic presidential primaries in 2008, he predicted future generations would look back and say, “This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” That turned out to be wrong. Earth kept getting hotter, the oceans kept rising, and Donald Trump spent four years undoing many of the clean energy policies adopted by his predecessor. [ read more … ]
Wind Energy
Ørsted strikes deal with labor union on U.S. offshore wind development
Danish renewable energy group Ørsted ORSTED.CO and North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) announced on Wednesday a deal to train an offshore wind construction workforce to build the firm’s pipeline of projects down the U.S. East Coast. The memorandum of understanding aims to create a model for the nascent offshore wind industry in the United States at a time President-elect Joe Biden is promising to usher in a swift transition to renewable energy sources like solar and wind to fight climate change. [ read more … ]
Solar and wind seek big wins before and after Biden takes office
In the next few months, the renewable energy industry is operating with a foot in two separate doors. Groups like the Solar Energy Industries Association and the American Wind Energy Association are seeking policies from Biden on day one that set ambitious national goals for renewable energy deployment and that remove barriers to development, including Trump’s tariffs on foreign-made solar panels. They’re also asking Biden to strongly lobby Congress for extensions to existing tax credits and creation of new tax credits (for offshore wind and energy storage, for example). [ read more … ]
Wind industry releases blueprint for Biden
The leading U.S. wind energy trade group released a road map yesterday outlining policy steps for the incoming Biden administration, Congress and federal agencies to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The American Wind Energy Association’s 100-day plan for the federal government is centered around four themes: establishing clean energy targets, expanding interstate transmission capacity, expediting federal permitting processes for renewable energy and removing cost barriers for renewables. [ read more … ]
Transmission
New Survey Finds More Countries Turning to Macro Grids to Enable Energy Transition
A global survey of Macro Grids conducted by Iowa State University and released today shows countries around the world are scaling up their electric grids in order to tap low-cost domestic and foreign renewable resources, grow their economies, and strengthen security. Sponsored by Americans for a Clean Energy Grid as part of the Macro Grid Initiative, Macro Grids in the Mainstream: An International Survey of Plans and Progress examines whether, and to what extent, other countries are planning and building Macro Grids, defined as a network of ultra-high voltage regional and interregional transmission lines, expansive in geographical scope. [ read more … ]
FERC
Glick weighs in on potential chairmanship, Chatterjee ouster
Should President-elect Joe Biden appoint Richard Glick to lead the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Democratic commissioner said he would push to adjust electricity market rules to accommodate renewable energy, give more deference to state policies and work to remove barriers to high-voltage transmission development. “We need to continue to explore whether there are market rules that need to be reformed or updated in order to reflect the fact things are changing,” Glick said yesterday during a virtual conference hosted by the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE). “If nothing else, FERC’s responsibility is to ensure its rules are not unduly discriminatory.” [ read more … ]
Climate Litigation
Biden win won’t change Juliana’s fate
Under Biden, the Justice Department isn’t expected to change its approach to challenges like Juliana v. United States, which claims a constitutional right to climate protections and calls on the federal government to phase out fossil fuels. The young Juliana challengers lost in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year, even as the court acknowledged the urgent need for climate action. [ read more … ]
EVs
Boris Johnson unveils plan for ‘green industrial revolution’
Boris Johnson will seek to make good on his promise to boost the economies of neglected regions of the U.K. with investment in thousands of jobs in green industries, under a plan expected to be announced today. Yesterday the prime minister talked his Cabinet through his 10-point plan for “a green industrial revolution,” which will be published this week, his spokesman James Slack told reporters. [ read more … ]
Utilities join call to transition to EVs by 2030
A new U.S. industrial group is calling for policies that would end production of internal-combustion engine cars and trucks by 2030, a sign of how quickly the conversation is shifting to electric vehicles. The Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA) debuted yesterday. Its roster includes a crowd of EV makers and charging companies, miners of key minerals, ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc., and a broad bench of traditional power companies. [ read more … ]
U.K.’s Green Plan Backs 250,000 Jobs and Bans Gas Car Sales
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a 12 billion-pound ($15.9 billion) plan to boost green industries and tackle climate change, in a blueprint he says will create or support as many as 250,000 jobs. As he seeks to relaunch his premiership and revive the economy, Johnson aims to use his plan for a “green industrial revolution” to deliver on his pledge to invest in former industrial heartlands that voted for him at last year’s election.
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The Transition
How Biden might win allies in the oil patch
Democratic President-elect Joe Biden, who has pledged to cut the climate-warming emissions from the oil and gas industry, may find it easier to work with energy-producing states than the Obama administration. Under President Obama, states led by Texas and North Dakota generally resisted broader rules on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. At the time, the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), which serves as a trade group for state energy regulators, pushed a “states first” initiative aimed at curbing federal regulations. [ read more … ]
‘Just terrible.’ Top Biden adviser ducked climate activists
In their fight against a huge petrochemical plant, Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” activists say somebody major has been missing — their congressman, Rep. Cedric Richmond. The Formosa Plastics Group project, permitted to annually emit as much pollution as 2.6 million cars, has galvanized local Black activists and environmental justice leaders such as Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and the Rev. William Barber, who traveled from out of state to visit the affected communities. [ read more … ]
Campaign 2020
So, how much did climate change matter in the 2020 election?
Two big issues dominated the 2020 election: the economy and the coronavirus pandemic. But voters concerned about climate change still helped Joe Biden win the White House. Environmental advocates say their message about the urgency of curbing emissions and addressing other environmental issues broke through. A surge of voters — many of them young and casting ballots for the first time — helped the man with the most ambitious climate plan of any major-party candidate secure the presidency. [ read more … ]
Off Topic
Kid in a candy store.’ Obama memoir dishes on ex-DOE chief
“The man was like a kid in a candy store, regaling me with detailed explanations of his latest standard-setting exploits,” Obama wrote of Chu’s enthusiasm at being given a “mission” to update every efficiency standard he could find. “You’d be amazed at the environmental impact of just a five percent improvement on refrigerator efficiency!” Obama quoted Chu as marveling. [ read more … ]
Obama memoir traces his climate evolution
“For my constituents, many of whom were working-class, poor air quality or industrial runoff took a backseat to the need for better housing, education, healthcare, and jobs,” he wrote. “I figured somebody else could worry about the trees. “The ominous realities of climate change forced a shift in my perspective.” [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.