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Senate Passes Climate and Tax Bill After Marathon Debate
The Senate passed legislation on Sunday that would make the most significant federal investment in history to counter climate change and lower the cost of prescription drugs, as Democrats banded together to push through major pieces of President Biden’s domestic agenda over unified Republican opposition. The measure, large elements of which appeared dead just weeks ago amid Democratic divisions, would inject nearly $400 billion into climate and energy programs. Altogether, the bill could allow the United States to cut greenhouse gas emissions about 40 percent below 2005 levels by the end of the decade. [ read more … ]
Factbox: Key provisions in the U.S. Senate climate deal
The agreement represents a big compromise from the initial sweeping legislative ambitions by President Joe Biden’s administration for combating climate change, though the legislation was praised by environmental advocates as a crucial step forward. Here are some of the key climate and energy provisions in the deal, which must pass in the Senate and House of Representatives before going to Biden to sign.
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Climate
How Republicans Are ‘Weaponizing’ Public Office Against Climate Action
Nearly two dozen Republican state treasurers around the country are working to thwart climate action on state and federal levels, fighting regulations that would make clear the economic risks posed by a warming world, lobbying against climate-minded nominees to key federal posts and using the tax dollars they control to punish companies that want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. At the nexus of these efforts is the State Financial Officers Foundation, a little-known nonprofit organization based in Shawnee, Kan., that once focused on cybersecurity, borrowing costs and managing debt loads, among other routine issues. [ read more … ]
Axed from climate deal, these ideas might be revived by Dems
Democrats and environmentalists are giddy with anticipation now that a landmark climate spending bill has a clear shot at passing the Senate. But modeling shows that the “Inflation Reduction Act” wouldn’t cut emissions enough to meet the nation’s climate goals. So lawmakers and activists are already thinking about the climate policies they want to pursue, even if the bill becomes law. An earlier, more ambitious spending package could provide the blueprint. [ read more … ]
States
Inside Clean Energy: A Dirty Scandal for a Clean Energy Leader
I’m interested in what happened with FPL, but I’m also looking at whether this cascade of revelations could harm the utility’s parent company, NextEra Energy, which happens to be the largest generator of renewable energy in the United States, and maybe the world. NextEra, also based in Florida, has become a giant by racking up profits from its regulated utility business at FPL and using that as a foundation to build wind, solar and battery projects across the United States and Canada. Other utilities have tried similar strategies, but none have done it on the scale of NextEra.
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Nuclear
Nuclear milestone: Feds greenlight Vogtle to fuel up
Federal regulators cleared the way yesterday for Southern Co.’s nuclear business to load radioactive fuel rods into one of its newly constructed reactors at Plant Vogtle, officially moving the long-troubled project closer to producing electricity in Georgia. The approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is a pivotal step for Atlanta-based Southern and for the nuclear industry. Vogtle is the nation’s lone baseload nuclear construction project, and its two new reactors are the first to be built and approved under a federal regulatory approval process known as Part 52. [ read more … ]
Markets
Oil companies see ‘net positive’ in climate bill
At Manchin’s urging, though, it would require the government to offer oil and gas leases on federal land and in the Gulf of Mexico, albeit at a higher royalty rate. It also provides tax incentives for projects that capture carbon dioxide and new forms of energy like hydrogen. The downside for the oil industry is a required minimum tax rate and a new fee on emissions of methane, a potent climate-warming gas that’s a major source of pollution in the oilfield [ read more … ]
EVs
Electric Cars’ Surging Prices Mean Fewer Buyers Can Use Tax Credit
Vehicle-price caps included in a push by US Senate Democrats to expand a popular consumer incentive for electric cars could put pressure on automakers to lower costs of upcoming plug-in models. A breakthrough deal between Senators Chuck Schumer and Joe Manchin would allow carmakers to keep offering up to $7,500 in tax credits for the purchase of new “clean cars.” The problem comes with Congress’s plan to restrict eligibility for the credits to EVs priced no higher $55,000 for new cars and $80,000 for pickups and SUVs — one way to ensure the benefit goes to consumers who need them most, instead of the wealthiest. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.