Congress is on its August recess, and the Democrats are in Chicago for their national convention. But the team at NetZero Insider still is finding plenty of good stories on the policy and impacts front.
Let’s start with K Kaufmann’s coverage of the second anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, which looks at the burst of clean energy manufacturing the law has triggered, as well as some of the choke points, like the home energy rebates, where expectations of a faster rollout were, as one source said, “overly rosy.”
Similarly, factories that have been announced continue to outweigh factories built and online ― a challenge for the still import-dependent solar industry. John Cropley covers President Biden’s decision to give the industry more time to build out its supply chains by raising the number of solar cells and panels that can be imported into the U.S. duty free from 5 GW to 12.5 GW per year.
At the same time, the ongoing debates between blue and red, renewables and fossil fuels, continue at the state level.
Virginia’s Clean Economy Act requires Appalachian Power to run 100% on carbon-free power by 2050. But as James Downing reports, the utility argues it shouldn’t have to factor in the potential retirement of 4.2 GW of coal-fired generation into its plans for hitting that target, because it won’t close the two plants involved until 2040. So far, state regulatory staff and environmental advocates aren’t buying it.
Natural gas could remain very much in the energy mix in Nevada. According to correspondent Elaine Goodman, that’s the subtext in Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s recently released Climate Innovation Plan, which calls for the state to find ways to maintain energy reliability while also “potentially decreasing emissions … over a sensible time frame.”
The IRA anniversary drew headlines in our curated content as well, with Clean Technica citing a new report showing that close to 60% of projects receiving federal dollars — representing 85% of the investments and 68% of the jobs — are in red congressional districts, despite the fact that no GOP lawmaker voted for the legislation.
Heading into the Democratic convention, Reuters has a sharp analysis of the tension between climate goals and fossil fuels that has surfaced in Vice President Kamala Harris’ efforts to stay “strategically ambiguous” on energy policy. Harris is trying to balance her previous strong stand against fossil fuels with the critical need to win voters in swing states ― like Pennsylvania and Michigan ― where many blue-collar workers are employed in the coal and gas industries.
Inside Climate News looks at the pressure now building on New York’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul to roll back the state’s ambitious Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), after a series of reports that say the law’s goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 70% by 2030 likely cannot be met and will raise rates for consumers.
At the same time, PV Magazine sees signs of ongoing momentum in corporate clean energy demand, with Goldman Sachs investing $440 million in BrightNight, an independent power producer that has a five-year business plan to develop a 31 GW portfolio of renewable energy projects.
Beneath the politics and economics, however, human-driven climate change is moving ever closer to treacherous tipping points. A powerful multimedia piece in The New York Times tracks just how close we may be to irreversible change in key global climate systems, for example, the bleaching of coral reefs, the thawing of permafrost and the loss of the Amazon rainforests.
The NetZero Insider Policy and Impacts newsletter follows all the critical stories you need to move your business and climate goals forward. Read on!
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