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The election is upon us, and at clean energy conferences up and down the East Coast, the potential impacts for policy were an underlying theme for NetZero Insider reporters on the spot.
At the recent Southeast Renewable Energy Conference in Charlotte, N.C., K Kaufmann heard some blunt talk about the fate of the Inflation Reduction Act under a second Trump administration ― cannibalized to pay for tax cuts ― but also about the strong economic drivers for solar, wind and storage growth regardless of who is in the White House.
John Cropley was at the American Clean Power Association’s Offshore Windpower Conference in Atlantic City, where the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Defense Department announced a new agreement to collaborate on permitting offshore wind projects, while minimizing potential conflicts with military operations.
Meanwhile, James Downing was in New York City, attending the Aurora Energy Transition Forum, where analysts, investors and developers provided a mostly optimistic view of industry resilience and ongoing progress across clean energy sectors, including offshore wind, onshore wind, solar and storage.
And New England correspondent Jon Lamson has the latest updates on the Massachusetts legislature’s efforts to pass a 139-page bill, entitled, “An act promoting a clean energy grid, advancing equity and protecting ratepayers.” Key provisions would cut permitting times in the state to 12 months for smaller projects and 15 months for larger ones.
In other election-related coverage, the Biden administration continues to push major amounts of federal dollars from both the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act out the door. EPA announced $2.9 billion in awards to help U.S. ports buy clean technologies ― like zero-emission vehicles ― to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, Michael Brooks reports.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is also getting into the act with its announcement of $3 billion awarded to electric cooperatives to help them stand up more clean energy projects, Ayla Burnett writes.
Moving to our curated content, less than a week after the U.S. election, the 29th U.N. Climate Conference of the Parties (COP29) will open in Baku, Azerbaijan. In advance, the U.N. has released a report warning that the world is on track to increase temperatures 1.8 degrees Celsius ― or 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit ― which will trigger “nastier heat waves, wildfires, storms and droughts,” according to the AP.
The World Resources Institute has a good rundown of the key challenges facing international delegates at the conference, including increasing financial support for developing countries, ramping up national commitments on cutting GHG emissions and ensuring transparency in how nations report their emission reductions.
Climate and environmental action happen also, and most importantly, at the local level, and the Iowa Capital Dispatch has an insightful report on how Iowa has become a national model for reclaiming abandoned and highly polluted coal mine sites. A key takeaway is the state has developed different approaches for each site.
Energy News Network has another good story on local action on climate and the environment, looking at the fate of a U.S. Steel plant in Indiana, if the company is bought by Nippon Steel of Japan. Area residents want the plant to go as green as possible, which at this point could mean a switch from coal to natural gas, with green hydrogen as a future possibility.
Read on for this week’s Intelligence Report:
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