IRA
Just How Endangered is Clean Energy?
The Trump administration wants to slow the U.S. clean energy transition. Will it put energy investments in a deep freeze or a temporary chill?
Business investment decisions rely on stability. And stability is in short supply so far in this Trump administration. Instead, we’ve seen an erratic blitzkrieg of activity on tariffs, federal funding, and deregulation that has spooked all sorts of industries. That’s partly why Heatmap News has declared Trump “Degrowth Donald,” and why my Legal Planet colleague …
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CONTINUE READINGTalking Climate Policy with an Energy Economist
An interview with leading energy expert Catherine Wolfram
Catherine Wolfram, a leading energy economist who has researched the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act, shares her views of the impact of the IRA, its likely fate, and the energy policies of the incoming Trump Administration. Wolfram served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Climate and Energy Economics at the US Treasury in 2021-2022
CONTINUE READINGThe Ten Most Important U.S. Environmental Laws
Some of the choices may surprise you.
What are America’s most important environmental laws? Some are familiar, such as the federal air and water pollution laws, and the Endangered Species Act. But there are other people rarely hear about — even in environmental law courses — but have done a lot to protect the environment.
CONTINUE READINGCould Trump Cancel the IRA?
Probably not. But also possibly yes.
The Inflation Reduction Act is Biden’s signature climate initiative. Trump has already called for repealing it, and so have some Republicans in Congress. Given the IRA’s huge cuts in carbon emissions, that would be a tragedy. Can he do that? He would certainly face some very significant barriers. Trump would need Republican majorities in the …
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CONTINUE READINGI ♥ IRA
Yes, the IRA has flaws. But it was a really unexpected breakthrough for US climate policy.
Call me eccentric, but this is my Valentine to a federal statute, the Inflation Reduction Act, better known as the IRA. No one really expected IRA to pass. A version of the Green New Deal had passed the House. But the Democrats had only a one-vote margin in the Senate, and that one vote was …
CONTINUE READINGHow Will Americans Learn to Love the Inflation Reduction Act?
Pres. Biden has toured the country to sell his climate victories, but polls show it isn’t resonating yet with voters. Will Trump attacks help?
Last February, on the eve of the State of the Union, President Joe Biden embarked on a victory lap for his landmark climate laws. At the time, the White House was focused on explaining to the American people how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act would boost jobs and lift the economy. …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Scariest Movie Ever: “President Trump, Part II”
A tale that should send shivers down your back.
Given that Halloween is tomorrow, here’s a frighting story– the tale of what a Trump victory would mean for the future climate. Would a Trump victory be the end of the world? That might be an overstatement. But the result would surely be a surge in carbon emissions, dooming us to even more severe climate …
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CONTINUE READINGThe IRA’s Implicit Cost of Carbon
Here’s a simple way to think about a hard problem.
The social cost of carbon is important in many regulatory decisions made by the executive branch. It basically measures the benefit of cutting one ton of carbon emissions. Figuring out the cost of carbon based on an analysis of climate impacts is very tricky. However, there’s another way to think about the problem: We might …
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CONTINUE READINGCan the New Climate Laws Transform our Transportation Infrastructure?
The IIJA and IRA will spend a lot of money on transportation—but whether they’ll create fundamental change in our infrastructure or continue business as usual will depend on how that money is used.
This is the last in our series of posts previewing the Emmett Institute’s 2023 Symposium, coming up on April 12. Check out the first post, introducing some of the big questions around the IIJA and IRA, the second post, on transmission infrastructure, and RSVP for the Symposium here! Transportation is one of the most complicated …
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CONTINUE READINGHow Can We Build Transmission Infrastructure Responsibly?
The IIJA and IRA offer a chance to speed up electricity-transmission development, but can it be done fairly?
This is the second of a series of posts previewing the Emmett Institute’s 2023 Symposium, coming up on April 12. Check out the first post, introducing some of the big questions around the IIJA and IRA, and the third post, on transportation infrastructure; and RSVP for the Symposium here! The clean-energy transition that is one …
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