Energy

The Tragedy of Indifference

This election will have huge consequences for climate change. Sadly, that doesn’t seem to matter that much at the polls.

The partisan divide is real: Democrats are three times more likely than Republicans to view climate change as a major threat. Even so, a quarter of Republicans agreed with Democrats on this.  The problem is that only 37% (almost all Democrats) view climate change as their top priority. 

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California Pulls Back On Sustainable Aviation Fuels

Air Resources Board abruptly withdraws proposal to mandate low-carbon jet fuel

California regulators had an opportunity this year to be a global leader on requiring airplanes to use low-carbon jet fuel. But the Air Resources Board announced earlier this month that it will back off from its earlier proposal to require jet fuel providers to decarbonize, through the agency’s landmark low carbon fuel standard program. Why …

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Trump’s Replacement for Project 2025: The “Other” MAGA Plan

It’s not Project 2025, but the “America First Agenda” is worse in some ways.

From the perspective of those who believe in environmental protection, the Trump team’s switch from one rightwing think tank to another doesn’t seem to be much of an improvement. They would both set environmental law back by decades.

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New Report: Charging and Financing Electric Trucks

CLEE/UCLA Law report & webinar offers solutions to meet California’s zero-emission trucks goal

California has groundbreaking goals to require automakers to sell, and large fleets to purchase, zero-emission trucks and buses in increasing percentages, starting this year. But these goals will only be achievable if the state has sufficient charging infrastructure to fuel the vehicles, along with available financing to help truck owners purchase or lease them. To …

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The Ins and Outs of Kennedy’s Environmental Positions  

His campaign website is a mashup of very different perspectives, from “back to the earth” to tech bro.

Working through his website seemed to reveal a broad effort to combine distrust of government and big business), belief in free markets, and valuing nature and the land for their own sakes. Kennedy offers an unusual blend of Sixties “back to the land” environmentalism with Tech Bro libertarianism.

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In Their Own Words: Climate Policy and the Party Platforms

The GOP and Democratic Platforms take starkly different approaches.

The two major parties have very different views about energy policy and climate change. Here are their official views, in their own language. Compare and contrast!

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Battery Technology and EVs Take Off: A Timeline

These interlinked technologies are crucial to the energy transition. Here’s their history.

To fight global warming, we need to largely eliminate the internal combustion engine as a form of transportation. We need battery technology for this and to store electricity, because wind and solar power are intermittent. These technologies didn’t appear out of thin air. Here’s the story of their rise

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Interview with a Yale “JD”

The climate is changing rapidly, but not as fast as some people’s views have U-turned.

Climate denial on the GOP ticket: “I’m skeptical of the idea that climate change is caused purely by man. The climate’s been changing, as others have pointed out, for millennia.”

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Climate Policy, Minnesota-Style

Tim Walz’s selection as a VP candidate has put the state’s policies in the limelight.

Although Minnesota isn’t considered a swing state, it’s not Deep Blue either. Biden got 52% of the vote in 2020. Control of the legislature has been contested, with Democrats having a narrow margin in both Houses recently. The state adopted a forward-looking climate policy in 2007, but by 2015 progress had stalled. Given this background, …

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Did Democrats Follow Through?

 The 2020 Democratic Platform made some big promises. Four years later, where do things stand?

Many of the climate promises in the 2020 Democratic platform were kept, and large down-payments were made toward fulfilling others. The glass is definitely more than half full.

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