Energy
Hillary Clinton, Climate Change, and the ‘Sliding Doors’ of History
Here’s what could have happened instead of Trump’s crusade against climate action, if Clinton had squeaked out a victory in 2016.
If Hillary Clinton had won, we would be much further along today in the battle to cut carbon emissions and control climate change. Instead, Trump was a climate disaster. The bottom line: Elections do matter. Not just for politicians but for all of us.
CONTINUE READINGHypothetically Speaking: What if Trump Had Won in 2020?
In terms of climate policy, the short answer is “nearly total destruction.”
Trump’s end point from his first term — zeroing out federal climate action — would have been his starting point after reelection. The next steps would have been an effort to end state-level and private climate action, and a massive increase in oil & gas production and use.
CONTINUE READINGCan the IRA Trump-Proof Itself?
Building A Political Firewall Against IRA Repeal
Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, is squarely in Donald Trump’s sights. There is certainly a risk that a GOP sweep in November would result in repeal, as I’ve written before. Yet there are increasing signs that the IRA has created a powerful political constituency deep in Republican domains. This will make repealing …
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CONTINUE READINGFinalists to be Trump’s Veep Pick
Not surprisingly, none of them augurs well for the environment, but some are worse than others.
All four candidates are strong supporters of fossil fuels. Burgham’s willingness to talk about carbon neutrality makes him the most promising on environmental issues, while Vance’s unblemished anti-environmentalism makes him the worst. It’s hard to guess at whom Trump will choose, but Vance’s anti-environmentalism could give him an edge.
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s War on Environmental Protection: A Chronology
Yes, there were over 100 environmental rollbacks. Here are the biggest.
From when he took office to the day he left, Trump lead a steady drumbeat of environmental rollback after environmental rollback. His goals: eliminate limits on pollution from fossil fuels and end protection of public lands.
CONTINUE READINGImportant Progress Toward a Climate-Ready Grid
New transmission is crucial. This is how FERC is starting to address the problem.
We urgently need more transmission to accommodate renewable energy, increased energy demand, and grid resilience to climate disasters. Yet the transmission approval process has been badly broken, often favoring small projects that plump up utility profits but do little to address longterm or regional transmission needs. Last week, the government took steps to improve permitting …
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CONTINUE READINGFlorida Governor DeSantis’ Head-In-The-Sand Climate Change Policies
New Florida Law Strikes Term “Climate Change” From State Laws, Promotes Fossil Fuels & Rejects Renewable Energy Projects
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, in coordination with an equally myopic and partisan Florida Legislature, has approved new state legislation (HB 1645) that eliminates the term “climate change” from numerous existing Florida statutes that former Republican Governor Charlie Crist signed into law in 2008. The legislation, which takes effect on July 1st, is not just symbolic: …
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CONTINUE READINGPouring Gas on a Five Alarm Fire
That’s Trump’s climate policy in a nutshell. His campaign slogan should be, “Burn, Baby, Burn.”
At a dinner for oil industry CEOs last week, Trump promised to fulfill the industry’s every dream in return for a billion dollars in donations. We urgently need now is more federal climate action, not less. Yet the reelection of Donald Trump would wipe out years of federal climate action. It’s important to understand fully …
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CONTINUE READINGWestern States Should Opt In to Regionalized Electricity Markets
Guest contributor Kelly Cook writes that regionalization efforts present a low risk that federal control will threaten state authority.
In the West, the benefits of electricity market regionalization appear more attractive than ever. “Regionalization” refers to efforts to expand coordination between Western states to buy and sell wholesale electricity through centralized federal power markets. Increased coordination, made possible through regional transmission organizations (RTOs – independent non-profit organizations that operate the grid and oversee the …
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CONTINUE READINGClimate Policy and the Audacity of Hope
The barriers are still huge — but we can also envision a path to success.
We should resist the allure of easy optimism about climate change, given the scale of the challenges. Neither should we wallow in despair. There’s a good basis for hope. Let’s seize the day!
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