Inflation Reduction Act

Deal or No Deal?

Should Congress pass EPRA?

This is the second in a series of posts on permitting reform.  The first post is here. Given the provisions of the Energy Permitting Reform Act (EPRA), should Congress enact it as it stands now?  Answering that question is tricky, in part because it depends both on uncertain political and administrative action, as well as …

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Should We Do Permitting Reform?

What is at stake with the Manchin bill.

As Congress wraps up its lame duck session before the new Congress and President arrive in January, there is a lot of debate about whether to move forward on permitting reform within a quickly shrinking window of time.  The basis of debate is the Energy Permitting Reform Act (EPRA) co-sponsored by Senators Manchin and Barrasso.  …

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Yes, Virginia, There ARE Federal Climate Laws.

An image of the U.S. Capitol Building in the evening.

Contrary to myth, Congress has actually passed laws relating directly to climate change.

It’s a common misconception that Congress has never passed any climate change legislation. But Congresshas passed at least laws regulating two powerful greenhouse gases, as well as a series of other laws stretching back almost forty years. The story begins under President Nixon and extends into the Biden years with the multi-billion dollar Inflation Reduction Act.

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What does the election mean for the EV transition?

Slower, less certain, and less equitable–with a new focus on local leadership

The election of Donald Trump and a Republican Congress poses a direct threat to environmental protection and climate policy across the board, including destructive agency heads, reduced clean energy funding, abandoned international agreements, and more federal judges openly hostile to science-based regulation in service of public and environmental health.  It’s a bleak outlook from any …

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A To-Do List For Biden

The clock is ticking, but there’s still time for a few important last things.

Biden has a little over two months left in office. There are some important things he can do in the meantime to protect the environment from the next administration.  Here are a few of the most important efforts.

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U.S. Energy Industry Trends To Watch In A 2025 Trump Presidency

New Trump administration policies will impact the energy industry, but maybe not in the ways Trump supporters expect, writes Guest Contributor Allan Marks.

Allan Marks is a partner at Milbank LLP and a lecturer at UC Berkeley School of Law and UCLA School of Law. This article was originally published in Forbes, for which he is a contributor, on November 7, 2024. When Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office in January 2025, his second presidency will have …

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Carrots Are More Durable Than Sticks

Laws like the Inflation Reduction Act may have more sticking power than regulations.

it’s hard to repeal subsidies and tax credits.  We’re seeing that right now in Congress.  There’s been a lot of talk by Trump and others of blowing away the IRA.  But many billions of dollars of IRA investments are being made in Republican congressional districts.  And this has had an effect. Subsidies won’t solve the climate crisis on their own, but they provide a solid economic and political foundation for climate policies of all kinds.

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A Framework for Equitable Climate Infrastructure Investments

Reframing Infrastructure Investments to Realize an Equitable Transition

Achieving climate goals requires significant investments in clean energy, transportation, and other climate technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and remove carbon from the atmosphere. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act have resulted in historic levels of public investment to transform existing energy and transportation systems and lay the foundation for emerging climate …

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The Walz-Vance Debate and Environmental Policy

After Hurricane Helene, Vance and Walz were pressed on climate change during the VP debate. Here’s everything they said on energy and the environment.

The subject of climate-fueled disasters figured prominently in the vice presidential debate. The CBS News moderators asked a question about climate change within the first few minutes, although the multi-faceted answers weren’t always factual and much of the post-debate discussion in newsrooms and spin room interviews centered on contentious yet civil exchanges on immigration and …

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Evolving Energy Positions, 2016-2024

The national debate over climate and energy has shifted since Trump’s first run in 2016.

Coal, once a political flash point, has almost disappeared as an issue, with oil and gas production in unchallenged first place for Republicans.  Clean energy subsidies, a side-issue in 2016,, have now taken center stage, while EPA regulations get much less attention.  The one thing that remains unchanged is the gulf between the parties.

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