Voices - Climate Extra

Former EPA Lawyer Urges ‘Data’ To Defend CCS Against EJ Concerns

Former EPA deputy general counsel Ethan Shenkman says the Biden administration faces a major challenge in defending the benefits of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies against growing concerns by environmental justice advocates, arguing that transparency and “granular data” from an upcoming screening tool will be key to advancing such technologies that are central to achieving the president’s climate policy goals. “The Biden-Harris administration has identified carbon capture and sequestration as a critical pillar in its ‘all of the above’...

Key Senator Says CES ‘Included’ In Senate Deal, Amid GHG Rule Warning

Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) says Senate Democrats have “included” a clean electricity standard (CES) in their $3.5 trillion infrastructure “reconciliation” package, amid warnings from a top White House official that the administration will pursue utility sector carbon rules if Congress does not enact such a policy. A CES is “the cornerstone of the progressive, practical transformation to a clean energy future we urgently need,” Smith, a leading sponsor of CES legislation who has been pushing to include a version of...

Buttigieg Signals ‘High Level Of Efficiency’ In NHTSA’s Auto Proposal

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is signaling that his agency’s forthcoming proposal to tighten near-term vehicle fuel economy standards will seek a “high level of efficiency” from conventional vehicles, arguing such steps are needed to complement the administration’s push for greater deployment of electric vehicles (EVs). “There is simply no way to meet our climate goals with EVs alone,” he said during a July 8 event hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC). “And I say that as someone who absolutely...

SEC’s Gensler Floats Possible Aspects Of Broad Climate Disclosure Rule

Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler is outlining several key elements of an expected rulemaking to require public companies to disclose a host of climate change-related risks, an effort that appears significantly broader than what finance sector officials have sought. In June 23 remarks at the virtual London City Week event, Gensler framed the upcoming rule as helping investors determine how to allocate their funds. “Today, investors increasingly want to understand the climate risks of issuers,” he said...

Kerry Rejects Notion Of Gas Pipelines As ‘Stranded’ In Low-Carbon Shift

White House international climate envoy John Kerry is rejecting the notion that natural gas pipelines will automatically become “stranded assets” as the economy shifts toward net-zero emissions, arguing such pipeline networks can be repurposed to transport low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia. “People in the industry tell me they can do this,” Kerry said during a June 8 appearance at the American Clean Power Association’s (ACPA) virtual conference. “Some of it will have to be retrofitted, sure,” Kerry added. “But, basically, I...

Biden’s Climate Order Opens Door To Novel Finance Oversight, Analyst Says

President Joe Biden’s recent order on managing financial risks from climate change could open the door to use of rarely used statutory authorities aimed at pushing regulators to adopt strict disclosure and other rules and subjecting certain financial institutions to strict scrutiny by the Federal Reserve, according to a policy analyst at the politically influential Center for American Progress (CAP). “The president doesn’t have the authority to do this on his own” but the order assigns the inter-agency Federal Stability...

Granholm Affirms Push To Keep Nuclear Plants To Attain Climate Goals

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is confirming Biden administration interest in some kind of “direct subsidy” or other support from Congress to aid nuclear plants at risk of closure, arguing it could otherwise be difficult if not impossible to meet greenhouse gas goals. “The Department of Energy has not historically subsidized plants, but I think this is a moment to consider . . . to make sure that we keep the current fleet active,” Granholm said during a May 6 House...

Wyden Seeks Bipartisan Deal On Clean Energy Tax Credits Amid Wrangling

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) wants to negotiate a bipartisan deal on overhauling clean-energy tax credits but is facing wrangling over various proposals, including an alternative plan that builds on the current system to accelerate the development of technologies for achieving a net-zero carbon emissions economy. While Wyden, during an April 27 hearing on his recently reintroduced clean energy tax credit bill, appeared to leave the door open to amending his legislation, he said what is “non-negotiable” is...

Manchin Eyes Preserving Nuclear Plants, Splitting Infrastructure Bill

Senate energy committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-WV), whose vote is considered crucial for enacting any climate- or energy-related policy in Congress, is calling for steps to preserve the nation’s fleet of zero-carbon nuclear plants while also embracing the idea of splitting the Biden administration’s $2 trillion-plus infrastructure bill into smaller pieces. His comments come amid ramped up discussion over the Biden administration’s climate agenda, particularly for the power sector, with the leader of a major utility company arguing that the...

BPC Urges ‘Significant’ Permitting Reforms To Attain Biden’s Climate Goals

Amid recently launched debate about President Joe Biden’s $2.2 trillion infrastructure plan, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) is arguing the administration’s climate goals will be impossible without “significant” and “difficult” permitting reforms to enable the rapid construction of clean energy and other key infrastructure. In an April 8 press statement , the group commends Biden’s American Jobs Plan for including “many provisions that have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support including transportation and water infrastructure, energy infrastructure, and broadband.” The group adds...

Sen. Smith Tailors Sales Pitch For CES To Attract Manchin’s Support

Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), a leading sponsor of clean electricity standard (CES) legislation, is tailoring her pitch for the policy to attract support from Senate energy committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-WV), arguing the measure along with big clean energy investments would lead to major opportunities for fossil fuel-dependent areas. During an April 9 webinar hosted by the Minnesota environmental group Fresh Energy, Smith noted that all of her fellow senators are focused on creating economic growth in their states. “I...

Appliance Group Chafes At DOE’s Planned Efficiency ‘Process’ Changes

A group representing appliance manufacturers is expressing early concerns about the Energy Department’s (DOE) proposal to roll back the Trump administration’s rule codifying the “process” for how officials develop product efficiency standards, charging that the move boosts uncertainty for the sector. “We want certainty in how DOE’s going to follow the process, and not just have a procedure or guideline they can follow if and when they want,” Kevin Messner, senior vice president of policy and government relations for the...

DOD Supply Chain ‘Greening’ Expected To Bolster Markets, Says Goodman

Sherri Goodman, senior fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center and former Department of Defense (DOD) deputy undersecretary for environmental security in the Clinton administration, says she sees new Biden administration directives for DOD to “green” its supply chain and invest hundreds of millions of dollars into electric vehicles (EVs) and biofuels bolstering national markets. “DOD is really looking hard now at how it can green its own supply chain, both to reduce costs and improve emission performance. So this...

Vilsack Eyes Creating New USDA Carbon Bank But Faces Hill Opposition

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the department is weighing plans to create a new carbon bank within the Agriculture Department (USDA) to help finance climate mitigation efforts in the sector though the move is drawing stiff opposition from lawmakers, especially if it unilaterally creates the bank within an existing USDA credit agency. “When we talk about a carbon bank, I think many folks are taking a look at the existing carbon market and asking themselves whether or not it actually...

FERC Seen Gearing Up For Major Actions On Climate, Clean Energy

Current and former members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) are expecting the agency to have a crowded agenda in the coming months with respect to low-carbon energy in wholesale power markets and grid resilience, with the commission in the early stages of several potentially major initiatives. “I’m excited already by what I’m seeing out of FERC,” said Norman Bay, a former Democratic member of the panel who now leads the energy regulatory group at the firm Willkie Farr...

McCarthy Open To CES But Eyeing ‘Other Options’ For Utility GHG Cuts

Biden domestic climate coordinator Gina McCarthy is declining to rule out a push for a power sector “clean energy standard” (CES), but she is also acknowledging potential Capitol Hill roadblocks to moving the measure and stating the administration is eying other options for steep power sector greenhouse gas emissions cuts. In wide-ranging remarks to the American Council on Renewable Energy’s (ACORE) policy forum March 11, McCarthy is also pledging that the U.S. will make an ambitious domestic 2030 emission reduction...

Reilly Backs Biden’s Push To Tout Jobs’ Benefits Of Climate Agenda

President Joe Biden’s framing of his climate agenda as an integrated economic, energy, and jobs initiative is a smart approach given the continuing lack of Republican support for strong climate-specific legislation, and for similar reasons Biden should avoid calling for a carbon tax, according to former EPA administrator William Reilly. During a Feb. 22 virtual webinar, “Climate Policy in a New Era,” hosted by the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF), Reilly -- who served as EPA administrator under President...

Offshore Wind Sector Seeks To Boost Permit Approvals To Meet Biden Goals

President Joe Biden’s commitment to double offshore wind energy production by 2030 will require the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to significantly step-up approvals for a backlog of siting permits, says a senior official with a broad offshore wind business coalition. And Brandon Burke, director of policy and outreach at the Business Network for Offshore Wind (Network), tells Climate Extra that his organization still has questions about how the Biden administration plans to reach its...

Supporters Hope Congress Creates Green Bank In 2021 To Boost Clean Energy

After numerous previous attempts, supporters of a federal green bank hope that Congress will finally enact legislation reintroduced this year to create such an independent funding mechanism to finance a range of projects that address climate change as part of a larger clean energy and infrastructure package that will be introduced soon. Jeffrey Schub, executive director of the nonprofit Coalition for Green Capital (CGC), whose mission is to halt climate change by accelerating clean energy technology investments, tells Climate Extra...

Key Group Flags Restoring Federal Workforce As Climate Policy Challenge

The co-founder of a climate policy think tank is raising significant concerns about challenges the Biden administration’s all-of-government climate strategy will face given sagging morale in federal agencies and expertise badly damaged after four years of the Trump administration’s aggressive deregulatory agenda. Bracken Hendricks, co-founder of and senior policy advisor to Evergreen Action, expresses confidence that the Biden administration will succeed in attracting expertise back into the government. But he nevertheless says it is a “real concern” that Trump’s attacks...

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