By JENNIFER McDERMOTT and MATTHEW DALY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is spending billions of dollars on clean energy and approving large offshore wind projects as officials race to secure key climate initiatives before President Joe Biden's term ends.
Biden desires to create a climate legacy that features charting a path to reducing the country's planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Former President Donald Trump has pledged to withdraw unspent funds Biden's landmark climate and health care law And Stop the event of offshore wind energy when he returns to the White House in January.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who became the Democratic nominee after Biden left the race this summer, has said she is going to pursue an identical climate agenda to Biden. The focus is on reducing emissions, using renewable energy and creating clean energy jobs.
Announcements of major environmental grants and project approvals have accelerated in recent months as White House Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian said Biden is “sprinting to the finish line” and keeping his guarantees to spice up clean energy and slow climate change:
The Environmental Protection Agency did 20 billion US dollars from a “green Bundesbank” Available this summer for clean energy projects reminiscent of residential heat pumps, electric vehicle charging stations and community cooling centers.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in September approved the nation's tenth major offshore wind farm, the Maryland Offshore Wind Project, reaching the halfway point Biden's goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. On October 1st The agency issued a key permit to an offshore wind farm project in New Jersey.
In the last month alone, the Department of Energy has made six announcements price a billion dollars or more, including greater than a billion dollars $3 billion for battery manufacturing projects and a $1.5 billion loan Restarting a nuclear power plant in Michigan. And just last week, Biden set a deadline of ten years To help cities replace their lead pipes, the EPA is providing $2.6 billion to assist communities comply.
In addition to the climate law, officially generally known as the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden desires to spend billions on projects approved under that law the bipartisan infrastructure law in 2021 and in 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill provides money for roads, bridges, ports and more, while the CHIPS Act goals to revitalize the pc chip sector within the United States through tens of billions of dollars in government support.
Energy experts say the push of announcements is just not surprising.
“I'm sure the prospect of a change in the White House and a change in leadership at the agency increases the sense of urgency to get these programs underway and implemented,” said Trevor Houser, partner at Rhodium Group research firm .
“There is undeniable pressure to secure as many benefits of the energy transition as possible before the end of the year,” said Matt Lockwood, vp of strategic markets and accounts at DNV, a firm that advises corporations on energy issues. Two years have passed because the climate law was passed, so federal agencies have begun to process these transactions more quickly, he said.
The climate laws puts the country on target to cut back greenhouse gas emissions to satisfy the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. The investments are expected to cut back U.S. emissions by about 40% by 2030.
A brand new evaluation from global consultant Baringa noted that Trump would stall the transition from fossil fuels. However, the extent to which climate declines may very well be mitigated would rely on whether the House or Senate is controlled by Democrats. Trump could, if he doesn't hold back, permanently alter the course of the energy transition by repealing climate laws, significantly slowing renewable energy development and keeping the U.S. tied to coal and gas for for much longer, said Caspian Conran, an economist at Baringa Co-author of the book is Analysis published on Wednesday.
As vp, Harris solid the tie-breaking vote Inflation Reduction Actwhich was only approved with Democratic support. As a senator from California, she was an early sponsor of the Green New Dealsweeping proposals geared toward quickly transitioning the United States entirely to green energy.
However, at a presidential debate last month, Harris boasted that the federal government had overseen “the largest increase in domestic oil production in history.” based on an approach that recognizes that we cannot rely too heavily on foreign oil.”
Trump's policies, meanwhile, could increase emissions by about 12% by 2030 in comparison with measures favored by Harris or Biden, Baringa's report said, akin to about 660 million tons of carbon dioxide.
“It’s kind of a race against time,” Conran said in an interview. “So even if you say we are delaying the transition (to clean energy) by five years, that might not seem like much. But actually it’s pretty profound.”
The United States is the world's second-largest emitter of planet-warming carbon dioxide. Baringa says Trump's policies led to a 9% increase in emissions in the primary term, while Biden's policies reduced emissions by 11%.
Companies have announced about 340 large clean energy projects nationwide prior to now two years, in line with E2, a nonpartisan environmental research group. Sixty percent of that, representing 82% of investments and 69% of jobs, are in Republican congressional districts despite unanimous Republican opposition to the bill, E2 said.
Eighteen House Republicans, including several who were in a good reelection race, told the House speaker in August that they need to protect job-creating energy tax credits in Biden's climate laws. “Energy tax credits have spurred innovation, incentivized investment, and created good jobs in many parts of the country – including many districts represented by members of our conference,” the lawmakers wrote.
To get the clean energy transition right, the U.S. must commit to it across election cycles, from one administration to the following and throughout congressional sessions, said Conrad Schneider, executive director of the Clean Air Task Force, an advocacy group.
“We're trying to get the word out that (clean energy) is really beneficial to communities across the country, regardless of political geography,” he said. “And so we hope that these programs can be sustained through any combination of election outcomes.”
Originally published:
image credit : www.mercurynews.com