March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010
August 2010
September 2010 October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
January 2011
February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 December 2022 January 2023 February 2023 March 2023 April 2023 May 2023 June 2023 July 2023 August 2023 September 2023 October 2023 November 2023 December 2023 January 2024 February 2024 March 2024
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30
31
News Every Day |

Historic climate bill to supercharge clean energy industry


Senate Democrats delivered a dramatic win for President Joe Biden’s effort to fight climate change on Sunday, passing a bill that will devote hundreds of billions of dollars to clean energy sources and speed the U.S. transition away from fossil fuels.

The Inflation Reduction Act, which had appeared to be dead just weeks ago and now heads to the House of Representatives, would accelerate U.S. emission cuts and put the country on a path to reduce greenhouse gases by 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, significantly narrowing the gap with the goal Biden set under the Paris climate agreement to cut that pollution by at least half by that date.

The bill that includes $369 billion in climate and energy provisions that will transform how Americans get their energy and shape the country’s climate and industrial policy for decades. And it represents an extraordinary turnaround from just months ago when the Biden administration pivoted from its climate priorities to press for increased oil and gas production to combat the energy crisis that sent energy prices skyrocketing.



Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer teed up the final vote, calling the legislation "the boldest climate package in U.S. history."

"It will kick start the era of affordable clean energy in America. It's a game changer, it's a turning point, and it's been a long time coming," he said.

The climate portions of the bill were far lower than the $550 billion originally envisioned as part of a broad $2.2 trillion bill a year ago, but they still represent the biggest investment in clean energy sources in U.S. history — about four times as large as the incentives contained in President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The drop was due to inflation concerns from West Virginia’s Sen. Joe Manchin, who only acquiesced to the bill after private negotiations with Schumer last month and the assurances from leading economists like former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers that it would not worsen the economic pain for Americans. And Manchin won the addition of language that linked measures to help boost oil and gas production to some of the clean energy incentives, irking environmental activists — but not enough for them to pull their support for the bill.

The House of Representatives is expected to take up the bill later this week. Its climate measures include billions of dollars to expand wind and solar power production, bring electric vehicles closer to the financial reach of more Americans and make $1.5 billion available to oil companies cut down their greenhouse gas emissions and penalize them for failing to do so. And it would help develop technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration, hydrogen and small nuclear reactors that experts say will be needed to get the U.S. to net-zero emissions by 2050, a level scientists say is necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change.  It would devote $4 billion to help address an imminent disaster for the southwest as climate change-fueled drought threatens power and water supplies for 40 million people along the Colorado River.

The bill would also catapult the United States, the world’s second-biggest carbon emitter after China, to the forefront of countries taking concrete action on combating climate change after months of appearing as if it would lose its status as a global leader in the fight.

“It's a landmark achievement,” Gregory Wetstone, president and CEO of American Council on Renewable Energy, said in an interview. “We have never had policy in the United States that was actually geared to drive the transition to clean energy and address the climate crisis. And we're looking now at a measure that is up to the task.”

The new and expanded tax credits for low-carbon technologies would remain on the books for a decade, providing certainty to clean energy developers who have faced regular lapses in the incentives.


In all, the bill would help more than triple the clean power production in the country, adding up to an additional 550 gigawatts of electricity from wind, solar and other clean power sources, according to analysis from the American Clean Power Association. That’s enough to power 110 million homes, the industry trade group said.

An analysis from energy and climate analytics firm Rhodium Group estimated the bill would cut the country’s net greenhouse gas emissions by 31 to 44 percent below 2005 levels in 2030 compared to the 24 to 35 percent drop expected from current policies.

When paired with last year’s bipartisan infrastructure package, the U.S.spending on climate change is poised to be on par with the EU’s climate budget, said Kate Larsen, who leads Rhodium’s international energy and climate research.

“The question isn’t is every country exactly on a straight line path to meeting their 2030 emissions reduction target, but are they putting policies in place to get the ball rolling to make sure it’s possible to do that,” Larsen said in an interview. “With the passage of this bill, you can say definitely we are well on their way to meeting those targets.”

John Podesta, founder of the liberal Center for American Progress and who served in both the Obama and Clinton administrations, said in a text the bill will set off "a tsunami of investment, American job creation and innovation that will, if history is any judge, likely result in even greater emission reductions [than] the modeling shows."

The bill will dramatically remake parts of the U.S. economy as it helps create new jobs in the green energy and carbon reduction sectors, said Robbie Orvis, senior director of energy policy design at Energy Innovation, a nonpartisan energy and climate policy think tank.

“This is kind of an industrial bill masquerading as an energy and climate bill,” Orvis said. “There's just so much in the bill to bring clean energy manufacturing back to the U.S. and to grow the industry, and that is the direction the world is headed.”

“This is going to be more massive than people realize,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said in an interview. “If the government invests $300 billion in solar, wind, batteries and heat pumps, that has the potential to unlock trillions of dollars in private sector investment in climate.”

Still, some measures in the bill that Manchin insisted on inserting were criticized by some Democrats. That included requirements that tie offshore wind development to mandates that the federal government hold a lease sale beforehand of at least 60 million acres of federal waters for oil and gas production, and domestic content requirements for electric vehicles that critics say will make the $7,500 new car credit unreachable for any EV currently on the market. Those measures, critics such as Sen. Bernie Sanders say, undercut the effectiveness of the climate measures.

Republicans have disputed Democrats’ claims that the bill would reduce inflation and instead attacked the taxes in the bill as a cost increase on U.S. oil and gas production.

“One of their problems is inflation is an immediate problem,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said in an interview. “Even if their theory is over time this bill will be deflationary, the election is in less than three months and inflation is really bad. None of it is going to kick in time. The message it sends is prices, taxes will go up in the short-term.”

Republicans point to a provision in the bill that would reinstate the so-called Superfund tax on crude oil and imported petroleum products to fund the cleanup of polluted industrial sites.



The bill adds new credibility to efforts by Biden and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry to put the U.S. at the forefront of the global efforts to fight climate change. The United States had been considered in danger of seriously lagging European efforts even as historic droughts deplete water supplies in the West, wildfires scorch millions of acres and devastating floods left dozens of people dead in Kentucky.

Now positions are reversed at least in the short term, with Europe finding it difficult to live up to its hawkish rhetoric on climate change amid a Russian land war that is making the region more dependent on fossil fuel mostly imported from the United States.

Nat Keohane, president of climate advocacy group C2ES, noted the U.S. and other countries have struggled to fulfill emissions pledges they made at U.N. COP 26 conference in Glasgow last November intended to move the world closer to achieving the goals of the Paris climate agreement.

There, Biden declared the U.S. would take a leadership role in fighting climate change after four years of evading the issue under former President Donald Trump, a promise that faced skepticism from other big emitters given Congress’ poor track record to deliver policy to produce emissions cuts.

“If the U.S. were not able to do this, that would have real ripple effects,” Keohane said. “I am not sure we could have gotten back on track. By the U.S. staying in the game, it gives real juice to the Paris Agreement model of setting targets, delivering implementation, and raising ambition going forward."

Republicans had vowed to fight the package, despite many of its provisions promising to send money and create jobs in their states. But a slate of amendments targeting the energy provisions they submitted were all rejected in a Senate vote-a-rama that lasted through Saturday night and into Sunday afternoon.

The win comes at a crucial time for Biden and Democrats, who face a tough task in holding the House and the Senate in November’s election amid the decades-high inflation and Biden’s poor approval ratings.

Democrats had urged Manchin to back the bill, and negotiations to win his vote led to the inclusion of some “Easter Eggs” benefiting the fossil fuel industry, including funding to help develop the sort of carbon capture technology that Exxon Mobil, Chevron and other companies consider a new business opportunity. The bill focused heavily on incentives for oil companies to build their carbon capture and hydrogen businesses, which some environmental groups have opposed, arguing those technologies will prolong the use of fossil fuels.


The bill also includes a fee of up to $1,500 a ton for methane emissions, a powerful greenhouse gas that is the main component of natural gas. Many companies in the oil and gas industry had fought the measure, which the Democrats sought to soften by giving companies time and money to install equipment to monitor and cut their emissions.

Progressive Democrats complained about the money that could be used to help fossil fuel companies, but ultimately held their noses and voted to approve.

“There is no reason to be a purist about this stuff,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said in an interview. “The only thing we should care about is, how do we achieve the absolute largest emissions reductions given the current configuration of Congress.”

Even with the Manchin-inspired trade-offs, the bill will give Democrats a success to trumpet as the crucial mid-term election looms.

“It changes the overall narrative about Congress,” Schatz said. “We now have a record of accomplishment comparable to any Congress in the last decade. That is a really powerful body of work and a good argument about why you elect Democrats."

Zack Colman and Annie Snider contributed to this report.

Москва

Эксперт Президентской академии в Санкт-Петербурге о доставке лекарств Почтой России

Top 10 Love Affair Movies of the 2000s and 2010s

The 10 Intense New Action Movies on Netflix That Left Me on the Edge of My Seat!

Top 5 Websites to Watch FREE Movies - TV Shows (No Sign up!)

I was diagnosed with cancer aged 39… you are never too rich, too famous or too young, says Dr Philippa Kaye

Ria.city






Read also

Warriors’ Draymond Green takes ownership for Orlando ejection on podcast

Nepra allows Rs2.75/unit increase in quarterly adjustment for April-June

Crocs and Simone Rocha Launch First-Time Footwear Collaboration

News, articles, comments, with a minute-by-minute update, now on Today24.pro

News Every Day

I was diagnosed with cancer aged 39… you are never too rich, too famous or too young, says Dr Philippa Kaye

Today24.pro — latest news 24/7. You can add your news instantly now — here


News Every Day

Top 10 Love Affair Movies of the 2000s and 2010s



Sports today


Новости тенниса
Даниил Медведев

Теннисист Медведев вышел в полуфинал турнира в Майами, обыграв Харри



Спорт в России и мире
Москва

«Радио Зенит» – информационный партнер форума «Мы вместе. Спорт»



All sports news today





Sports in Russia today

Москва

Актера Свиридова госпитализировали из-за инфицирования после операции в Москве


Новости России

Game News

Cyberpunk 2077 станет временно бесплатной для PlayStation и Xbox


Russian.city


Киев

Киев признал стагнацию ВСУ по всей линии фронта


Губернаторы России
#123ru.net

Стартовал конкурсный отбор на участие в летней выездной программе литературного проекта «Языковая арт-резиденция»


Лавров заявил, что сфер сотрудничества России и Запада практически не осталось

Заказать недорогой ремонт кухонной мебели в районе в Москве и Московской области

Он обещал — вернулся: сможет ли Минаков перебить Томпсона

В метрах от спада: есть ли риск кризиса на российском рынке жилья


Вывод Песни, Альбома, Клипа в ТОП Музыкальных Чартов!

Концерт благотворительного фонда Владимира Спивакова прошел в Солнечногорске

Shot: комик Семен Слепаков решил ликвидировать ИП в России

Рэпер ST признался, что не смог написать песню о трагедии в "Крокусе"


Российская теннисистка Калинская покинула WTA-1000 из-за проблем со здоровьем

Азаренко вышла в полуфинал турнира WTA-1000 в Майами

Янник Синнер поделился впечатлениями от общения с игроками сборной Италии по футболу

Хачанов победил Черундоло и пробился в 1/8 финала турнира ATP в Майами



Шапки женские вязаные на Wildberries, 2024 — новый цвет от 392 руб. (модель 466)

Рынок вторичной недвижимости Крыма: цены растут, а спрос?

«Радио Зенит» – информационный партнер форума «Мы вместе. Спорт»

Топливному компромиссу между Украиной и Азербайджаном пришел конец?


Бизнес в огне. Почему так часто горят склады

Я – фартовая! Слушательница ENERGY отправилась в Мексику на выступление Джареда Лето

ЦИК: В регионах России в 2024 году пройдет 3,5 тыс. избирательных кампаний

Благотворительный фонд «Свет в руках» проведет Всероссийскую акцию «Росток памяти»


В Москве арестовали одного из директоров "Росатома" по делу о крупной взятке

С марта 2024 действует строгий запрет: новое правило коснется всех, у кого есть дача или огород

Лавров заявил, что сфер сотрудничества России и Запада практически не осталось

Подъезд взяли под козырек



Путин в России и мире






Персональные новости Russian.city
Людвиг ван Бетховен

Торжественная месса Бетховена прозвучит в Мариинском в день 200-летия со дня первого исполнения



News Every Day

Top 10 Emmanuelle Seigner Movies




Friends of Today24

Музыкальные новости

Персональные новости