“There has to be an intentional effort to support the discussion about Black and brown communities receiving the [electric vehicle] investment,” said Henry Davis Jr., a city council member in South Bend, Indiana. “We just can't keep giving lip service.”
CLEAN ENERGY
Must Be Equitable
Indiana’s EV plans risk leaving out Black communities. The Hoosier state is poised to receive $100 million for EV charging, thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, but community advocates and statewide NAACP leaders say communities of color have been left out of the planning process. Indiana held just three in-person meetings to accept community input on the planning, all of which were in white neighborhoods and took place during work hours. Advocates are urging more meaningful community engagement to ensure an equitable shift to EVs and to avoid perpetuating racist transportation policies. (Protocol)
CLEAN ENERGY
Is Affordable
IRA will reduce climate pollution and make electricity cheaper. Economists project that the Inflation Reduction Act could save U.S. consumers over $200 billion over the next decade, all while shifting the nation’s power sector to clean energy. Analysts say the law’s loan programs and financing provisions will help lower costs for energy producers, who can pass the savings along to ratepayers. The legislation comes as overall clean energy costs have fallen dramatically over the last decade, and some utilities have begun to embrace net zero ambitions. (Inside Climate News)
CLEAN ENERGY
Is Replacing Fossil Fuels
Offshore wind power coming to Maine, California. The Biden administration is taking steps to open the Gulf of Maine for offshore wind, which might host the U.S.’s first floating wind turbines, Bloomberg reports. The Interior Department is exploring the potential to lease 13.7 million acres of Atlantic waters as part of the administration’s goal of 30 gigawatts of wind power by 2030. Meanwhile, the California Energy Commission announced plans to install 25 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2045, enough to power 25 million homes, writes Energy Monitor. . (Bloomberg $, Energy Monitor)
Coal sites are switching to solar power. In West Virginia, a utility-scale solar farm is being built on a former coal ash landfill, Electrek reports. Across the state, other former fossil fuel sites are being repurposed into solar farms, including retired ash disposal sites and reclaimed strip mine properties. And the Associated Press writes that a former coal power plant in Louisiana will be replaced with a solar farm, taking advantage of the former plant’s existing grid connections. (Electrek, Associated Press)
CLEAN ENERGY
Is A Good Investment
Climate bill will turbocharge clean energy spending. The Inflation Reduction Act will pump $350 billion in new funding to expand the clean energy loan program, which analysts say will accelerate the shift to clean energy, the New York Times reports. These loans can play an important role in exploring and scaling up nascent clean energy technologies, and have a strong track record of success helping to boost companies like Tesla. Thanks to these provisions and other recent legislation, Reuters writes that the U.S. is projected to spend over $500 billion on climate and clean energy, according to a report by the non-profit think tank RMI. An author of the report says the recent legislation marks the beginning of a “coherent green industrial policy” for the U.S. (New York Times $, Reuters)
Supply shortages will be worked out — they have before. Supply concerns about key minerals like lithium have sparked worries for the transition to EVs and clean energy, but the recent history of cobalt shows how supply chains can adapt quickly. While cobalt-based batteries dominated the market just a few years ago, high prices and supply shortages have driven a rapid transition to other battery chemistries like lithium-iron phosphate that avoid materials in short supply. Ultimately, ongoing supply pressures around lithium and nickel may end up catalyzing new clean energy solutions. (Bloomberg $)
CLEAN ENERGY
Is Challenging
The path to American-made EVs is complicated. The Inflation Reduction Act aims in part to boost domestic EV supply chains, but the goal is easier said than done. Some analysts worry the provisions could end up excluding nearly all EVs on the market from tax credits in the near-term as they may not meet the criteria of the law’s domestic manufacturing rules. It takes years to build up domestic supply chains from scratch, and at the same time, these efforts may also run counter to the free trade agreements the U.S. has pushed with trading partners for decades. (The New Republic $)
MULTIMEDIA
Graphics: Electrifying transportation reduces emissions & saves massive amounts of energy
