Summary

Quote of the Week:

“We’re working through years of a system that has created [environmental] injustices,” said Dr. Tony Reames, deputy director for energy justice at the U.S. Department of Energy. “And this won’t change overnight. But at some point, it will get to a place where [addressing equity issues] is just the way we do business.”

CLEAN ENERGY

Must Be Equitable

Energy Department gets serious about equity. While the agency has historically had a mixed record in addressing environmental justice issues, the Biden administration’s Energy Department says equity is a key focus in its approach to decarbonization. A number of programs—like the Justice40 initiative and Equity in Energy Initiative—have been designed to help bring about a just and affordable energy transition for the communities most impacted by environmental damages. The agency also says through the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, it will focus on existing “sacrifice zones,” ensuring community engagement, and delivering community benefits with new clean energy projects. (Energy News Network)

EV charging equity starts with listening to people. As part of Seattle City Light’s project to install 30 EV fast charging stations, the utility took the unique approach of seeking out community feedback on where the chargers should be located. To combat the common trend of locating EV chargers in whiter and wealthier areas where early EV adoption is highest, the utility coordinated with state and local agencies, environmental justice organizations, customers, labor unions, and community leaders to outline its plans. This type of feedback process helped educate the community about the economic and public health benefits of EVs while helping build a more equitable distribution of charging access. (Utility Dive)

CLEAN ENERGY

Is A Good Investment

Clean energy projects are surging nationwide. While the U.S. has historically lagged in clean energy manufacturing, the Inflation Reduction Act is sparking a wave of new clean energy projects nationwide. The Houston Chronicle reports that major investments in such projects in Texas are helping offset the projected declines in the oil and gas industry, while also building more stable supply chains to support the national energy transition. LG’s new $5.5 billion battery factory in Arizona is another example of how the Biden administration’s clean energy incentives are ramping up domestic clean energy supply chains, according to the New York Times. Projects like these are expected to increase North America’s battery manufacturing capacity tenfold by 2030. (Houston Chronicle $, New York Times $)

CLEAN ENERGY

Is Replacing Fossil Fuels

Wind energy installations poised to set new records. 680 gigawatts of new wind power could be installed by 2027 according to a new report from the Global Wind Energy Council. But that goal hinges on policymakers ensuring supply chain constraints don’t curtail the industry’s growth. This year the world is expected to reach one terawatt of installed wind power, and the GWEC expects 1.2 terawatts of additional wind capacity to be added by 2030 — but warns that this is only 68 percent of the capacity needed to meet global climate targets. (Reuters)

Renewable electricity surpasses coal power. For the first time in U.S. history, renewable energy produced more electricity than coal power, according to new analysis from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Renewables comprised 21 percent of the nation’s domestically-produced electricity, with wind and solar contributing 14 percent and the rest made up by other energy sources such as geothermal, compared to 20 percent from coal-powered sources. This growth comes as the levelized cost of wind energy has declined by 70 percent and solar energy by 90 percent over the last decade. (Associated Press)

EV sales have tripled in 2 years. With their growing popularity, electric vehicles have reached a record 8.5 percent market share of all new cars sold — more than triple the level from two years ago, according to a new report from J.D. Power. EV market share was just 4.9 percent in February of 2022 and 2.4 percent in February 2021. This growth comes amid price cuts from major EV manufacturers like Tesla and Ford, as well as new federal tax credits that can knock up to $7,500 off the upfront price of a new EV. While new guidance from the Treasury Department this week could affect which EVs qualify for the full federal tax credits, experts and analysts say all signs indicate that the EV industry will continue growing rapidly over the long-term. (Money)

CLEAN ENERGY

Is Challenging

Republicans want to ban offshore wind over baseless claims. Following a chorus of baseless claims blaming recent whale deaths on offshore wind development, Republican lawmakers have now introduced a bill in Congress to halt all offshore wind development nationwide. 23 whales have washed up on the shores of New York and New Jersey since last December, but federal officials and marine scientists have repeatedly stressed that there has been no link between offshore wind development and whale strandings. Evidence so far points to collisions with ships and entanglements in fishing gear, but these facts haven’t stopped the proliferation of misinformation about offshore wind and whales on social media. A recent report by watchdog group Media Matters found that 84 percent of Facebook posts about wind energy between January and March were dominated by right-wing groups repeating the unsubstantiated claims with no fact-checking from Facebook. (Inside Climate News)

MULTIMEDIA

Dashboard:  The U.S. & Canada electric vehicle supply chain