Summary

Quote of the Week:

“I think you’d be hard pressed to find a senator or congressman who knows the best location to place electric vehicle chargers to combat inequity,” said Michael Brown, an advisor for Neighborhood Forward, a national racial justice advocacy organization. “There must be top-down pressure followed by an open conversation to ensure equity in the development stages.”

CLEAN ENERGY

Must Be Equitable

EPA launches environmental justice office. The new national office aims to address the disproportionate harms of pollution and climate change on low-income and communities of color. Secretary Regan also indicated that the agency will aim to include provisions in all new regulations that mitigate environmental damages on these communities. The office will form out of a merger of the existing offices of environmental justice, civil rights, and conflict prevention and resolution, and will have a budget of $100 million per year. It is expected to be staffed with 200 workers, up from just 55 doing such work today. (New York Times $)

Advocates fight for EV charging equity. Black community leaders across Indiana met with federal officials, urging them to reject the state’s EV infrastructure plan as they called for greater consultation with communities of color. The Indiana Capital Chronicle reports that Indiana officials conducted minimal community engagement that largely excluded Black communities. Grist writes that community advocates across the country are leading similar fights to demand equitable EV infrastructure investment to ensure that low-income communities and communities of color can also make the shift to electric transportation. These communities are disproportionately likely to live in “charging deserts,” which contributes to lower EV adoption rates. (Indiana Capital Chronicle, Grist)

CLEAN ENERGY

Is A Good Investment

Offshore wind is 125 times better than gas for taxpayers. On top of its climate benefits offshore wind energy is overwhelmingly cheaper for taxpayers than natural gas, according to a new report from the Center for American Progress. This is in part because the revenues from offshore wind lease sales help fund public programs that reduce local tax burdens, while also reducing energy costs. From 2019 to 2021, the average winning bid for oil and gas lease sales was just $47 per acre compared to $5,900 per acre from wind lease sales — and analysts expect wind lease revenues to continue increasing as the U.S. wind industry matures. (Grist)

CLEAN ENERGY

Is A Good Investment

Climate tech investment expected to weather recession. Despite inflation and growing concerns about economic recession, climate tech investment shows no signs of slowing down. 2022 is already on pace to set new records for venture capital fundraising for climate investments, leading some analysts to call the sector “recession-proof.” The sector is expected to grow even further as incentives from the IRA support investment in emerging clean energy technologies. Many startups now awash with cash are finding their main bottleneck to be a lack of skilled workers rather than lack of funds. (Bloomberg $)

CLEAN ENERGY

Is Replacing Fossil Fuels

As EV adoption grows, EVs could become integral to power grids. 2022 is expected to be a record year for EVs, which are expected to make up 13 percent of global light-duty vehicle sales by the end of the year. Protocol reports that EV adoption is one of the only two out of 55 sectors on track for net zero by 2050 according to the International Energy Agency, and the IRA is expected to boost U.S. progress. That will be especially important as states like California begin to plan for how to integrate EVs into the power grid amid rising demand. The Wall Street Journal reports that researchers and utilities are exploring optimal charging times and the potential for EVs to feed power back into the grid when demand is high. (Protocol, Wall Street Journal $)

Solar power was half of all new energy last year. The world installed 182 gigawatts of solar energy last year — roughly half of all new energy installations, while wind energy made up another quarter of new capacity. These additions came as global power production grew 5.6 percent, thanks to rebounding world economies and other factors like drought and high gas prices. While coal generation also grew because of these pressures, renewables dominated new installed capacity. Analysts at BloombergNEF found that wind and solar are now the cheapest sources of new bulk energy in the majority of the world. (Utility Dive)

CLEAN ENERGY

Is Challenging

Trucks and SUVs are undermining climate progress from EVs. Despite U.S. progress in shifting to electric vehicles — which are expected to make up 6 percent of national car and light truck sales by the end of the year — sales of SUVs and gas-guzzling pickup trucks are also surging and erasing climate progress from EV adoption. It generally takes 20 years to replace vehicle fleets, so investments in gas cars today mean they will likely continue emitting climate pollution through 2040. Researchers say regulatory weaknesses, loopholes, and issues with clean car standards must be reformed alongside efforts to boost EV infrastructure and promote energy efficiency to ensure the U.S. reaches transportation sector climate goals. (The Conversation)

MULTIMEDIA

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