WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is spending billions of dollars on clean energy and approving huge offshore wind projects as officials race to secure key climate initiatives before President Joe Biden’s term ends.
Biden wants to create a climate legacy that includes charting a path to reducing the country’s planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Former President Donald Trump has pledged to eliminate unspent funds in Biden’s landmark climate and health care legislation and halt offshore wind development when he returns to the White House in January.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told the Associated Press on Friday that it would be a “political misstep” to eliminate clean energy incentives that benefit all parts of America, with most investments going to counties with below-average weekly wages and college graduation rates.
“A lot of it goes to parts of America that have felt left behind. And that gives them opportunities,” she said. “Why should we take that away? And why should we prevent counties and cities and people and families from finding future-oriented jobs in industries like clean energy that young people are excited to be a part of?”
Still, Granholm said, she is making efforts to provide funding and sign contracts.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who was elected the Democratic nominee after Biden left the race this summer, said she would pursue a climate agenda similar to Biden’s, focusing on reducing emissions, deploying renewable energy and creating jobs in the country Focused on clean energy.
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 promises to boost clean energy and sluggish climate change:
The Environmental Protection Agency this summer made $20 billion available from a federal “green bank” for clean energy projects such as residential heat pumps, electric vehicle charging stations and community cooling centers.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in September approved the nation’s 10th huge offshore wind farm, the Maryland Offshore Wind Project, meeting half of Biden’s goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. On Oct. 1, the agency gave an approval Key approval for an offshore wind farm project in New Jersey.
In the past month alone, the Energy Department has made six announcements worth at least $1 billion, including more than $3 billion for battery manufacturing projects and a $1.5 billion loan to restart a nuclear plant in Michigan . And just last week, Biden gave cities a 10-year deadline to replace their lead pipes, with the EPA providing $2.6 billion to support communities comply.
In addition to the climate bill, officially known as the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden wants to spend billions on projects approved in 2021 as part of the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill provides cash for roads, bridges, ports and more, while the CHIPS Act aims to revitalize the computer chip sector in the United States through tens of billions of dollars in government support.
Energy experts say the rush of announcements is 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 off the ground and implemented,” said Trevor Houser, partner at the 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, vice president of strategic markets and accounts at DNV, a firm that advises companies on energy issues. Two years have passed since the climate law was passed, so federal agencies have begun to process these transactions more quickly, he said.
The climate legislation puts the country on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. The investments are expected to reduce U.S. emissions by about 40% by 2030.
A novel analysis by global consultant Baringa found that Trump would halt the transition away from fossil fuels. But to what extent would depend on whether the House or Senate is controlled by Democrats, which could sluggish climate setbacks. 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 much longer, said Caspian Conran, an economist at Baringa Co-author of the book is Analysis published on Wednesday.
As vice president, Harris cast a crucial vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed only with Democratic support. As a senator from California, she was an early supporter of the Green New Deal, sweeping proposals aimed at quickly transitioning the United States to fully green energy.
However, at a presidential debate last month, Harris boasted that the administration had overseen “the largest increase in domestic oil production in history” because it recognized that we cannot rely too heavily on foreign oil.
Trump’s policies, meanwhile, could augment emissions by about 12% by 2030 compared to measures favored by Harris or Biden, Baringa’s report said, equivalent 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% augment in emissions in the first term, while Biden’s policies reduced emissions by 11%.
Companies have announced about 340 huge clean energy projects nationwide in the past two years, according to 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 tight reelection race, told the House speaker in August that they want to protect job-creating energy tax credits in Biden’s climate legislation. “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 next 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.”
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McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island
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