Bloomberg Commits $500million. True story, my first winter in Baltimore, someone had donated a ton of money border the walkways with granite pavers which were a blast during icy days. Bloomberg is allocating capital to better causes these days, committing another $500million to close the remaining coal plants in the US. Here’s my issue with this approach. The world would be a better place if that money endowed solar advocacy, our industry has the best return on investment when it comes to lobbying because we have the facts and voters on our side. So how about a compromise? $400million for coal and $100million for solar?
Deregulation Autopilot Gone Awry. Trump is looking to clear the proverbial field for auto OEMs, setting up a fight with California over fuel standards. The problem with that is that OEMs know that the trend goes the other direction and a 2 year return to the 1980s isn’t going to help their shareholders. They know that cars need to be electric and efficient regardless of the regulation and changing the rules stops them from being able to explain to their short term focused shareholders what they need to be doing right now.
A Debate Topic Versus Debate. The DNC says that climate change will be a topic during the debate and Presidents need to be able to multi task. So I ask the DNC, what will the question be? What will you do about climate change? Your answer in 90 seconds, go! This will only lead to a 6 minutes abs scenario where everyone goes for the 100% by answer and forgets the meat of the topic. Solving energy transition in coal communities, retooling manufacturing to clean energy (candidates should come visit me in Walnut Creek), and how to leverage climate topics in foreign policy to get other countries on board.
Fire Season Starts. PG&E had its first outage this weekend, shutting off power to about 25,000 customers and businesses. This wasn’t a population center but it caused chaos with calls flooding the 911 centers. Imagine when this strikes the Bay Area and business, factories and hotels have to shut down or go to backup generators.
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Have a great weekend!
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DNC Failing On Climate. Governor Inslee, who is running on the climate platform, took to Twitter yesterday and let us know that the DNC has declined to host a debate solely focused on climate change. Not only did they decline but they will ban him from future debates if he attends an unsanctioned debate.
Support From Warren. Senator Warren retweeted the Governor and said the issue is too important to run away from. (See the tweet) Warren understands that the middle class she is fighting to expand has plenty of opportunity in clean energy and has unveiled a clean energy manufacturing program. Companies like Quick Mount PV, which manufacturers in Walnut Creek California not only grows jobs in sales and operations throughout the country but also expands aluminum manufacturing and logistics jobs similar to those in the auto sector for example.
The Climate Tide Has Shifted. Biden will be the 17th Presidential candidate to sign the no fossil fuel money pledge and most major campaigns have unveiled trillion dollar plans to speed up the clean energy transition focused on a time sensitive decarbonization effort. AOC and the Sunrise Movement have made the Green New Deal mainstream and Congressman Massie of Kentucky brags about the solar on his house. Voters want to learn more about what some consider the most important issue in politics today, there is no downside in the DNC sponsoring this debate. The host of Political Climate, Julia Pyper, has offered to moderate the debate!
More From Biden. Biden released a 5 minute video talking about climate and clean energy.
Trade Issues For Solar. Keep your eyes on the tariff Trump is threatening on Mexican imports. Much of the plan B for Chinese tariffs involved Mexico and Trump knows that. The Senate republicans look like they may push back on it however but the power of tariffs heavily relies on the President.
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Biden Climate Plan. The former Vice President is out with his climate plan and it is definitely influenced by the large field moving towards decarbonization much faster than was expected just a few years ago. Biden’s plan calls for net-zero by 2050 and calls the Green New Deal a crucial framework. Note that this is pushed forward as Biden is slipping in the polls and chose to skip the California Democratic convention. There is also late comment about and apology from the campaign regarding lack of citations around the policy document which apparently failed to acknowledge some sources.
A Frustrating Job. The chairman of the CPUC, an incredibly interesting and important job, is stepping down from the commission. This comes ahead of the wildfire related decisions that need to happen this fall. When interviewed about the job, Picker said it wasn’t the worst job he’s ever had but it is the most frustrating. Bureaucracy will do that to you!
Solar Investor Buys Utility. JP Morgan’s Infrastructure Investment group, which is the same team that acquired Sonnedix, has acquired the El Paso Electric Company for over $2billion.
Solar Powered Beer. Anheuser Busch is entering into an agreement to buy energy from a 222MW solar farm in Texas developed by Recurrent Energy, the division of Canadian Solar. The project, coupled with a smaller project, is also entering into a 15 year contract with Energy Transfer Partners who explicitly said that cost was a motivating driver. ETP will reach 20% of its energy use from renewable sources.
Kids Go To Court. After the Supreme Court kicked the kid climate suit back to the 9th circuit, the kids and the US Government went back to court. The Government’s case is ridiculous, in my opinion. For without clean air and water, kids in America will not have their right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.
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