Green Energy

The Inflation Reduction Act’s Incentives are a Start to a Green Energy Revolution, but Now comes the Hard Work

By Daniel Cohan, Rice University | – The new Inflation Reduction Act is stuffed with subsidies for everything from electric vehicles to heat pumps, and incentives for just about every form of clean energy. But pouring money into technology is just one step toward solving the climate change problem. Wind and solar farms won’t be […]

Climate Crisis

Next US energy boom could be wind power in the Gulf of Mexico

The Conversation

By Michael E. Webber, University of Texas at Austin and Hugh Daigle, University of Texas at Austin | – With passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which contains US$370 billion for climate and energy programs, policy experts are forecasting a big expansion in clean electricity generation. One source that’s poised for growth is offshore wind […]

Climate Crisis

Why Fightin’ Joe Biden may be the most Consequential President in Forty Years

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Joe Biden has been easy for the pundit class to write off. He isn’t, unlike Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, a great speechifier. He overcame his childhood stutter, but he still sometimes hesitates just as he gets to an applause line. He is still the little guy who got picked […]

Climate Crisis

Why Climate Activists Need to Celebrate the Inflation Reduction Act, a major Turning Point despite its Warts

Waging Nonviolence

By Daniel Hunter | – ( Waging Nonviolence) – Congress just passed a major $375 billion climate bill, and it will be signed by the president. Yet, when I texted long-standing colleagues in Sunrise Movement, climate justice groups, Sierra Club, local pipeline fights and elsewhere, I found the mood to be… ambivalent, cautious, and non-celebratory. […]

Australia

Women are turning the tide on Climate Policy Worldwide, including Australia

The Conversation

By Jacqueline Peel, The University of Melbourne; Annabelle Workman, The University of Melbourne; Kathryn Bowen, The University of Melbourne; and Rebekkah Markey-Towler, The University of Melbourne | – When the new federal parliament opened last week, a record number of female politicians took their seats: 38% in the House of Representatives and 57% in the […]

Carbon Footprint

Business can no Longer Ignore Extreme Heat, Climate Emergency as they Threaten Bottom Line

The Conversation

By David Lont, University of Otago; Martien Lubberink, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; and Paul Griffin, University of California, Davis | – When record-breaking heatwaves cause train tracks to bend, airport runways to buckle, and roads to melt, as happened in the United Kingdom last month, it is likely that business performance […]

Climate Crisis

Top 3 Reasons Coal Power is Doomed to a quick Disappearance, and the Supreme Court Can’t Save It

The Conversation

By Rebecca J. Davis, Stephen F. Austin State University | – The U.S. coal industry chalked up a rare win this summer when the Supreme Court issued a ruling limiting the government’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. But that doesn’t mean coal-fired power plants will make a comeback. As an economist, […]

Germany

Germany’s renewables output climbs to 49% of power demand in first half of 2022

Benjamin Wehrmann

( Clean Energy Wire ) – Renewables provided nearly half of Germany’s electricity in the first six months of 2022, according to preliminary data released by energy industry association BDEW and research institute ZSW. Solar panels, wind turbines, biogas plants and other installations covered 49 percent of electricity demand, six percentage points more than during […]

Climate Crisis

694 Milllion tons of Rare Earth Metals, Essential to Wind Turbines and EVs, found in Türkiye

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The green energy revolution so far is dependent on certain raw materials, including silicon for solar panels and lithium for lithium-ion batteries. Another group of such primary materials is rare earth minerals, essential to wind turbines. The largest producer of them is China, but Russia, Vietnam and Brazil also have […]