Solar Energy

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Thinking of buying an electric car? With the signing by President Biden yesterday of the Inflation Reduction Act, it is a great time to make the move from expensive and destructive gasoline to a much cleaner electric vehicle. But the rules on the $7,500 federal tax break for buying a […]

Climate Crisis

As Last Coal Plant closes, Cheap Solar Power Rescues Hawaii, which has reached ~40% Renewables

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Veteran green energy journalist Julian Spector at Canary Media tells the story of how the last-minute opening this July of the 39-megawatt (MW) Mililani 1 solar farm out near Pearl Harbor — which is hooked up to a 156 MW battery — saved Hawaii from brownouts when its last coal […]

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. […]

Batteries

The Great Pivot: Why Dem Green Energy IRA Will Steamroll Fossil Fuels and Help Save the Planet, Despite Manchin

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Democrats in the Senate Passed the Inflation Reduction Act on Sunday, with its nearly $370 billion in new spending on the green energy transition. The Democratic majority in the House of Representatives is such that the bill will certainly be passed into law at the end of this month […]

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 […]

Climate Crisis

Sinema goes for Inflation Reduction Act as Princeton’s ZERO Labs deems it will boost Solar Energy 5-Fold

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) is reported to have signed on to the Schumer-Manchin energy bill, accurately termed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), on Thursday, after tinkering with a few of its revenue-raising features, writes Tony Romm at WaPo. A key piece of information in Romm’s report is that Sinema wants […]

Climate Crisis

Clean Energy Booming, Coal Plants Closing, despite Supreme Court ruling against EPA

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Morgan Fischer | – ( Cronkite News ) – WASHINGTON – When the Supreme Court ruled this summer that the EPA could not force power plants to move away from fossil fuels, advocates worried that the justices had removed the “most effective tool for regulating and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” They’re still worried. But […]

Climate Crisis

Germany: Löwenbräu, other Beer Brands to be Made with Wind and Solar as Russian Gas Turns Unreliable

Clean Energy Wire

By Hannah Naylor | – inFranken.de / Süddeutsche Zeitung ( Clean Energy Wire ) – Bavarian breweries concerned about possible gas shortages are developing contingency plans to avoid a complete halt of beer production, reports regional news website inFranken.de. Munich breweries are considering switching to other energy sources, such as oil or renewables, but these […]