WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY: Good afternoon and happy Thursday, readers! We kick things off with the White House announcing new ambitious climate targets just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
In today’s Daily on Energy, Callie and Maydeen also take a look at reactions from top Republicans about the Environmental Protection Agency allowing California to ban gasoline cars by 2035. The EPA’s decision is likely to create a battle between the Democrat-led state and Republicans.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner energy and environment writers Callie Patteson (@CalliePatteson) and Maydeen Merino (@MaydeenMerino). Email cpatteson@washingtonexaminer dot com or mmerino@washingtonexaminer dot com for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
BIDEN REVEALS NEW CLIMATE TARGETS, WEEKS BEFORE TRUMP TAKES OFFICE: President Joe Biden this morning announced new climate targets to curb greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% by 2035, just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office vowing to undo many of Biden’s climate policies.
The White House announced that the U.S. will seek, as part of its commitments under the Paris climate agreement, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 61% to 66% in 2035 from 2005 levels.
Under the Paris Agreement, nations must create new nationally determined contribution, or NDC, targets to meet the agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
However, the incoming Trump administration is expected to withdraw from the agreement and reverse many of Biden’s climate policies and regulations.
John Podesta, senior adviser to the president for international climate policy, told reporters that although the Biden administration will be leaving office, they are confident the U.S. can rally around the new climate target.
“While the United States federal government under President Trump may put climate action on the back burner, the work to contain climate change is going to continue in the United States with commitment and passion and belief. That’s not wishful thinking,” Podesta said.
Read more by Maydeen here.
TOP SENATE REPUBLICAN VOWS TO FIGHT CALIFORNIA’S GAS CAR BAN: Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia lambasted the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to approve California’s ban on new gasoline vehicle sales, vowing to reverse the move.
The details: Yesterday, the EPA said it would allow California to move forward with banning new gas vehicle sales after 2035. Under the 1970 Clean Air Act, the state must seek a waiver from the EPA to set stricter auto pollution standards.
Not long after the announcement, Capito criticized the decision, saying it “imposes unrealistic, stringent requirements” on drivers.
“This rule not only fails to meet the Clean Air Act’s requirements for a waiver, but also forces the hand of American consumers and makes our country more reliant on China for critical minerals,” Capito claimed. “The impacts of this costly, radical regulatory overreach will unfortunately be felt far outside of California, as 11 additional states and Washington D.C. have already adopted California’s regulation, creating a patchwork of separate auto regulations across broad swaths of the country.”
The senator went on to say that American drivers want to be able to choose what vehicles they drive, rather than face a so-called “EV mandate.” Capito also vowed to reverse the EPA’s decision.
Why it matters: Capito is the current ranking member of the Environment and Public Works Committee in the Senate, which oversees the EPA. In the new Congress, she is poised to become the new chair. With Republicans holding the majority in the committee, a number of climate rules and other measures from the EPA face the risk of being walked back, as vowed by the incoming administration.
COUNTRIES PRESSURE EU TO WAIVE FINES ON VEHICLE CARBON EMISSIONS: Several countries are calling on the European Union to waive fines on carmakers that do not meet the bloc’s new emission targets next year, Reuters reports.
EU countries are expected to meet today with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he plans to discuss Europe’s auto industry with the commissioner.
“The Commission should therefore find a way to ensure that the fines, if they become necessary, do not affect the financial liquidity of companies that now need to invest in electromobility,” Scholz told reporters.
Reuters reports that the prime ministers of Italy and the Czech Republic will also speak with von der Leyen about dropping the fines. The EU set emission standards for cars and vans, which automakers will have to meet next year.
RENEWABLE ENERGY PRODUCED MORE THAN HALF OF SPAIN’S ELECTRICITY: More than half of Spain’s electricity is being generated from renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, Reuters reports.
Grid operator Red Electrica estimates Spain’s energy demand increased by 1% from 2023 and renewable energy generated 56% of the electricity this year, which is a six percentage point increase over the last year.
Wind was the primary source of renewable energy, generating about 23%, and nuclear power generated 19% of Spain’s electricity. Last year, Spain set a target to ensure that renewables generate 81% of the country’s energy by 2030.
MONTANA SUPREME COURT SIDES WITH YOUTH CLIMATE ACTIVISTS: In a rare win for climate activists, Montana’s highest court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that determined students had a right to a clean environment.
The details: Yesterday, the state Supreme Court upheld the decision issued last August, siding with more than a dozen youth climate activists who claimed Montana had violated their right to a “clean and healthful environment” by boosting up fossil fuels, according to the Washington Post.
The decision stemmed from a 2020 lawsuit filed by the 16 youth activists and Montana residents who were between the ages of 2 and 18 at the time the suit was filed. The youths accused the state, governor, and several state agencies of violating their rights through a law that barred state officials from considering climate impacts when approving new fossil fuel projects. The plaintiffs pointed to a clause in the state’s constitution that they claimed affirmed their right for a clean and healthful environment in Montana for current and future generations.
While the state of Montana — which heavily relies on coal, oil and gas — had attempted to have the case dismissed, the high court ruled the youth activists affirmed they had the constitutional right.
Some reaction: Attorneys for the youth activists celebrated the ruling on Wednesday, with Western Environmental Law Center attorney Melissa Hornbein saying in a statement obtained by the Washington Post, “This ruling clarifies that the Constitution sets a clear directive for Montana to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, which are among the highest in the nation on a per capita basis, and to transition to a clean, renewable energy future.”
Meanwhile, state officials lambasted the decision by the high court, with Montana’s Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte claiming it would lead to a number of lawsuits that would waste taxpayer dollars and increase energy bills for residents.
OFF-GRID SOLAR COULD SUPPORT AI ADVANCEMENTS: Off-grid solar and storage technologies may be the key to supporting new artificial intelligence advancements and the data centers they rely on, new research suggests.
The details: A study recently conducted by several top clean technology and economic firms has found a number of benefits for prioritizing off-grid solar microgrids, claiming they are in direct competition with natural gas. The researchers found that solar microgrids built today cost nearly the same as natural gas, can be cheaper than other clean alternatives such as nuclear, and are “categorically faster” than new grid interconnections, as well as off-grid gas turbines, with an estimated time to operation being an average of two years.
Additionally, the study found that off-grid solar microgrids were “enormously scalable” across the U.S. The researchers claimed they had found enough land in the southwestern region of the U.S. to build 1,200 gigawatts of off-grid solar microgrid capacity that could be put toward data centers alone. They went on to say if the land was utilized in this way, and 300 gigawatts worth of AI data centers in that region were built using the solar technology, it would help the U.S. avoid as much as 4.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
“Off-grid solar microgrids offer a fast path to power AI datacenters at enormous scale,” the researchers wrote. “The tech is mature, the suitable parcels of land in the US Southwest are known, and this solution is likely faster than most, if not all, alternatives (at least at the time of writing this paper). The advantages to whoever moves on this quickly could be substantial, and the broader opportunity offers a compelling path to rapidly securing key inputs to US AI leadership.”
A reminder: Off-grid solar microgrids are small-scale electricity supply networks of solar panels that are able to operate independently of a nation-wide grid. This allows this mini network to generate all the power it needs without drawing on necessary power from the main grid. These are typically found in remote areas, islands, or regions that are difficult to connect to the main grid. When using renewable energy sources like solar power, these systems are typically equipped with energy storage technology to prevent any strain.
RUNDOWN
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