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Biden Administration Announces Initiatives for Offshore
Wind
On March 29, National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, Interior
Secretary Deb Haaland, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Commerce
Secretary Gina Raimondo, and Transportation Secretary Pete
Buttigieg met with state officials, industry executives, and labor
leaders to announce new leasing, funding, and goals to accelerate
and deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. According to the
Department of Energy, this would support 45,000 jobs, generate
enough electricity to power over 10 million American homes, and
avoid 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The
Administration also announced a new Wind Energy Area between Long
Island and the New Jersey coast, a Notice of Intent (NOI) to
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Ocean Wind, a
Notice of Funding Opportunity for port authorities and other
applicants to apply for $230 million for port and intermodal
infrastructure-related projects through the Port Infrastructure
Development Program, the award of $8 million to 15 offshore wind
research and development projects that were selected through a
competitive process, a fact sheet to facilitate access for the
offshore wind industry for $3 billion in funding through the
Innovative Energy Loan Guarantee Program, a Memorandum of Agreement
with offshore wind development company Ørsted to share
physical and biological data in Ørsted-leased waters
subject to U.S. jurisdiction, and a request for research
proposals to support more than $1 million in grant funding to
improve understanding of offshore renewable energy for the benefit
of a diversity of stakeholders including fishing and coastal
communities.
Read more from the White House by clicking HERE.
Solar Energy Gets Boost from DOE
In support of President Biden’s goal of a 100% clean
electricity grid by 2035, the Department of Energy has announced a
new target to cut the cost of solar energy by 60% within the next
ten years, in addition to nearly $128 million in funding to lower
costs, improve performance, and speed the deployment of solar
energy technologies. DOE is accelerating its utility-scale solar
2030 cost target by five years – setting a new goal of
driving down the current cost of 4.6 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
to 3 cents/kWh by 2025 and 2 cents/kWh by 2030. New funding
supports two materials used to make solar cells: perovskites and
cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin films, and includes $40 million for
perovskite R&D, $3 million for a new Perovskite Startup Prize,
$20 million CdTe thin films, $7 million for projects to increase
the lifetime of silicon-based PV systems, $33 million for
concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) advances, and $25 million
to demonstrate a next-generation CSP plant.
Additional background, including funding opportunity
information, can be found HERE.
White House Announces Environmental Justice Advisory Council
Members
In support of President Biden’s Executive Order on
“Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad”, the
White House has announced the members of the White House
Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) who will provide
advice and recommendations to the Chair of the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the White House Environmental
Justice Interagency Council on how to current and historic
environmental injustices. With backing and administrative support
provided by the Environmental Protection Agency, WHEJAC will
complement the ongoing work of the National Environmental Justice
Advisory Council (NEJAC), a federal advisory committee established
in 1993 to provide advice and recommendations on environmental
justice issues to the Administrator of the EPA.
For the full list of members, click HERE.
President Biden Invites World Leaders to April Climate
Summit
Forty world leaders have been invited by President Biden to
attend his “Leaders Summit on Climate” scheduled for
April 22 and 23 ahead of the United Nations Climate Change
Conference (COP26) this November in Glasgow. According to the White
House, “The Summit will reconvene the U.S.-led Major Economies
Forum on Energy and Climate, which brings together 17 countries
responsible for approximately 80 percent of global emissions and
global GDP. The President also invited the heads of other
countries that are demonstrating strong climate leadership, are
especially vulnerable to climate impacts, or are charting
innovative pathways to a net-zero economy. A small number of
business and civil society leaders will also participate in the
Summit.”
Click HERE to read more, including
the list of invited leaders.
New Senate Carbon Capture Legislation
Sens. Smith (D-MN) and Capito (R-WV) have introduced the
Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage Tax Credit Amendments
Act. The bipartisan legislation would extend “commence
construction” by five years, allow for direct payment of
carbon capture credits, increase support for direct air capture of
CO2 from the atmosphere, allow the 45Q credit to offset tax
obligations due to the Base Erosion Avoidance Tax (BEAT), and
revise the 48A tax credit to make it work for CCUS retrofits.
To read more, including a bill summary and legislative text,
click HERE.
Climate Change Education Act Reintroduced in House &
Senate
Sen. Markey (D-MA), Rep. Dingell (D-MI) and Rep. Brownley
(D-CA), have reintroduced the Climate Change Education
Act, which would create a grant program at the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to assist state and
local education agencies improve climate literacy, as well as
institutions of higher education and professional associations. The
legislation is intended to ensure that students at all age levels
are taught about climate adaptation and mitigation; climate
resilience; and the effects of climate change on the environment,
energy sources, and social and economic systems, including
environmental and climate justice. The bill would support
professional development for teachers; science, technology, health
and engineering education; the development of climate literacy
curricula; and improve the quality of and access to training and
certification for jobs that incorporate climate mitigation. The
Climate Change Education Act authorizes $50 million a year
from 2021 through 2026 to be appropriated to NOAA to establish the
Climate Education program office and administer the grant
program.
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