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Join our friends at the Clean Capitalist Leadership Council for their 4th Annual Meeting next Thursday, September 24, at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Rod Richardson and Jigar Shah, speakers from our August webinar and online discussion on free market policies for clean energy, will kick off the event.
New Discussion
This discussion is a continuation of our recent webinar with Michael Shellenberger, founder and President of Environmental Progress, about his book Apocalypse Never and his views on how the energy sector can best meet modern challenges. Shellenberger, a long-time environmental activist, said he is concerned that the conversation about climate change and the environment has become exaggerated and inaccurate. In his view, climate change is a real problem that should, and is being addressed. However, exaggerating its severity leads to negative outcomes.

Read more from the discussion prompt, and contribute to the conversation by adding a comment to the discussion!
Here are a couple of the comments that came in this week:
"I’d like to add a technology into the mix: renewable natural gas taking municipal solid waste and turning it back into hydrocarbons has the potential to eliminate landfills the GHG and space used and emitted by them and produce hydrocarbons in a form we can reuse for diesel, ethane jet fuel etc. This would also solve California’s problem by allowing them to use a fossil-free form of NG [natural gas]."
- Mike Dieterich, Founder, Renew and Sustain
Question 1: Do you agree that the threats of climate change have been exaggerated, or do you feel that they have not been taken seriously enough by society? What energy sector policies do you see as necessary within the context of your understanding of climate change?
"The threats of climate change have certainly not been exaggerated. If anything, the public (and the media) does not fully appreciate the dangers that lie ahead.... The bottom line is the world is acting much too slowly to address climate change and clear, scientific reasoning is needed to better understand our predicament."
- Dan Miller, Managing Director, The Roda Group 
Question 2: Do energy density and land-use environmental impacts need to be a larger part of the conversation on climate change and environmental issues? If so, how? Do you see nuclear power as an important part of the solution?

Question 3: Do you agree that waste from wind and solar is a larger issue than waste from nuclear? How can we sustainably manage waste from zero-carbon energy technologies?
Publications in the OurEnergyLibrary
bp Energy Economics
September 14, 2020
Solar United Neighbors; Vote Solar
August 2020
Find these publications and others in the OurEnergyLibrary.
Podcast Spotlight
Americans for a Clean Energy Grid (ACEG) presents a new interactive web series, "Transmission Time," to explore the many benefits of an expanded and integrated national grid and discuss the challenges that transmission is currently facing.

In the first installment, ACEG Executive Director Rob Gramlich and MISO (The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc.) Vice President of System Planning and Chief Compliance Officer Jennifer Curran talk about large-scale transmission in the Midwest and its role in enabling the next rounds of investment in clean energy.
Update from Congress

Legislation Updates

  • Thurs, Sept 10 - Two Republican Senators and one Democrat reached an agreement on a 15-year phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons, greenhouse gases found in refrigeration and air conditioning. Disagreement on the issue had stalled the sweeping, bipartisan American Energy Innovation Act (S.2657). Read more from Bloomberg Law and The Washington Examiner.

  • Wed, Sept 9 - The House Committee on Energy and Commerce advanced two energy bills to the full U.S. House of Representatives by voice vote in a markup session.
  1. The Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy Act of 2019 (H.R.4447), introduced by Rep. Tom O'Halleran (D-AZ-01), and Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK-02) in Sept. 2019 - It would establish an energy storage and microgrid grant and technical assistance program at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
  2. The Department of Energy Organization and Management Improvement Act (H.R.8159), introduced by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR-02) and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ-06) in Sept. 2020 - It would require the Secretary of Energy to review and report periodically on measures and recommendations to improve general management of DOE. The bill also amends the National Nuclear Security Administration Act.

New Legislation

Hearings
Featured Energy Events
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