HAPPY NEW YEAR
Happy New Year
We are beginning the new year with a surprising amount of
good news on the climate change front.
As the potential shutdown of the federal government loomed
in late December because of government inaction on budget matters, at the last
minute, the lame duck Congress passed a new budget bill with a price tag of
$2.3 trillion dollars. The bill that fixes the budget and prevents the
shut-down is the omnibus spending bill that was passed on December 22 and was subsequently
signed by the President despite his threats and grumbling. The bill was debated
until the last moment due to arguments around the $900 billion coronavirus
relief portion of the bill and the debate over $600 vs. $2,000 stimulus.
Congress finally issued the bill with the $600 provision.
The new omnibus spending bill, known as H.R. 133, is a
sprawling 5,593-page bill covering a range of topics, including several that
have been supported by Citizens Climate Lobby by dint of the efforts by our
(largely) volunteer workers. The most important is the section on clean energy
reforms, R&D enhancements, energy efficiency incentives, and clean energy
tax credits expected to create hundreds of thousands of jobs across our nation.
The package also phases out the use of those super polluting
hydrofluorocarbons, known to be persistent atmospheric pollutants that act as
powerful greenhouse gases. Finally, we have taken action on this “no-brainer”
despite lobbying by industry who have shamelessly asked to continue the old
practice of venting the poison to the atmosphere.
The new package of spending also authorizes billions toward
research and modernization of nearly every energy source, including investments
in energy efficiency and grid modernization as well as direct air-capture
projects. The bill extends tax credits for wind and solar projects, with a particular
boost for offshore wind. It also authorizes federally backed demonstration
projects for geothermal, advanced nuclear, and steadily increases funds and
expands the mission for the Energy Department. And the spending bill tacks on a
provision creating a program aimed at curbing emissions from industrial
sources, which are particularly difficult to reduce.
Other provisions would re-authorize and expand the
Weatherization Assistance Program, and boost energy efficiency programs aimed
at data centers, schools and federal buildings, and set a goal that federal
lands produce 25 gigawatts of electricity from wind, solar and geothermal
projects by 2025. The package also includes portions from the USE IT Act, a top
priority of outgoing Environment and Public Works Chair John Barrasso
that would boost carbon capture and direct air capture technologies. It also
creates a new program to help low-income families struggling to pay their water
bills.
Yet another section of the act authorizes expenditures for
efforts to adapt our nation’s fisheries to the impacts of climate change. It
requires the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report to
Congress examining efforts by the Regional Fishery Management Councils, the Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission, and the National Marine Fisheries Service
to prepare and adapt to the impact of Climate Change on the nations fisheries.
Lest you think that only the federal government is on the band wagon, you should know that states and cities have also announced projects for reducing air pollution. New York City is one of those in the lead as they have authorized city expenditures for reducing emissions from their buildings by implementing new building standards for emissions. Many would expect that building standards apply
only to new construction, but New York has begun work on renovation of old buildings with novel practices that seem extraordinary in their vision.
Under the innovative plan, old buildings are to have all
their energy consuming systems (heat, light, air conditioning, etc.)
consolidated and controlled at a central point by new technology devices. The
buildings will have all new insulated pipes, wires, and other energy transfer
devices running from the central control to the outside of each building so
that re-working expensive interior infrastructure is unnecessary. Then, entire
buildings will be incapsulated with an insulating shell that minimizes heat and
cooling losses and controls light and radiation. Demonstration projects of
these ideas have proven their efficacy and work has already begun on some older
structures.
But all the news is not positive. The respected
International Energy Agency (IEA) has conducted an analysis showing that over
the course of 2020, improvement in global energy investment was below 1%, the
lowest rate of improvement in the last 10 years and only 1/3 of what is needed
to meet the Paris Climate Accords. Other news from IEA indicates that they
expect the use of coal for generating energy will continue to increase
in Asia, despite the known damage to the environment. Our Climate Change Czar
for global activities, John Kerry, will have a big job ahead.
On a personal note, I continue to be amazed at my neighbors,
our nearby shops, and virtually all our big cities in their wanton waste of
energy. Why do folks persist in leaving their lights on at all hours of the
night? Every picture I have seen of New York’s skyscrapers nearly always shows
a night sky with their buildings lit by thousands of lights. Can’t we turn the
unnecessary lights off to prevent wasted energy and keep our air a little
cleaner? It’s such an easy thing that I do automatically. Sheeeze.
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