1. Trump Team Prepares to Gut Climate Programs, But Can’t Stop the Energy Transition
He’ll try to follow through on his quid-pro-quo promises to oil and gas execs. But even the fossil fuel industry knows clean energy is here to stay.
Donald Trump is tapping coal exec Andrew Wheeler and oil lobbyist David Bernhardt to focus on energy and climate policy in his transition. He aims to reward his fossil fuel funders by unwinding Biden-era climate regulations, defanging the EPA, opening public lands to oil and gas extraction, and more.
The Trump team says it plans to gut the federal administrative state across the board by eliminating or seriously weakening the EPA, Department of Energy, Department of Interior, and NOAA; climate advocates can expect a long four years.
But analysts say no matter what Trump does, he can’t stop the clean energy boom. Solar is growing fastest in oil-rich Texas; GOP districts are flush with IRA funding; and even big investors and oil and gas giants like ExxonMobil (which warned Trump this week not to pull out of the Paris Agreement) are starting to come to terms with the reality of peak oil.
2. Trump’s EPA Pick Will Be Loyal to The Boss
Lee Zeldin, heavily funded by Big Oil, voted against the IRA.
Former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin represented a Long Island district already hammered by climate change, but he’s been no friend to the environment, and he’ll be a willing servant of right-wing climate vandals as Trump’s EPA administrator.
Zeldin, a climate denier until recently, has voted against reducing pollution on multiple occasions. He has a paltry lifetime League of Conservation Voters score of just 14 percent. He’s taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in fossil fuel contributions, and he voted against the IRA and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In the House, Zeldin was a reliable vote against clean water and air.
As the announcement went public, Zeldin pledged to make the US an “AI leader,” suggesting Trump’s administration will prioritize unmitigated load growth over ratepayers and climate solutions.
The EPA is charged with protecting human health and the environment.
3. A Bright Spot: The IRA’s GOP Friends
Some Republican legislators will be reluctant to kill clean energy programs that have brought their constituents tens of thousands of jobs.
Eighteen GOP legislators are on record warning House Speaker Mike Johnson to resist calls to repeal the IRA, whose clean energy provisions are overwhelmingly funding jobs and investment in Republican districts.
Given the narrow margins in the House, a full IRA repeal will be hard, and these Republicans will make it harder.
GOP letter: “A full repeal would create a worst-case scenario where we would have spent billions of taxpayer dollars and received next to nothing in return.”
4. With Trump on a Climate Rampage, We Look to the States
Some blue-state governors vow to be firewalls against Trump’s climate vandalism.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is convening a special legislative session to supercharge California’s legal defense against an anticipated wide-ranging federal assault. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey have also vowed to do what they can to safeguard climate progress.
Everything’s at stake: clean air and water rules, energy transition policies and climate mitigation programs, even climate disaster funding. Trump mouthpiece Elon Musk is already threatening California with legal harassment.
CA Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire: “We learned a lot about former President Trump in his first term — he’s petty, vindictive, and will do what it takes to get his way no matter how dangerous the policy may be.”
5. Duke Energy Likely To Pass $2.9 Billion Price Tag On To Ratepayers
Rates are already spiking, and it’s just going to get worse.
Duke Energy says it faces $2.9 billion in recovery costs in the Carolinas following this season’s three devastating hurricanes — but they still expect profits to rise, thanks to a spate of rate increases. Duke plans to pass along recovery costs to customers.
Duke will probably get more rate increases, given that industry lobbyists shower legislators with cash and perks across the country. But some regulators push back: Tom Ervin resigned from the South Carolina Public Service Commission, which regulates Duke Energy, over legislation that could stick ratepayers with the bill, even if new projects are abandoned during construction.
AGRIVOLTAICS HELP RURAL LAND DO DOUBLE DUTY
A new case study shows that agrivoltaic projects, which combine agriculture and solar on a single plot of land, can defuse land-use tensions while generating new revenue streams for farmers and landowners.
Sheep farmer Chad Raines: “In the beginning, I was having to convince people,” he said. “[solar companies] now are calling us … we’re actually turning a few people down.”
Read more (Louisiana Illuminator)