| | | | |  | | By Joel Kirkland | Presented by Chevron | | 
President Joe Biden, pictured earlier this year in Columbia, South Carolina. | Sean Rayford/Getty Images | Boast. Brag. Set aside any shred of political modesty when it comes to energy and climate policy. That’s the message congressional Democrats are sending to President Joe Biden ahead of tonight’s State of the Union address. “He needs to take a victory lap,” Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico told Kelsey Brugger. “Because he’s done some of the biggest things ever, and not enough people know about that.” Even Democrats from fossil-fuel-producing states are touting Biden’s green accomplishments, in the face of a reelection campaign against Republican front-runner Donald Trump. “Clearly he is the strongest president that has made the biggest investments in green energy and that kind of infrastructure,” said Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. “Compare that to what Trump would do if he’s given another term. If any environmentalist still can’t realize that choice, it’s like — I got nothing for them.” Tonight’s speech may not be a campaign rally, but it historically serves as a chance for the president to trumpet an administration’s triumphs, whether it’s the economy, public safety, health or education. Biden’s mission tonight, in part, is to make voters aware of the multibillion-dollar — or trillion-dollar, by some estimates — federal effort to rebuild the U.S. manufacturing base around green energy technology, chip-building and electric vehicles. Biden’s vision, if he can keep it after the November election, is to cut economy-wide planet-warming emissions in half from 2005 levels by 2030. White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi said in an interview for the POLITICO Energy podcast that Biden intends to deliver a forceful message tonight: A job-creating economic opportunity would be squandered if Trump regains the White House. Trump and Republican allies have vowed to reverse incentives for renewable energy and electric cars, even as companies pledge to open factories in GOP-led states. In his interview with Josh Siegel, Zaidi pointed to the replacement of a coal plant in New Mexico with a solar farm, the growth of solar manufacturing in places like Dalton, Georgia, and funding for a nationwide network of chargers for electric vehicles. Polls show few Americans know the full scope of Biden’s climate actions; a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll published in August showed few Americans knew much about the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden’s signature climate law. Still, Zaidi expressed confidence that the message has already gotten out. “People know that what the president has done uniquely, forcefully and historically is propel a national investment agenda,” he said.
| | | | A message from Chevron: Chevron knows methane management is critical for a lower carbon future. We’re striving to lead in methane management with innovative practices, partnerships, and new technologies. These are a few ways we’re aiming to keep methane in the pipe. | | | | | | It's Thursday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Joel Kirkland. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to jkirkland@eenews.net.
| | | | On the ground in Albany. Get critical policy news and analysis inside New York State. Track how power brokers are driving change across legislation and budget and impacting lobbying efforts. Learn more. | | | | | | | | Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Josh Siegel sits down with White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi ahead of tonight’s State of the Union address to discuss the president's climate record and to-do list.
| | | | A message from Chevron:   | | | | | | | 
Intermountain Power Agency spokesperson John Ward walks through a coal power plant June 22, 2022, in Delta, Utah. State GOP lawmakers have introduced several bills that would make it harder for the Intermountain plant to be replaced with a turbine running on a blend of natural gas and hydrogen. | Rick Bowmer/AP | Life support for coal?
Lawmakers in nearly a dozen states are considering bills to prop up retiring coal plants, write Jason Plautz and Jeffrey Tomich. The wave of legislation comes as a growing renewable energy industry and stricter limits on pollution make many coal plants unprofitable. Republican state lawmakers argue that coal is needed to ensure reliable electricity, and their bills come after the nation's top grid monitor warned that solar and wind projects aren't coming online fast enough to replace coal-fueled power. The Utah Legislature has already passed three bills, which await signature from Republican Gov. Spencer Cox. One would allow the state to buy the Intermountain Power Plant, which is set to retire in 2025. Legislation has also emerged in Alaska, Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Hampshire and Wyoming. Wall Street gets elbow room in climate rule
Critics say a landmark climate disclosure rule from Wall Street's top regulator gives companies too much discretion over what information to report, writes Avery Ellfeldt. The Securities and Exchange Commission's rule, finalized Wednesday, requires an estimated 7,000 U.S. businesses to divulge losses from climate-juiced disasters and, in some cases, their planet-warming emissions. But that comes with what some say is an escape hatch: language that says businesses only need to report certain information if they determine it would be financially material to their investors. Supporters of the materiality provision say that is in line with traditional SEC rulemaking and could reduce work for companies while also ensuring investors only get the information they need. Climate drama continues at Europe's top central bank
The European Central Bank is not backing down from its message that staff need to be trained on climate science, writes Geoffrey Smith. Last month, board member Frank Elderson lamented at an internal meeting about the need to “reprogram” staff “who can't even spell ‘climate.’” That angered some employees, with the bank's staff committee asking that the executive board "acknowledge that people in democratic societies shall not be ‘reprogrammed’ but convinced by reasoning and facts and leading by example.” But the bank's new chief operating officer largely stood behind Elderson in a recent internal memo. Elderson's message “that climate science should be considered in the ECB's work is a direct result of the ECB strategy,” Myriam Moufakkir wrote. “It also reflects his view, supported by all colleagues on the Executive Board, that all factors affecting the ECB's mandated tasks should be properly understood.” Elderson has also addressed the comments internally, saying he should have used the word "train" rather than "reprogram."
| | Toasty warm winter: The burning of fossil fuels drove this year's weirdly warm winter in many places around the world, according to a new analysis. Smoking gun: Texas investigators say the Smokehouse Creek fire, the largest wildfire in state history, was ignited by power lines.
| | | | A message from Chevron: By 2028, our upstream methane intensity target is set to be 53% below the 2016 baseline. To help us get there, we’ve trialed over 13 advanced methane technologies including satellites, planes, drones, and fixed sensors to help reduce methane emissions intensity. In the Permian, we have deployed real-time autonomous optimizers that continuously monitor facilities and well conditions to help prevent flaring, venting and well shutdowns. Developing new solutions to provide energy that’s affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner, that’s energy in progress. | | | | | | A showcase of some of our best subscriber content.
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Tesla electric vehicles power up at chargers in Westlake, California. | Mark J. Terrill/AP | The Biden administration is weighing new rules on federal funding for electric vehicle charging stations. The U.S. set a new record for clean energy installations in 2023, with companies installing 33.8 gigawatts of utility-scale solar, wind and battery power. Several hundred environmental and advocacy groups are pushing the Biden administration to widen its pause on new liquefied natural gas export permits to include all federal permits for LNG and related fossil fuel infrastructure. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) are hoping that they can appeal to two Louisiana members in House Republican leadership to breathe life into their bill to establish a revenue-sharing system for offshore wind energy. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
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