Welcome to your weekly Rundown, for the week ending December 11.
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Bipartisan Group of Senators Introduces 45Q Legislation
This week, Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), John Barrasso (R-WY), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), John Hoeven (R-ND), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Joe Manchin (D-WV) introduced the 45Q Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) Tax Credit Amendments Act of 2020. This bipartisan legislation would provide for direct pay, a five-year extension and a Base Erosion Avoidance Tax (BEAT) fix for 45Q. Read more
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Clean Energy Champions to Lead Key Energy Committees
in the 117th Congress
Congratulations again to the below Members for being selected to lead the key energy and environment committees of jurisdiction in the 117th Congress.
- Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) will be the Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
- Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) will be the Chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
- Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) will be the Republican Leader of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.
- Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) will be the Republican Leader of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
- Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) will be the Republican Leader of the House Natural Resources Committee.
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The New Atlantis: In What Sense Abundant? Debating Climate Policy
The New Atlantis published a new column, “In What Sense Abundant? Debating climate, renewal, and American decadence," which published responses to Matt Frost’s “After Climate Despair," [Fall 2019] column, including from ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell. Rich argues, “Matt Frost’s essay is right. Climate change policy is often oversimplified to false choices: renewables versus fossils, environment versus economy, energy reduction versus inaction. The global climate challenge
requires both political and technical realism, and solutions for making a transition to clean energy cheaper and faster while preserving economic growth and reflecting the global nature of the challenge.” Read the full piece
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House Passes RIVER Act
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed by voice vote the Reliable Investment in Vital Energy Reauthorization (RIVER) Act (H.R. 3361), led by Rep. David McKinley (R-WV), which would bolster U.S. leadership on renewable hydropower energy. Read more
ClearPath Action has endorsed the RIVER Act stating that, “powering non-powered dams has the potential to add 3.6 GW of clean and affordable hydropower electricity to the U.S. grid.” Read more
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ICYMI Our Latest Video: Clean Energy Marshall Plan
For our history buff subscribers, you’re familiar with The Marshall Plan — the U.S. program that provided aid to our allies following World War II. As a result of helping reconstruct cities, industries and infrastructure after the War, the U.S. also reaped tremendous economic benefits from new trade opportunities.
Recalling that incredible success, we propose a “Clean Energy Marshall Plan” – one that can make our energy sector cleaner AND more reliable here in the U.S. and around the globe, while making the American economy even stronger. Watch our latest video proposing a four-step strategy to achieve this, by innovating, permitting, building and exporting. Watch here
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ClearPath Advisory Board Member Selected for National Committees on Cybersecurity and Grid Resilience
Richard Mroz, former President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and ClearPath Advisory Board member has been appointed on two separate national committees on cybersecurity and grid resilience issues. Richard has been very active with a number of organizations about these issues including best practices for industry, regulatory actions, and cost recovery.
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First-of-its-kind 3D-printed Nuclear Fuel Component
Last week, Framatome announced that 3D-printed fuel assembly channel fasteners manufactured at DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in a joint project with Tennessee Valley Authority will be loaded into a U.S. commercial reactor for the first time in early 2021. Read more
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United Pledges to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions,
Will Use DAC Technologies
United Airlines pledged to become “100% green” by reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 100% by 2050. United is committing to a multimillion-dollar investment in Direct Air Capture (DAC) technologies and is the first airline in the world to announce such a commitment. Read more
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
All I Want for Xmas is… More Nuclear Power
Dr. Carly Anderson, Principal Chemical Engineer and Partner at Prime Movers Lab, a venture capital fund that invests in seed stage companies focused on scientific breakthroughs in energy, transportation, manufacturing and agriculture, recently penned a column explaining why nuclear power is necessary to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions and presents an exciting opportunity for the investment community. Read the column
Carbon180 Launches the Deep End
ICYMI: Yesterday, Carbon180 launched “the Deep End,” a new policy-focused newsletter that analyzes carbon removal policy news. View the first issue here
Vogtle Achieves Another Significant Milestone
On Wednesday, Georgia Power, a Southern Company subsidiary, received the first nuclear fuel shipment for one of the two new nuclear reactors located at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant near Waynesboro, GA. The shipment is a significant milestone for the nuclear expansion project at the plant as Vogtle moves closer to in-service operations. Read more
America: the Trusted Partner for Nuclear Energy Exports
In recent months, the U.S. has taken two important steps to retake the mantle of leadership in the nuclear energy industry. First, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) allowed for the financing of nuclear energy. Second, the U.S. has pledged financing to civilian nuclear-interested countries, should they use American technologies in their nuclear development – and a number of these potential deals have been announced recently. Read more in our latest blog, “America: the Trusted Partner for Nuclear Energy Exports," by ClearPath Policy Analyst Cole Simons.
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THE PATH AHEAD
December 14: The Atlantic Council Global Energy Center and Energy Innovation Reform Project (EIRP) are hosting a virtual panel discussion on EIRP’s new report, “Energy Technology in an Era of Great Power Competition: Challenges and Opportunities in U.S.-Japan and U.S.-South Korea Cooperation,” at 6:00pm ET. More details and registration information here
December 16: The Global Nexus Initiative (GNI), co-led by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) and the Partnership for Global Security (PGS), is hosting a webinar from 11:00am – 12:15pm EST on, “The Evolving Politics of Nuclear Power: Climate Change, Energy Demand, & Geopolitics.” More details and registration information here
December 16: The Energy Communities Alliance is hosting the first webinar under ECA’s New Nuclear Initiative from 12:00pm – 3:15pm EDT on, “Building the Nuclear Energy Future,” which will address initiatives being taken across the complex as they relate to nuclear development and energy production. More details and registration information here
December 17: The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) invites you to register to attend the first meeting of the newly announced study committee, “Laying the Foundation for New and Advanced Nuclear Reactors in the United States,” from 1:00pm – 5:15pm ET. The meeting will feature talks on advanced reactor demonstration projects, government collaborations with utilities and private industry, updates on licensing, and a panel of congressional stakeholders. More details and registration information here
January 7: The National Reactor Innovation Center is hosting the “Advanced Reactor Demonstration” webinar as part of the NRIC’s “What Inspires Us” webinar series from 2:30pm – 4:00pm ET. This session will feature executives from TerraPower and X-energy as they discuss their advanced reactor designs, Natrium and Xe-100. More details and registration information here
January 19-21: Save the date for Cleantech Forum San Francisco. More details and registration information here
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