Welcome to your weekly Rundown, for the week ending March 19.
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Republican E&C Leaders: Securing Cleaner American Energy
Earlier this week, Republican Leader of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Republican Leader of the Energy Subcommittee Fred Upton (R-MI), and Republican Leader of the Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee David McKinley (R-WV) unveiled their plan to secure America’s energy future and global competitive edge against China. Read their release here
The three also authored a joint op-ed for Morning Consult, outlining their agenda.
The suite of bills includes clean energy innovation across key technologies such as nuclear energy, carbon capture, natural gas, hydropower, construction and manufacturing. A few of the bills include:
- Rep. Greg Pence (R-IN) introduced the Clean Energy Hydrogen Innovation Act (H.R. 1788), which would expand the definition of hydrogen projects and advance innovation in clean and reliable hydrogen energy in Indiana and across the country. Read more
- Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) introduced the Modernize Nuclear Reactor Environmental Reviews Act (H.R. 1559), which would streamline the environmental review process for nuclear reactors, especially advanced reactors. Read more
- Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Dan Newhouse (R-WA) introduced the Hydropower Clean Energy Future Act, which would update and strengthen the licensing process for renewable hydropower projects; and promote innovation and next generation hydropower technologies. Read more
- House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) introduced the Promoting New Manufacturing Act, which would increase investment in American manufacturing, create new jobs and reduce costly permitting delays. Read more
Rich's Take
“Too often, climate policy is oversimplified to false choices: renewables versus fossils, economy versus environment, immediate reductions at home versus inaction. The E&C Republicans’ Agenda for Securing Cleaner American Energy is bipartisan, technologically realistic, and will help make clean energy more affordable while preserving economic growth and reflecting the global nature of the challenge.”
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The Iron-y of Metal Jokes? People Always ‘Steel’ Them
Metals are an integral part of our society. Ranging from basic steels to high-performance alloys, they are a necessary resource in transporting electricity on the grid, constructing buildings, producing everyday kitchen and household items, creating bridges and tunnels, and building trains, cars and even planes.
As part of our new industrial portfolio, we are focused on three technology areas with high emissions reduction potential – metals, concrete & cement, and hydrogen.
Want to learn more about steel? Check out Savita Bowman's Steel 101 here.
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Carbon Capture Bill Gets Balanced Reintroduction
On Wednesday, ClearPath Action welcomed the bipartisan, bicameral reintroduction of the Storing CO2 and Lowering Emissions “SCALE” Act, led by Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Chris Coons (D-DE) in the Senate and Representatives David McKinley (R-WV) and Marc Veasey (D-TX) in the House. This legislation would provide much needed resources to build out new carbon capture infrastructure, develop carbon storage hubs and support emerging technologies that will drive emissions reductions across industries, and create good-paying jobs. Read more
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Listen to Rich: Podcasts on Climate and Clean Energy
This month, Rich joined Greg Dalton on the Climate One Podcast, “The Political Reality of Climate Action,” to discuss Republican efforts to accelerate clean energy innovation. Listen here
Rich also joined The Keystone Center and Great Plains Institute for “The Decarbonization Dialogue,” which convened experts from different sectors to develop recommendations for near-term federal policies to drive economy-wide and equitable decarbonization. Watch here
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Valero and BlackRock Announce Carbon Capture and Storage Project
Valero Energy and BlackRock announced they are partnering with Navigator Energy Services to develop an industrial scale carbon capture pipeline system. The project is expected to span more than 1,200 miles of pipelines across five states in the Midwest with the capability of storing up to 5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. Read more
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
DOE Launches Design & Construction of $75 Million Grid Energy Storage Research Facility
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the beginning of design and construction of the Grid Storage Launchpad, a $75 million facility located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Washington that will accelerate the development and deployment of long-duration, low-cost grid energy storage. The Grid Storage Launchpad is a significant part of the Energy Storage Grand Challenge, and this announcement builds on then-DOE Secretary Brouillette’s announcement last year. Read more
How to Clean Up Steel? Bacteria, Hydrogen and a Lot of Cash.
The New York Times published a piece on producing low-emission steel – highlighting options that steel company ArcelorMittal is exploring such as carbon dioxide eating bacteria that produces valuable chemicals such as ethanol, and lower-carbon alternative fuels such as clean hydrogen. Read more
The Permitting Program Crucial for Carbon Capture’s Success
Carbon capture hit a policy trifecta at the end of 2020 and start of 2021, and that momentum has continued with recent, exciting commercial developments. While promising technologies are being developed to utilize carbon emissions in fuels and materials, storage of carbon dioxide deep underground remains a tried and true mitigation solution and is feasible around the U.S. because of the vast amount of available storage resources. However, we can only capture and reduce carbon emissions as fast as we can permit the projects to do so. And the success of the rapidly growing number of carbon capture projects hinges on the ability to timely obtain a single permit – the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Underground Injection Control (UIC) Class VI permit. Read more in our latest blog, “The Permitting Program Crucial for Carbon Capture’s Success,” by ClearPath Policy Analyst Jena Lococo.
ClearPath's Latest Whiteboard Video: Build Cleaner Faster
We’ve all heard The Biden Administration’s mission to “Build Back Better,” but right now, we can only build new clean energy projects and reduce CO2 emissions as fast as we can permit new projects. If we are to truly build back better, the mission ought to be Build Cleaner Faster. Watch the latest ClearPath Whiteboard Video: Build Cleaner Faster where Rich Powell explains why speed is real priority.
Watch the whiteboard video here
All analyses on transitions to a clean energy economy show that we’ll need literally tens of thousands of miles of new pipelines carrying hydrogen and other clean fuels, along with captured carbon dioxide away from power plants and industrial facilities. We’ll also need immense new transmission infrastructure to carry electricity around an increasingly electrified country, and a lot of new power plants sited everywhere. Rich says this will be the largest continental construction project in history.
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THE PATH AHEAD
TODAY at 10am: ICCF is hosting a Congressional Briefing on Nuclear Energy Innovation featuring Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Reps. Don Young (R-AK) and John Curtis (R-UT). Details and Registration.
March 23: Advanced Reactors Summit VIII & Technology Trailblazers Showcase presented by the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council. Register here
March 24: The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing, “Power Struggle: Examining the 2021 Texas Grid Failure,” at 11:30am ET.
March 24: The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy will hold a hearing, “The CLEAN Future Act: Powering a Resilient and Prosperous America,” at 2:00pm ET.
March 25: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a full committee hearing on nuclear energy at 10:00am ET.
March 26: The American Nuclear Society is hosting a roundtable discussion, “Perspectives from Past DOE Nuclear Energy Officials,” from 1-2:00pm ET. Register here
March 30: The Anthropocene Institute is hosting “SMR Applications: The Future of the End User” at 9:00am ET. Register here
April 1: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Energy Institute is hosting an EnergyInnovates Event Series, and is kicking off on April 1 at 10:00am ET with an event, “EnergyInnovates: Funding our Energy Future.” ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell will be a panelist. Register here
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