Hi John,

Hope you’ve had a restful recess week. We’re in your inbox today with exciting nuclear news, more details on the president’s budget, and a new Third Way blog post on how to clean up aviation.

 ADVANCING ADVANCED NUCLEAR

Earlier this week, TerraPower, PacifiCorp, and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon announced the siting of a Natrium advanced nuclear demonstration project at a retiring coal plant in Wyoming.
 
This is a huge win for both the climate and the economy. Advanced nuclear technologies can provide reliable, 24/7 energy as a complement to wind and solar. Moreover, replacing a retired coal plant with advanced nuclear energy will not only provide clean electricity in the place of dirty, coal-fired power, but will also create new job opportunities for the existing workforce and deliver economic benefits to the surrounding communities. All four communities in the running to host the reactor are eager to welcome the benefits it will bring to their energy workers.
 
The demonstration project is a joint effort between TerraPower and the Department of Energy, which awarded TerraPower $80 million last year through its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. The first-of-its-kind reactor is an important milestone in a decade-long movement to support the development of advanced nuclear energy, and its announcement is a testament to the fact that advanced nuclear technologies are no longer interesting ideas: they’re real technologies that should be utilized in a decarbonized electric grid. Our memo, How Advanced Nuclear Got on the Map, recounts how Third Way and its allies shifted the conversation on advanced nuclear and cleared a path forward for these technologies.
 
If you’re not yet familiar with the benefits of advanced nuclear energy, make sure to watch our recent animation, which breaks down how advanced nuclear technologies will be a tremendous clean energy asset in a net-zero economy:

 BIG BUDGET NEWS

President Biden and Vice President Harris’ FY22 budget request proposes historic levels of investment in federal climate and energy programs. Coupled with funding from the American Jobs Plan, the FY22 budget will provide the climate and energy investments we desperately need to tackle climate change and create millions of clean energy jobs for American workers. 
 
Some notable highlights from the requested budget for the Department of Energy:
 
More than $10 billion for clean energy innovation funding. This commitment increases clean energy innovation funding by more than 25% from FY21, ensuring proper funding for clean energy research, demonstration, and deployment across the country. 
 
$2 billion to transform the U.S. electricity sector. The administration has set an ambitious goal to decarbonize our power sector by 2035. This $2 billion investment will put thousands of skilled laborers to the task of transforming our electricity infrastructure. It’s a historic investment in the American workforce and would ensure that well-paid, union workers will be the ones who build our clean energy future. It also reflects the potential for clean energy and energy efficiency investments in nearly every community across the country.
 
$400 million to launch an Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. Investing in clean energy research alone won’t save the climate, unless we also demonstrate these technologies and bring them to market. An Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations would provide more funding and technical expertise to help prove the commercial viability of new technologies, encourage private investment, and get innovative clean energy deployed faster.
 
Here’s what Josh Freed, senior vice president for the Third Way Climate and Energy Program, said about the budget release: 
 
“The White House deserves major kudos for an FY22 budget that recognizes the economic and environmental value of clean energy innovation. The spending plan released today puts a record-setting $10 billion into [energy] RD&D efforts across the federal government. It provides the nation’s labs, universities, manufacturers, and farmers with the resources they need to make breakthrough discoveries, demonstrate promising technologies at scale, and launch lucrative new industries. And it creates opportunities for more communities across the country to benefit from the clean energy economy, including communities of color and local economies that have historically relied on traditional energy.
 
This budget, combined with the once-in-a-generation investment laid out in the American Jobs Plan, shows the Biden Administration has a comprehensive plan to leverage American leadership in energy innovation to put climate goals within reach, create new opportunities for US workers, and ensure domestic industries stay competitive in the global clean energy market.”

 SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL (SAF)

With so much recent buzz around the development of electric vehicles, there’s been little room for news on the decarbonization of another important industry in the transportation sector: aviation. 
 
As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and air travel increases, we need to do everything we can now to tackle aviation’s growing climate impacts. Switching out fossil jet fuel for sustainable aviation fuel is our best bet to do so.
 
Last month, Reps. Schneider, Brownley, and Kildee introduced the Sustainable Skies Act, a bill that introduces a blender’s tax credit (BTC) to help make SAF cost-competitive with fossil jet fuels. The Biden-Harris Administration has also endorsed a BTC as part of its Made in America Tax Plan. The Senate Finance Committee also included a tax incentive for SAF in the Clean Energy for America Act, which would establish a short-term BTC for SAF and then make SAF eligible for the new Clean Fuel Production Credit.
 
Our Transportation Policy Advisor Alexander Laska explains why we need a BTC for sustainable aviation fuel in a helpful blog post.