Congressional Democrats are moving the budget bill along, but the real negotiation is still to come.

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John,

Congressional Democrats are moving the budget bill along, but the real negotiation is still to come, as the Senate and House must reconcile the differences between their plans. House committee markups have lasted into the early hours of the morning nearly every day this week, as lawmakers have voted on amendments to several components of the reconciliation bill. Next week, the House will begin to put the proposals from each committee markup together, after which it will come to a vote on the House floor before it’s sent to the Senate.

The negotiations are likely to get more contentious, specifically regarding the total amount spent in the bill, how much is paid for, and the size and scope of specific programs -- before they are resolved. We still expect this to happen, but look for more stories on reconciliation’s death before it ultimately gets done.

1. MAKING SENSE OF HOUSE MARKUPS

Many of the major clean energy innovation priorities we support made it through the committee markups this week:
* The Energy & Commerce Committee successfully passed the Clean Electricity Performance Program out of committee, which will help us reach 80% clean electricity by 2030 and incentivize an enormous investment in clean energy infrastructure that will put hundreds of thousands of Americans to work across the country.

* The Transportation & Infrastructure bill contains several provisions that will help make our transportation network cleaner and ensure it works better for everyone, including $1 billion to develop, demonstrate, and deploy clean aircraft technologies and sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).

* The Ways & Means markup included several tax credits that will advance our clean energy priorities, including a production tax credit for existing nuclear facilities, and it extends the direct pay ([link removed]) option to cover various tax credits for nuclear, carbon capture, and clean hydrogen

2. WORLD’S LARGEST DIRECT AIR CAPTURE FACILITY LAUNCHED IN ICELAND

At the beginning of September, Climeworks launched its new direct air capture (DAC) facility in Iceland. This plant essentially serves as an enormous vacuum, sucking 4,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide out of the air every year and storing it underground.

This is a big deal. The International Energy Agency predicts we’ll need to remove up to *one billion* metric tons of carbon dioxide per year from the air by 2050 to sufficiently slow the impacts of climate change.

The Orca ([link removed]) installation is a big step toward showing the world that this is a feasible technology and can be deployed commercially.

We believe it is very important for the US to also become a leader in DAC, and we’re glad the bipartisan infrastructure deal establishes a DAC prize competition along with funding to launch four regional DAC hubs ([link removed]) to bring this critical technology to market in the United States.

3. ILLINOIS’ NUCLEAR PLANTS SAVED AT THE 11TH HOUR

On September 15, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed an ambitious clean energy bill into law that sets new goals for Illinois’ clean energy future—and could serve as a roadmap for other states to use every clean energy resource to get to net-zero as fast and fair as possible.

The legislation is bold. Most immediately (and tangibly), it authorizes nearly $700 million to save three nuclear power plants in the state, which provide an enormous amount of clean electricity for Illinois and would have been replaced by natural gas. Two of the plants were scheduled to close on September 16—the day after Governor Pritzker signed the legislation—if the state hadn’t taken action.

Among other provisions, Illinois now has a goal of getting to 100% clean energy by 2050. The bill also establishes a goal of one million electric vehicles in Illinois by 2030.

By putting these targets in place and preserving carbon-free nuclear, Illinois has not only saved more than 1500 jobs at these three plants, but as Lindsey Walter, Deputy Director of Third Way’s Climate and Energy Program, recently said, they “reinforce the support and need for a federal clean energy standard to provide a uniform policy for utilities across the country as they look to decarbonize.”

4. HOW EVS WILL CHANGE THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE

As we push to adopt federal policies that incentivize the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, we also should think about how our transition to EVs is going to change the American landscape as we know it.

Rivian, for instance, completely reshaped Normal, Illinois ([link removed]) , after it bought out a Mitsubishi factory to convert it into an EV production plant. As clean energy industries catalyze similar industrial booms in communities across the country, we need to consider how we can sustain these green investments and ensure everyone reaps the economic benefits.

EVs will also force us to rethink the way we travel, not only to accomplish daily tasks, but also to cover longer distances. In a future powered by electric vehicles, road tripping across America’s iconic interstate highways will look a little different. Whereas today’s highway rest stops accommodate travelers who only need 5-10 minutes to fuel up, we might need to reimagine rest stops to accommodate travelers spending 30 minutes to one hour recharging their EV. As Bloomberg’s Conor Sen ventured this week, Buc-cee’s ([link removed]) , a Texas-based chain of gas-station convenience stores that provides an entire retail experience, could be ([link removed]) a reflection of the ideal rest stop for families and drivers traversing America’s highways in an electric vehicle.

5. WHAT WE’RE READING

* The Biden Administration is launching a $16 million program ([link removed]) to help create new economic and job opportunities for communities reliant on fossil fuels. This reflects the Administration’s commitment to expand the number of able to build on the expansion of clean energy, including the workers who built our existing energy infrastructure.

* New polling from Pew Research Center ([link removed]) reveals that an increasing number of individuals view climate change as a personal threat, as the impact of fires, floods, storms, and extreme weather worsens each passing day. It’s a growing indication that climate change is not a problem for future generations to address; rather, it requires swift action on all levels of society to reduce our carbon footprint and build out clean energy infrastructure.


Let’s keep the conversation going,

Carly Berke
Climate and Energy Press Coordinator | Third Way
818.422.2759 :: @ThirdWayEnergy ([link removed])

Jared DeWese
Senior Communications Advisor | Third Way
202.427.3709 :: @jareddewese ([link removed])
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