To say the Fall is shaping up to be busy, hectic, and at times unpredictable on the Hill is an understatement.

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John,

To say the Fall is shaping up to be busy, hectic, and at times unpredictable on the Hill is an understatement, but we believe that we’ll emerge on the other side of this season with bold, ambitious climate and energy policies and investments to jumpstart our transition to a clean energy economy.

1. FROM THE NEW YORKER: “THE PROMISE OF CARBON-NEUTRAL STEEL” ([link removed])

The United States is going to continue to build a lot of things in the coming decades, and with the industrial sector accounting for 7% of emissions, it’s critical for climate, jobs, and American competitiveness that begin to shift toward policies and investments that prioritize decarbonization.

As Matthew Huston explored this past week in his piece ([link removed]) for The New Yorker, the cost of using “clean” or “green” steel—steel produced through less carbon-intensive processes, often with the help of hydrogen—is pretty minimal, and more importantly, the reduction in embodied emissions is enormous. Moreover, the cost of green steel will decrease as efficiency improves.

There’s an opportunity here for the US to keep pace or remain competitive, but we need to put the right policies in place to stimulate clean manufacturing in the US. As with any other commodity, federal policy can accelerate the adoption of cleaner steel by both facilitating the creation of more supply while stimulating demand.

Our previous polling ([link removed]) has also shown that American consumers are willing to pay more for a product made with cleaner materials, and they’re even more willing to do so when they know those products are made by US manufacturers.

2. CHINA PLEDGES TO STOP LEASING OVERSEAS COAL PLANTS

On Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced at the UN General Assembly that China would stop leasing new coal-fired power plants abroad, following up similar commitments made earlier this year by Japan and South Korea.

This is a big deal: more than 70% ([link removed]) of global coal-fired power plants currently in operation rely on Chinese funding, and China actually accounts for 55% ([link removed]) of the world’s pre-construction coal capacity.

China has, however, seen a 74% reduction in the scale of its project pipeline, cancelling 484GW of new coal projects since signing onto the Paris Agreement. Not to mention, China far outpaces the rest of the world in financing and deploying clean technologies like solar panels and lithium-ion batteries.

Because China is the last major source of public finance for overseas coal plants, this declaration could mark a significant shift in global efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

3. EVENT RECAP: Meeting the Moment: How U.S. Innovation Policy Can Accelerate a Cleaner, Stronger, & More Equitable Economy

For Climate Week NYC, we hosted an event with the Environmental Defense Fund on the role of US innovation policy in meeting our climate goals and addressing racial and economic inequity.

To open the event, Josh Freed, Senior Vice President of our Climate and Energy Program, welcomed Mandela Barnes, the 45th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, for a fireside on US climate action and innovation policy.

Lieutenant Governor Barnes emphasized that we need to communicate the importance of innovation and climate policy in a way that resonates with frontline communities and ties climate action to economic development. He also conveyed the importance of customizing innovation policy to the community in which new technologies are being deployed.
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We also heard from Jetta Wong, Senior Fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and President of JLW Advising; Chris Deschene, Board Member at the National InterTribal Energy Council; and Jason Walsh, Executive Director of the BlueGreen Alliance.

These panelists discussed the importance of designing place-based solutions that utilize community input and engagement to develop and deploy new technologies. They spoke at length about the role that innovation plays on the ground in real time to help communities adjust and adapt to challenges they face.

Watch the full event here. ([link removed])

4. WHAT WE’RE READING

* Nine charts ([link removed]) from The Washington Post demonstrate how China is far outpacing the United States in the technology race of the 21st century. One of the most notable industries in which China is running laps around the US is lithium-ion battery cells, for which China is projected to manufacture a total of 2,869 GWh by 2030. The US must scale up its clean tech manufacturing -- which it can achieve with the help of tax incentives like 48C -- if it hopes to be globally competitive in a green economy.
* Why the US isn’t ready for clean energy ([link removed]) , a brilliant new animation from Vox, explains the importance of transmission infrastructure in our transition to clean energy. As the video explains, the US doesn’t currently have enough electricity transmission lines built to safely and reliably store and transfer electricity at the scale we need if we are to transition to 100% clean energy.
* National Geographic ([link removed]) took a deep-dive into the future of clean aviation, a mode of transport that is near impossible to electrify due to battery weight and capacity. Instead, the aviation industry is turning to sustainable aviation fuels, SAFs, as a cleaner alternative to traditional jet fuel with lower embodied carbon emissions and the flexibility of being a “drop-in” fuel that requires relatively minor engine modifications.


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])
Did someone forward you this email? Email Carly Berke at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) to sign up for On the Grid.
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