Hi John,

Last week was a long one in Washington, and things aren’t slowing down any time soon. Let's dive in.

1. RECONCILIATION STAYS MESSY

Last week was a frustrating example of how arduous the legislative process can be. This is particularly the case when the governing party is a coalition of groups (moderates and progressives, industrial Midwesterners and coastal urbanites, etc.) that have different approaches to solving the big problems facing the country. We still think real progress is being made toward getting both the infrastructure package and reconciliation done, but it will remain messy for several more weeks.

One reason for our optimism, as Third Way Executive Vice President Matt Bennett told POLITICO;> last week, is that moderates were elected to deliver tangible solutions to voters, including on climate change. This requires both infrastructure and reconciliation.

2. AS ENERGY CRISIS HITS EUROPE, 
THOMAS FRIEDMAN MAKES THE CASE FOR NUCLEAR 

In his recent column for the New York Times, Thomas L. Friedman makes the case that climate advocates need to become “mean greens” and embrace nuclear along with renewables in reaction to the emerging energy crisis taking hold in Europe. Friedman notes that Europe is on the brink of this crisis because climate and energy policies in the European Union and United Kingdom were implemented in an uncoordinated way, leaving too many countries reliant on natural gas, rather than nuclear, for the firm power necessary to complement variable wind and solar. 

A pandemic-induced decline in gas production coupled with rising demand for natural gas is resulting in skyrocketing gas prices that Russia, which provides most of the gas Europe and the UK consumes, is exploiting. Only France, and to a much lesser extent the United Kingdom, currently has much nuclear power. Germany decided to shutter all of its plants and expand the use of gas as well as renewables after Fukushima. The crisis is likely to get worse as cold winter weather settles over Europe and energy demand increases further.

Not surprisingly, we agree with Friedman on this. While this winter’s problems may be unavoidable, it should serve as a lesson for the future that a diversity of zero-carbon energy is critical to maintain supply and keep costs low. United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged to dramatically expand its use of nuclear energy (as well as adding renewables to the grid) to get to net-zero by 2035 and make the country more energy independent, particularly from Russia. 

3. MODERATES SET THE PACE ON CLIMATE POLICY

Two high-profile senators are on everyone’s mind these days, but moderate Democrats have been setting the tone on climate policy for years. They’re the reason no one in Washington is trying to limit our options to just renewables anymore, and we now have a technology-inclusive climate agenda that’s more efficient and politically popular. But unlike “moderate” Republicans, these Democrats aren’t afraid to back the truly ambitious policies we’ll need to hit emissions targets. Centrist Joe Biden had the most ambitious climate platform of any general election candidate in history. New Democrats developed some of the most impactful policies being considered in the infrastructure and reconciliation packages. And fiscally conservative Blue Dogs are clearing the path for major increases in climate spending. If Democrats pass their bold and pragmatic climate agenda into law this year, you’ll know exactly who to thank.

4. EVENT RECAP: Firm Energy Sources: How the US and Europe Are Financing the Path to Net-Zero

At our first of two Climate Action Week events last week, Josh Freed sat down with Jigar Shah, the Director of the Loan Programs Office within the Department of Energy, to discuss how the LPO is helping catalyze private investment in emerging energy technologies through its loan and loan guarantee programs. Jigar emphasized that the federal government has a critical role to play in shaping advanced energy industries by educating new investors and by establishing the US government as a viable support system through all stages of commercialization.

Jigar also succinctly explained the need for firm energy sources like advanced nuclear:

“Technology can accommodate almost any combination of resources. So if we want to build a 100% solar and wind grid, we will need a whole lot of infrastructure that has between 150 to 300 hours of battery storage to handle the periods when there are low amounts of sun and wind. But when that occurs, that equipment can be very expensive. So it could be cheaper to actually just mix in firm sources that are also flexible.”

5. GLOBAL COMMITMENTS TO INDUSTRIAL DECARBONIZATION

US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry is assembling a coalition of some of the world’s biggest companies to help propel industrial decarbonization in industries like cement and steel, an issue Third Way has worked on extensively. The full coalition will be revealed at COP26 in Glasgow.

Steel, concrete, and aluminum account for 23% of global greenhouse emissions. Kerry’s decarbonization strategy is thus crucial if we hope to reduce our industrial carbon footprint and meet our ambitious climate targets. As Akshat Rathi put it so aptly for Bloomberg: 

Reaching net-zero emissions means not just having snazzy electric cars and shiny solar power plants, but also eliminating the carbon footprints of the steel and cement used to make them.

6. WHAT WE’RE READING

• ​​We keep a running tally of states, cities, and utilities around the country that have set clean energy targets in an effort to transition the US to 100% clean energy. But last week, Vox’s Rebecca Leber explored how state legislatures controlled by Republicans have done the opposite and used “preemption” laws to prevent cities from banning the use of natural gas in new buildings and renovations. 
• Exelon, a Chicago-based utility, came out in favor of the Clean Electricity Performance Program in an interview with Washington Examiner’s Josh Siegel. About 60% of Exelon’s fleet is already carbon-free and powered by nuclear energy, but the utility is confident a CEPP could help them transition the 20% of their fleet powered by natural gas to renewables. 
• Somini Sengupta takes readers on a journey around the world in her new New York Times piece on how cities are rethinking urban urban transportation. From Berlin to Bogota to Bergen, cities are recalibrating public transit to better serve the needs of the people, turning to means of transit like trams, cable cars, electric ferries, electric buses, and expanded bike paths to adapt urban transportation to our modern needs.