1. Getting SAF in the skies 

Global emissions declined by almost 2 billion tonnes in 2020, due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Just as people around the world weren’t taking to the roads to travel, they also weren’t flying either. But emissions are back up as pandemic regulations have relaxed and many want to travel and connect with others as they did before the pandemic. Today, aviation produces 3% of our total emissions. And because aviation isn’t easy to electrify like vehicles, it will rely on liquid fuels for the foreseeable future. Without alternatives, that means a reliance on volatile global petroleum markets.

Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), made from a variety of sustainable feedstocks like captured carbon and waste oils, offer a unique opportunity to reduce as much as 60% of aviation’s carbon emissions while increasing US energy security by producing more energy domestically. 

In our new memo, Alex Laska, Third Way’s Senior Policy Advisor for Transportation, outlines five federal programs that Congress should prioritize in upcoming appropriations talks. These programs will help move novel SAF production pathways out of the laboratory and into the market, accelerating commercialization. But investment in innovation is not enough. Once we have sustainable fuels, we need a performance-based tax credit for SAF to incentivize production and use. The federal government can play a direct role in getting cleaner fuels in our skies while giving domestic industries and workers a leg-up and reducing our dependence on global oil markets. 

2. Third Way at Aspen Climate in Miami

The Climate and Energy team’s own Alan Ahn, Senior Fellow for Nuclear, joined experts and political leaders in Miami to moderate an important panel discussion on the role of nuclear power to address climate change. The conversation, which included Oklo co-founder Caroline Cochran, Westinghouse Chief Technology Office Dr. Rita Baranwal, and Dr. Melissa Lott, research director at Columbia’s Center on Global Energy Policy, focused on nuclear accessibility and the path forward for advanced nuclear technology deployment. Panelists unpacked the many benefits of advanced nuclear technology in providing reliable, safe, clean power and how rapid technological advancements are shifting perceptions around nuclear technology and outdated assumptions. 

3. April’s Inflation Outlook

On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for April, showing an 8.3% increase in prices compared to last year, with slight ease in inflation numbers we saw in March. 

Russia’s aggression in Ukraine has upended global energy markets, as evident in March’s CPI report. This month we saw a slight reprieve as energy prices dropped by nearly 3% compared to the prior month, and even lower for gas prices, which saw a 6% drop. A small victory, but gas price inflation overall remains high, at a whopping 45% compared to last April as the nation confronts an ongoing pandemic, a coordinated recovery, and now, a war in the East. And as was pointed out on Thursday’s episode of The New York Times’ The Daily, depending on your age, geography, and other factors, these increases are having a bigger impact on some Americans than others. 

Dr. Ellen Hughes-Cromwick, Senior Resident Fellow and economist on the Climate and Energy team sat down with World War Zero to unpack the report and discuss actions the Federal Reserve can take to tame the inflationary prices hitting American families in every region of the country. 

Watch Ellen’s conversation here.