- The Coronavirus Bill is Also ‘The Most Significant Climate Legislation’ Ever
The coronavirus-relief bill racing through Congress contains a fair amount of economic relief as well as a wide array of unrelated measures that were thrown into the bill with little or no public debate. Included in the latter category is something shocking: a huge package of energy reforms that will result in major greenhouse-gas reductions.
To be sure, the “most significant climate legislation Congress has ever passed” designation is a little bit misleading. Congress hasn’t passed much climate legislation. The climate provisions in the coronavirus-relief bill might add up to more than President Obama’s 2009 stimulus bill, which included $90 billion in green-energy subsidies and helped seed the boom in wind, solar, batteries, and other tech over the past decade. They likely won’t be as significant as the 1970 Clean Air Act, which created the regulatory authority that does most of the heavy lifting in reducing carbon pollution.
But the amount of good climate policy in this bill is shocking, especially given the fact that it is about to be signed by Donald J. Trump. The major provisions include: a $35 billion investment in new zero-emission energy technology (including solar, wind, nuclear, and carbon-capture storage); an extension of tax credits for wind and solar energy, which were set to expire; and, most significantly, a plan for phasing out hydrofluorocarbons, a small but extremely potent greenhouse gas used as a coolant.
The last item is perhaps the most unexpected. In 2016, the Obama administration committed to an international agreement to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs. The Trump administration, as you’d expect, renounced the agreement and then proposed rolling back regulations on HFCs. Instead, the president will sign a bill that would allow the United States to fulfill the terms of the treaty he renounced. A full international HFC phaseout will reduce global warming by nearly one degree Fahrenheit.
If these climate provisions had not been thrown into a coronavirus-relief bill and Joe Biden had tried to pass the exact same policies two months from now, right-wing media would be aflame with denunciations of his “Green New Deal.” Tucker Carlson would be claiming the bill had been secretly masterminded by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sean Hannity would be decrying the billions in green-energy subsidies, and Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley would be on the capitol lawn spraying hydrofluorocarbons into the air and claiming they represented a cherished element to the lifestyle of Real Americans.
Instead, everybody just got together and crammed it through. American politics may not “work,” exactly, but it does sort of still function.: Coronavirus Relief Also Has Biggest Climate Bill in History - https://www.washingtonpost.com/clima...mate-spending/ - Climate Change Legislation Included in Coronavirus Stimulus Deal - The New York Times - Stimulus bill puts the US in compliance with Montreal Protocol — Quartz
- Windfarms in Great Britain break record for clean power generation
Blustery winter weather helped Great Britain’s windfarms set a record for clean power generation, which made up more than 40% of its electricity on Friday.
Wind turbines generated 17.3GW on Friday afternoon, according to figures from the electricity system operator, narrowly beating the previous record set in early January this year.
High wind speeds across the country helped wind power’s share of the electricity mix remain above 40% through Saturday. Coal and gas plants made up less than a fifth of electricity generated.
Melanie Onn, the deputy chief executive of Renewable UK, said: “It’s great to see our onshore and offshore windfarms have smashed another record, generating more power on a cold December day than ever before, just when we need it most.”
The record follows the “greenest” year ever for the electricity system thanks to a surge in renewable energy and sharp drop in energy demand caused by the shutdown of office blocks, restaurants and schools during coronavirus restrictions.
Solar power reached a record of 9.6GW in April, which helped spur the longest coal-free streak ever, of 1,629 consecutive hours, which ended in June.
Wind power generation reached a record share of almost 60% of electricity use in August as demand for power fell by more than a fifth compared with the year before.
The abundance of clean electricity caused the carbon intensity of the electricity grid in March fell to an all-time monthly low of 143g of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour, and annual figures are expected to confirm that 2020 was the greenest year.
“We expect to see many more records set in the years ahead, as the government has made wind energy one of the most important pillars of its energy strategy for reaching net zero emissions as fast and as cheaply as possible,” said Onn.
“This new record is an early Christmas present we can all celebrate.”: Windfarms in Great Britain break record for clean power generation | Wind power | The Guardian