Latest news with #ClimatePower
News.com.au
7 days ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
US senator warns of fossil fuel coup, economic reckoning
One of the US Senate's leading climate advocates says President Donald Trump's administration no longer governs -- it "occupies" the nation on behalf of Big Oil. In an interview, Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island blamed the sweeping rollback of environmental protections on a flood of unlimited, anonymous corporate political spending, and said exposing the scale of this "fraud" is key to breaking its grip. His remarks came as the death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas linked by scientists to climate change threatened to surge further. "This isn't even government any longer," the 69-year-old told a small group of reporters ahead of an address to Congress Wednesday -- his 300th so-called "Time to Wake Up" speech, delivered as activists reel from Trump's actions. "This is an occupying force from the fossil fuel industry that has injected itself into the key positions of responsibility," said the lawmaker. "It has the appearance of being government -- they ride around in the black cars... they have the offices, they have the titles," he said. But in reality, "they're fossil fuel flunkies... and they care not a whit for public opinion or public safety." Big Oil spent at least $445 million to help elect Trump, according to a recent analysis by Climate Power, which said its figure was likely a vast underestimate because of undisclosed donations. - Dark money takeover - In his second term, Republican Trump has pulled the United States out of the Paris climate accord, gutted science agencies, fired researchers and forecasters, scrapped his predecessor Joe Biden's clean energy tax cuts and rolled back powerplant and vehicle efficiency standards. Whitehouse calls it the oil, coal and gas industry's "most sordid dreams come true" and says the stage was set by the 2010 Supreme Court "Citizens United" ruling, which unleashed an era of unchecked corporate political spending. A former state attorney general who battled corporate polluters, he recalled that when he first joined the Senate, climate bipartisanship flourished: John McCain, the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee, had "a perfectly respectable climate platform," while Republican senators proposed bills. "These weren't little tiddlywinks, nibble-at-the-edges bills," he recalled, but would have genuinely changed the trajectory of climate emissions. Citizens United reversed century-old campaign finance restrictions and opened the floodgates to dark money. "They were able to come into the Republican Party and say, 'We will give you unlimited amounts of money. You will have more money in your elections than you've ever seen before.'" - The way forward - Despite the bleak landscape, Whitehouse still sees a narrow path to climate safety — and points to several potential game changers. First, he cites the possible emergence of a global carbon pricing effort, spearheaded by the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which taxes importers based on their climate footprint. Countries like the UK, Canada, Mexico and Australia could join this movement, creating a de facto global price on carbon, enforced through trade -- without US legislation. Second, he says, Democrats can and must expose fossil fuel's stranglehold on the Republican party, a phenomenon he calls one of the "most grave incidents of political corruption and fraud that the country has ever seen," and pass a bill forcing donor transparency. Third, what was once framed as a crisis for polar bears -- and later as an opportunity for green jobs -- is today directly hitting Americans where it hurts most: their wallets. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has warned that climate change will shrink mortgage availability across swaths of the United States in the coming years as banks and insurers retreat from fire- and flood-prone regions. Risks could cascade from an insurance crunch into a broader mortgage collapse -- potentially triggering a 2008-style crash. Whitehouse predicts the fossil fuel industry's hold on Republicans won't last forever. "When it becomes clear what has been done here, then there's going to be a dramatic reset," he said. "A reckoning will come for this. There's no doubt about it -- it's just the nature of human affairs." Trump himself, he added, was merely swept along by the dominant current of the post-2010 Republican Party, with no ideological stake in the issue. As recently as 2009, he co-signed a full-page advertisement in the New York Times demanding stronger climate action from then president Barack Obama.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Report says more than 25K Michigan jobs threatened if IRA tax credits are canceled
Getty Images Since former President Joe Biden launched billions in grants, loans, tax breaks and other efforts incentivizing clean energy development through the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, Michigan has proven itself as a leader in the sector. However, a recent report warns that President Donald Trump's efforts to eliminate those policies are already cutting into the state's clean energy gains. Climate Power, a strategic communications firm centered on climate progress, has issued several reports tracking the impacts of Biden's climate policies across the U.S., repeatedly pointing to Michigan as the state attracting the largest share of clean energy projects, in addition to drawing significant investments and creating thousands of jobs. However, in the months since Trump has taken office, the president's attacks on clean energy policy alongside the impact of his tariff policies have threatened, delayed or outright canceled $14.2 billion in investments alongside 2,667 jobs, the firm's latest report said. If congressional Republicans repeal the IRA's tax credits for clean energy manufacturing, Climate Power warns that $39.85 billion in investments and 25,357 jobs could be lost. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The report also emphasizes that these cuts would harm low-income communities, where companies have announced $13.3 billion in investments, creating 17,245 clean energy jobs. Additionally projects announced in rural communities which are expected to bring $5.8 billion in investment and 2,886 jobs could also be placed at risk. While Climate Power has projected that the state will bring in 167,000 new jobs over the next ten years, the loss of federal support and impacts of Trump's trade war would similarly jeopardize these gains. 'Trump's war on clean energy and his chaotic policies have already caused a hemorrhaging of manufacturing jobs in sectors that had been booming for two years,' Lori Lodes, Climate Power's executive director said in a statement. 'Repealing clean energy investments would jeopardize hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs on its own. On top of this crisis of uncertainty, repeal would devastate American manufacturing — halting construction, sending jobs overseas, hiking energy costs, and forfeiting the future to China and our other competitors.' Of the 74 clean energy projects committed to investing in Michigan, the majority are centered in electric vehicles and batteries, with 35 projects centered on EV manufacturing and 19 on batteries. These sectors were also the largest for jobs, with the battery industry accounting for 46.9% of incoming jobs, while the electric vehicles sector accounts for 32.6%. However, the clean technology sector has drawn the greatest amount of investments, bringing $13.2 billion into the state. The report also points to several projects in these sectors, including a $1.6 billion battery cell plant in Van Buren Township from Michigan-based Our Next Energy, and General Motors' plan to retool its Lansing Grand River Plant for electric vehicle production using a $500 million clean energy grant. Climate power also noted that more than a third of the clean energy projects coming into Michigan would be housed in districts represented by Republicans in Congress, for a total of $12.5 billion in investments. As Republicans work to cut spendings in order to extend Trump's 2017 tax policy, some House Republicans have spoken out against eliminating the clean energy tax credit, including Rep. John James (R-Shelby Twp.) whose district expects to see 275 new jobs and over $16 million in investments. According to a report from Politico, Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland) signed onto a letter Thursday calling for House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) to maintain incentives for nuclear energy. Huizenga's district houses the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Covert, which has approval for a $1.52 billion loan from the federal government to restart the plant.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nearly 400,000 US clean energy jobs on the line, Climate Power analysis finds
More than 60,000 US jobs in clean energy have been delayed, threatened, or eliminated entirely since US President Donald Trump's reelection in November, putting the country's manufacturing renaissance at risk, according to a new analysis. A further 399,000 jobs — the bulk of which are in GOP-controlled districts — could be on the chopping block if congressional Republicans follow through with their legislative agenda to repeal or gut Biden-era tax credits, with the future of manufacturing 'ceded to China yet again,' climate advocacy group Climate Power warned in its April Clean Energy Jobs report. Around 10% of those jobs are in Georgia, one of the leading beneficiaries of IRA-related incentives: 'If [Republican members of Congress] want to proceed with blind partisan loyalty and harm Georgia's economy, then they have that choice, but it's a choice that will harm the state, and they'll be punished by voter support,' Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) told reporters Wednesday. The Rhodium Group and MIT's Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research published research last week showing six projects worth $6.2 billion in investment have been canceled since January.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cuts to clean energy tax credits will harm North Carolina, advocates say
As the legal fight continues over whether the Trump administration can ignore climate spending laws passed by Congress, North Carolina advocates are preparing for the next brewing federal threat. A Republican-led budget bill working its way through Congress aims to cut $2 trillion in programs to instead help pay for increased spending on the military and border security as well as tax cuts for corporations and higher-income earners. U.S. House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, recently referred to clean energy programs under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act as 'low-hanging fruit' for budget cuts. Convincing Republicans in Congress that those programs are worth defending will be a critical priority in the coming weeks, advocates said in a call with reporters last week. 'We're trying to remind representatives who have a stake in this, most of whom are Republicans, that real harm may come to their constituents if these tax credits are taken away,' said Stan Cross, electric transportation director with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Cross pointed to data from Atlas Public Policy and Utah State University showing that nearly three-quarters of the nation's $276 billion in clean energy manufacturing investments are in districts represented by Republicans. Climate Power, a nonprofit communications group that organized the call, estimates the Inflation Reduction Act has already spurred over $20 billion in climatetech investments and created more than 17,000 jobs in North Carolina, most in Republican areas. That includes developments like Toyota's massive new EV battery plant in Randolph County. But a web of tax incentives established by the 2022 law — helping to entice Toyota to manufacture electric vehicles in the United States and consumers to buy them — hangs in the balance before the Republican-controlled Congress, even if the courts decide the Trump administration can't unilaterally scrap other climate spending. Cuts to those tax credits could slow North Carolina's shift to renewable energy, said Alex Campbell, public policy analyst with the N.C. Budget and Tax Center, during the Climate Power call. That would harm the environment and raise energy costs for Tar Heels, he said. 'It's worth emphasizing why these cuts are being pursued,' Campbell added. 'It's about funding tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy by destroying our public programs.' Still, there's little indication so far that North Carolina's congressional delegation is poised to stand up for clean energy incentives. Among the 18 Republicans who last year urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to preserve the credits, none are from the Tar Heel State, and only one, Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia, is from the Southeast. Sen. Thom Tillis, generally regarded as the Republican who's friendliest to clean energy in Congress, voted against the Inflation Reduction Act. So did Republican Rep. Richard Hudson, whose district includes the Toyota plant, saying in a statement that the law would 'throw money at woke climate and social programs that won't work.' Newly minted congressional Rep. Tim Moore, also a Republican, supported a bipartisan state law forcing Duke Energy to zero out its carbon pollution by 2050 when he was speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives. His district has three new clean energy developments, including a lithium-processing plant in Kings Mountain. But Moore may end up as a foe of the Inflation Reduction Act in Congress: He criticized it in a 2022 social media post for not effectively driving down inflation and last year urged a U.S. senator from his state to address 'problems' that he said the climate law created. With Republicans retaining an extremely narrow majority in Washington, even a single vote could tip the scales, Cross said. 'Some of the votes are going to be fifty-fifty votes,' he said. 'So, there are points at which an individual representative going one way or another could be meaningful.' While Congress debates the future of clean energy incentives, North Carolina House Democratic Leader Robert Reives said on the Climate Power call that he hopes the Republican majority in the state's General Assembly will help preserve the state's clean energy investments — but he's also concerned about 'negative' energy legislation. 'I'm worried,' he said, 'because over the last month, there's been a troubling tendency to follow whatever the federal government states instead of looking at what the effects are going to be for North Carolina.'
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Climate activists warn that Trump's energy policies have cost thousands of clean energy jobs
Solar panels at the East Lansing Community Solar Park, June 26, 2023 | Kyle Davidson Since President Donald Trump's election on Nov. 7, more than 42,000 clean energy and climate jobs across the nation have been lost or stalled according to a new analysis from the communications firm Climate Power. Focused on building support for climate action, Climate Power has issued several reports detailing the impacts of President Joe Biden's climate policies on clean energy and electric vehicle manufacturing, noting Michigan is leading the nation in attracting new manufacturing projects. However, in the weeks since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has worked to put an end to the climate and clean energy investments laid out in Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act and halt renewable energy efforts across the country. Climate Power said Trump's efforts have taken a wrecking ball to clean energy investments supplying high paying jobs and lower energy costs to communities throughout the U.S. Since Trump was elected, 42,493 announced jobs — representing more than $57 billion in investment — and 64 projects have been stopped or stalled, according to an analysis of media reports identifying projects as delayed, threatened, or canceled. Climate Power's analysis includes projects or companies that directly cite Trump administration actions as the reason for closure and projects that are canceled, delayed or threatened without specifically pointing to the Trump administration's actions. 'America is losing nearly a thousand jobs a day because of Trump's war against cheaper, faster, and cleaner energy. Congressional Republicans have a choice: get in line with Trump's job-killing energy agenda or take a stand to protect jobs and lower costs for American families,' Climate Power Executive Director Lori Lodes said in a statement. U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Twp.) and at least seven other House Republicans previously called on their colleagues to preserve tax credits created or expanded by Biden's climate policies according to a report from Politico. 'We must not neglect the sector-wide energy tax provisions that manufacturers and job creators rely on in my district and around the country,' James said. In its Clean Energy Business Impacts Tracker, Climate Power identifies six projects in Michigan that have been delayed, canceled or threatened by the Trump Administration. This includes a shuttered effort to retrofit a Marysville parts plant to produce electric vehicle parts and battery manufacturer Akasol's plan to end production in Michigan on April 14. The tracker notes that neither project has been linked to Trump's climate and energy policies. However, the remaining four projects have either been delayed, or are directly threatened by regulatory action or an executive order. This includes conditional loans to both DTE and Consumers Energy from the U.S Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office for renewable energy projects totaling several billion dollars. A spokesperson for Consumers Energy did not respond to a request prior to publication. DTE did not have a statement to share. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
