Month: July 2024

JD Vance Would Be a Fossil Fueled Tool as VP

I’ve not had the stomach to watch any of the ongoing Republican Convention in Wisconsin, but I have collected a sampling of tidbits documenting the climate and energy positions of VP nominee JD Vance.
I’m starting above with Trae Crowder, the Liberal Redneck, who, it turns out, actually has some history with Vance…

New York Times Climate Forward (subs only):

…as recently as 2020, Vance said in a speech at Ohio State University that “we have a climate problem in our society.” He praised solar energy and he called natural gas an improvement over dirtier forms of energy, but not “the sort of thing that’s gonna take us to a clean energy future.”

But many of his public opinions have changed. His position on global warming is one of them, Lisa reported.

Both Trump and the oil and gas industry backed Vance for his 2022 Senate campaign. Now, like Trump, Vance strongly supports fossil fuel use and opposes renewable energy and electric vehicles.
He has also said climate change is not a threat, a position that President Biden highlighted when he criticized Vance in an interview on Monday night with the NBC News anchor Lester Holt.

As a senator, Vance has repeatedly assailed the Inflation Reduction Act, the 2022 law that has become the centerpiece of Biden’s climate agenda.

He was also a sponsor of legislation to repeal an I.R.A. program devised to curb leaks of methane, and also of a bill to undo an Environmental Protection Agency rule setting strict emissions standards for cars and light trucks.

Vance introduced legislation to repeal federal tax credits for electric vehicles that were created under the I.R.A., even though his state has seen $12 billion in clean energy investment since the law passed, including for electric vehicle manufacturing.

None of those measures supported by Vance have become law.

Politico Power Switch:

The oil and gas industry’s investment in Sen. J.D. Vance seems to be paying off.

Vance has championed fracking and railed against clean energy since joining the Senate in 2023, after a campaign partly bankrolled by fossil fuel companies, write Heather Richards, Mike Soraghan and Brian Dabbs. Now, the Ohio Republican is a vice presidential candidate, joining Donald Trump in his calls to “drill, baby, drill.”

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Houston, Chicago, Toronto, Climate Crushing Grids. California a Battery Powered Bright Spot

In a summer of extremes we’ve seen a chain of infrastructure battering events, not just in the US, but around the planet. We are seeing 20th Century infrastructure run into a 21st century climate powered wood chipper.
One bright spot – California weathered a recent heat wave with increased build-out of renewables, primarily solar, and battery storage.

Bloomberg:

Millions of households in Houston suffered blackouts in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl last week, losing air conditioning as sweltering heat followed the storm. Hitting emerging and developed economies, outages from Ecuador to India in recent weeks offer a foretaste of coming disruption.

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Another Farmer for Clean Energy (Ad)

Kevin Heath is a farmer in Azalia, Michigan, who has been prevented from leasing some of his acreage for a solar farm, by Facebook frenzied conspiracists, many of them newcomers to his community.
He stands to gain from Michigan’s new clean energy siting reform laws, and cut this commercial for State Senator Sam Singh, a key sponsor.

I spoke to Kevin some time ago about the economic logic of solar for his operation.

Kevin also, along with several other farmers and a PhD expert, spoke to me about solar’s positive effects on soil, below.

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In Illinois: Dam Failure Ongoing Following Extreme Derecho Rains

Drip. Drip. Drip.
Infrastructure failing in extreme events. More people wake up to find themselves in an uninsurable flood zone.

KSDK St Louis:

People in parts of Nashville, Illinois, were told to evacuate their homes by emergency personnel due to a dam failure in the area.

“Attention The Failure of the Nashville dam is imminent,” a post from the Washington County Emergency Management Agency said. “Please evacuate your home at this time. If you are in the grey box, you need evacuate now!”

The agency posted a map highlighting the affected area, which included Nashville Grade School and Nashville High School. The emergency management agency said 299 phones were called to deliver the evacuation order. Emergency personnel said they received a call from a woman who said she was stuck in her home in waist-deep water. No injuries have been reported as of 10:40.

The director of the Illinois Department of National Resources’ Office of Water Resources said the secondary dam failed, but it is designed to fail with high water levels. The primary dam did not fail but was overtopped by rising waters, the director said.

Haglund said all major routes through the area are closed. A spokesperson with the emergency management agency said people who are not in the area highlighted on the map are asked to remain in their homes and stay off the roads as much as possible. Anyone who is driving in the area should not drive through standing water.

Trump VP Vance is Climate Denier, Oil Bro, “P2025 has Good Ideas”

Cynicism just doesn’t even cut it with this guy. We’ll have to come up with a new word.

New York Times:

Senator J.D. Vance, Republican of Ohio, is a strong supporter of the oil and gas industry, opposes solar power and electric vehicles, and has said climate change is not a threat.

It wasn’t always that way.

Mr. Vance, a fierce critic of Mr. Trump before becoming one of his most loyal MAGA supporters, also appears to have undergone an evolution on the issue of climate change. As recently as 2020, Mr. Vance said in a speech at Ohio State University that “we have a climate problem in our society.” He praised solar energy and he called natural gas an improvement over dirtier forms of energy, but not “the sort of thing that’s gonna take us to a clean energy future.”

Fast forward to 2022. As Mr. Vance sought Mr. Trump’s endorsement for his bid for the Senate, his positions on climate change took a sharp turn.

“I’m skeptical of the idea that climate change is caused purely by man,” Mr. Vance told the American Leadership Forum that year.

He acknowledged that the climate was changing but said that humans had no role in the changes. “It’s been changing, as others pointed out, it’s been changing for millennia,” Mr. Vance said.

(Scientists have conclusively determined that human activity, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, is the dominant reason the planet is at its warmest in recorded history.)

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More on Climate and Project 2025

The Hill:

The project additionally proposes chopping up several agencies. It called for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the nation’s oceans, weather, climate and fisheries science agency, to be “dismantled.”

NOAA is home to the National Weather Service (which the plan says should henceforth focus on commercial operations), as well as the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (which the plan says should be “downsized,” with much of its climate research “disbanded”).

The plan would also eliminate offices within the Energy Department that focus on renewable energy, climate technology and energy technology research. And the Energy Department chapter further calls for a “whole-of-government assessment and consolidation of science,” including “a review of all the federal science agencies.”

In addition, with the help of Congress, Project 2025 seeks to eliminate energy efficiency standards for household appliances. Such standards have been a target of congressional Republicans, who have made multiple efforts to block or roll back Biden administration restrictions on appliances. 

Former President Trump has also blasted regulations requiring more efficient lightbulbs, showerheads and a range of other items.

Trump has sought to distance himself from the project in the wake of the leader of the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that put it together, controversially calling for a “bloodless” revolution. 

Below, Vox has a P2025 primer:

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California Grid Breezes Through Heat Wave due to Renewables, Batteries

No rolling blackouts or grid emergencies as California continues on path to a carbon free grid. Several strategies, including upgrades to vulnerable parts of the grid at play here, but key enabler is more clean energy, especially solar, and above all, battery storage, now equivalent to 5 very large nuclear power plants.

In fact, California seems to have reached a level of storage that is creating some kind of a phase-change in the grid, yielding benefits that are surprising even expert observers. More and more days where renewables supply greater-than 100 percent of California’s power – enabling exports even under these challenging conditions.

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