QUICK NEWS, June 17: Dems Evolving A Serious Climate Crisis Plan; Offshore Wind Needs Local Support

Dems Evolving A Serious Climate Crisis Plan Democrats are seriously tackling the climate crisis: No more half-measures or neoliberal compromises; At least seven 2020 candidates have serious climate plans — and they're not bowing to fossil-fuel interests

Carl Pope, June 16, 2019 (Salon)

“…[Current (perceived) Democratic presidential frontrunners Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, along with Elizabeth Warren, Beto O’Rourke, Jay Inslee, John Hickenlooper and John Delaney] have offered detailed plans for confronting the climate crisis…Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand have sponsored the Green New Deal resolution but have not yet released individual policies…[None] harken back to Barack Obama’s ‘all of the above’ genuflection to the enduring political power of fossil fuels…[or to] Hillary Clinton’s [ambitious but narrow] 2016 proposals, which focused almost entirely on renewable power…They eschew the carbon-pricing emphasis of many Beltway economists and policy mavens. And they avoid the austerity frame that climate deniers have for so long used to dampen public support for clean energy…[They are far broader — and more economically and politically sophisticated…[and include] 1. Climate science and ambitious decarbonization goals are in…2. Climate sacrifice and austerity are out…3. Investment, not carbon pricing, is the new silver bullet…

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4. Standards and regulation are back…5. It’s not just electricity — economy-wide approaches are embraced…Finally, research gets respect…The right wing and the carbon lobby seem to be teeing up their usual [economic] attack on climate advocacy…[But] while swing voters may not prioritize climate, they love clean energy and they want more investment in America — and that’s what Democrats are offering…In many ways, the Democratic field is following the pathway blazed by California under the governorships of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown. Let the public and the legislature set broad and ambitious climate goals. Then pragmatically deploy administrative rules and incentives to test and perfect pathways toward a clean energy economy. As that economy grows in strength, it will challenge and defeat the stranglehold that fossil fuel interests have held…and create the politics for a more ambitious next round…” click here for more

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Offshore Wind Needs Local Support New Report Argues U.S. Coastal States Must Cooperate, As Well As Compete, For a Global Offshore Wind Industry to Benefit All Americans

June 14, 2019 (Business Network for Offshore Wind)

“…[U.S. states on both coasts must] cooperate on several, important fronts to develop a winning [offshore wind] industry for the country…[Most important are] problems associated with grids and transmission lines needed to deliver ocean power to homes. Other challenges include uncertainty within the supply chain for the U.S. offshore wind industry, cost controls for ratepayers, and the limitation of certain U.S. resources, such as ports [according to a new report from an industry advocacy group. The] U.S. is on track to create an offshore wind energy marketplace exceeding 10 gigawatts by 2030...

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…[The report argues states must] cooperate to minimize public costs, share resources and globalize what the U.S. has to offer…[and] lays out a plan…During the next two decades, East Coast states and California will have over two-dozen offshore wind farms under development in various stages. Despite these ambitious plans, Europe has been way ahead of the U.S. for a much longer time. Today the U.S. has only one functioning offshore wind turbine, compared to Europe’s 4,543 grid-connected offshore wind turbines across 11 countries…” click here for more

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