Leave it to a snap national election amplified by rhetoric to add confusion to an already complicated US energy agenda. While the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden and presidential candidate Kamala Harris initially pledged a full commitment to clean energy to combat climate change, and Republicans under Donald Trump vowed never to replace fossil fuels, as election day approaches, it’s hard to tell right now. where pragmatism stops and political posturing has taken over. Look no further than recent reports on ENR.
Trump has called climate change a hoax and encouraged more oil and gas drilling. Republicans profess an “all of the above” energy approach, but a second Trump administration is poised to rescind tax breaks and subsidies to build solar, wind and most other renewable energy sources and increase the financing of fossil fuels.
Vice President Harris, who cast the deciding vote for the Inflation Reduction Act and its hundreds of billions in climate-related measures, now says she supports fracking and touts the administration’s record on the increase in oil and gas production. Is his apparent change in tone newfound pragmatism or just politics in an extremely tight presidential race? Harris, if she wins, is very likely to resume the consistent support she and the administration have championed for climate-friendly policies.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is not running, but is aware of her party’s need for majorities in Congress. So he rightly extols the state’s progress in its climate change mitigation strategy to meet the aggressive goals set by his predecessor, citing records in the deployment of offshore wind and solar power. Despite supply chain and financial setbacks in this state and elsewhere, U.S. clean energy development, aided by government subsidies and tax breaks, is proving to be a robust growth industry. Half of the 250,000 new US energy jobs created in the past year are linked to climate, clean energy and clean manufacturing.
The climate strategy includes nuclear energy. The New York Energy Research and Development Authority, just a few years after closing the Indian Point nuclear facility, has a “blueprint” for advanced nuclear power in the state. To his credit, Hochul has voiced his support for nuclear power, which is finding new acceptance to meet growing energy needs.
An ambitious plan is underway to restart Unit 1 at Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It operated successfully from 1971 until its closure in 2019, despite its proximity but no connection to Unit 2, which closed in 1979 after a near-merger and is being decommissioned. . Utility Constellation Energy would supply power to data centers built by Microsoft, which sees huge demand driven by artificial intelligence. Among the many issues that need to be resolved is how the government’s financial support will work.
Like it or not, it has become confused exactly where political leaders stand on fracking and nuclear power and other aspects of energy policy. We believe it is time for elected officials to stop debating and re-legislate what is needed in a next-generation energy economy as the climate crisis unfolds.
