How the biggest US energy bill ever could revive Biden’s climate agenda
-- Economic modelling shows that the compromise legislation might bring the United States within range of meeting its climate commitments --
As little as two weeks ago, a centrepiece of US President Joe Biden’s climate agenda seemed to be dead in the water, because of opposition from members of Congress. But after a surprise turn of events, the US Senate is poised to approve the revived legislation — a massive spending bill that would make unprecedented investments in clean-energy innovation and deployment. Researchers say the legislation, if enacted, will reinvigorate efforts by the United States — and the world — to halt global warming.
The bill, revised by key Democrats in the evenly divided Senate, would invest around US$370 billion in a variety of low-carbon energy technologies over the coming decade. This includes tax credits for businesses to develop such technologies, which could reduce costs and attract more private-sector investment. The expenditure comes on top of more than $200 billion in clean-energy and climate investments that lawmakers approved in a major infrastructure bill last year.
"I think we will look back on this as a historic moment,” says Dan Lashof, who leads US operations for the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank based in Washington DC. “This bill will have a tremendous impact on innovation and cost reductions for a whole set of clean-energy solutions that the world needs to reach its climate goals.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02119-7
-- Economic modelling shows that the compromise legislation might bring the United States within range of meeting its climate commitments --
As little as two weeks ago, a centrepiece of US President Joe Biden’s climate agenda seemed to be dead in the water, because of opposition from members of Congress. But after a surprise turn of events, the US Senate is poised to approve the revived legislation — a massive spending bill that would make unprecedented investments in clean-energy innovation and deployment. Researchers say the legislation, if enacted, will reinvigorate efforts by the United States — and the world — to halt global warming.
The bill, revised by key Democrats in the evenly divided Senate, would invest around US$370 billion in a variety of low-carbon energy technologies over the coming decade. This includes tax credits for businesses to develop such technologies, which could reduce costs and attract more private-sector investment. The expenditure comes on top of more than $200 billion in clean-energy and climate investments that lawmakers approved in a major infrastructure bill last year.
"I think we will look back on this as a historic moment,” says Dan Lashof, who leads US operations for the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank based in Washington DC. “This bill will have a tremendous impact on innovation and cost reductions for a whole set of clean-energy solutions that the world needs to reach its climate goals.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02119-7
