Today on Volts: Manchin has killed the Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP), the centerpiece of Democratic climate policy. Is Biden's 2030 target still within reach? I take a close look at several recent analyses to help determine the damage done. volts.wtf/p/can-the-us-r…
My post today features analyses from @EnergyInnovLLC, @rff, & @rhodium_group. One thing they all basically agree on is that losing the CEPP is a big blow, the but the BBB Act, even without it, is still the biggest climate bill in US history.
It was too late to get in my post, but a new Princeton rapid-modeling project, REPEAT, *also* analyses the infrastructure bills with & without the CEPP. Its conclusions are roughly similar: losing CEPP whacks about 25% of the emission reductions. repeatproject.org
This is important: "Passage of the Senate bipartisan Infrastructure Bill on its own would barely impact U.S. emissions this decade."

As I keep saying, the BIF was designed to do all the climate stuff *except* what's most needed.
One other note: the @rhodium_group analysis, from which all optimism is drawn, compensates for the loss of CEPP with *ludicrously* strong executive agency actions (ie, ban on new FF plants w/out CCS starting in 3 mos). Count me extremely skeptical about those.
Adding: if Biden is forced to rely on executive actions, he faces two dangers: a) a hyper-conservative Supreme Court that is eager to gut executive powers in a permanent structural way, & b) the next GOP admin., which will roll it all back.

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More from @drvolts

20 Oct
Whoa: a wireless charging network that you connect to like a LAN. It wirelessly charges your electronic devices, even when they're in motion. nature.com/articles/s4159…
For years I've been jazzed about wireless charging. I really think when it breaks a few key tech/cost barriers it's going to Change Everything. Here's the startup using the wireless charging network: wi-gl.com
Here's an old piece on wireless charging for EVs: vox.com/2016/5/24/1167…
Read 5 tweets
20 Oct
All right, for reasons too complicated to explain, I need to buy a toilet, restricted to something I can find at Home Depot or somewhere local. I'd prefer low-water, but not clog prone -- I have two teens.

Any toilet recommendations? (Just another Tuesday night on Twitter.)
This is an attractive little unit, but so far zero people have recommended it. homedepot.com/p/Swiss-Madiso…
I know everyone's on the edge of their seats (heyooo), waiting to find out how my toilet saga ended. Home Depot sucks, so we went to a local place (Aurora Plumbing). A fabulous, super-funny, super-helpful employee set us straight on a few things (she's against dual-flush!) ...
Read 5 tweets
18 Oct
I've now seen Manchin's "utilities are already doing" it line in probably a half-dozen stories, and not a single journalist has seen fit to point out that it is demonstrably false. Every one of them just lets it sit there.

What is journalism for?
Manchin: utilities are already doing it.

Reality: 2 out of 3,300 utilities are hitting the CEPP target.

Manchin's line is false. Not "Dems say" it's false. Reality says it's false. Maybe some reporters should let their readers know?

Here, for instance, is a tweet from @burgessev. I have looked in vain for the follow-up tweet pointing out that what Manchin is saying is false. Haven't seen it. What public purpose is served by simply conveying Manchin's falsehood to a larger audience?
Read 5 tweets
18 Oct
I wish I could have listened in to this call. The only thing Manchin will say in defense of his position is that utilities are "doing this anyway," which is so manifestly false, so stupid on its face, that I genuinely don't know how people respond. What can you say?
This is why I could never survive inside politics. Everyone around Manchin has to treat him with kid gloves & try to flatter & cajole him along. No one is allowed to lose their temper & just call him a fucking moron, which is what he is. I don't know how people do it.
All the payouts in the CEPP are required by law to go to ratepayer benefits. So IF it were true that utilities were "doing this anyway," then they would just be getting federal money to improve efficiency & lower ratepayer bills. WTF would be wrong with that?
Read 4 tweets
17 Oct
An idle Sunday thread about Manchin, psychology, & money.

There's a whole cottage industry trying to figure out what's driving Manchin. Is he angling for reelection in a red state? Maybe angling to run for governor? Trying to ostentatiously show WV voters he's not like other Ds?
Or is it lobbying from FF interests? Manchin is the top Senate recipient of oil & gas money, by a decent margin. opensecrets.org/industries./re…++
Is it him defending his personal wealth? He does, after all, directly benefit from the coal industry. theintercept.com/2021/09/03/joe…
Read 17 tweets
16 Oct
Dems are going to try to find other big emission reductions, but ultimately you're circling around an unsolvable problem. The only way to get rapid near-term reductions is by closing FF power plants & building out renewables. Manchin opposes *that goal*, not the means.
Manchin's premise is that coal & natural gas plants should be allowed to run until they can be outfitted with CCS. That's delusional -- it will never be economic & if we wait that long we're toast. The debate over mechanisms is somewhat beside the point; there's no shared goal.
That's what Manchin & Republicans mean when they talk about "innovation rather than elimination." They mean: don't close the FF plants, make them clean. Which sounds neat conceptually but is in practice deeply & fundamentally unworkable.
Read 4 tweets

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