Michael Thomas Profile picture
Nov 3, 2021 6 tweets 3 min read Read on X
I guess #COP26 is a good occasion to announce that my team and I at Campfire Labs just gave a $60,000 grant to @theclimatevote.

Here's why I'm excited about what they are building:
The single most effective #climate action anyone can take is advocating for policy change.

@theclimatevote makes that easy (and surprisingly fun).

Every week they host an hour of action. A bunch of us get together and learn from experts like the good folks at @ProjectDrawdown.
After learning about a policy or issue we get to work.

We send personalized emails to legislators. We make calls. And we set up meetings with our reps.

In my second hour of action I set up a meeting with a US Senate staffer to talk about climate!
There are a few things that make Changemakers different than traditional advocacy organizations:

1. They put volunteers to work.

Most organizations cultivate donors and use the money to hire paid lobbyists.

Changemakers turns their volunteers into the lobbyists.
2. They go beyond "Clicktivism."

None of these ALL CAPS emails asking you to "chip in $5" or send a canned email.

Changemakers shows you how to send emails that legislators actually read.

And they never ask volunteers for money.
In my experience there's only two real antidotes to climate anxiety: action and community.

@theclimatevote offers both.

If you're looking to feel a little less anxious and get to work, come join us for an hour of action - climatechangemakers.org

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More from @curious_founder

Jul 30
This chart has been making the rounds on social media. It suggests that renewables increase electricity prices.

But it's misleading and pretty typical of the author, whose nonprofit has received ~$1m from ExxonMobil.

Here's what's wrong with it 🧵 Image
As @AndrewDessler writes in an excellent article (linked in the comments), this chart shows *retail* electricity costs.

But in Europe that can be distorted significantly by taxes and fees, which are especially high in countries like Denmark and Germany.

theclimatebrink.com/p/have-renewab…
"A better analysis would use the cost of generating power in order to isolate the impact of renewables. We can get a better estimate of that by using the wholesale price of electricity"

And there's no correlation between wholesale electricity prices and renewables in Europe. Image
Read 7 tweets
Jul 3
In the final hour of the House's bill negotiations, far-right conservatives secured a deal with the President that every clean energy company and advocate should know about.

🧵
The final bill allows solar and wind project developers to qualify for the full tax credits if they start construction within the next year.

Developers can "safe-harbor" by spending 5% of a project's cost.

Those of you who have been following along closely know all that.
But here's the problem. The executive branch still has so much control over clean energy projects around the country and the implementation of the tax credits.

And in the final hour, Trump promised to effectively harass solar and wind developers and put them through hell...
Read 12 tweets
Jun 28
The US will need ~450 GW of new electricity generation capacity by 2030 to meet rising demand from data centers, reshoring, etc.

And the Senate is about to vote on a bill that could wipe out ~500 GW of potential energy generation capacity. Image
The latest Senate bill would phase out the investment and production tax credits (ITC and PTC) for any project that is placed in service after December 31, 2027.

So I analyzed how many projects would be at risk.
2,332 solar and wind projects with a combined capacity of 547 GW are expected to come online in 2027 or later, according to our project tracker at Cleanview.

The vast majority of these projects would be at risk of cancellation if the current Senate bill passes.
Read 5 tweets
Jun 24
Electricity prices are soaring around the country due to the current heat wave—everywhere but Texas.

And this map explains why.

🧵 Image
In the last year, Texas has added 87 new power generation facilities to its electric grid with a combined capacity of 13.5 GW, according to our project tracker at Cleanview.

A staggering 95% of that capacity has come from new solar, wind, and battery storage projects.
As in any market, the price of electricity depends on both supply and demand. Flood the market with new supply and you get cheaper prices.

Yesterday, wholesale electricity prices peaked around $75 / MWh in Texas.
Read 9 tweets
Jun 3
China built more solar capacity last year than the US built over the last 25 years.

There's been a lot of talk of "energy dominance" in the US recently.

But energy dominance requires supportive policy. And this is where the US is heading in the wrong direction.

🧵 Image
Last month, the US House passed a bill that is projected to reduce solar, wind and battery capacity growth significantly.

Before the bill, the US was expected to grow renewable capacity by about 3x over the next decade, according to @JesseJenkins et al's modeling.
If the bill passes the Senate, annual capacity growth will fall by 50%.

This bill effectively hands China the future in the 21st century's most important technologies. Image
Read 7 tweets
Feb 12
Over the last few months, I've been analyzing data on clean energy trends in America.

Today I published a report with ~50 trends that I found in my research.

One major takeaway: The U.S. added 47% more clean energy in 2024 than the year before.

🧵

cleanview.co/annual-report-…Image
While the scale of clean energy’s growth in 2024 was remarkable, the fact that clean capacity grew isn't all that surprising.

What was shocking to me, however, was just how much of the new power capacity that came online in 2024 was clean.

95% of new capacity was carbon-free. Image
In 2024, the star of the clean energy show was without a doubt solar energy.

The U.S. added 32.1 GW of new utility-scale solar capacity in 2024. Annual solar capacity additions rose by 65% in 2024 compared to 2023 when the country added 19.5 GW. Image
Read 10 tweets

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