Capitol Light/Climate Politics: Today’s Ten

The major themes of Today’s Ten are the continuing conflicts between Democrats and House Republicans over spending and efforts by China to find a way to keep supplying the U.S. with the materials, e.g., the precious metals needed for electric vehicle batteries, and products, e.g., photovoltaic panels, despite efforts of the White House and Congress to build out domestic industries.

Depoliticize to Decarbonize

Too often in an effort to save Mother Nature, we forget about human nature. Solving problems with rolling out clean renewable energy is less a matter of the physical sciences than the social sciences—overcoming users’ habits and project resistance at the local level.

What’s Wrong with Investing Your Environmental Values?

IRA projects and those climate-related provisions attributable to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs and the CHIPS and Science Acts are evidence of the economic and environmental benefits of a transition to a low-carbon economy.

Today’s Politics Are Tomorrow’s Climate Policies (2)

A Republican House majority is not simply about gross numbers. It is also about individual political philosophies and loyalties. In an age of very slim majorities, a relatively small group of members can have an outsized impact on what does and doesn’t get passed into law.