September 17, 2021
Extreme weather keeps knocking out America's power. Here's what we must do.
Opinion by Jennifer M. Granholm
The image of a collapsed electrical tower and power lines that Hurricane Ida tossed into the Mississippi River illustrated a fundamental challenge facing the nation: Our power systems weren't built to withstand extreme weather events. Without major investments to reinforce, modernize and clean our grid, the question will not be whether it fails, but when.
Related Topic
Biden's spending bill could be Democrats' last hope of achieving meaningful climate action as crisis worsens.
After decades of inaction from the United States on climate, President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats face a reckoning. Biden has big climate ambitions, vowing in April to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.
The world is watching closely to see whether the US will deliver on that promise, as the President's climate envoy, John Kerry, prepares to meet with global leaders in November for the United Nations climate summit.
Political Climate: Senator Heinrich is not
compromising on climate.
Why Democrats’ sweeping $3.5T budget plan could spur the biggest
economic pivot in the country’s history.
Related Topic
Electrifying America’s Future Resolution
By modernizing the power grid and building a clean and carbon-free energy economy, the U.S. will become a leader in advanced 21st century industries and a net exporter of clean energy.
by Sen. Martin Heinrich
How House Democrats plan to attack climate change
Congressional Democrats laid out a series of proposals Monday on how to combat climate change as part of the $3.5 trillion budget package bill currently being negotiated.
The Build Back Better Act, as President Biden’s proposal to invest in U.S. infrastructure is known, was introduced in the House Energy and Commerce Committee and places mitigating and adapting to climate change at its center.
Green energy powering South Australia
to become global player
South Australia is a world leader in green energy, with about 71 per cent of its energy produced from renewable sources.
The state is now using its expertise to help other nations kick green energy goals.
Famous as the home of the Hornsdale Power Reserve, also known as the Tesla big battery, South Australia is exporting its green energy prowess internationally.
The Solar Futures Study explores solar energy’s role in transitioning to a carbon-free electric grid.
Solar has the potential to grow from 3% of the U.S. electricity supply today to 40% by 2035 and 45% by 2050. Find out more in the @ENERGY and @NREL Solar Futures Study report on solar energy’s role in a carbon-free future:
New tools give utilities insight into grid capacity
to host more solar, storage
A new paper, Key Decisions for Hosting Capacity Analyses, published today by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), shares key lessons about a new grid mapping tool that can help utilities and states better integrate clean energy technologies on the electric grid.
Related Topic
Report emphasizes need for storage-friendly policy shifts after
solar saturation
Customer-sited solar is a major untapped opportunity, which could see 167 million households and 23 million businesses worldwide hosting their own clean power generation by 2050, according to a joint report by research firm BloombergNEF and Schneider Electric. These deployments will unlock major decarbonization benefits, but policy and tariff design will be critical to enable them.