Midterms 2018: Mixed Results for the Renewable Energy Agenda

Climate Solutions Caucus gets slammed, Nevada and Arizona part ways on renewable energy ballots, and Washington state rejects a carbon price—again.

A majority of Americans support expanding access to clean energy, and yet it never registers as a key voting issue.

This year’s midterm election was a little bit different, though. Healthcare, immigration and the economy were the top voter priorities in 2018, but in some specific races and on some specific ballots, clean energy was a central focus. 

Here’s a rundown of the most important election results for the renewable energy agenda.

California’s Road to Carbon Neutrality Runs Through the State’s Buildings

At a Global Climate Action Summit side event, a high-level panel grappled with solutions for building decarbonization in California.

California must build housing closer to transit and jobs, and wring carbon from new and existing buildings, if the state is to meet its ambitious climate targets.

That was the message delivered by a high-level panel at a Global Climate Action Summit side event convened in San Francisco on Wednesday by Climate Resolve, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit.

U.K. Labour, Green Parties Call for Power Sector Carbon Goal

Britain’s opposition Labour and Green parties joined a push for the government to impose a carbon target on the power industry, setting the stage for a battle over the energy bill in Parliament.

Labour leader Ed Miliband and the Green Party’s only lawmaker, Caroline Lucas, put their names on motions seeking to halt progress of the legislation until it’s amended to include a decarbonization target. The measure was recommended by the Committee on Climate Change, a panel that advises ministers.

Energy Bill means a new sunrise for renewable energy

A new Energy Bill, two years in the making, will triple investment in renewable energy and mean the end for coal-powered generation.

The Bill commits the government to supporting low carbon electricity to the tune of £7.6bn by 2020, over three times the current level of £2.3bn for 2012-13.

The Carbon Capture and Storage Association, the Nuclear Industry Association and RenewableUK welcomed the introduction of the Bill, saying it "would help to unlock billions in investment in low carbon generation, enable the UK to meet its energy security and climate change targets, and create thousands of jobs"

A bill that will remove barriers for renewable natural gas

Assembly Bill 1900, authored by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles), a bill which removes barriers to the development of renewable natural gas (RNG) as a fuel in California and will save local rate-payers millions on their utility bills, was signed by Governor Brown today.

In conjunction with AB 2196 (joint authored by Assemblymen Gatto and Wesley Chesbro), AB 1900 will save the millions of Californians who get their power from municipal utilities hundreds-of-millions of dollars by protecting the municipal utilities’ contracts for biomethane.

Begich proposes legislation for Renewable Energy Research

U.S. Sen. Mark Begich today re-introduced his Renewable Energy Environmental Research Act, a bill designed to promote renewable energy research. Co-sponsored by Sen. Olympia Snowe, (R-ME), the bill directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to implement a research program designed to collect, monitor, and distribute environmental data to assist development of renewable energy, particularly related to ocean energy.

“Alaska has tremendous renewable energy resources. Wave and tidal energy is getting more traction every day with projects moving ahead in Cook Inlet, Yakutat, and Juneau,” Begich said. “My bill will help energy companies identify new potential sites for tidal and wave energy and over the long-term help Alaska communities bring down their energy prices and grow the local economy.”

Australia's politically controversial carbon tax launched

Australia on Sunday imposed a price on carbon emissions but, even as it starts, the scheme's future is in doubt with conservative opposition vowing to repeal it and whipping up a scare campaign around it.

Australia on Sunday joins a growing number of nations to impose a price on carbon emissions across its $1.4 trillion economy in a bitterly contested reform that offers trading opportunities for banks and polluters but may cost the prime minister her job.

House of Representatives passes bill to choke off Energy Department financing

Republicans in the House of Representatives quietly passed 13 provisions last week that would choke off Energy Department financing for existing clean energy and efficiency programs.

The House adopted the amendments on June 6 as part of its 2013 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. The proposed cuts reflect a broader trend. As the Tea Party reshapes the GOP, opposition to policies that reduce climate-changing gases and stoke the clean energy economy is soaring.

UK policy will fail to reach carbon targets, says IEA

The U.K.’s energy policies may fail to deliver nuclear power and renewables needed for the nation to meet its goals for reducing greenhouse gases, the International Energy Agency said. 

Britain’s new electricity generation capacity is coming mainly from natural gas fired plants, the Paris-based agency, which advises 28 nations, said today in a report. The government should spur an “efficient mix of new, cleaner generation, more efficient use of existing infrastructure and more flexible demand,” the IEA said.

California approves cap-and-trade revenue bill

California lawmakers have passed a bill that clears the way for the state to collect more than $1 billion a year in revenue from selling allowances in the nation’s CO2 cap-and-trade market, which is due to start next year.

On Tuesday, the California Assembly voted 47-26 to approve AB 1532, a bill written by Speaker John A. Pérez, which provides a framework for how the state will spend revenue generated by its carbon market.

Northern Ireland urged to set binding carbon targets

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has urged Northern Ireland's environment minister to set emission reduction targets and establish a set of policies designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent by 2020.

The CCC has today published a report, commissioned by Northern Ireland's environment minister, which recommends that the country's executive government enacts its own climate change legislation, including setting legally binding emissions targets.