White House adviser Ali Zaidi says the Biden administration is taking steps to lock in the hundreds of billions of clean energy investments in the Inflation Reduction Act, which would reduce the possibility that Donald Trump could rescind some of that money, as Josh Siegel reports for Politico. Trump has said he would dismantle the IRA, a law that was designed to boost U.S. manufacturing of clean energy equipment, if he’s reelected.

An investigation finds fossil fuel industry lobbyists coordinated with lawmakers in Utah, Idaho and other states to shape laws cracking down on peaceful protests against oil and gas development.

California PUC sets grid connection timelines for large investor-owned utilities The decision could cut in half the time it takes PG&E, SDG&E and SoCal Edison to connect EV charging stations, homes and commercial buildings to the grid, according to the PUC.

A California report finds greenhouse gas emissions have dropped across all sectors in the state except residential and commercial, with transportation seeing the largest year-to-year decline as electric vehicle sales climb.

At least one of five eligible firms withdraws from bidding on offshore wind leases along southern Oregon’s coast following a wave of opposition from tribal nations, advocates and the fishing industry.

Early drop in the bucket. More than $69 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development will be used to improve energy efficiency and install solar power and heat pumps in affordable housing units. Residents of the Woodlen Place Apartments in Kansas City, Missouri, could soon see lower energy bills thanks to a new batch of federal aid aimed at cutting housing costs while also tackling the climate crisis.

The good news: volunteer trash collectors on U.S. beaches report that they found 29% fewer plastic bags on U.S. beaches in 2022 and 2023 versus pre-pandemic levels, indicating that statewide bans on plastic garbage bags are having an impact. Even better news: a recent about-face in Washington could pave the way for the first globally mandated plastic production cuts. As Rick Spence reports, the Biden administration broke the logjam following a government-wide investigation that found that any comprehensive effort to reduce plastic waste must address “the impacts of plastic throughout the entire lifecycle – from production to end of life.” Read more »

An Arizona Catholic diocese is working to install solar arrays on all 77 of its parishes in Tucson, saying it makes moral and economic sense.

The U.S. Energy Department awards Pacific Gas & Electric $34.5 million to fund 19 hydropower projects in northern California.  AND [is there a connection] California’s grid operator says new data center interconnections have led them to increase demand forecasts for the San Jose area by 60%.

Colombia is looking to a future without oil. The Latin American nation is set to announce a $40 billion investment plan aimed at replacing fossil-fuel export revenues that are expected to decline after the country ended new oil and gas exploration two years ago. Susana Muhamad, Colombia’s environment minister, will make the plan public at an economic fair on Oct. 2. She hopes that as much as $10 billion will come from international financial institutions and developed countries.

Foiled again.  The UN general assembly meeting in New York signed off on a plan for countries to work together to tackle large global challenges, “with climate change one of the headline topics”, EuroNews reported.  Amid the summit, developing countries “pleaded” with richer nations to end the “lip service” and take more action on climate change, Reuters reported. Samoan environment minister Cedric Schuster told reporters that “we need all countries, but particularly the G20, to lead the way” on emissions cuts and climate finance, the outlet said. The agreement reaffirmed global pledges to transition away from fossil fuels, but did not raise global ambitions, the outlet noted.


Take Action

Learn more about floating offshore wind from representatives of the two wind developers in Humboldt RWE and Vineyard Wind. Tune in on Zoom at 7pm tonight:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82720663914?pwd=swGBZck85JNF0p8erefm3RmYbdtVvD.1

Sponsors are 350 Humboldt, HUUF Climate Action Campaign, Humboldt Waterkeeper, Temple Beth El and the Humboldt Friends.