Analysis | Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer might notch a big ... - The Washington Post

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer might notch a big climate win - The Washington Post

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In today’s edition, we’ll cover Colorado’s efforts to meet its climate goals, the Biden administration’s approval of the nation’s largest offshore wind project yet and the Interior Department’s new acting No. 2 official. But first:

Michigan lawmakers could pass a major clean-energy package this week

As soon as today, Michigan lawmakers are expected to vote on a sweeping package of environmental bills, including legislation that requires the state to reach 100 percent clean energy by 2040.

If it passes, the package would bolster the climate legacy of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is widely considered a rising star in the Democratic Party and one of its potential future leaders.

- Whitmer used her first term, when Republicans controlled both chambers of the state legislature, to take aggressive executive action on the coronavirus pandemic. In doing so, she sparred with former president Donald Trump and earned a spot on Joe Biden’s shortlist of vice-presidential picks.
- Then in the 2022 midterm elections, Democrats gained a narrow 20-18 majority in the state Senate and a 56-54 majority in the state House. That has allowed the party to push through legislation on public safety issues, abortion and education during Whitmer’s second term thus far.

Now, the House is poised to take up the environmental package, which narrowly passed the Senate last week along party lines. The legislation aims to accelerate the clean-energy transition in Michigan, a swing state where natural gas-fired power plants accounted for more than a third of electricity generation last year, while renewables accounted for 12 percent.

“Passage of this legislation would really represent a significant climate policy achievement for the governor as she moves further into her second term — and her final term because of term limits,” said Barry Rabe, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan. “And it would suggest that Michigan’s energy production and use would be changing very, very dramatically.”

Whitmer, who recently gained more national attention for her role in trying to avert the United Auto Workers’ historic strike, called the bills a “big deal.”

“They will make Michigan a national leader in clean energy, shoring up our position as the best place to start your family, your career, or your business,” the governor said in a statement.

The House faces a tight deadline to act: The legislature is scheduled to adjourn sometime in the next two weeks. When the session resumes in January, Democrats’ 56-54 majority may have winnowed because two lawmakers are running in mayoral races this month.

The details

The centerpiece of the package is Senate Bill 271, which would require utilities in the state to reach 80 percent “clean” energy by 2035 and 100 percent by 2040.

- The definition of “clean” energy includes solar, wind, nuclear, landfill gas, biomass and gas-fired power plants that capture at least 90 percent of their carbon emissions.
- The measure also mandates that utilities reach 15 percent renewable energy through 2027, 50 percent from 2030 to 2034, and 60 percent from 2035 onward. Whitmer previously called for a renewable energy standard of 50 percent by 2030 in her MI Healthy Climate Plan unveiled last spring.

The bill could force DTE Energy, one of Michigan’s biggest utilities, to speed up its climate plans. At the moment, Detroit-based DTE is targeting net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. (Consumers Energy, the other large utility in the state, is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2040, and both utilities were neutral on the legislation.)

The package also includes Senate Bill 273, which would require utilities to offer energy efficiency programs and set energy waste reduction targets. The efficiency programs would need to directly benefit low-income households.

“We were pleased to move forward some of the most aggressive climate policy in our state’s history last week,” said state Sen. Sam Singh (D), the sponsor of the measure. “And now we leave it to the House.”

Separately, lawmakers this week may vote on House Bill 5120, which would give state regulators the authority to decide where large wind, solar and battery storage projects should be built. Officials in rural communities currently have this authority and have used it to block these projects.

The critics

Some environmental justice groups have raised concerns about the package’s definition of clean energy. They say the definition includes technologies such as gas and carbon capture that have historically increased pollution in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods.

“To get enough consensus in the Senate, they included these technologies at the expense of the health of EJ communities,” said Juan Jhong-Chung, climate justice director at the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition. “We’re at a point where in order to pass climate legislation, we’re leaving behind Black and Brown communities.”

Criticism has also come from Republican lawmakers, who have argued that the proposals would hike energy costs for consumers. State Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R) said in a statement that “implementing this radical Michigan Green New Deal will force families and job creators to pay much higher energy costs.”

Yet a recent analysis commissioned by Evergreen Action, a climate advocacy group, and conducted by 5 Lakes Energy, a Michigan-based policy consulting firm, found that the package would save households $5.5 billion in energy costs between now and 2050.

Holly Burke, a spokeswoman for Evergreen, predicted the bills would have both an environmental and political payoff.

“We know that climate is really important to Democratic primary voters, and this is building a great record for Whitmer,” she said.

In the states

Colorado is on track to meet a key climate goal, modeling shows

Colorado officials are confident they can slash power-sector emissions by 98.5 percent by 2040 compared to 2005 levels at no increased cost to consumers by relying on current policies, according to a memo from the Colorado Energy Office obtained by The Climate 202.

The memo is based on the preliminary results of a study commissioned by the state Energy Office and conducted by the Boulder-based consulting company Ascend Analytics. The study, which will be officially released in December, produced six scenarios in which the state can obtain a near-zero or net-zero electricity sector by 2040.

In the “Economic Deployment” scenario, which is based entirely on current state and federal policies or funding streams, Colorado is projected to reliably meet energy demands while achieving a 98.5 percent reduction in emissions. This scenario anticipates an energy mix that includes three times more wind and five times more solar, with gas-fired electricity being retained to meet roughly 1 percent of the state’s total power demand. The remaining capacity needed falls on battery storage.

The findings suggest that “we can get far deeper emissions reductions than anybody is talking about requiring at the federal level simply through deploying the lowest cost resources to meet electric demand,” Will Toor, the executive director of the Colorado Energy Office, told The Climate 202.

The study comes as Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) targets 100 percent renewable energy by 2040, as well as an 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions from the power sector by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. Xcel Energy, the largest utility in Colorado, has already unveiled plans to retire all of its coal-fired power plants in the state by 2030.

Agency alert

Interior Dept. approves largest-yet offshore wind project

The Interior Department yesterday approved plans for up to 176 wind turbines off the coast of Virginia, paving the way for the nation’s largest offshore wind project yet.

The Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, to be built by Dominion Energy, marks the Biden administration’s fifth approval of a commercial-size offshore wind project. If completed, it would bring roughly 2,600 megawatts of clean power to more than 900,000 homes, according to Interior.

The approval comes as the offshore wind sector faces financial headwinds, with high interest rates and supply chain bottlenecks causing developers to delay projects up and down the East Coast. On Tuesday night, Danish developer Orsted said it is scrapping the Ocean Wind I and Ocean Wind II projects off the coast of New Jersey.

Despite these challenges, White House officials have said they remain committed to President Biden’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030.

“More progress and economic opportunity are on the horizon as we put to use every tool available to bring offshore wind benefits to American workers and communities nationwide,” White House National Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi said in a statement yesterday.

Laura Daniel-Davis becomes Interior's acting No. 2

President Biden yesterday announced that Laura Daniel-Davis will serve as the Interior Department’s acting deputy secretary following last week’s departure of the agency’s former No. 2 official, Tommy Beaudreau.

The temporary appointment is sure to reignite tensions on Capitol Hill between Daniel-Davis and lawmakers who see her as hostile to the fossil fuel industry.

Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is among her most vocal critics. He prevented her previous nomination to be assistant secretary for land and minerals management from receiving a confirmation vote in the panel.

“This appointment is yet another example of this Administration disregarding Congress and elevating nominees when they are unable to get the bipartisan support needed for confirmation,” Manchin said in a statement yesterday. “Their insistence on ignoring the confirmation process to advance their agenda undermines the role of the Senate and should be troubling to everyone.”

Before Tuesday, Daniel-Davis served as the principal deputy assistant secretary for Interior’s Office of Land and Minerals Management. Before that, she spent more than 14 years at the agency, including as associate deputy secretary during the Obama administration.

In the atmosphere

Oil and gas companies spill millions of gallons of wastewater in Texas— Martha Pskowski and Peter Aldhous for Inside Climate News
Biden’s climate fight now has a Fed problem— Jasper Goodman for Politico
Senate Republicans introduce bill to limit NEPA lawsuits— Nico Portuondo for E&E News

Viral

This solar Halloween costume brightened our day: ☀️

Agrivoltaics— Maya (@dog4climate)
pic.twitter.com/fUYDaZYFWc October 31, 2023

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