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US President Joe Biden's focus on climate change took somewhat
of a back seat to geopolitical realities with Russia's invasion of
Ukraine in his first State of the Union address on 1
March. But he didn't miss a beat in emphasizing his resolve to
making the US a world leader in clean energy technology, and
linking it to both climate change and strengthening the
economy.
Biden's speech highlighted global solidarity with the Ukrainian
people and the growing array of sanctions on Russia's economic
interests drew standing ovation from Ukraine's Ambassador to the US
Oksana Markarova, who joined the assembled members of Congress,
cabinet members and Supreme Court justices in the US Capitol.
While Biden used this opportunity to address the energy impacts
at home and abroad, he didn't shy away from his resolve to shore up
the country's infrastructure against the "devasting effects of the
climate crisis" and promoting environmental justice.
But the response to Russia's invasion was Biden's primary
message. Early in the speech, he noted that on 1 March, 31
countries said they will release 60 million barrels of oil
reserves from storage, with half coming from the US. "These steps
will help blunt gas prices here at home," Biden said. "We stand
ready to do more if necessary, unified with our allies."
Further solutions will come from expanding US renewable energy
and the infrastructure to support it, Biden said.
To yet another round of applause across the aisles, Biden
reminded the members of the US Congress of the new clean technology
and infrastructure investments his administration has made through
the $1.2-trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Act
that was signed into law in November. The law includes billions of
dollars to start installing a national network of 500,000 EV
charging stations, and Biden noted that 4,000 charging station
projects have already been announced. That commitment is
jump-starting automakers' investments, he added, citing Ford committing $11.4 billion
to EVs in the US, and General Motors committing $7
billion on factories in Michigan.
"It is going to transform America and put us on a path to win
the economic competition of the 21st century that we face with the
rest of the world—particularly with China," Biden said.
Securing supply chains
During the speech that lasted just over an hour, Biden redoubled
his commitment to securing supply chains for minerals needed to
decarbonize the power sector. A week ago, the White House announced
plans to reform the antiquated
mining law and related regulations. "Instead of relying on foreign
supply chains," Biden said, "let's make it in America. And instead
of relying on foreign supply chains, let's make it in America,"
Biden said.
His call did not unnoticed by the trade group National Mining
Association, which tweeted: "Let's also source the
materials needed to make it in America."
US mining production lags behind
demand, despite having ample reserves. The US Geological
Survey's mineral commodity summaries for
2022, released 1 February, revealed that the US in 2021
imported 48% of its consumption of nickel, 76% of its cobalt, 45%
of refined copper, and more than 25% of lithium.
Build back a better America
Without mentioning by name, Biden alluded to the $1.7-trillion
Build Back Better plan, which
the Senate scuttled last year, extolling the promise of programs
under that bill that he hopes Congress will revisit.
"Let's provide investments and tax credits to weatherize your
homes and businesses to be energy efficient and you get a tax
credit; double America's clean energy production in solar, wind,
and so much more; lower the price of electric vehicles, saving you
another $80 a month because you'll never have to pay at the gas
pump again," he said.
Those types of programs could cut energy costs for families by
an average of $500 a year while combatting climate change, Biden
said.
In referencing savings from renewable energy, Biden touched on
an issue that's flared its head recently: inflation, which has
averaged 7% over the last 12 months, the highest rate in 40 years.
He offered the infrastructure bill and passing some version of
Build Back Better as solutions, saying these types of investments
will reduce reliance on oil and expand US manufacturing
capacity.
"I have a better plan to fight inflation," he said. "Lower your
costs, not your wages. Make more cars and semiconductors in
America. More infrastructure and innovation in America. More goods
moving faster and cheaper in America. More jobs where you can earn
a good living in America. And instead of relying on foreign supply
chains, let's make it in America."
GOP rebuttal ignores climate
Commenting on the speech, Joe Britton, executive director of the
Zero Emission Transportation Association, told Net-Zero
Business Daily by S&P Global Commodity Insights that it's
important to recognize "the time and passion President Biden spent
on the need to promote and invest in electric vehicles and domestic
clean energy production."
"When there is global disruption in energy markets and general
instability around the world, he made sure to remind the American
people and our allies that one of the best ways to combat both
climate change and reliance on foreign oil is to invest in clean
energy and transportation electrification—both of which are not
dependent on unfriendly capitals around the world."
Predictably, Republicans in Congress were unimpressed even
though the governor they chose to provide a response was from a
state that was recently ravaged by unprecedented climate-fueled
storms.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds focused on what she called failed
energy policies and rampant spending that has led to increased
gasoline prices. But she did not make one single mention of
climate-fueled tornadoes that ravaged Iowa or the floods that
overwhelmed the Midwest in 2021.
"They were warned that spending trillions would lead to soaring
inflation. They were told their anti-energy policies would send gas
prices to new heights. But they plowed ahead anyway, raising the
price at the pump by 50% and pushing inflation to a 40-year high,"
she said.
However, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's National Center for Environmental Information said
six thunderstorm events from the Midwest to the South did $20.4
billion in damage. Last year, Iowa set a new unofficial record for
the most tornadoes in in a year, at 63 tornadoes.
After a storm with 80 mph winds in December, Reynolds was left
with no choice but to declare an emergency on 16
December, and Biden approved Iowa's state of
declaration on 23 February, triggering the release of federal funds
to aid with recovery.
Climate awareness equated with US weakness
House Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Cathy
McMorris Rodgers, Republican-Washington, linked US military might
to energy—adding that Biden's climate programs have weakened
the US at a critical time. "It's now clearer than ever what is at
stake when a rush-to-green agenda and anti-American energy policies
make us and Europe more dependent on Russian oil and natural gas,"
she said in a statement.
"Energy costs were already skyrocketing due to President Biden's
disastrous policies that have made us more reliant on energy from
places like Russia," added Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley.
"Putin's unprovoked attack on Ukraine will make matters worse for
energy costs at home."
Senate Republicans this week proposed a bill to expand US fossil
fuel production and exports, the American Energy Independence from
Russia Act of 2022. The bill would immediately reauthorize the
permit for Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada, which the Biden
administration has let expire; allow unlimited exports of LNG; and
would expand oil and gas leasing on federal land and water. "It's
how we crush Putin's war chest, restore our energy dominance, stand
by Ukraine and our allies, and create jobs here at home," McMorris
Rodgers said.
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat who was
responsible for sinking Biden's Build Back Better agenda and is a
proponent of an all-of-the-above US energy strategy that includes
oil, gas, and coal, agreed with his Republican colleagues that
direct action must be taken now to support domestic oil production.
Manchin called for the US to immediately ban imports of Russian
oil, which averaged 500,000 barrels per day in 2020 and 600,000 b/d
so far in 2021.
"It makes no sense at all for us to rely on energy from a
country that is actively engaging in acts of war against a freedom
seeking democracy—Ukraine—when we are blessed with abundant
energy resources right here in America," Manchin said.
At current oil prices, the US is spending about $67 million per
day on imported Russian oil, Manchin said.
Energy and geopolitics
Energy industry leaders also expressed disappointment that the
speech did not have clearer lines for how to strengthen US energy
security, but environmental groups said that geopolitics highlight
the dangers of relying on fossil fuels.
"We wonder why the president's rallying cry of 'Make it in
America' excludes the American oil and gas industry, since his
stated goal is to reduce dependence on foreign supply chains," said
David Holt, president of Consumer Energy Alliance.
"The president's address missed the opportunity to make a course
correction and loosen the stranglehold put on the domestic energy
industry through over-regulation and poor policies," Holt said,
noting that US oil production in February was 1.5 million b/d below
peak production in 2019, and that higher production means lower
prices.
Natural gas has been in the headlines of late, as the US has
more than doubled its exports of LNG to Europe in the last year,
and Amy Andryszak, president and CEO of the Interstate Natural Gas
Association of America, said Biden can do more to enable the
industry to help US allies.
"During this time of uncertainty, America's strategic position
as the leading natural gas producer only further cements the
central role of natural gas in achieving our global climate
ambitions and providing allies and trading partners in Europe with
a reliable and secure source of energy. Our industry's ability to
support Europe during this crisis is no accident. It was enabled by
American innovation and federal and state policies that supported
natural gas infrastructure investment," she said.
Clean energy a panacea
On the renewables side, trade group American Clean Power (ACP)
applauded the president's speech, with ACP's CEO Heather Zichal
calling it "emphatic and unmistakably clear about the urgency of
rapid clean energy investment."
In combination with the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's
report this week about the rapid and extensive impact of rising
carbon emissions, Zichal said: "The way out of both of these crises
is to rapidly scale affordable, reliable clean energy everywhere.
We join the President in urging Congress to take action on critical
investments and tax credits for the renewable energy industry that
have broad bipartisan support."
Zichal's comment referenced an ACP survey conducted in October
that found 93% of Americans saying that clean energy is "important
to the country's energy future" and 80% supporting tax incentives
to expand clean energy production and use.
The American Petroleum Institute
released a survey on the day of Biden's speech that indicates
there's still strong sentiment for fossil fuels as well. The
survey, done by Morning Consult, found 90% of US voters greater
development of domestic energy resources, and 85% "believe
producing natural gas and oil here in the US helps America maintain
a leadership role during a period of global uncertainty.
Environmental groups, however, say that a different lesson
should be taken from Russia's invasion and high oil prices than the
need to produce more oil and gas. "The horrors the world is
witnessing in Ukraine should be a clarion call to end our global
dependence on fossil fuels and the petrostates they prop up. Fossil
fuels have driven conflict, human rights abuses and ecological
catastrophes around the world for decades. It's time for President
Biden to stop equivocating and fully embrace every tool at his
disposal to end the fossil fuel era," said Kierán Suckling,
executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity.
But Republicans in Congress said that low- and middle-income
families can't wait for solutions while the administration pursues
its multi-headed agenda.
"Record inflation, soaring energy prices, and broken supply
chains are making it harder for the hardworking people of this
country to get by. From the gas pump to the grocery store, American
families are seeing an increase of $175 per month on routine
expenses," said McMorris Rodgers, though misstating that inflation
is at or near a record level.
Posted 02 March 2022 by Amena Saiyid, Senior Climate and Energy Research Analyst and
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