Is America asleep to a growing threat, or overhyping it? Lawmakers debate how to preserve democratic values at home and abroad as China’s global influence expands.
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Monitor Daily Podcast
March 01, 2023
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Mark Trumbull
Staff writer
Here’s some electrifying news: The world’s investment in the transition toward low-carbon energy surpassed $1 trillion for the first time in 2022, according to a recent analysis by the research group Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
The record amount also represents a big acceleration from the year before – and comes despite the way Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roiled traditional energy markets. China led the charge, followed by the European Union, the United States, and other nations.
The trend has broad public support in the U.S. and beyond.
In Europe, the progress includes surging purchases of electric vehicles and heat pumps for residential air and water.
In the U.S., last year’s Inflation Reduction Act includes funding and incentives for a similar surge. Between that new money and the affordability of renewable power sources, the result could be a reduction of economywide greenhouse gas emissions 50% below 2005 levels by 2030. That, in turn, would keep a longer-term commitment within reach: net-zero emissions by 2050.
But “we’re not going to achieve [this] if we don’t clear the way,” says Lori Bird, director of the U.S. energy program at the World Resources Institute in Washington.
That’s because the next step would be to double the pace of both power and transmission-line expansion, yet many energy projects are hitting delays. Ms. Bird and colleague Katrina McLaughlin have been thinking about how to ease the logjam. For one thing, they recommend enlisting community engagement and identifying community benefits early in project development, to address “not in my backyard” opposition. Other steps they propose could reduce bureaucratic slowdowns.
The benefits will be broad-ranging, Ms. Bird adds, even for people who don’t have climate change as their top priority.
“This is important at the local level because of the impacts that we’re seeing from climate change,” such as stronger hurricanes and wildfires, and extreme heat, she says. Then there’s improved air quality, and the promise that strengthening electric grids will make them more reliable and bring energy costs down over time. “It’s economically beneficial,” Ms. Bird says. “It creates jobs in communities.”