State climate action could be supercharged by the Inflation Reduction Act

But the landmark legislation, which President Biden signed into law on Tuesday, also contains a slew of smaller but significant investments in climate action at the state level. These lesser-noticed provisions could supercharge efforts to slash emissions and bolster clean energy across all 50 states, according to climate-conscious governors and advocates.

“These are perhaps the smallest and most exciting investments,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D), who mounted a climate-centric presidential campaign in 2020, told The Climate 202. 

“When the tale is told, I think these will be shown as the most effective provisions,” Inslee said. “These are not eye-popping numbers, but I think they will be eye-popping results.”

The legislation includes the following investments in state climate action, according to the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of governors committed to meeting the goals of the Paris agreement:

• $8.6 billion for state energy offices to help consumers make energy-efficiency upgrades to their homes through rebate programs.
• $7 billion for states, municipalities and tribal governments to deploy clean-energy technologies and cut emissions in disadvantaged communities through a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, commonly referred to as a green bank.
• $5 billion for states, municipalities and tribal governments to develop and implement plans to curb emissions through Climate Pollution Reduction Grants.
• $2.2 billion for state and private forestry conservation programs to promote natural carbon sequestration, including by planting trees.
• $1 billion for state and local governments to adopt building energy codes, including $670 million for net-zero energy codes.
• $5 million for states to adopt more stringent tailpipe emissions standards for cars and light trucks.

“What's monumental about this package is that it recognizes the role of states in confronting the climate crisis,” Casey Katims, executive director of the U.S. Climate Alliance, told The Climate 202. “Implementing this package is going to be no small task, but I know governors are up to the challenge.”

Banking on a green bank

The Inflation Reduction Act authorizes $27 billion for the establishment of a national green bank to provide low-cost financing for clean energy infrastructure projects.

• Of the $27 billion, states and tribes can apply for $7 billion worth of grants and loans “to enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy or benefit from zero-emission technologies,” the legislation says.
• Green banks already exist in several states, including California, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Maryland and New York, according to the Coalition for Green Capital, an advocacy group.

“What green banks have done over the last decade is help finance the pieces of the clean power transition: heat pumps, distributed solar, microgrids, electric vehicles and much more,” Reed Hundt, chairman and CEO of the Coalition for Green Capital, told The Climate 202.

In 2011, Connecticut established the nation’s first state-level green bank through bipartisan legislation. Since then, the Connecticut Green Bank has leveraged $288.4 million in state dollars to attract $1.85 billion in private investment — a ratio of $7.40 in private dollars for every $1 in public money.

Bryan Garcia, president and CEO of the Connecticut Green Bank, told The Climate 202 that the bank has prioritized helping low-to-moderate-income families reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient.

“In this context of talking about inflation,” he said, “we have actually helped families and businesses reduce their energy costs.”

The red-blue divide

Of course, states are not immune from the partisan divide over climate action that persists in Washington.

• During the Trump administration, 16 states — almost all of them led by Democrats — and the District of Columbia strengthened their climate targets, according to ClearView Energy Partners, an independent research firm.
• Under Biden, meanwhile, Republican-led state legislatures have sought to prolong the life of coal plants and punish businesses that divest from fossil fuels.

However, this dynamic could change as the Inflation Reduction Act spurs the deployment of more wind, solar and other renewable energy sources in red states, ClearView analysts wrote in a note to clients Tuesday.

“As renewables proliferate on GOP-represented grids,” they wrote, “their economic and political relevance to government officials seems likely to grow.”

Agency alert

U.S. announces more water cuts as Colorado River hits dire lows

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced that it will mandate unprecedented cuts to water usage in Arizona and Nevada, as a historic drought pushes the Colorado River basin to a tipping point, Joshua Partlow and Karin Brulliard report for The Washington Post. 

The decision comes after seven states blew past a Monday deadline, set by the Bureau of Reclamation in June, to reach a voluntary agreement on how to reduce water use by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet — up to a third of the Colorado River’s annual average flow. 

The question of how those states will divide what’s left of the shrinking water supply remains unresolved, but Deputy Interior Secretary Tommy Beaudreau told reporters Tuesday that there is “still time” to strike a deal. 

Under the new declaration, the lower Colorado River Basin has reached a Tier 2 shortage, requiring reductions in water use that will slash what Arizona gets by 21 percent, Nevada by 8 percent, and Mexico by 7 percent. 

“The system is approaching a tipping point, and without action we cannot protect the system and the millions of Americans who rely on this critical resource,” M. Camille Calimlim Touton, commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, said during a news conference. “Protecting the system means protecting the people of the American West.”

The negotiations have caused tension among the Western states as they try to balance the crisis made worse by climate change with their individual needs to sustain cities, agriculture and hydropower for millions of people.

Pressure points

Biden signs sweeping bill to tackle climate change, lower health-care costs

President Biden on Tuesday signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, marking the enactment of the most ambitious climate and energy bill in the nation's history, The Post's Amy B Wang reports.

At a signing ceremony in the State Dining Room of the White House, Biden criticized Republicans for uniformly voting against the legislation.

“Let’s be clear: In this historic moment, Democrats sided with the American people and every single Republican in the Congress sided with the special interests,” Biden said, adding: “Every single Republican, every single one, voted against tackling the climate crisis, against lowering our energy costs, against creating good-paying jobs.”

Attendees included Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), who brokered a surprise deal on the measure after weeks of private negotiations.

At one point, Biden glanced at Manchin and quipped, “Joe, I never had a doubt,” prompting some laughter from the audience. After Biden signed, he handed the pen to Manchin and shook his hand.

In the coming weeks, Biden is expected to hold meetings focused on implementing the new law, as well as travel across the country to tout the ways it could help Americans. The White House is also planning an event Sept. 6 to celebrate the law.

White House climate official is sanctioned by prestigious science body

The National Academy of Sciences on Tuesday said it has barred a key White House official focused on climate change, Jane Lubchenco, from participating in its publications and activities for five years, your Climate 202 host Maxine Joselow reports. 

The decision marks a rare rebuke of Lubchenco, who serves as deputy director for climate and environment at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The academy said that Lubchenco violated its code of conduct before joining the Biden administration last year.

In particular, while serving as an editor for the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences, Lubchenco accepted an article for publication that was co-authored by her brother-in-law and later retracted because it was found to rely on outdated data. 

House Republicans previously voiced concern about the incident, saying in a February letter to President Biden that Lubchenco “demonstrated a clear disregard for rules meant to prevent conflicts of interest in publishing peer-reviewed studies” but is now “playing a leading role in developing and overseeing this Administration’s best practices for scientific integrity.”

In a statement, Lubchenco said: “I accept these sanctions for my error in judgment in editing a paper authored by some of my research collaborators — an error for which I have publicly stated my regret.”

In the atmosphere

• California's giant sequoias are burning up. Will logging save them? — Joshua Partlow for The Post
• Warming oceans fuel earlier Atlantic hurricane seasons, study finds — Matthew Cappucci for The Post
• China shuts factories, rations electricity as heat wave stifles economy — Eva Dou and Lyric Li for The Post
• Evergreen places six-figure ad buy highlighting Michigan, Nevada clean energy investments — Zach Schonfeld for the Hill 
• Boston wants to ban fossil fuels in new buildings — Sabrina Shankman for the Boston Globe

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