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OHIO’S NEW LAW A BLOW TO RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY MANDATE MOMENTUM: Ohio’s controversial law approved this week to weaken, and eventually kill, a renewable electricity mandate program represents a departure from a recent trend of states increasing the ambition of their policies to combat climate change.

“Its adoption underscores some of the political challenges states face in transitioning toward more carbon-friendly electricity sources,” Barry Rabe, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, told me.

Climate change mitigation advocates, researchers, and public policy experts tell me they don’t expect other states to follow Ohio’s lead, but any backtracking could hamper attempts to reach 100% clean electricity.

“It’s not necessarily that we will see a trend of RPS rollbacks,” said Leah Stokes, an assistant professor of environmental politics at the University of California at Santa Barbara, who is writing a book on state renewable portfolio standards. “But to have 100% clean electricity by 2050, we need to be growing renewables by percentage points each year. Repeals are the worst of all scenarios, but it’s just a manifestation of another trend, which is delay. We are behind.”

Why Ohio law is unique: Ohio’s law — approved by the state’s Republican-led legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine — is truly unprecedented, and had been years in the making, pushed by politically influential bankrupt utility FirstEnergy Solutions.

Its core purpose is to subsidize uneconomic nuclear and coal plants, but in addition to doing that, it takes away money from renewable electricity and efficiency mandates. It shrinks Ohio’s renewable portfolio standard goal of 12.5% to 8.5%, and cancels the program after 2026.

Other states, such as Illinois, New York, and New Jersey, have also implemented programs to compensate nuclear plants to keep them running, but those Democratic-leaning states have done so for climate change reasons, given nuclear’s zero-carbon value. Those states have simultaneously increased renewable mandates as part of their nuclear aid.

More than half of the states, some of them Republican-led, have adopted clean electricity standards or more restrictive renewable portfolio standards.

“We consider Ohio an outlier of the broader trend in which states are strengthening renewable mandates,” said Timothy Fox, vice president at ClearView Energy Partners, a research group. “We don't expect this to meaningfully change national renewable deployment.”

Ohio’s place in decarbonization efforts: Ohio was already a clean energy laggard, with policies on the books hostile to building large wind farms. It adopted its renewable electricity standard in 2008, passing unanimously on Earth Day. But in 2014, Republican backlash prompted Ohio to become the first state to freeze its renewable program (which lasted 2 years). Republican-controlled states West Virginia and Kansas have also rolled back renewable standards, but the West Virginia program was voluntary, and Kansas is already generating plenty of electricity from wind.

Ohio is the second worst state in the country for renewable electricity generation, at 2.5% in 2018, according to the Energy Information Administration .

Ohio is the third largest coal consuming state in the country, although natural gas has increased its share of the state’s electricity lately. It is one of the nation’s top emitters of carbon dioxide from the power sector, a fact that stands to get worse from the new law subsidizing coal plants, and gutting the renewable mandate, which experts say would outweigh the emissions benefits of keeping the nuclear plants running.

“Ohio was never going to be leading the pack on renewable energy,” said J.R. Tolbert, vice president of state policy at Advanced Energy Economy. “But what matters about Ohio is that it one of the leading emissions states, and this legislation isn't going to help that.”

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AUTOMAKERS GO AROUND TRUMP TO STRIKE DEAL WITH CALIFORNIA ON CLEAN CARS: Four leading automakers announced Thursday that they struck a deal with California to produce more fuel-efficient cars, in a pushback against President Trump’s attempt to weaken standards nationwide.

The Trump administration is preparing to roll back strict vehicle pollution standards implemented by the Obama administration and to revoke the right of states like California to set their own tougher rules.

Ford, Honda, VW and BMW, however, are rejecting the Trump administration plan by secretly striking a deal with California, the nation’s leading auto market, to voluntarily agree to make higher efficiency cars that emit less greenhouse gases. The automakers said all the cars they sell in the U.S. — not just in California — would follow these stricter standards. And they encouraged other automakers to adopt the terms of the agreement with California as well.

COONS, FEINSTEIN INTRODUCE CARBON TAX BILL BUT SEEK GOP SUPPORT: Democratic Senators Chris Coons of Delaware and Dianne Feinstein of California introduced a carbon tax bill Thursday that would return most of the revenue to U.S. households as a monthly dividend check.

Coons, known as a centrist dealmaker, had introduced a similar carbon tax bill last year with former Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, but has been unable to attract a GOP sponsor this go-around.

Coons said in a call with reporters Thursday that he expects that to change and hopes to introduce an amended bipartisan version of the bill later this session of Congress.

“It is intriguing to a number of my [Republican] colleagues that there are real leaders in the fossil fuel industry lobbying for carbon fee [and dividend],” Coons said. “My overall goal is to have a bill that can pass the Senate.”

What the bill does: His new Democratic-only legislation, called the Climate Action Rebate Act, would apply a gradually rising carbon tax starting at $15 per ton, with the goal of reducing U.S. carbon emissions 55% by 2030 and 100% by 2050, compared to 2017 levels.

Most of the revenues — 70% — would be distributed to low-and-middle income Americans as a rebate. The remainder of the revenues would be spent on clean energy investments, including on infrastructure improvements, and $12.5 billion per year in funds to help fossil-fuel dependent workers and communities transition to a cleaner energy economy.

How it stacks up to other bills: Representative Francis Rooney of Florida has introduced a similar bipartisan bill in the House that would return all of the proceeds from the tax as a monthly rebate to U.S. households.

Rooney is introducing a new carbon tax bill Thursday that would use most of the revenue to reduce payroll taxes. Coons said he has been talking with Rooney about ways to increase Republican support.

“What we are doing here is putting out ideas and seeing what the response is. I recognize the politics remain quite difficult in the other party,” Coons said, alluding to the influence of Trump, a climate change skeptic.

KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND RELEASES $10T CLIMATE CHANGE PLAN WITH A CARBON TAX: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, a presidential candidate, released a $10 trillion “moonshot” plan Thursday to combat climate change with the goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions across the economy by 2050.

“Climate change is the most serious threat to humanity today, and we need immediate and bold action to address it before it’s too late,” she said in a Medium post .

Embracing a carbon tax: The main component of her plan would be a $52 per ton carbon tax, spending the more than $200 billion projected annual revenues on renewable energy. She would also impose a separate “excise tax” on fossil fuel producers to raise $100 billion annually for projects to adapt to climate change.

Gillibrand proposes $10 trillion in public and private investment to meet her climate change goals, at least $3 trillion of which would come from the federal government through higher taxes.

How she stacks up: Presidential candidates Pete Buttigieg, John Delaney, and John Hickenlooper have also endorsed a carbon tax.

Gillibrand’s timeline for carbon neutrality is the same as a target set Wednesday by Democrats of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and consistent with most plans released by other presidential candidates. She also sets a shorter-term goal of reaching 100% zero-carbon electricity within a decade.

Gillibrand, like other candidates, also seeks to “phase out” fossil fuel production, ending all new fossil fuel leases on public lands, and requiring a tougher “climate analysis” for building new energy infrastructure projects.

US COMPANIES INSTALLED NEAR-RECORD AMOUNT OF SOLAR IN 2018: Last year was the second largest ever for installation of solar among U.S. businesses, according to a report released Thursday by the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Tech giant Apple is the top corporate solar user with 393 megawatts (MW) installed (including on and off-site projects), after adding 130 MW in 2018.

As of the end of last year companies tracked by SEIA had installed 7,000 MW of solar capacity across 35,000 projects. More than half of all corporate solar capacity in the U.S. has been installed since 2016, due to falling prices and more flexible financing structures, SEIA says.

“Top companies are increasingly investing in clean, reliable solar energy because it makes economic sense,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA’s president and CEO.

Other top corporate solar users include Amazon, Target, and Walmart.

HOUSE COMMITTEE PASSES CARBON CAPTURE BILL FOR GAS PLANTS: The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology passed a bipartisan bill Wednesday that would require the Department of Energy to establish a carbon capture research program for gas plants.

The legislation sets a goal for the Energy Department to have three carbon capture demonstration projects for gas plants up and running by 2025.

A companion version of the bill — known as the LEADING Act — passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week.

Co-sponsors to the House bill include Representatives Dan Crenshaw, a Republican, and Henry Cuellar, a Democrat, both from Texas.

Supporters say carbon capture is especially important for gas plants because gas is not going anywhere soon, whereas coal is in a rapid decline.

NEW BICAMERAL, BIPARTISAN CARBON CAPTURE BILL FOR INDUSTRY: A bipartisan coalition of senators and House members introduced matching legislation Thursday to expand R&D and deployment of carbon capture technologies for use in the industrial sector.

In 2017, 22% of U.S. emissions came from the industrial sector, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which includes industries such as cement, steel, chemicals, and refining.

Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island joined with West Virginia’s Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican, and Joe Manchin to introduce the Clean Industrial Technology Act.

Representatives Sean Casten, Democrat of Illinois, and Amata Coleman Radewagen, a Republican from American Samoa, introduced the House version.

EPA PARTNERS WITH CONSERVATIVE STUDENT GROUP TO PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION: The EPA announced Wednesday that it signed a “memo of understanding” with a nonprofit conservative student group, called the American Conservation Coalition, to enhance environmental education in schools.

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the “first-time” agreement is intended to prepare students for careers in environmental fields, and to encourage young people to get involved in issues like combating marine litter, improving recycling, and reducing lead exposure.

“EPA is proud to work alongside ACC to inspire the next generation of environmental leaders and advance solutions to today’s pressing environmental challenges,” Wheeler said.

Something is missing from the syllabus: The American Conservation Coalition visited Capitol Hill this week to lobby Republicans to pursue legislation to address climate change, but Wheeler did not mention climate change as a shared challenge in his statement.

The Rundown

Reuters US coal miners discouraged by black lung meeting with McConnell

New York Times Moody’s buys climate data firm, signaling new scrutiny of climate risks

Reuters Old habits die hard: Saudi Arabia struggles to end oil addiction

Bloomberg Tesla plunges on loss and co-founder’s surprise departure from role

Calendar

MONDAY | July 29

Senate in session. House in August recess.