Newsletter (copy 41)

How America's climate law is changing the world

August 21, 2024

Happy Wednesday, dear reader.

Some good news to kick things off:

  • In a major policy shift, the US will support a global treaty aimed at reducing new plastic production, Reuters reported.

  • Last Wednesday evening, big batteries discharged 8.3GW of instantaneous power into the Californian grid, covering 22% of the state’s electricity needs at the time.

  • China’s coal-fired power output has fallen for three consecutive months, Ember data shows.

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Thanks for reading.

Nick Hedley

Editor, The Progress Playbook

America’s flagship climate law — now two years old — has helped revive the country’s manufacturing sector while also giving the world a better shot at avoiding catastrophic climate tipping points.

While the Inflation Reduction Act’s passage initially raised alarm bells across the Atlantic — French president Emmanuel Macron said it was “super aggressive” toward European companies, who would struggle to compete — major economies have since responded with their own clean energy programmes.

The European Union introduced a ‘Green Deal Industrial Plan’ and the REPowerEU initiative to bolster domestic supply chains and speed the shift from fossil fuels, and Australian parliamentarians have introduced the ‘Future Made in Australia Bill’.

“I think it is changing the world — it sparked a race to the top,” Christina DeConcini, director of government affairs at the World Resources Institute (WRI), tells The Progress Playbook. China led the charge on green energy, “but now the US is in the game” and others are following suit.

  • In the two years since the IRA was enacted, investment in clean technologies and infrastructure in the US totalled $493 billion — a 71% increase from the prior two-year period, according to an analysis by Rhodium Group and MIT.

  • Thanks in part to the climate law, US greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 will likely be between 32% and 34% lower than they were in 2005, according to the REPEAT Project.

But much more needs to be done to bend the emissions curve.

- Read this in-depth feature here.

The city of Shanghai will complete its switch from traditional buses and taxis to cleaner plug-in models by 2027, according to a new planning document released by the municipal government.

To do so, the metropolis will introduce another 6,200 so-called new energy vehicle (NEV) buses and 11,000 NEV taxis by then, it said in a statement.

- Read the full story here.

The European Commission has approved a €700 million scheme aimed at making the Netherlands’ livestock sector more sustainable.

Under the five-year programme, livestock farmers in environmentally sensitive areas will be compensated if they voluntarily shut their operations.

- Read the full story here.

In the (very gradual) move to sustainable fuels, European airlines are trouncing competitors in the US and elsewhere. DHL Group leads the world, getting more than 3% of its aviation fuel from cleaner sources last year.

- Read the full article here.

Growers admit that while regenerative farming may be more costly due to the upfront investments needed, yields can be higher and grapes are of better quality.

- Read the full article here.

In the first seven months of 2024, the US got more electricity from wind and solar than from coal — a historic inflection point in the world’s largest economy.

- Read the full article here.

Other articles you might find interesting:

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