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sierra club
'Major Power Milestone': US Green Groups Cheer Wind, Solar Overtaking Coal
"This historic milestone marks a significant win for clean energy advocates, for ratepayers, and for people and communities across the country," said one climate leader.
Aug 14, 2024
U.S. climate advocates this week are celebrating new federal data that show wind and solar have generated more power than coal during the first seven months of 2024 and are on track to do so for the entire calendar year.
"This is the kind of news we like to see!" Food & Water Watch said of the data on social media Tuesday. "Ensuring a livable climate for all depends on us making a swift and just transition to clean energy like wind and solar."'
The group shared reporting from E&E News, which noted that "the milestone had been long expected due to a steady stream of coal plant retirements and the rapid growth of wind and solar. Last year, wind and solar outpaced coal through May before the fossil fuel eventually overtook the pair when power demand surged in the summer."
"Renewables' growth has been driven by a surge in solar production over the last year," the news outlet continued. "The 118 terawatt-hours generated by utility-scale solar facilities through the end of July represented a 36% increase from the same time period last year, according to preliminary U.S. Energy Information Administration figures. Wind production was 275 TWh, up 8% over 2023 levels. Renewables' combined production of 393 TWh outpaced coal generation of 388 TWh."
Sierra Club executive director Ben Jealous said in a statement Wednesday that "wind and solar energy has long been the most cost-effective choice for utilities, but now it has also outpaced coal generation as the top source of energy, further demonstrating that clean energy is critical to a reliable and affordable grid."
"This historic milestone marks a significant win for clean energy advocates, for ratepayers, and for people and communities across the country that simply want to breathe clean air, drink safe water, and worry less about climate disasters like floods and wildfires," Jealous continued.
"For decades, the Sierra Club has fought to move America Beyond Coal and onto a clean, reliable, and affordable grid," he added. "To date, the Beyond Coal campaign has secured the retirement of 385 coal plants and counting, and on August 16th, we celebrate the two-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, which made historic investments in clean energy and clean energy jobs. Together, families across the country are saving money, enjoying good paying jobs, breathing clean air, and drinking safe water."
Along with celebrating the federal legislation signed in 2022 by President Joe Biden, Sierra Club highlighted a state law signed the previous year by Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
"Illinoisans should be proud of the work we've done to close our largest coal plants and leverage the power of clean energy to drive economic growth while reducing pollution that's harmful to public health and our planet," said Jack Darin, director of the Sierra Club's state chapter. "Thanks to the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act of 2021, Illinois workers are now building the clean energy that is replacing old, dirty fossil fuels and bringing a brighter future to communities across our state."
Celebrations over the "major power milestone" come as Americans prepare for a November presidential election in which Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz—who are endorsed by a range of climate groups—are set to face former Big Oil-backed former Republican President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).
During an April event in Florida, Trump told fossil fuel executives that if they invested just $1 billion into his campaign, he would gut the Biden-Harris administration's climate regulations. The Washington Postreported Tuesday that billionaire Continental Resources founder then "called other oil executives and encouraged them to attend fundraisers and open their wallets."
While Hamm is reportedly sharing Big Oil's priorities with the Trump-Vance team, their approach can be summed up by a phrase they've said on the campaign trail: "drill, baby, drill."
Although the Republican candidates have tried to distance themselves by the Heritage Foundation-led Project 2025, the right-wing policy agenda—crafted by many Trump allies—has also alarmed climate campaigners.
Noting the new energy data, Antonia Juhasz, a senior researcher on fossil fuels at Human Rights Watch, said Tuesday: "This transformation is due in large part to federal government policy which has specifically incentivized renewable energy development and deployment and increased regulation on the harms of fossil fuels. All of which are specifically targeted for removal in Project 2025."
As Common Dreamsreported earlier Wednesday, an analysis from the think tank Energy Innovation shows that a GOP administration implementing the Project 2025 plan would increase U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2.7 billion metric tons by 2030 compared to the current trajectory.
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'Permit to Kill': LNG Buildout Would Boost Premature Deaths, Health Costs
"The bizarre rush to overbuild methane gas export capacity is not only a climate and an economic mistake—it is also a public health disaster," said the report's co-author.
Aug 14, 2024
Permitted emissions from both currently operating and planned liquefied natural gas terminals in the United States "have a major price tag for communities' public health," with existing facilities already estimated to cause scores of premature deaths and nearly a billion dollars in damage each year, according to an analysis published Wednesday.
The report— Permit to Kill—was published by Greenpeace USA and the Sierra Club, which said the analysis "adds to the mounting body of evidence showing that LNG exports are not in the public interest."
Greenpeace USA senior research specialist and report co-author Andres Chang said in a statement that "this study shows that any discussion of LNG exports that ignores the deadly air pollution from LNG terminals is missing the boat."
"The bizarre rush to overbuild methane gas export capacity is not only a climate and an economic mistake—it is also a public health disaster," Chang added. "Our research shows that air pollution from continuing the LNG buildout would hit fenceline communities the hardest, but would also be carried downwind to further away cities like Dallas and New Orleans, causing childhood asthma onset, lost work and school days, and premature death."
Among the report's key findings:
- Direct air pollution from currently operating LNG export terminals is estimated to cause 60 premature deaths and $957 million in total health costs per year;
- If all the planned terminals and expansion projects are built, these numbers would increase to 149 premature deaths and $2.33 billion in health costs per year;
- By 2050, the same permitted air pollutants from currently operating LNG export terminals alone are expected to yield 2,020 premature deaths and $28.7 billion in total health costs;
- There is a strong overlap between areas that are already experiencing climate harms and the areas slated to suffer the worst air pollution impacts;
- At the national level, Black and Hispanic Americans would respectively experience air pollution from LNG terminals at 151–170% and 110–129% the rate of white Americans, if all projects slated for 2030 are built; and
- If the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) halts approvals of new LNG export applications, it would save an estimated 707 to 1,110 lives and avoid $9.88 billion to $15.1 billion in health costs through 2050, compared with a scenario in which all proposed LNG projects are built.
"This briefing provides a new compelling and distressing data point in the long list of reasons to stop approving LNG export applications," said Sierra Club energy campaigns analyst and report co-author Johanna Heureaux-Torres. "It is shocking that regulators do not already consider deadly pollution impacts in their environmental analyses of gas export projects and related infrastructure."
"DOE and other federal agencies should listen to the science and frontline communities, and develop more robust controls on the cumulative impacts of air pollution from these high-polluting projects," Heureaux-Torres added. "The health of communities and the climate depends on the folks in charge to stand up and do the right thing based on the facts of the situation on the ground."
Climate defenders applauded U.S. President Joe Biden's January pause on LNG export permit applications pending a review of their environmental and economic impacts.
However, the Biden administration has also presided over what climate campaigners have called a "staggering" LNG expansion, including Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass 2 export terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana and more than a dozen other projects that, if all completed, would make U.S. exported LNG emissions higher than all of Europe's combined greenhouse gas footprint, according to climate campaigner Bill McKibben.
"It's time for DOE to stop using permitted emissions from operating and planned LNG export terminals as a license to pollute our most vulnerable people and places."
Numerous other studies have highlighted the public health harms of LNG, including a 2023 study by the University of Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania Department of Health that found children who live near fracking operations are roughly five to seven times more likely to develop lymphoma than those whose homes are at least five miles away from drilling sites.
"The Permit to Kill report underscores what residents in frontline communities have been saying for decades—it's time for DOE to stop using permitted emissions from operating and planned LNG export terminals as a license to pollute our most vulnerable people and places," said Robert D. Bullard, director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice and distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy at Texas Southern University.
"DOE now has the opportunity and moral responsibility to correct its flawed approach, methodology, thinking, and assumptions that follow the dominant pattern and allow Black, Hispanic, and low-income residents to be overburdened with health-threatening air pollution," he added. "Our communities matter."
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Climate Movement Says Tim Walz for VP an 'Encouraging Sign'
"Gov. Walz has signed bills to achieve 100% clean energy by 2040, equitably ramp up clean energy deployment, dedicate consistent funding to public transit, and incorporate climate into transportation investment decisions."
Aug 06, 2024
The U.S. climate movement on Tuesday celebrated Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' choice of Tim Walz as her running mate, despite concerns about the Minnesota governor's record on the Line 3 oil pipeline and Indigenous-led protests against it.
"Like Vice President Harris, Gov. Walz knows that climate change is the existential threat of our time," declared Sierra Club executive director Ben Jealous. "In his time serving in Congress and as governor, he has worked to protect clean air and water, grow our clean energy economy, and see to it that we do all we can to avoid the very worst of the climate crisis."
"The Harris-Walz ticket is one that understands the fight before us, isn't afraid to tackle climate change head-on, and will continue to build upon the legacy of the Biden-Harris administration moving forward," Jealous said. "We welcome Gov. Walz to the ticket and look forward to doing all we can to support the Harris-Walz campaign through November."
Harris and Walz are set to face former Republican President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who want to roll back key aspects of the Biden-Harris administration's climate policies in favor of a "drill, baby, drill" mentality. The Trump campaign on Tuesday attacked Walz for "proposing his own carbon-free agenda" and "suggesting stricter emission standards for gas-powered cars."
"This decision shows that Kamala Harris is taking seriously what is needed to rebuild the 2020 Biden-Harris coalition."
Meanwhile, Evergreen Action executive director Lena Moffitt argued that "in the last few years, Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Democrats have put on a masterclass in how to govern in a way that meaningfully improves people's lives and sets the state up for a thriving future."
"Gov. Walz has signed bills to achieve 100% clean energy by 2040, equitably ramp up clean energy deployment, dedicate consistent funding to public transit, and incorporate climate into transportation investment decisions—but the Walz administration didn't stop there," explained Moffitt—whose group was launched by former staffers of Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee's 2020 presidential campaign, which focused on the climate crisis
After congressional Democrats passed and President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Walz administration "launched the Minnesota State Competitiveness Fund, which has helped the state secure hundreds of millions of dollars in federal investments to support community-driven climate solutions," she said. "We are thrilled to see Gov. Walz joining the Democratic ticket and know that his record of success in Minnesota will help build support across the country for Vice President Harris' vision to move America forward."
Since Biden passed the torch to Harris last month, she has been racking up support from green groups—including at least seven that had not backed the president while he was seeking reelection. One organization that has not yet endorsed her is the youth-led Sunrise Movement, though it has urged her to "fight for our future" and is part of the Green New Deal Network, which announced its endorsement last week.
Sunrise's communications director, Stevie O'Hanlon, said Tuesday that "Tim Walz is an excellent choice for vice president. This decision shows that Kamala Harris is taking seriously what is needed to rebuild the 2020 Biden-Harris coalition and energize young people, people of color, and union voters ahead of November."
"As governor, Tim Walz has made huge strides to address the climate crisis," O'Hanlon continued. "He has done this by pitching climate action as a way to make people's everyday lives better, create good-paying green jobs, and invest in making communities stronger. That is a winning message, and one the Democratic ticket should put at the forefront of their agenda."
"We look forward to Gov. Walz continuing to fight for bold climate action as vice president next year," the campaigner added.
Collin Rees, political director of Oil Change U.S., said that "Kamala Harris picking Tim Walz as her running mate is an encouraging sign that she's willing to listen to the Democratic base. Walz's collaboration with a progressive Legislature in Minnesota has led to significant wins for working people, including important climate victories with a 100% carbon-free by 2040 law and a $2 billion climate spending program."
"At the same time, his lack of action to stop the Line 3 pipeline shows a troubling deference to fossil fuel interests. This campaign is an opportunity for Walz to put people before fossil fuel profits," Rees added. "The Harris-Walz campaign must continue to be bold and put forward a visionary agenda to address the climate crisis and end fossil fuels with a just transition. Our future hinges on leaders who will prioritize transitioning away from fossil fuels and tackling the climate crisis with urgency."
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