Climate Policy News You Can Use — October 2024

Published: October 30, 2024 by Daniel Neff

Climate Policy Leadership

Dear Colleagues,

The UN’s latest report confirms what we’ve known: current policy is not where it needs to be to keep us below 1.5 degrees warming. The report underscores the importance of Nationally Determined Contributions and countries meeting the standards they set for themselves. With the U.S. election just around the corner, we encourage companies to actively participate in shaping a resilient future for their industries and the nation as a whole. Immense investment and bipartisan support for the Inflation Reduction Act’s climate provisions underscore that climate policies are necessary to drive down emissions while creating jobs and benefiting the economy.

Hydrogen Tax Credits Guidance Expected Soon

The Department of Treasury is in the final stretch of issuing guidance for the 45V Hydrogen Production Tax Credit – worth more than $20 billion over 10 years. Since the draft rule was released in December 2023, EDF, key hydrogen producers, and non-profit partners have advocated for strong climate provisions to be included in the final rule. Without full transparency on GHG emissions, the hydrogen industry risks steering investment in the wrong direction – potentially toward projects that worsen the climate crisis and harm nearby communities. Strong climate protections for both renewable and fossil-based hydrogen will establish a durable, long-term market; align with best practices to unlock global trade; and position hydrogen as a true solution for decarbonization goals. Please reach out to us if you are interested in learning more about this topic or potential advocacy efforts.

Take Action:

  • Continue to speak up on the need for strong climate protections in the final 45V hydrogen production tax credit rule. During any Hill and Administration meetings, we encourage sharing support for:
    • The 3-pillar framework (i.e., incrementality, hourly matching, and deliverability) to ensure renewable hydrogen is truly low-emissions.
    • Full emissions accounting for fossil-based hydrogen – including accurate upstream methane measurements and no carbon negative offsets.

Go Deeper:

Washington’s Climate Commitment Act is at Risk

The Climate Commitment Act (CCA), passed in 2021, established Washington’s own cap-and-invest program and a declining limit on climate emissions to provide cleaner air and water, invest in green jobs and technologies, and fund climate resilience around the state. It has raised roughly $2 billion in its first two years in operation, and new economic analysis shows that over an 8-year period, CCA investments could create more than 45,000 new jobs and generate $9.1 billion in economic output.

Ballot initiative I-2117 seeks to repeal the CCA and prevent Washington from implementing carbon pricing policies in the future — depriving the state of the substantial environmental and economic benefits.

Take Action:

Go Deeper:

Keeping up with the Administration

The Department of Energy released its National Transmission Planning Study which finds that long-range transmission between regions is essential to creating a reliable and resilient grid. Maximizing the use of existing rights-of-way can help build transmission quickly and efficiently, supporting accelerated deployment of renewable energy to meet growing demands.

For more on fixing long-distance transmission, check out this Utility Dive article.

What’s New with the IRA?

  • Treasury has released final guidance for the Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit (45X).

Beyond Policy – Host a Climate Corps Fellow!

Need a capacity boost to move your company’s climate work forward? Join over 100 companies across the U.S. in bringing on a specially recruited and trained EDF Climate Corps fellow for the summer of 2025, and gain the support your organization needs.

The EDF Climate Corps summer 2025 application to host a fellow is now open! The application is due December 19, 2024.

EDF’s Climate Corps fellowship program recruits, trains, and custom matches top-of-their-class graduate students with companies determined to meet their climate and energy goals. Climate Corps fellows spend a summer designing tools and recommendations to accomplish the emission reduction goals your company has set. Explore past work here and apply to host a fellow in 2025 by December 19!

Please reach out to Sophie Marx smarx@edf.org or Michael Cronin at mcronin@edf.org to discuss any questions or potential projects with us.

ICYMI – Things We’re Tracking

  1. NZAA Webinar: Current and Upcoming Regulations Impacting Scope 3 Reporting
  2. Webinar: The Return on Responsibility – a reframe for corporate climate messaging
  3. Sign-on Letter: America’s All In – An Open Letter from U.S. State and Local Governments, Tribal Nations, Businesses, Financial Institutions, Labor Unions, and Institutions of Health, Faith, Education, and Culture to Our Peers and Allies
  4. Press Release: Supreme Court Denies Requests to Block Climate Pollution Standards for Power Plants
  5. EDF Blog: CTAPs Were Trending at Climate Week: What Your Business Needs to Know to Stay Ahead

That is all for October. I want to leave you with a call for nominations for the inaugural Bill Wiehl Awards for those who have used their climate voice and demonstrated an outstanding commitment to advocate for climate policy, both inside their company and in organizing their peers. Nominations are due November 1st, and winners get a trip to GreenBiz 25!

Thank you for reading, and if this was forwarded to you, email us to subscribe!

Best,
Daniel Neff on behalf of the Climate Policy Leadership Team