Fact that one-third of US was hit with extreme weather event this summer is a red flag: Energy Secretary

 

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Monday, extreme weather events this summer have elevated the urgency with which the Biden administration tackles the climate crisis.

But, with less than two months to go until the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26), she said the administration has no plans to boost its ambitions to slash greenhouse gas emissions in half from 2005 levels, by the end of this decade.

“The fact that one-third of the country has experienced an extreme climate related event this summer, whether it is wildfires, or hurricanes, or droughts or whatever, that is the exclamation point that we hope that the rest of the country sees the urgency of the moment,” said Granholm in an interview with Yahoo Finance Live. “[The plan to slash emissions] is a really hard goal. And it’s going to require a full effort, not just all of government, but all of the economy.”

The continued call for climate action comes on the heels of a summer marked by extreme weather events.

Nearly 1-in-3 Americans have been affected by extreme weather in the last three months, according to a Washington Post analysis. Nearly 400 people have died from hurricanes, floods, and heat waves, based on media reports and government data obtained by the Post.

With less than two months to go until global leaders gather at the COP 26 in Glasgow, Granholm, along with other administration officials, are looking to capitalize on the urgency of the moment, to pressure lawmakers to pass key climate legislation in Congress.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill calls for investments in clean energy, including $7.5 billion to build out a national network for electric vehicle chargers, and $27 billion for essential transmission investments. The Democratic reconciliation bill, with a $3.5 trillion price tag, calls for a $150 billion investment for a clean electricity standard.

“We would get to the number of 100% clean electricity by 2035, if we have the right policy pieces in place,” Granholm said.

The Department of Energy’s proposed Clean Electricity Performance Program, or CEPP, establishes clean energy tax incentives by providing grants or payments to utility companies based on the amount of renewable energy the firm supplies to customers. That, combined with a methane fee would accelerate the shift to clean energy, in line with the timeline set out by the Biden administration, said Granholm.

“There’s both a regulatory side and there’s a market side, and sometimes the market side is even more powerful, because all of these countries as well as other companies have goals to be able to reduce their own carbon dioxide footprints,” Granholm said.

But, recent studies show market-based pressure has done little to change the behavior of U.S. oil and gas majors. A report by financial think tank Carbon Tracker Initiative points to continued investments in major oil and gas projects are inconsistent with the goals of the Paris Climate agreement. Despite that, Granholm said the administration has no plans to introduce a carbon tax, saying the preference is to incentive action, instead of penalizing inaction.

“We think the most effective tool is the one that we have laid out, which is to incentivize the utilities to purchase the right ingredients to be able to get to that clean electricity goal,” she said. “I understand certainly that a carbon tax is something people have been talking about for a long time. It’s just not this administration’s preferred way of moving.

Akiko Fujita is an anchor and reporter for Yahoo Finance.