A 90% Clean Grid Can Be Achieved Quickly. What’s Holding It Back?
Most decarbonization proposals play out over 30 years, aiming toward 2050. But a new roadmap from researchers at UC Berkeley and the policy firm Energy Innovation shows the grid can get to a level of 90% clean in just 15 years’ time.
No new fossil fuel plants. Lower rates for consumers. 85,000 lives saved. 500,000 additional jobs. Region by region, the researchers lay out exactly how it can be done.
Prices have fallen so quickly that our understanding of what’s possible hasn’t kept pace. And now, say the researchers, we have the chance to decarbonize much sooner than many thought possible. This week on The Energy Gang, we’ll dig into the study and its implications.
Then, pollsters say Americans are “fully bought-in” to a clean energy future — and want bigger societal issues addressed with it. But among crucial swing voters, is anyone even thinking about climate? We’ll look at what the latest polling tells us.
Finally, BP decides its assets are actually worth $17 billion less than the company previously thought. It’s a massive write-down. Is this a tipping point? A leading indicator?
Co-hosts Katherine Hamilton, Jigar Shah and Stephen Lacey discuss.
Resources:
- UCB Goldman School of Public Policy: The 2035 Report
- Energy Innovation LLC: 2035 Data Explorer
- Greentech Media: 90% Clean Grid by 2035 Is Not Just Feasible, But Cheaper, Study Says
- Environmental Research Letters: Combining Climate, Economic, and Social Policy Builds Public Support for Climate Action in the U.S. (Bergquist, Mildenberger & Stokes)
- WaPo Opinion: Protesters Want Justice — Including on Social, Economic and Climate Demands
- Yale Program on Climate Comm: Politics and Global Warming April 2020
- Climate 2020 Podcast: How Do You Message Climate in This Political Moment?
- Bloomberg opinion: BP Submits to Brutal Reality on the Future of Oil
- Twitter: Mark Campanale, Carbon Tracker
- Bloomberg opinion: Big Oil Can Help Renewables by Spinning Them Off
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