Energy justice in the news
Local: Hey Oʻahu, Your Electric Bill is About to Go Up
As Hawaiian Electric plans to shut down the last coal fired plant on Oʻahu, residents can expect a 7% increase in electricity bills as the company switches to oil as an energy source.
Why oil? The utility was unable to launch the renewable energy projects to align with shutting down the AES coal-fired plant. As they hustle to get more renewable energy sources online, for now Oʻahu residents will shoulder higher electricity bills to account for the volatile imported oil markets.
National: An Imperfect Bill Confronts A Perfect Storm
After the House passes the bill and it’s signed into law by President Biden, roughly $370 billion will fund a broad array of programs intended to cut U.S carbon emissions by 40% by the year 2030, over 2005 levels. Tax credits and other incentives to buy and install renewable energy equipment like solar panels and wind turbines, and to invest in clean energy manufacturing make up a bulk of the funding. Up to $60 billion in environmental justice funding is for incentives to bring wind, solar and other renewable technologies into poor, marginalized communities long shut out of green investments.
The bill, however, includes significant trade-offs, including major handouts to the fossil fuel industry, primarily to win the needed support of conservative Democratic West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin. Manchin has made a personal fortune worth millions from his family coal business. He is the largest recipient of fossil fuel industry donations in Congress. Among the concessions Manchin won was a side agreement to expedite fossil fuel permitting, including for the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline. If built, the MVP will carry two billion cubic feet of fracked gas across more than 1,000 streams and wetlands in Appalachia, including parts of West Virginia.
International: Mexico Sees Its Energy Future in Fossil Fuels, Not Renewables
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is making headlines in the climate and energy world - by moving Mexico, a country that relies on fossil fuels for 70% of its energy needs, away from climate goals and towards more fossil fuels. Mexico has a complicated history with energy sovereignty, dating back to the 1930s, and President Obrador is keeping with history to ensure maintaining an energy monopoly is top priority.