Biden: I would transition from the oil industry…because the oil industry pollutes significantly’

This is the first time in U.S. presidential history that climate change was a featured issue at a debate. It signals how the problem has become part of the fabric of our society. Biden said, “I would transition from the oil industry … because the oil industry pollutes significantly,” Until now, climate change either was wholly absent from presidential general elections or debate was fleetingly focused on whether or not it is real — it is and humans are the driving factor, most scientists agree. Source: Axios

Utility CEOs contribute personal money to help Republicans; Utility PACs also favor GOP: CEOs at some of the country’s largest utilities have spent hundreds of thousands of their own dollars this cycle to help Republicans maintain control of the U.S. Senate and to buoy Republicans’ electoral prospects in the House, according to an Energy and Policy Institute analysis of federal campaign contributions. Utility political action committees (PACs) have also contributed more to Republican candidates running for federal positions and to the PACs that spend millions of dollars on the GOP’s behalf, according to the analysis. The utility PACs contributed to Republican candidates and PACs over Democratic candidates and PACs by about a 4:3 ratio. Source: Energy and Policy Institute

The world’s largest renewable energy developer says it has more projects in the works than it has connected to the grid — including plans for the biggest-ever stand-alone battery storage system. Renewable energy giant NextEra Energy’s competitive wholesale power unit has inked deals for more than 15,000 megawatts of wind, solar and storage projects, the utility giant announced yesterday. “Our backlog is now larger than [NextEra] Energy Resources’ entire existing renewables portfolio, which took us 20 years to complete,” Rebecca Kujawa, NextEra’s chief financial officer, said during the company’s third-quarter earnings conference call with financial analysts. South Florida-based NextEra has signed contracts for roughly 4,800 MW of renewable projects since the beginning of the year, including a record 2,200 MW in the past three months. Source: E&E News

This video is from the Coen Brothers in 2008.

Here’s an indication of how the viability of clean coal has changed in the last twelve years.