Over a three-week period, the Clean Energy For Biden (CE4Biden) Clean Energy Summit has showcased dozens of proposals for consideration (and action) by the Biden-Harris transition team for action in the coming year(s). While, to be clear, these proposals are not all-encompassing of the opportunities and requirements for clean-energy action nor are they institutionally endorsed by CE4B, these proposals are uniformly thoughtful, substantive, and meriting of consideration.
Tomorrow evening, 30 November, is the final Summit session focused on innovation (registration).
A common theme across CE4B’s policy proposals is the need for increased funding for clean energy research, development and demonstration, accelerating domestic deployment as well as enhancing U.S. global competitiveness, consistent with the Biden Plan’s call for a $400 billion clean energy innovation investment over ten years. The proposals at this summit on innovation urge federal attention to removing barriers, enhancing U.S. competitiveness, and adopting national standards to advance clean energy deployment.
“Innovation” isn’t just in the laboratory but also in regulation, financing, and beyond. The 14 proposals reflect this and range from ‘tech-heavy’ industrial spaces (hydrogen production, advanced nuclear) to refocused finance (climate bank, valuing demand response) to fostering shifted acceptance of ‘clean’ options (such as regenerative agriculture).
With keynotes from Representative Deb Haaland, former head of ARPAE Cheryl Martin, and clean-energy financier Trenton Allen in addition to the papers, this should be an interesting and substantive evening.
About CE4Biden and the proposals/Summit
CE4Biden mobilized clean-energy professionals of all stripes (key industry business executives, front-line workers, research engineers, environmental equity activists, bureaucrats, …) to work together to help elect President-Elect Joe Biden and VP-Elect Harris. Activities included raising $millions via events show-casing clean-energy leaders and issues; and mobilizing the 11,000 members for phone and text banking. Within CE4B was an opportunity: develop policy concepts, to be reviewed and edited together as a package for submittal to the Biden transition team. (To be clear, “while CE4B facilitated the development of the recommendations , CE4B does not endorse or take a position on any of the policy recommendations, as they are [the author’s] personal/professional views and [not attributable to] CE4B.”) That package is long and substantive (16-page introduction pdf; the 442 page total document), meriting reading and consideration within the drive for fostering a rapid COVID19 economic recovery to Build Back Better with a cleaner, prosperous, and more equitable economy in the years and decades to come.
The first Summit evening, 16 November, focused on Infrastructure and the second, 23 November, on Equity. While not available for viewing at this time, the Summit team intends to have all three evenings available for viewing in the near future.
If interested in a thoughtful and substantive evening featuring CE4B members laying out their innovative thinking about proposals to innovate us (the U.S.) toward a clean, prosperous, equitable future, register for the Innovation evening of the CE4B Energy Summit.