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Presented by American Chemistry Council – Chemistry Creates America Competes : Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation | | | | |  | | By Heather Richards and Joel Kirkland | | | |  The ship UHL Felicity carrying parts for offshore wind turbines arrives in New Bedford, Mass., in May. | Rodrique Ngowi/AP Photo | Offshore wind has been a White House favorite since President Joe Biden took office, representing the promise of building a clean energy future in the U.S. But a recently canceled offshore wind project in New Jersey — and the uncertain financial outlook of numerous projects — has experts questioning whether the industry needs a reset. “The reality is that this correction has been brewing for several years and was made exponentially uglier by the effects of black swan events,” Sunny Gupta, principal at Gupta Advisory, said during a recent press briefing by the offshore wind advocacy group Turn Forward. So what happened to the nation’s poster child for the energy transition? And what comes next for offshore wind? First, the bad news Inflation has pushed up the price of everything from diesel to steel, making it more expensive to build wind farms. Additionally, the domestic supply chain isn’t ready. The U.S. simply doesn’t have enough ships, or wind manufacturers, to build the projects trying to come online in the next few years. The result is a stressed industry. In New Jersey, the developer Ørsted canceled Ocean Wind, two massive wind projects that were key to both state and national wind goals. The company said vessel delays would have forced it to re-ink many of its contracts for other services at much higher prices, revealing how a young supply chain can sink big investments. And Ocean Wind may not be the last project to go under. In New York and Massachusetts, the developers of six proposed wind farms bartered contracts with states before inflation hit, locking in prices they say are too low to support current costs for shipping, construction and materials. Some say their costs have swelled enough to require a 50 percent boost in price. Like a phoenix? Still, experts say this troubled period could be a chance to put offshore wind on a more sustainable path, and that Biden’s offshore wind ambitions — such as hitting 30 gigawatts of power — will arrive tardy, but still arrive. One reason for optimism is that states are redoubling their commitments to build turbines off their coasts. Maryland, Maine and California even set new ambitious wind targets amid the economic uncertainty. “Political momentum should not be underestimated,” said Søren Lassen, head of offshore wind research at Wood Mackenzie. “I think now that the dominoes are starting to fall in the other direction.”
| | | | It's Wednesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Heather Richards, with help from Joel Kirkland. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to hrichards@eenews.net.
| | | | A message from American Chemistry Council – Chemistry Creates America Competes: Powering the nation's supply chain, the U.S. business of chemistry drives innovation in semiconductors, energy, healthcare, and more. But urgent action is needed! Already the most heavily regulated sector, America’s chemical industry faces growing regulatory overload. Before it’s too late, the Biden Administration and Congress must correct course and do a better job understanding the negative impact additional, unduly restrictive regulations have on a fragile supply chain. Learn more – Chemistry Creates, America Competes | | | | | | Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Zack Colman breaks down the federal government's latest comprehensive report on climate change.
| | | | GET A BACKSTAGE PASS TO COP28 WITH GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Get insider access to the conference that sets the tone of the global climate agenda with POLITICO's Global Playbook newsletter. Authored by Suzanne Lynch, Global Playbook delivers exclusive, daily insights and comprehensive coverage that will keep you informed about the most crucial climate summit of the year. Dive deep into the critical discussions and developments at COP28 from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12. SUBSCRIBE NOW. | | | | | | | | |  U.S. climate envoy John Kerry (right) and his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, greet each other at last year's U.N. Climate Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. | Nariman El-Mofty/AP | | China and the United States agreed to tackle climate pollution this decade by tripling renewable energy capacity and cutting planet-warming emissions from fossil fuels. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, issued a joint statement Tuesday. It comes ahead of COP 28, the United Nations climate conference in Dubai that starts Nov. 30. U.S.-China alignment on the target of keeping global temperature increases well below 2 degrees Celsius is considered crucial to the success of negotiations, Zack Colman writes. China had previously only committed to wrestling with carbon dioxide emissions. In the joint statement, China extended its plan to methane and other non-CO2 greenhouse gases — helping to close a widening gap between rising global emissions and the dramatic cuts scientists say are needed to keep temperatures in line with goals under the 2015 Paris Agreement. In a significant step ahead of the U.N. talks, China also agreed to peak its emissions from the electricity sector this decade. That could mean burning less coal. China and the United States are the world’s two top climate polluters, accounting for nearly 40 percent of emissions. Kerry and Xie met this month at the Sunnylands estate in California to continue rebuilding ties on climate and energy. The relationship suffered during the past year as the strategic rivals grappled with escalating economic and geopolitical tensions.
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Ford's chief executive engineer, Linda Zhang, unveils the Ford F-150 Lightning in May 2021. Ford recently announced that their electric vehicle business has lost $1.3 billion. | Carlos Osorio/AP | Clean energy's messy ascent
Though the clean energy industry is booming, it is also dealing with a series of setbacks from a downturn in solar stocks to the cancellation of offshore wind projects, writes Benjamin Storrow. The perplexing dynamic shows that a pathway to a cleaner economy will be messy, leaving some companies behind. Analysts say the financial headaches are likely temporary. But challenges like rising interest rates and higher material costs have squashed optimistic projections about quickly cutting carbon pollution while making money. EU to tighten oil price cap
The European Commission has proposed new sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine, including tougher reporting requirements designed to make it harder to circumvent an oil price cap, write Barbara Moens, Jacopo Barigazzi, Gabriel Gavin, Camille Gijs and Victor Jack. The heart of this proposal, which won't go into effect until E.U. countries still sign off on it, is a ban on Russian diamonds. But the package would also make it harder for traders to pay above a Group of Seven+ price cap of $60 per barrel of oil. Moscow's crude is now increasingly traded well above that level, netting billions in profits for the Kremlin.
| | | | A message from American Chemistry Council – Chemistry Creates America Competes:   | | | | | Mining abuses: A new report identifies alleged incidents of corruption, unsafe working conditions, child labor abuses and harmful environmental practices tied to lithium mining in Zimbabwe, Namibia and Congo. Nowhere to charge: A Wall Street Journal columnist visited electric vehicle chargers across Los Angeles and, well, there were some problems.
| | | | A message from American Chemistry Council – Chemistry Creates America Competes: Our nation’s supply chain runs on the U.S. business of chemistry. When chemistry creates, America competes.
Semiconductors, automotive, healthcare, infrastructure, and energy all rely on chemistry. From EV’s to smartphones, America’s chemical manufacturers power innovations we can't live without.
Unfortunately, regulatory overload and lack of coordination between the White House and its agencies is handicapping American chemistry’s ability to create products that support national priorities, jeopardizing the economy and America’s ability to compete with countries like China. This tidal wave of unduly restrictive regulations could disrupt the supply chain for crucial technologies and everyday products.
President Biden and his administration need to understand how vital chemistry is to the supply chain when it comes to making the things America and the world can’t live without. The Biden Administration and Congress must support policies that empower chemistry, promote American innovation, and strengthen U.S. competitiveness. Learn more – Chemistry Creates, America Competes. | | | | | A showcase of some of our best content.
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Giorgos Kittos and Dina Kittos walk in a flooded road as they towards their house after Storm Elias hit the region in village Sotirio, central Greece, on September 29, 2023. | Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP via Getty Images | The E.U.'s climate commissioner's statement this week that the bloc is “ready to announce a substantial financial contribution” for a new climate damage fund is raising pressure on the U.S. The CEO of NuScale, the company behind a small modular nuclear reactor project that was recently canceled, said "we're going to be successful" at a meeting Tuesday in Washington. "Hang in there." A federal appeals court struck down a state permit for a Texas liquefied natural gas terminal, ruling that regulators had failed to adequately explain why the Port Arthur LNG project was not subject to more stringent emissions limits, That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.
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