From installing solar panels, to building wind farms and revolutionizing
the auto industry, the clean energy economy is a driving force for small
business innovation and job growth. Energy efficiency jobs make up most
of the green economy, supporting at least 2.2 million jobs ranging
across various industries. Small businesses are directly involved in
this economy in a wide variety of ways. This hearing will bring together
some small business innovators in the clean energy and green economy to
discuss the importance of their businesses, the challenges they face,
and what Congress can do to support small business innovation for the
21st century.
Witnesses
Dr. Lynn
Abramson,
President, Clean Energy Business Network
U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation, will convene an executive session on
Wednesday, July 31, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. in Hart Senate Office Building
216 to consider the following legislative measures.
Agenda
S. 2297, Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2019, Sponsor: Sen. Dan
Sullivan (R-Alaska), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.),
Ed Markey (D-Mass.)
S.
2299,
Protecting Our Infrastructure of Pipelines Enhancing Safety (PIPES)
Act of 2019, Sponsors: Sens. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Tammy Duckworth
(D-Ill.)
Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee Chairman John Barrasso
(R-Wyo.) and Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-Del.) are scheduled to move
July 30 a bipartisan bill, entitled the America’s Transportation
Infrastructure Act (ATIA), out of their committee.
ATIA would authorize $287 billion in state
highway spending authority from Fiscal Years 2021 through 2025.
ARTBA staff has attended multiple briefings
with EPW committee staff, who shared some
details of the legislation. It includes:
Of the $287 billion in budget authority, 90 percent will be provided to
the states via formula;
A new $6 billion bridge program would be funded by a mix of Highway
Trust Fund and General Fund revenues;
New climate change and safety incentivization programs;
Additional streamlining provisions, including the codification of “One
Federal Decision”, the Trump administration executive order requiring
all agencies to work together on a single decision for environmental
project reviews;
Resources to build alternative fuel fueling stations along identified
corridors;
The EPW committee, which has jurisdiction over
most highway programs, is the first in either the House or Senate to
move forward on reauthorizing the 2015 FAST
Act surface transportation law, which expires Sept. 30, 2020.
The committee will also consider S. 1992, A bill to amend the
FAST Act to repeal a rescission of funds and 6
General Services Administration resolutions.
H.R. 3794 (Rep. Gosar for himself and Rep. Levin), To promote the
development of renewable energy on public lands, and for other
purposes. “Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act of 2019”
On Thursday, July 25, 2019 at 10:00 A.M. in room 1334 Longworth House
Office Building, the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife (WOW)
will hold a legislative hearing on the following bills:
H.R.
335
(Rep. Mast), To require the Inter-Agency Task Force on Harmful Algal
Blooms and Hypoxia to develop a plan for reducing, mitigating, and
controlling harmful algal blooms and hypoxia in South Florida, and for
other purposes, “South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act of 2019.”
H.R.
729
(Rep. Kilmer), To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to
authorize grants to Indian Tribes to further achievement of Tribal
coastal zone objectives, and for other purposes. “Tribal Coastal
Resiliency Act.”
H.R.
2185
(Rep. Holmes Norton), To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972
to allow the District of Columbia to receive Federal funding under
such Act, and for other purposes. “District of Columbia Flood
Prevention Act of 2019.”
H.R.
3115
(Rep. Pallone), To direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration to make grants to State and local
governments and nongovernmental organizations for purposes of carrying
out climate-resilient living shoreline projects that protect coastal
communities by supporting ecosystem functions and habitats with the
use of natural materials and systems, and for other purposes. “Living
Shorelines Act of 2019.”
H.R.
3237
(Rep. Neguse), To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to
participate in the implementation of the Platte River Recovery
Implementation Program First Increment Extension for threatened and
endangered species in the Central and Lower Platte River Basin, and
for other purposes. “Platte River Recovery Implementation Program
Extension Act.”
H.R.
3510
(Rep. Harder), To amend the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 to
reauthorize grants for and require applied water supply research
regarding the water resources research and technology institutes
established under that Act. “Water Resources Research Amendments Act”
H.R.
3541
(Rep. Salud Carbajal), To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of
1972 to require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a coastal
climate change adaptation preparedness and response program, and for
other purposes. “Coastal State Climate Preparedness Act.”
H.R.
3596
(Rep. Chellie Pingree), To amend the Coastal Zone Management Act of
1972 to establish a Working Waterfront Task Force and a working
waterfronts grant program, and for other purposes. “Keep America’s
Waterfronts Working Act.”
H.R.
3723
(Rep. Levin), To promote desalination project development and drought
resilience, and for other purposes. “Desalination Development Act.”
Background In October 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) released its Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C,
which examined the impacts of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C
versus 2°C above preindustrial levels. The report concluded that
avoiding the worst effects of climate change – including more frequent
extreme weather events, food and water insecurity, increases in
vector-borne diseases, and other public health problems – will require
limiting warming to 1.5°C. It further warned that countries have until
2030 to make “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all
aspects of society” to avoid exceeding that threshold.
Despite this urgency, emissions continue to rise. In 2018, global carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions increased 2.7 percent over the previous year – a
rate scientists have compared to a “speeding freight train.” In the
United States, economy-wide emissions increased between 1.5 and 2.5
percent in 2018, ending a three-year decline and marking the second
largest emissions increase since 2000. This contrasts sharply with the
goal of reducing U.S. emissions 1.2 percent annually through 2020, as
described in the first Nationally Determined Contribution submitted
under the Paris Agreement. The United States is now projected to reduce
emissions just 12 to 19 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, falling far
short of its initial 26 to 28 percent target.
Deep Decarbonization of the U.S. Economy
These trends run counter to the scientific consensus that deep,
sustained decarbonization is needed to avoid the worst effects of
climate change. According to the IPCC, global
CO2 emissions must peak by 2030 and reach
“net-zero” by 2050 to limit warming to 1.5°C by the end of the century
(or by 2070 to limit warming to 2°C by the end of the century). The
concept of net-zero emissions refers to balancing the amount of
greenhouse gases emitted and the amount removed from the atmosphere
through natural or technological means, commonly referred to as
“negative emissions” measures. The IPCC warned
that, in the absence of near-term climate action, “net negative”
emissions will eventually be required to limit warming to 1.5°C.
In 2016, two years before the IPCC identified
the need to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the Obama Administration
released its Mid-Century Strategy for Deep Decarbonization. That
comprehensive plan aimed to reduce emissions 80 percent below 2005
levels by 2050, putting the U.S. on a path to reach net-zero emissions
soon thereafter. The IPCC report has since
made clear that countries must achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 – a
more aggressive schedule than originally outlined in the Mid-Century
Strategy.
Pathways to Deep Decarbonization
Research suggests that deep decarbonization of the U.S. economy will
require a multipronged approach, including: (1) transitioning to a
low-carbon electricity system; (2) reducing emissions from the
transportation, buildings, and industrial sectors; (3) deploying
negative emissions measures; and (4) reducing non-CO2 greenhouse gas
emissions. The United States already has a number of tools at its
disposal to chart a path towards net-zero emissions. Yet, policy action
and aggressive investment in low-carbon technologies will be needed to
increase the pace and decrease the cost of that process.
=== A. Reducing Emissions from the Power Sector ===
The power sector is both simpler and less expensive to decarbonize than
other sectors, securing its reputation as “the linchpin of efforts to
reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.” Over the coming decades,
however, the U.S. electricity system will confront the dual challenges
of meeting rising electricity demand while rapidly shifting to low- and
zero-carbon generation. The U.S. Energy Information Administration
projects that energy-related CO2 emissions
will decrease just 16.2 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. Reducing
energy-related CO2 emissions will be more
challenging and elusive in some sectors and processes than others.
Policy support will be needed to reduce barriers to decarbonization.
As electrification spreads across sectors and end-uses, overall
electricity supply may need to double by 2050. At the same time, the
carbon intensity of electricity generation would have to drop to at
least 90 percent of its current level to enable deep decarbonization.
Decarbonizing the power sector, therefore, will require a suite of
measures, including significant expansion of renewable energy capacity,
deployment of other low-carbon energy technologies, and improved energy
efficiency. According to the IPCC, renewables
could provide 63 to 81 percent of global electricity generation by 2100
without causing grid reliability issues or major cost increases.
Analyses by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Union of Concerned
Scientists, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have
similarly concluded that renewables can provide nearly 80 percent of
U.S. electricity generation by 2050. According to
NREL, today’s commercially available renewable
technologies are “more than adequate” to meet that target. Deep
decarbonization of the electricity system will also require some
combination of other low- or zero-carbon technologies, such as nuclear
power or carbon capture.
=== B. Reducing Emissions from Transportation, Buildings, and Industry
Direct emissions from transportation, commercial and residential
buildings, and industry together account for nearly two-thirds of U.S.
carbon pollution. Emissions from buildings and industry have remained
relatively flat since the mid-2000s, while emissions from transportation
have steadily increased since 2012 after several years of decline. Deep
decarbonization of these sectors will depend on large-scale
electrification, dramatic improvements in energy efficiency, and
development of new materials and processes.
In 2016, transportation surpassed the power sector as the leading source
of carbon pollution in the United States. Decarbonizing this sector will
involve steep emissions reductions across end-uses, including on-road
vehicles, shipping, aviation, and rail. Achieving those reductions will
require a variety of measures, such as increasing fuel efficiency,
shifting toward low-carbon fuels and vehicles, increasing public
transit, and reducing overall vehicle miles traveled.
In the buildings sector, electrification (i.e., switching from oil and
natural gas to electricity) and greater efficiency can dramatically
reduce emissions. By one estimate, efficiency improvements could reduce
U.S. electricity demand 16 percent by 2035, with savings largely driven
by reduced energy consumption in residential and commercial buildings.
Other estimates suggest that energy efficiency could reduce U.S. energy
consumption by as much as 30 percent by 2050.
Despite the potential for energy efficiency to reduce emissions across
sectors, the industrial sector remains very challenging to decarbonize.
This highly diverse sector – which includes chemicals, iron and steel,
cement production, and other energy-intensive industries – will require
industry- and process-specific measures to reduce emissions. These
measures may include, but are not limited to, efficiency improvements,
the use of new materials and processes, and switching to low-carbon
fuels and feedstocks.
=== Negative Emissions ===
Limiting warming to 1.5°C by the end of the century will require some
combination of nature-based (or “natural”) and technology-based carbon
sequestration and removal. Natural approaches include measures in the
agriculture, forestry, and other land use sectors to improve
CO2 capture and storage. For decades, U.S.
forests, grasslands, peat bogs and other lands have served as “carbon
sinks,” absorbing more CO2 than they emit.
Continued maintenance of these lands and management practices of
agricultural lands could offset up to 45 percent of U.S. emissions by
2050.
Technology-based approaches using carbon capture and storage (CCS)
involve sequestration and either storage or utilization of emissions.
The most mature of these approaches is bioenergy with
CSS, or BECCS, in
which CO2 is captured from facilities that
either combust biomass for electricity or convert biomass to fuels.
Other nascent approaches include direct air capture, in which
CO2 is captured from ambient air, and
installation of CCS technology at coaland
gas-fired power plants and some industrial facilities.
=== Reducing Non-CO2 Emissions ===
Deep decarbonization of the U.S. economy will also require mitigation of
non-CO2 emissions, which account for nearly one-fifth of U.S. emissions.
These highly potent greenhouse gases (including methane, nitrous oxide,
hydrofluorocarbons, and other fluorinated gases) are associated with a
diverse range of end-uses, from air conditioning to agriculture.
Reducing nonCO2 emissions will require improving monitoring, developing
cost-effective substitutes, furthering technological advances in
industrial processes, and other measures.
Witnesses
Karl
Hausker,
Senior Fellow, Climate Program, World Resources Institute
Rachel Cleetus, Policy Director, Climate and Energy Program, Union of
Concerned Scientists
Armond Cohen, Executive Director, Clean Air Task Force
Shannon Angielski, Executive Director, Carbon Utilization Research
Council