We are officially amid spooky season and while I know, the Hunter’s Moon isn’t until the end of the month, this image just called to me with its purple, orange, eerie hues. Plus, it’s officially time for Price and I to wax poetic about the best (and worst) Halloween candy. But for now, the treats we have in store for you center on the bipartisan permitting reform bill, the promise of heat pumps, and making EVs more accessible.
This week’s must read: Democrats, don’t kill this win for U.S. clean energy (Washington Post)
[Note: While this editorial board opinion ran last week, only now was I able to get past the paywall. It’s message still resonates.]
The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (BAAJA), the draft permitting reform bill released by the principal Senators (Whitehouse, Capito, Lee, and Heinrich) last week, is garnering lots of attention from praise to criticism. And understandbly so. If passed the BAAJA “would constitute the most important reform to the American energy sector in generations.”
Take it from someone who has been there, making laws is hard; the process requires compromise from all the parties involved. As my old boss, Senator John Warner once said in a meeting of stakeholders who weren’t happy with all the elements of his climate bill: “this is how the sausage gets made.”
Given what the reactions to BAAJA I’m reading and hearing, I thought this Washington Post editorial summed up how I’m feeling:
“The package is enormous in scope and full of good ideas to boost every variety of energy development. That’s crucial, given the soaring demand for new electricity to power the artificial intelligence boom. It’s also necessary to power all the projects that environmentalists say they support to combat climate change, such as shifting toward electric vehicles and electrifying home heating.”
Water, water everywhere… but is it safe?
For this year’s Florida Climate Week, we organized a virtual panel to discuss how climate change is impairing Florida’s accessibility to clean water. Water is essential to our health, our communities, our economy and even our national security and water quality threats to the Sunshine State are impacted/worsened by climate change. How can these threats be mitigated at the local, state, and federal levels and how do we maintain a bipartisan commitment to the continual improvement of water quality amid not only climate threats, but growing water demands?
Two of our favorite Florida experts, Dr. Nicole Kirchhoff and Dr. Brandon Shuler discuss these questions and more. Maintaining water quality is truly a team effort—and a bipartisan one—at the local, state, and federal levels. Making investments in a modern wastewater system is not only good for human health, it helps local industries like fish hatcheries and tourism thrive.
If you missed our vitual panel last week, this is your chance to catch up on the conversation.
Coming up next week, a very passioned conversation with Josh Turner, the co-founder and CEO of PowerUp America, which is working to increase the accessibility, ease, and reliability of EV charging stations throughout the nation. Inspired by his own experience after purchasing an EV truck and standing uncovered in the rain to charge it on a road trip, life-long entrepreneur Josh decided something need to change. Tune in to find out more!
Listen to the doctor
Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist isn’t just a politican. Well before he stepped foot on Capitol Hill, he was a groundbreaking cardiologist and needless to say, he knows a thing or two about health.
So when he makes a diagnosis and offers a prescription, we take his advice.
We do virtual events, too!
This week Bob Inglis virtually addressed a class of cadets at The Citadel. While in-person events are important to us, so are virutal, which give us an opportunity to connect with more people. So keep that/keep us in mind the next time you’re planning a class/event. Bob is an engaging speaker in person and online!
The Four-Way Test
Alex Amonette is at it again, this time with a widely syndicated column about applying the Rotary Club’s Four-Way Test to candidates running for office, while also noting the use of the test on climate change policy.
The Four-Way Test poses the following questions: is it the truth, is it fair to all concerned, will it build goodwill and better friendships, and will it be beneficial to all concerned.
Alex and her co-author Ellen Cruse, a Rotarian, inspired by the Four-Way Test, write: “At this year’s town halls and candidate forums, we can ask, ‘Will you help us make energy affordability and climate issues talking points during your campaign?’ And ‘What do you propose to do if elected to reduce carbon emissions?'”
On Heat Pumps…
I gleefully read recently about the prospects of heat pumps, which work by transfering warm outdoor air to an indoor space in lieu of generating it from a furnace. A new report from the Rocky Mountain Institute sheds light on how heat pumps could reduce greenhouse gases and save ratepayers money in over 100 million homes in the U.S.
In my homestate of Maine, known for its brutal winters AND archaic (and expensive to fuel) home heating oil systems, a goal to install 100,00 heat pumps was met two years ahead of schedule.
And yes, I’ve already reached out to RMI to see if they can recommend an expert for the podcast. But if someone has an in… I’ll happily take an introduction!
Quote of the week: the Governator reflects..
“California is the perfect example of what can be done when people work together and when we don’t look at this as a Republican or as a Democratic issue,” Former California Governor Schwarzenegger said at an economic conference in Long Beach, California on the climate bill he signed into law in 2006, the Global Warming Solutions Act, which significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions while creating more than a half a million clean-energy jobs. “This is the message that is so important for the world.”
And that’s it for me! Happy weekending!