Well, it happened. Punxsutawney Phil, that pesky groundhog that some people believe while still rejecting climate scientists, saw his shadow on Monday, predicting six more weeks of winter. Now, as long time readers know, typically I love winter. Give me all the snow and cozy vibes. But here in the DMV, we are still encased in ice, which just makes me want to hibernate.
This week’s must read: Republicans working on new clean energy tax push (E&E News)
Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) is looking to revive two key tax credits phased out in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year.
“If you want to lower energy costs, you got to utilize every single source you have,” Fitzpatrick, one of only two Republicans to oppose OBBBA, said in an interview with E&E News. “Moreover, renewables are critical in energy independence, which is a national security issue.”
But his former colleague, now Senator John Curtis, dumped cold water on the idea. “There wouldn’t be a lot of enthusiasm for it over here. … I think we landed the plane where everybody could land it.”
The EcoRight Speaks is back in action!
What do you need to know about season 12? First of all, we changed some things up. You will now hear all the republicEn.org team in every episode. Bob Inglis voices our new intro. Wen Lee and Angela Larck provide the transitions. And of course, Price Atkinson and I continue to wrap up each episode.
We opted to lead off the season with Bob Eccles, a repeat guest, because he recently published a book — An American’s Guide to Climate Change: How America Can Lead and Prosper – And I cannot think of a better time for a book like this to be available. A fierce advocate for those of us who live in this ecoright ecosystem, he understands the need for bipartisanship and also recognizes that the climate challenge presents great opportunities to showcase American innovation, ingenuity, and leadership.
In case you don’t know him, Bob Eccles is a leading authority on how companies and investors can create sustainable strategies through the integration of environmental, social, and governance factors in resource allocation decisions. The focus of his work is on how the capital markets can contribute to ensuring a sustainable society for generations to come.
He’s a huge fan of the need for a vibrant EcoRight constituency and we are grateful for his enthusiasm and support.
Coming up next week... my lively, always entertaining, conversation with our favorite Utahn, Nick Huey, big time ideas man, advocate for the radical center, and all around good human.
Promises made, promises kept
In our end-of-the-year giving campaign, we made two threshold promises: if we reached the first goal, we’d offer up Bob Inglis for an AMA-style webinar and if we reached the second, he’d kiss one of his chickens.
This week, we delivered on both.
On Tuesday, we hosted a robust conversation on topics ranging from the clean energy race with China to, our favorite, carbon pricing, and including everything in between. What is possible this year? What gives Bob hope. In fact, this webinar was so fun that Bob’s wife, who could hear him from the other room, commented later that it seemed like we were all having a good time.
If you missed the fun, you can catch up here.
On Thursday, we delivered the video of Bob kissing a chicken. He does it with such ease that I have to imagine he often offers them pecks (see what I did there) and you just have to see it for yourself.
Fun Fact
Our podcast producer Price Atkinson is at the Winter Olympics! No, he’s not in Italy as an athlete, but as part of the U.S. Curling communications team. This is the third (I think) Olympics where he has put his excellent skills to use. And while we won’t see him sweeping the ice, it’s still extra fun for me, an Olympics junkie, knowing he’s present in the rink. As if I needed another excuse to watch curling!
But are the Winter Olympics impacted by climate change? Check out this article, Winter Games organizers open to early start dates as the planet warms.
Let the sunshine in
A recent poll confirmed what we already knew—and what Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions embraces—a majority of Republicans favor utility-scale solar energy and nearly three-quarters of those surveyed support utlity-scale solar energy when American components are used.
“[T]he belief by some on the right that solar energy is anathema to right-leaning voters is unfounded,” the pollsters conclude.
And that concludes today’s journey! Stay warm. Be safe. Go Pats.