Voltscast: How to decarbonize the electricity sector through budget reconciliation

Greetings, peoples of the Volts! I’ve got a special treat for you
today. It’s not my first podcast, exactly, but it’s my first
Official Podcast, with music and fancy-pants guests and
everything.


My guests are:


* Dr. Leah Stokes, an assistant professor of political science at
the University of California, Santa Barbara, and author of the
excellent recent book Short Circuiting Policy: Interest Groups
and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the
American States; and


* Sam Ricketts, former climate director for the Jay Inslee
presidential campaign, cofounder of Evergreen Action, senior
fellow at the Center for American Progress, and general
climate-political man about town.


Our subject? How to pass a national clean energy standard through
budget reconciliation.


If those words mean nothing to you, I recommend reading my
previous post, about the Georgia Senate wins and what they mean
for clean-energy policy. But I’ll run through some quick
background.


Biden may need to squeeze his signature climate plan through a
budget bill


One of the most important elements of Joe Biden’s climate plan —
arguably the centerpiece — is a national clean energy standard
(CES) that would require the electricity sector to steadily
decarbonize until it reaches net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by
2035.


This is important not just because the electricity sector is
responsible for about a third of emissions, but because a lot of
other emitting sectors like transportation and heating are going
to shift to electricity in coming years, driving up demand. It’s
important to have clean electricity for them to use.


While Biden does have a Democratic Congress, his majority in the
Senate remains slim and the filibuster is likely to remain in
place, which means a big climate bill is unlikely. Any big bill
at all is unlikely.


Probably the only thing that will pass Congress is what’s called
a budget reconciliation bill, which can not be filibustered and
thus can get by with a simple majority.


The only things allowed in a reconciliation bill are
budget-relevant items, i.e., measures that raise or lower
government revenue. Biden’s CES is a purely regulatory measure —
it just changes the rules. It probably couldn’t get through
reconciliation.


However! Could a CES be tweaked or modified or redesigned in some
way so that it is budget relevant and could pass through
reconciliation? Could Biden pass his top climate priority after
all?


That is precisely what Leah and Sam have been working on, and
that’s what we discuss, at some length, in today’s podcast.


It’s way more interesting than it sounds! (That may be my new tag
line.)


Bonus Mabel


Life is a donut, y’all. Grab onto it with all your fearsome
teeth.


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