Sneaking on the Bus

I spent many hours taking notes from various science magazines on the pace of climate deterioration the last couple weeks. Summing them up, the globe is still warming, and the weather spawned by the warming is progressively becoming worse.

Prior to the election, in an aspirational and optimistic mood, I hand painted signs saying, “Vote Joe Climate Hero”.

 I am not going to write about our new administration. I am going to write about another positive action which occurred prior to President Biden being sworn in.  It is called the bus, the omnibus. The omnibus is a way of moving legislation forward when all else fails. It happened at the end of 2020.

Here is how Wikipedia describes omnibus legislation: An omnibus bill is a proposed law that covers several diverse or unrelated topics. Omnibus is derived from Latin and means "to, for, by, with or from everything". An omnibus bill is a single document that is accepted in a single vote by a legislature but packages together several measures into one or combines diverse subjects.

I like to consider it the last bus out of town. Everyone who needs to get something done jumps on. At 5,593 pages long and spending 900 Billion on COVID relief and 1.4 Trillion, (With a “T”) on everything else, it is one Big Bus.

This is why key environment, energy, and climate passengers could sneak on. The legislation passengers hid under the seats evading a veto by, then, President Trump.

Here is a review of energy and climate legislation which became law:

The solar tax credit was extended. If you want to generate your own power courtesy of the sun, Uncle Sam will allow you to write off 26% of the cost on your taxes.

Big wind energy, both on-shore and off-shore, got a tax credit incentive too. The Department of Energy, DOE, was mandated to issue at least 26 giga-watts of clean energy permits.

To speed the already accelerating process of creating industrial energy storage DOE received 1 Billion dollars for R&D. This will most likely be targeted for large scale battery development.

One way to be a climate hero and save money is to beef up your home insulation and weatherization. For those of us who can afford it, or who can take out a home improvement loan, the lending rates are low, the opportunity to keep you home warm and save money has never been better. Energy savings could well pay for themselves in less than a year.

To assist the poor who cannot afford weatherization the omnibus has funding for low-income citizens.

Methane (basically natural gas) is a greenhouse gas. Unfortunately, in the process of getting it out of the ground, in a tank, and through a pipeline, a lot or this potent greenhouse gas is lost to the atmosphere. There is substantial funding to regulate the 100,000 miles of “gathering” pipelines to make the pipes leak free and, in the process, more efficient.

Hydrofluorocarbons, HFCs, are one of the most potent of the super greenhouse gasses.  They are used in many industrial applications. The omnibus targets these for phaseout.

Nuclear power may play a role in the modern clean energy mix. I use “clean” only because nuclear does not put greenhouse gasses into the air. Getting rid of the radioactive waste is an outstanding issue and, perhaps, an unresolvable one. Despite this, the omnibus has set money aside so the DOE can accumulate a reserve of uranium.

Scientists have warned us we must not only cease emitting greenhouse gasses but also develop technologies to pull it out of the air. This is referred to as Carbon Capture and Sequestration, (CCS). Research and Development (R&D) funds were allocated and programs extended.

It is a shame essential climate and environment legislation had to hide under the seats the last four years. The fact our legislators found a way to get the bus moving with legislation hiding under the seats is cause for optimism. Someone on the Hill is climate and energy savvy.

With a new science-based team running our executive branch our scientists and science-based legislators will not have to hide under the seats anymore. If we hit the gas, and President Biden has put the climate pedal to the metal, our new bus will arrive with solutions just in the nick of time.

We are all, so to speak, on the bus. I’ve been on plenty of busses around the world and been on roads tough to negotiate. You know what the drivers like to hear? “Great job! Press on!”