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Germany invested USD 89.12 billion in clean technologies in 2023, representing 29% of total EU investment. While China dominates wind and solar PV, Germany maintains a leadership position in the EU for battery and heat pump manufacture. The document highlights a significant global investment opportunity, with renewable technologies and battery storage potentially reaching USD 5.68 trillion by 2050. However, Germany faces risks from the aggressive industrial policies of the US (such as the Inflation Reduction Act) and China, which may lead companies like Tesla and Northvolt to scale back German operations. The briefing argues that a more robust industrial strategy is required to prevent a repeat of the collapse seen in Germany's solar and wind sectors around 2012 and 2016.

The document examines the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) Program, which provides up to $250 billion in low-interest loans to transition the US power sector to clean energy. It proposes a 'capital recycling' method where utilities use EIR loans to refinance 'low-quality' rate base components—such as the costs of retiring fossil plants—into 'high-quality' clean energy assets. Through case studies of Alliant Energy in Iowa and Ameren in Missouri, the report demonstrates that moderate EIR leverage combined with capital recycling can significantly reduce ratepayer costs (by 13% to 18% in the examples) while maintaining stable, lower-risk earnings for shareholders. The brief also compares EIR to securitization, noting EIR's lower transaction costs and interest rates, and outlines federal compliance requirements including NEPA, the Davis-Bacon Act, and the Cargo Preference Act.

The United States is experiencing a surge in data center power demand, projected to reach 35 GW by 2030, which risks driving utilities toward increased natural gas generation. RMI proposes that data center operators can instead support grid reliability and decarbonization by maximizing energy efficiency (e.g., AI-driven cooling), enhancing demand flexibility to shift workloads, deploying Grid-enhancing technologies (GETs), and negotiating green tariffs for renewables and storage. The document emphasizes that these actions can set a precedent for other upcoming large loads, such as electric vehicles and industrial onshoring, while urging regulators to ensure equitable cost allocation and transparent planning.

The briefing examines how high returns on equity (ROE) for regulated utilities hinder climate progress by incentivizing capital-intensive projects over energy efficiency, increasing the overall cost of the energy transition, and making utilities less competitive than third-party developers in procurement processes. It suggests that aligning ROEs with market conditions would lower costs for consumers and reduce utility resistance to renewable energy adoption.

RMI analysis indicates that Illinois households could save over $2,800 annually by implementing a combination of vehicle electrification standards, climate-driven agency planning, and renewed transit investments. These strategies could reduce pollution by up to 305 million metric tons between 2024 and 2050 and prevent thousands of deaths annually through reduced crash fatalities, improved air quality, and increased physical activity. While Illinois has received federal funding via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, the report notes the state has yet to adopt clean vehicle standards or integrate climate metrics into infrastructure project scoring.

Since 1970, 98% of analyzed U.S. cities and all 50 states have warmed, with Reno, Nevada and Alaska experiencing the fastest increases. To combat this, U.S. clean technology investment reached a record $239 billion in 2023, more than tripling since 2018, with South Carolina and Nevada leading in investment as a percentage of GDP, primarily driven by battery manufacturing.

The document argues that climate change is a critical electoral issue in the 2024 US elections and urges journalists to move beyond 'red-blue' political binaries to report on the scientific consensus and local impacts. It provides specific questioning frameworks for candidates, methods for debunking common climate myths, and suggestions for localizing climate stories across sectors like infrastructure, housing, and energy. The guide emphasizes that reporting on the climate crisis is a matter of professional journalism rather than activism, citing the role of the press in holding power accountable during historical crises.

The document advises journalists to treat climate change as a factual urgency rather than a partisan debate, urging them to proactively question candidates on specific plans for emissions reduction and infrastructure resilience. It highlights a disconnect between political discourse and public sentiment, noting that 62% of registered US voters prefer candidates who support climate action. The guide also provides a framework for debunking common climate myths and suggests local reporting angles such as the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act, green job programs, and climate-driven insurance rate increases.

The document provides a detailed update on the climate trajectories of China and the U.S., highlighting China's rapid expansion of non-fossil energy capacity and the U.S.'s implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). It details specific national policies, such as China's '1+N' system and the U.S.'s EPA rules on power plants and vehicles, while analyzing the diplomatic dynamics following the Sunnylands Statement and the transition of key climate envoys.

The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) argues that the U.S. Department of the Treasury must implement strict guardrails for the Section 45V Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit to prevent increased greenhouse gas emissions. Key recommendations include requiring project-specific upstream emissions data for natural gas feedstocks, prohibiting negative emissions values from biomethane or fugitive methane, and awarding credits on a kilogram-by-kilogram basis rather than annual averages. CATF strongly supports the 'three pillars' of electricity-based production—incrementality, hourly matching, and deliverability—to avoid systemwide grid emissions, while opposing a blanket 5% incrementality exemption, which Rhodium Group analysis suggests could increase cumulative emissions by 1.5 billion metric tons through 2035.

The report details a decade of significant growth in U.S. solar and wind power, noting that solar generation increased more than eight-fold and wind more than doubled between 2014 and 2023. It highlights the leading roles of states like California and Texas, the emergence of small-scale solar, and the potential for these technologies to drive the U.S. toward its 2035 goal of 100% carbon pollution-free electricity, although current projections suggest the 2030 emissions target may be missed.

The document examines the integration of clean electrolytic hydrogen into the U.S. electric system, emphasizing its potential as long-duration energy storage for 'last mile' decarbonization. It analyzes how the design of the Section 45V tax credit—specifically the 'three pillars' of incrementality, temporal matching, and deliverability—will determine whether hydrogen production increases net greenhouse gas emissions or supports grid reliability. The authors warn that without these pillars, electrolysis could drive significant load growth (up to 32% by 2032) and potentially increase emissions. The brief also highlights risks related to NOx emissions, water consumption, and public safety, urging developers to engage early with host communities to ensure an equitable transition.

The document examines the barriers to electric vehicle (EV) adoption for low-income consumers, specifically highlighting that while subsidies like the Inflation Reduction Act address upfront costs, high repair and maintenance costs remain a significant risk. It notes that for low-income households, the loss of a vehicle due to repair costs can lead to job loss and reduced access to healthcare. To mitigate these risks, the author suggests strategic investments in EV government fleets and public transportation, such as the EPA's Clean School Bus Rebates, which provide immediate air quality benefits to environmental justice communities without placing financial risk on vulnerable individuals.

The paper outlines a strategic framework for Europe to achieve leadership in clean energy innovation, emphasizing that financial investment alone is insufficient. It proposes four pillars of innovative capacity: building human capital, pushing early-stage technology, creating demand-side market incentives, and securing access to key resources. Using Norway's carbon capture and storage (CCS) leadership as a case study, the author demonstrates how aligning these pillars creates a competitive advantage that is difficult for other regions to imitate. The document concludes that Europe should target sectors where it has natural resource advantages and integrate its policies to create a cohesive ecosystem rather than relying on isolated funding or deployment targets.

RMI's analysis of US building emissions reveals that building operations account for 23% of annual carbon emissions, with single-family homes (58%) and commercial buildings (37%) being the primary contributors. The report argues that current green capital flows are insufficient and should be redirected from large commercial buildings toward the retrofit of existing buildings, specifically targeting single-family homes and small-to-medium commercial properties to achieve meaningful climate goals.

A survey of 896 registered U.S. voters in Spring 2024 reveals broad support for clean energy policies and climate justice, though global warming remains a lower-ranked voting priority overall compared to the economy. While 62% of voters prefer candidates who support climate action, there is a sharp partisan divide in how important the issue is for the 2024 election. Majorities support transitioning to 100% clean energy by 2050 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, but few believe the U.S. government is currently responding well to the crisis.

In 2022, the United States had over 4.2 million climate jobs, with clean energy job creation outpacing overall job growth. Energy efficiency was the largest sector with 2.2 million jobs, followed by public transportation (821,220) and electricity transmission and distribution (over 703,000). Significant growth was observed in clean vehicles, which grew by 14.7%, and grid modernization, which saw an 11.6% increase in electricity transmission and distribution. Federal laws like the Inflation Reduction Act are expected to create over 303,500 annual construction jobs and 100,000 permanent jobs. Adaptation and resilience jobs are emerging across all 50 states, though exact total figures are unavailable.

The document argues that most utilities are failing to fully account for the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in their integrated resource plans (IRPs), which leads to inaccurate planning and missed financial opportunities. It provides a four-part toolkit for regulators, including benchmarks for utilities, specific regulatory actions, a set of evaluative questions for IRP reviews, and an explanation of key IRA provisions.

The report finds that while 2023 ZEV sales reached the top end of post-IRA projections, utility-scale clean electricity additions are lagging behind the pathways required to meet the IRA's 40% emissions reduction goal by 2030. Despite a record 32.3 GW of clean capacity added in 2023, the pace remains below the 46-79 GW average annual additions projected for 2023-2024. The authors identify non-cost barriers, such as permitting delays and grid interconnect queues, as the primary obstacles to electricity deployment.

The report analyzes the US Department of Energy's Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) program, which provides low-cost loans to repurpose energy infrastructure. It demonstrates that using EIR to refinance remaining coal plant balances and fund new clean energy assets can significantly reduce costs for ratepayers. Case studies of Alliant in Iowa and Ameren in Missouri show potential net present value (NPV) savings of $124 million and $413 million, respectively, compared to traditional utility financing. The report emphasizes the urgency for utilities to apply before the September 2026 approval deadline.