Can Biden win on climate? — This Week in Cleantech

President Joe Biden looks at a 2022 Corvette at the General Motors’ Factory ZERO Facility in Detroit with UAW President Ray Curry and CEO of GM Mary Barra, Wednesday, November 17, 2021. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This week’s episode features Amanda Chu, US energy reporter for the Financial Times, who reported on President Biden’s challenge of making investments in clean energy and infrastructure resonate with voters.

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Dan Shugar, CEO of the Nextracker, which was recently featured on CNBC’s “Mad Money” for its successful IPO and stock performance.

1. JPMorgan, State Street quit climate group, BlackRock steps back — Reuters

JPMorgan Chase and State Street’s investment arms both withdrew from a global investor coalition, Climate Action 100+ (CA100+), which advocates for companies to decarbonize. BlackRock also reduced its level of engagement with the coalition. Collectively, the withdrawals totaled nearly $14 trillion in total assets from Wall Street’s initiatives to combat climate change. The firms said their reason for withdrawal was because they wanted to build up their own investment stewardship capabilities.

2. ‘We got your money, see ya’: Customers frustrated by Encor Solar closure — WRAL News

When Encor Solar went out of business, 190 of their customers were in the process of installing panels. Now, they’ve been left with hefty loans and panels that aren’t hooked up. Customers were told they wouldn’t need to pay for the panels until they were interconnected and generating power that would offset their electric bill. However, when panels were installed, no one came to turn the system on, leaving them with a loan payment but no solar power.

GoodLeap, Encor’s lending partner, told customers they’d consider deferring loan payments case by case until the solar systems are operational.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

3. How the housing industry is working to stop energy efficient homes — The Washington Post

Homes account for about one-fifth of U.S. greenhouse gas pollution, much of that due to poor design and insulation. This is why new energy efficiency building codes are being proposed across the country at the state and local levels. One problem: the home builders lobby is pushing back to avoid the increased upfront costs that would result. Some analyses suggest home builders are exaggerating how much these rules will raise costs.

Energy efficiency advocates say the industry is not as concerned about affordability as they are about their profit margins and the time it would take to train employees on the new requirements.

4. A traditional automaker just turned a profit on EVs — CNN

Stellantis – which makes Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, and Dodge brands – is finally seeing profits from EVs, prompting them to continue EV production. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said EVs are profitable, but not as much as traditional gas-powered vehicles. Still, they are shifting toward a pure EV lineup. Their earnings did fall 10% in the second half of last year, but they still managed to achieve a 1% rise in full-year earnings.

5. Biden’s clean energy conundrums — Financial Times

One of the largest US solar panel factories, the $600 million Illuminate USA, began production in a rural town outside of Columbus, Ohio. At full production, this joint venture between Invenergy and China-based Longi will employ more than 1,000 workers and is a case study on how the IRA increased clean energy manufacturing.

Globally, solar manufacturers are struggling to compete due to China’s overproduction of panels. However, the U.S. is somewhat insulated from that challenge due to the IRA. If Trump wins the election and guts the climate law, the solar industry will face an even larger roadblock.

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Join us every Friday for new episodes of This Week in Cleantech in the Factor This! podcast feed, and tune into new episodes of Factor This! every Monday.

This Week in Cleantech is hosted by Renewable Energy World senior content director John Engel and Tigercomm president Mike Casey. The show is produced by Brian Mendes with research support from Alex Petersen and Clare Quirin.