Days before midterms, Biden-Harris announces ‘Net-Zero Game-Changers Initiative’ with 5 specifics

As Americans begin choosing between heating their homes and putting food on the table, the White House has announced what it is calling a “historic investment” by the “Biden-Harris administration” in the nation’s laboratories, along with “five initial priorities that will help enable the United States to meet the President goal of cutting greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 50 – 52% in 2030 and get to net-zero emissions by no later than 2050.”

Because when you’re staring at the potential of either freezing or starving to death during the upcoming winter months, losing someone to a fentanyl overdose, or getting attacked in the street by a homeless drug addict with a mile-long rap sheet, nothing is as comforting as the thought of net-zero emissions.

“Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced $1.5 billion under the (sic) President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to build and upgrade America’s national laboratories and advance American leadership in science, research, and innovation,” the White House proudly announced in a Friday statement. “Strengthening our national labs will increase economic growth, create good-paying, local jobs and help attract skilled workers needed to drive clean energy solutions and other technologies that will lower costs for families, make people’s lives better, and address the climate crisis.”

“In addition, the White House announced a new report that identifies five initial priorities that will help enable the United States to meet the President’s goal of cutting greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 50-52% in 2030 and get to net-zero emissions by no later than 2050,” the statement continues. “To drive innovation of these technologies, the Administration is also launching the Net-Zero Game Changers Initiative today.”

The “new report” — titled “U.S. Innovation to Meet 2050 Climate Goals” —  reveals that “the Administration created an interagency working group to identify, prioritize, and accelerate innovation in game-changing net-zero technologies.”

“The working group first identified 37 net-zero R&D opportunities, which are described in this report,” it explains.

The Administration then prioritized five areas to launch the NetZero Game Changers Initiative:

• Efficient Building Heating and Cooling, including refrigerants with low global
warming potential;
• Net-Zero Aviation, cost-competitive with conventional aviation, including electric and
hybrid aircraft and sustainable aviation fuels production;
• Net-Zero Power Grid and Electrification, including advanced transmission and
distribution systems;
• Fusion Energy at Scale, cost-competitive with conventional energy; and
• Industrial Products and Fuels for a Net-Zero, Circular Economy, including secure
supply chains and alternative pathways for producing low-carbon steel, aluminum,
cement, chemicals, industrial heat, clean water, and electrofuels.

 

According to the report, “These solutions are all key areas where transformative progress can help the United States reach its 2050 climate goal and support global decarbonization.”

And because this is the Biden-Harris administration, the race card is solidly built into the plan.

“The priorities include opportunities for near-term wins, investments in underserved communities through the Justice40 initiative, and long-term transformation of the energy system,” the report reads. “Leveraging the strength of U.S. science institutions including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions, the Net-Zero Game Changers Initiative enables the development of a next-generation clean energy workforce that looks like America.”

According to the White House, “Today’s funding announcements will give a long overdue boost to 13 Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories that have been at the core of major scientific discoveries, and continue to be essential to advance America’s energy, economic, and national security.”

“The increased funding for the national laboratories under the Inflation Reduction Act will support innovative research in clean technologies, including those identified by the Game Changers Initiative,” the administration promises. “These investments will help the United States meet our climate goals while bringing down energy costs for American families, advancing U.S. energy security, and creating good-paying jobs.”

And in case you thought the latest green-spending spree couldn’t get more cringe-worthy, as the White House Senior Advisor for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation, former Hillary Clinton campaign chair — the subject of Wikileaks’ infamous 2016 “Uranium One Story” email dump — John Podesta has a few words to share on the subject.

“Our world-class system of national labs has enabled American innovation and made the U.S. the world leader in science and technology for generations,” he said in a statement, according to The Hill. “The investments in national labs in President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act will help drive clean energy innovation, boost our economy, lower costs for families, create good-paying American jobs, and combat the climate crisis here at home and around the world.”

Sure, John… if we all make it that long.

Melissa Fine

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