Even as Donald Trump prevailed at the top of the ticket, North Carolina voters rejected Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, who has called climate scientists "liars" and dismissed electric vehicles as "foolishness."
By contrast, Governor-elect Josh Stein, a Democrat, advocated for rooftop solar and curbing carbon pollution as attorney general. Advocates have reason to believe he will continue in the path of outgoing Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who has championed a range of climate causes.
But Stein's success comes with a big asterisk: it doesn't shift the landscape much, if at all, when it comes to advancing clean energy policy in the state. It just makes holding the line a bit easier. And as of this writing, the lame duck legislature is working to undermine Stein's power and that of other clean energy Democrats who prevailed down the ballot.
North Carolina's governor's office is one of the weakest in the country, and has grown even more so under the charge of the GOP-controlled General Assembly. Republican lawmakers are working now to further constrain the governor's appointment powers. Beyond the bully pulpit, that mostly leaves Stein to issue executive orders and push through to completion programs that Robinson might well have abandoned, like a federally funded initiative to deploy rooftop solar to low-income households.
Stein can also wield the veto pen, and Democrats gained the one seat they need in the House of Representatives to prevent overrides. But clean energy issues in the state have rarely, if ever, played out strictly along party lines. Plus, Republicans grew their supermajority in the Senate, while incoming House Speaker Destin Hall has claimed his party has an "effective supermajority."
A grand compromise in the style of North Carolina's 2021 carbon reduction law seems unlikely at this moment, though recovery from Hurricane Helene and the inevitability of future storms could provide an opportunity to make the electric grid more resilient in bipartisan fashion.
Otherwise, advocates have their sights set on more incremental wins, along with defending the 2021 law. They hope Democrat Jeff Jackson, the attorney general-elect, will continue Stein's clean energy advocacy on behalf of consumers - though Republican lawmakers are now working to curb his office's powers, too.
One final potential salve is the Lieutenant Governor's race. Democrat Rachel Hunt won the office, whose official duties include chairing the Energy Policy Council. The panel is advisory only, but the same GOP bill designed to defang Stein and Jackson would eliminate it altogether.
The outgoing council chair is none other than Lt. Gov. Robinson, who pledged in 2020 that his focus in the role would be "keeping the climate change cabal out of this state, and if they are in this state, keeping them in chains."
🕰️ The clock is ticking for Biden climate spending: Federal agencies are racing to get money out the door before Jan. 20. The Biden administration has announced about $98 billion in awards under the Inflation Reduction Act, but it was unclear how much had been formally committed. (E&E News, Politico)
💰 Billions of dollars in investment on the line: An analysis finds that repealing President Biden's major climate policies could cost the U.S. economy $80 billion in investment and up to $50 billion in lost exports. (The Guardian)
⚙️ Industry looks for Republican allies: Clean energy manufacturers hope the potential economic damage and political risks from repealing the Inflation Reduction Act will be enough to convince Republicans to preserve the law. (Canary Media, Grist)
🛢️ A fracking exec to lead DOE: President-elect Trump named Chris Wright, a climate denier and oil and gas industry executive who once drank fracking fluid on camera to argue it was not dangerous, to lead the U.S. Department of Energy. (The Guardian)
🌎 Oil exec defends Paris agreement: Exxon CEO Darren Woods urged Trump not to abandon the Paris climate agreement, saying that start-and-stop climate commitments create uncertainty that is bad for business. (The New York Times)
🔌 Not going back to worse appliances: The Biden administration's appliance efficiency rules will be hard for Trump to roll back, but the incoming president could decide not to update standards for the next four years. (Washington Post)
💵 Act fast if you want an IRA tax credit: Consumers who want to take advantage of federal tax credits for things such as electric vehicles, heat pumps and more may want to consider doing so before Trump takes office. (Washington Post)
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