Assessing the Effects of U.S. Clean Energy Policy
One might ask how the Clean Energy policies of the Biden-Harris Administration have turned out. A government self-assessment for the, “Invest in America” agenda has been published by the U.S. DOE. This predicts significant impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) on the U.S. energy economy and GHG emissions reductions if the policies (including loan guarantees, financial supports and tax-incentives) are followed to their logical completion. Another DOE map shows the state-by-state and technology-by-technology breakdown of results (For jobs, visit Good Clean Energy Jobs, U.S. Dept. of Labor). An independent, evidence-based international assessment was published in the journal Science by Annika Stechemesser et al. (see, “Climate policies that achieved major emission reductions: Global evidence from two decades“). Taken together, these studies suggest rational directions for future policies that actually reduce GHG emissions.
January 31, 2022: U.S. Department of Energy 2022 SETO Peer Review
The 2022 DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) Peer Review included an overall review of the office’s justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) initiatives. This is the first time such a review was part of the office’s biennial peer review. Along with 5 other experts, Dr. Smestad participated as a peer reviewer in the JEDI portion of the 2022 Peer Review. His involvement is a natural progression that stems from his 2020-2021 work in support of U.S. clean energy policies summarized below. Dr. Smestad also served as a reviewer for the DOE’s 2024 SETO peer review and for the DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). Read more about the 2022 SETO peer review. Click here for a complete list of related news and events.
July 29, 2020: Meta economic analysis suggests 10 million jobs possible
Greg Smestad contributes a meta economic analysis that averages the overall effects of spending to estimate the number of clean energy jobs created per dollar invested by a government or by (public/private) investors. For example, a $2 trillion clean energy investment in the U.S. could yield approximately 10 million jobs. Download Slides
Read his related March 30, 2021 LinkedIn article, “Job Creation in a Clean Energy and a Low Carbon Economy: Pulling Numbers from the Air?“
March 31, 2020: Dr. Greg Smestad quoted at Solartribune.com
In the final quote of the article, “Empowering Individual Action to Fight Climate Change,” Dr. Smestad highlights the importance of people going directly to the source to educate themselves; this approach is not just for the experts. This is in the, “Educate Yourself and Others” section. Read more