Amena H. Saiyid’s Post

Solar roofs are taking hold in the capital cities of India and Pakistan, but Sapan News Network journalists Faheem Akhtar and Pallav Jain find the pace of installations is hamstrung by well-intentioned policies and high costs.

The U.S. Supreme Court has essentially yanked a federal agency's ability to interpret vaguely written laws, overturning its own 1984 ruling in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. The high court was careful in noting that the 6-3 ruling to overturn the Chevron doctrine doesn't apply to past interpretations that the court upheld, such as deeming CO2 to be a Clean Air Act pollutant (endangerment finding) that gave rise to a slew of regulations. It will affect agency actions going forward including those that have been proposed to date, like the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s recent regulations to limit carbon emissions from power plants and motor vehicles. As I note in my #HotTake today for Cipher News, today's ruling essentially means Congress has to step up to the plate and do its job of revising or rewriting outdated laws that don't explicitly factor in the use of emerging approaches. The Clean Air Act, for instance, does have wiggle room to allow new circumstances (such as an air pollutant) and adopt technology-based standards, according to a tweet by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)'s John Walke (https://lnkd.in/erzBJvFA). Walke also said the ruling's impact will cut both ways. For instance, environmental regulations already in place cannot be rolled back citing ambiguity because it will go against the ruling issued today. The ruling will allow EPA and other federal agencies to use their judgment and expertise to write rules, but that expertise will given the same weight as those offered by those challenging the rules. The agencies will have to justify their actions and not rely on deference as it had under the two-step rigorous Chevron doctrine. It is an open question though whether a federal agency, read EPA, will even be allowed to interpret which technologies are considered appropriate (Expect a legal battle over that too invoking this ruling). The power to interpret now lies in the hands of the judiciary. Justice Neil Gorsuch in his own concurring opinion wrote that the executive branch had "usurped" judicial authority to interpret laws that is now being restored by this ruling. At Cipher, my colleagues Amy Harder, Anca Gurzu, Bill Spindle, Cat Clifford and I post hot takes and Top reads on the day's major news stories on climate and cleantech developments. Do check them out.

The United States could surpass China to become the clean hydrogen leader as early as next year if all the announced projects in its robust pipeline come to fruition, according to my latest analysis of BloombergNEF's latest projections about global hydrogen supply. The odds are favoring the U.S. right now because China has no hydrogen production target for 2030. BNEF analysts told Cipher their forecast could change based on two factors: China announces a 2030 production target and the U.S. comes out with a tax credit guidance that discourages companies like ExxonMobil from following through on their large clean hydrogen projects. Australian-based mining company Fortescue also told Cipher News it would reconsider whether to pursue its clean hydrogen projects in the United States if the federal government insists on imposing strict criteria on the use of grid electricity to make this molecule. #cleanhydrogen #energytransition #cleantech

Couldn't agree more: "Profiling Yet was an audacious task in and of itself, but writer Cat Clifford knocked it out of the park."

Having battery ready lithium is critical for making electric vehicles and energy storage. The United States through its recently enacted laws, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, has doled out billions in tax credits, grants and loan guarantees to help stand up sites that make these materials. My latest article uses Cipher News' Cleantech Tracker to examine the state of investment in U.S. lithium refining, and what impact is a global slump in prices of this mineral having on efforts by Piedmont Lithium Inc., Albemarle Corporation and other companies who also have to address local concerns about the impacts of mining.

Indonesia may the leading nickel refining country, but a look behind the scenes reveals that Chinese companies are responsible for more than 80% of that supply, according to my analysis of International Energy Agency (IEA) latest critical minerals outlook for Cipher News. Will that pattern continue? Read on:

With one of the cleanest electricity systems in the world, abundant solar and wind energy and plentiful minerals, the Latin America and the Caribbean nations stand at the crossroads of energy transition. At the CERAWeek energy gathering by S&P Global, I got a chance to ask the energy ministers from Brazil and Trinidad & Tobago what impedes the region from reaching its full potential. Both energy ministers, Alexandre Silveira of Brazil and Stuart Young of Trinidad and Tobago, said their industries have to compete not only against generous subsidies offered by the United States and the European Union but also the forthcoming tariff against carbon intensive goods like steel and fertilizer. Find out what these ministers and others had to say about the challenges and opportunities the region faces in Cipher News today.