michael-thomas.bsky.social
I write stories and make videos about climate change.
Subscribe to the Distilled newsletter and YouTube channel here: http://linktr.ee/distilled.earth
407 posts
4,430 followers
185 following
Regular Contributor
Active Commenter
comment in response to
post
Yesterday the House voted to end this economic boom with the passage of their "Big Beautiful Bill Act." Now the bill heads to the Senate.
Time to make some calls to these Senators and convince them to keep the economic boom going.
comment in response to
post
These clean energy projects have created huge demand for factories making solar panels, wind turbine components, and batteries.
The vast majority of these factories have been built in red states and districts. They have created hundreds of thousands of jobs and brought billions in investment.
comment in response to
post
This clean energy is cleaning up our air and mitigating climate change. But it's also powering an economic boom in America.
The clean energy tax credits that Congress is attempting to repeal require that companies build US supply chains.
comment in response to
post
Since the Inflation Reduction Act passed, 43 GW of clean energy has been built in state's led by Republican Senators.
To put that number in context, that's enough to power millions of homes every year with cheap, carbon-free electricity.
comment in response to
post
Thanks for sharing but also ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ because you're probably right.
comment in response to
post
You can explore the interactive data on solar imports by country here: cleanview.co/content/sola...
comment in response to
post
The domestic solar manufacturing industry was booming thanks to the IRA. But now factories will almost certainly be delayed and domestic products will get more expensive.
It will take years to rebuild these supply chains. And in the meantime, we'll all be paying the price.
comment in response to
post
Tariffs are going to hurt domestic manufacturers in the short term.
US manufacturers rely on a global supply chain to source everything from the solar cells that go into solar panels to the steel that goes into their factories.
comment in response to
post
93% of solar panel imports came from just 6 countries in 2024. These countries have some of the highest tariffs going forward.
comment in response to
post
But factories can’t be built overnight.
Solar panel demand still outstrips domestic supply. That means developers will still need to import panels in the short term.
The result is going to be higher electricity costs for American consumers and businesses.
comment in response to
post
Tariffs are going to make it more expensive to build solar. And that is going to make electricity more expensive for everyone.
The US solar supply chain has been growing since the passage of the IRA which offered big incentives to make solar panels and cells in the US.
comment in response to
post
We're tracking hundreds of planned clean energy projects and 400+ developer pipelines at Cleanview.
More on our clean energy project tracker here: cleanview.co
comment in response to
post
More data and battery storage trends in today's
Cleanview newsletter: newsletter.cleanview.co/p/americas-g...
comment in response to
post
What happens to the IRA will arguably be the most important climate and clean energy policy over the next 4 years.
comment in response to
post
Where things go from here, depends largely on the fate of the IRA. Some members of Congress are pushing for its full repeal. Others, including many in the South, are fighting for its survival.
comment in response to
post
MA had 6x more solar capacity than TN.
But the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)—the biggest climate bill in US history—has dramatically changed this trend.
Over the last couple years, solar adoption in the South has exploded thanks to strong federal policy support.
comment in response to
post
The South obviously has a lot of sun. And yet, it has been the slowest to adopt solar—largely due to restrictive policy from a party that has been bought by the fossil fuel industry.
Tennessee and Massachusetts have roughly the same population. But as of 2020...
comment in response to
post
The data above comes from a recent report I wrote for my company Cleanview.
You can check it out here: cleanview.co/annual-repor...
comment in response to
post
You can read my full report below.
You can also read coverage of the report in the The Guardian and Canary Media.
If you're a reporter and want to chat about the report, send me a DM or a press inquiry using the link below.
cleanview.co/annual-repor...
comment in response to
post
But the future of clean energy progress in America is certainly in peril.
The only way Congress will keep clean energy policies in places is if we all demand it.
comment in response to
post
Beyond 2025, no one knows with certainty what will happen to clean energy in America.
Most clean energy is being built in counties that voted for Trump. Traditional political economy / theory would say it'd be unpopular to repeal the clean energy tax credits.
comment in response to
post
There's much uncertainty about clean energy's future.
Using Cleanview's project tracker, I identified more than 23 GW of solar, 12 GW of storage, and 6 GW of wind capacity that is already under construction.
Trump's policies will have limited impact on these projects.
comment in response to
post
Solar also started to boom in the sunny South in states that have, up until now, been slow to adopt the technology.
Arkansas, Missouri, and Louisiana all saw solar surge in 2024. It’s worth noting that these are all deep red states.
comment in response to
post
But solar’s growth was far from evenly distributed.
Texas added the most capacity, bringing 8.9 GW of new capacity online.
Florida added the second most capacity (~3 GW). The Sunshine State added more solar capacity than California (2.5 GW) for the first time.
comment in response to
post
Few states were untouched by this solar boom.
As the map below shows, developers built utility-scale solar projects in 45 different states, everywhere from Florida to Maine to Hawaii.
comment in response to
post
In 2024, the star of the clean energy show was without a doubt solar energy.
The U.S. added 32.1 GW of new utility-scale solar capacity in 2024. Annual solar capacity additions rose by 65% in 2024 compared to 2023 when the country added 19.5 GW.
comment in response to
post
While the scale of clean energy’s growth in 2024 was remarkable, the fact that clean capacity grew isn't all that surprising.
What was shocking to me, however, was just how much of the new power capacity that came online in 2024 was clean.
95% of new capacity was carbon-free.
comment in response to
post
Oops forgot the link: cleanview.co/battery-stor...
comment in response to
post
Happy to chat with any other reporters about this and give some background on batteries in the US.
DM me or shoot me an email at michael (at) cleanview (dot) co
We also created this free project explorer to see the largest batteries in the country:
comment in response to
post
Losing that capacity in January probably doesn't pose a threat to the grid since power demand is low.
But if it takes more than 9 months to rebuild Moss Landing, it could be a problem come August/Sept when CA faces peak demand and needs that kind of battery capacity.
comment in response to
post
Still, the fire is a big deal. The 750 MW battery is about 7% of California's large-scale battery storage, according to data we track at Cleanview.
cleanview.co/battery-stor...
comment in response to
post
Appreciate this thread. Tough problem for sure.
comment in response to
post
There are both electric and gas tankless water heaters. Both work on the same principle of a huge surge of energy at the time of use.
comment in response to
post
Equipment costs are a bit higher, but the soft costs are what really kill the economics.
comment in response to
post
Planning to share the report in the Cleanview newsletter later this month.
If you're a reporter interested in an early copy of the report, send me a DM or email at michael(at)cleanview(dot)co
newsletter.cleanview.co