The Dirty Secret Behind Utility Climate Goals

Net-zero pledges are becoming common for utilities. But a huge number of them are failing to decarbonize on any timeframe that truly matters. They’re not phasing out coal, they’re building lots of new gas plants, and they’re not building enough clean energy. We’ll talk about a damning new analysis of utility climate goals from the Sierra Club that digs into the actual numbers. Then, the urgency of a national clean energy standard. What are the new political pieces in place to get a nationwide target in place? And can we build it to serve marginalized communities? A new analysis maps out how. Finally, the bombshell news that General Motors will only sell zero-emissions cars by 2035. How hard is it to turn around a company born and raised in internal combustion? A cautionary tale from Volkswagen offers some answers.   Dr. Leah Stokes, professor at UC Santa Barbara, joins Stephen, Katherine and Jigar this week. Leah is the co-author behind the two reports we are discussing. Leah is also co-host of A Matter of Degrees, a new podcast that looks at the forces behind climate change -- and how “climate curious” citizens can tackle it. Resources:Sierra Club: The Dirty Truth About Climate PledgesStokes, Ricketts: A Roadmap to 100% Clean Electricity by 2035New York Times: G.M. Will Sell Only Zero-Emission Vehicles by 2035Wall Street Journal: How Volkswagen’s $50 Billion Plan to Beat Tesla Short-Circuited Thanks to our sponsors: The Energy Gang is brought to you by Wärtsilä Energy. Wärtsilä is leading the energy transition with the Atlas of 100% Renewable Energy. Stick with us at the end of the show to hear how this tool is helping us understand how to best spend stimulus dollars on the clean-energy transition.  This podcast is brought to you by Sungrow, a leading provider of PV inverter solutions around the world. Sungrow has delivered more than 10 gigawatts of inverters to the Americas alone — and 120 gigawatts in total across the globe. Learn more about Sungrow’s cutting-edge solar projects. This podcast is also brought to you by CPower. CPower and its team of energy experts are back with a webinar series aimed to help organizations make sense of the chaos and optimize their energy use and spend in 2021. This hour-long webinar series features market-by-market breakdowns to help energy planners make the right decisions. Register today. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.