On this week’s show, it’s not Build Back Better, but the newly-introduced Inflation Reduction Act bill of 2022 has some surprisingly positive developments for clean energy, climate technology, and green banking. We break down what’s in the proposed bill and what the future of green banking may look like—if passed—with Reed Hundt, the co-founder, chairman and CEO of the Coalition for Green Capital.
The climate and tech spending deal announced last week by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin, now known as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, includes up to $370 billion in spending to help fight climate change. It would also impose tens of billions of dollars in fees on the fossil fuel industry in order to pay for some of that spending. The legislation, which may be voted on by the U.S. Senate as soon as this week, would reinstate and increase a long-lapsed tax on crude oil and imported petroleum products to 16.4 cents per barrel. That fee would be paid by U.S. refineries receiving crude oil and importers of petroleum products, according to the Congressional Research Service. The bill also includes a first time fee on methane emissions and increases in the royalty rate payable on oil and gas produced on federal land. Believe it or not, the proposed legislation actually receives some praise from the oil and gas industry. ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods told analysts on the company’s earnings call that it was “A step in the right direction.”…
