In September, the Great Plains Institute and World Resources Institute held a virtual Capitol Hill briefing to hear how Congress can spur economic activity in the US industrial sector, helping to create and maintain jobs in the near term, while putting American industry on a long-term path to deep emissions reductions, high-wage job retention and creation, technology leadership, and economic competitiveness.
This webinar was hosted on behalf of the Industrial Innovation Initiative (i3), an ambitious coalition that brings together key industrial and power companies, environmental organizations, and state officials from Midwestern and Gulf Coast states, which GPI and WRI co-convene. During the webinar, participants of the Initiative discuss their recently released economic recovery recommendations for Congress.
The proposed i3 recommendations “aim to advance the mission of i3 to incentivize investment in low-carbon technologies, processes, products and markets within the industrial sector, prioritizing key areas for long-term emissions reductions, including:
- Low- and zero-carbon process heat (e.g. blue and green hydrogen and electrification);
- Carbon capture, transport, utilization and geologic storage;
- Energy efficiency and materials management; and
- Other innovative industrial applications and practices that can reduce emissions well below current best practices and establish pathways to decarbonize the industrial sector by midcentury.”
The briefing speakers included:
- Bo Boylan, Chief Commercial Officer, Solidia
- Matt Bright, Policy Advisor, Third Way
- Anna Dirkswager, Climate and Energy Policy Advisor, Midwest Division, The Nature Conservancy
- Gloriamar Gamez, Public Policy Leader, Energy and Climate Change Issues, Dow
- Rick Johnson, Director, Sustainability, Entergy
- Abigail Regitsky, Professional Staff Member, House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
Following up on the recommendations, i3 recently sent a letter to Congress, calling leaders to consider including provisions to strengthen the Title 17 Innovative Clean Energy Loan Guarantee Program in H.R. 4447, the Clean Economy and Innovations Act.
Watch the full video below.
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