Author’s note: Thank you to all the people who reached out with positive responses to the first version of this article (“It’s Up To Us”). You can find that version at electricladiespodcast.com or medium. This is a revised version at the request of Forbes editors.
“The outcome of the election definitely represents a setback for climate action. The incoming (Trump) administration has been clear that it does not prioritize confronting climate change and has a track record of disregarding it, and has given us every reason to believe that it’ll seek to roll back US climate policy again. So, it is a moment of rightful concern for anybody who cares about reaching our climate goals,” Mindy Lubber, CEO and President of the nonprofit clean energy, sustainability-focused advocacy organization Ceres said in a media briefing on Friday, November 22nd.
“The clean energy economy is not about liberal, it is not about conservative. It is about creating new jobs in a manufacturing renaissance in every state around the country, whether the politics are R’s or Ds or anything else. And there’s plenty of proof that responsible policy is good economic policy,” Lubber explained. Citing the success of the Inflation Reduction Act, she recounted how that legislation “has unleashed thousands of billions of dollars in private capital, creating hundreds of projects and hundreds of thousands of American jobs.”
Over $695 billion in funding for 74,000+ projects across all 50 states and territories has been announced and/or allocated so far from the Inflation Reduction Act, Infrastructure Act and CHIPS & Science Act, according to the Biden Administration. That includes repairing over 196,000 miles of roads and over 11,400 bridge projects, replacing over 367,000 lead pipes, and creating hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs. It has made “the computer and electronic (sic) segment into the dominant driver of US manufacturing construction,” growing from 11% in 2023 to 64%, the Atlantic Council found this year.
“So, the most important thing other than dealing with this problem,” Lubber insisted, “is it’s imperative that we maintain this surge of investment. There is hope that we could.”
Businesses and investors seem to be continuing their climate and clean energy focus – so far
Ceres sees that the business and investor communities are maintaining their focus on clean energy and sustainability practices. “The good news is, that even in the aftermath of the US election, private sector leaders are moving forward around the world, across the country,” Lubber noted. “Just days after the election, more than 650 investors with $33 trillion in assets issued an urgent call for government action to implement policies aligned with the Paris Agreement goals of limiting temperature rise from reaching catastrophic levels.”
Driven mostly by the priority to manage risk, Lubber and Anne Kelly, Ceres’ Vice President of Government Relations explained, as well as by pressure from consumers, employees, competition, and the opportunity to increase profits, companies are retaining and/or expanding their climate, clean energy and sustainability initiatives. “There’s no doubt that there is pressure on all sides. Employees want to work for values driven companies and companies that stake out a position on climate. And more and more consumers are saying the same thing as well as investors, small, medium, and large size investors. But the largest and most effective arguments that we’ve seen on the risk side is the risk is real and growing,” Kelly said.
Companies and investors have invested “trillions of dollars in climate solutions, adopted innovative technologies, and created the sustainable infrastructure to power our homes and our businesses,” Lubber explained. This is because these companies and investors see climate change as “a material financial risk is well as a material financial opportunity,” NOAA reported that extreme weather events over $1 billion alone have cost the U.S. trillions of dollars (since 1980).
There’s significant Republican support for The Inflation Reduction Act, Infrastructure Investment Act and CHIPS & Science Act
The Inflation Reduction Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS & Science Act are making such a positive impact on communities across the country that 18 Republican lawmakers wrote a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson asking him not to overturn the IRA. Several clean energy investments have been championed by the incoming Senate Majority Leader, Senator John Thune (R-SD) too.
Several Republican lawmakers – such as Rep. Nancy Mace (R-FL) who opposed the bill, calling it a “socialist wish list” and a “fiasco” – are even taking credit for the money those bills are bringing to their districts. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) in their leadership supports it and Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) bragged about the “fantastic news” of a new battery plant in Arizona funded in part by the Inflation Reduction Act “expects to employ thousands of people and will help us unleash American energy.”
Good governance, leaders’ fiduciary responsibility
The voices and influence of the business community are very powerful, and they understand and wield it strategically, including on climate and energy issues. Regardless of what Trump 2.0 does, businesses still have to comply with state and international regulations. California’s SB 261 and SB 253, for example, apply to any business doing business in the state – which is thousands. The EU’s CSRD – Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive – is mandatory and applies to any business operating in a European country, which global accounting and management consulting firm PwC estimates is 50,000 businesses.
The SEC’s climate risk disclosure rules – which investors have been demanding for years – are at risk in Trump 2.0, but their fate remains to be seen.
“Businesses want certainty,” Kelly said in the briefing – and they need to keep their businesses, operations, employees and supply chains safe in the face of climate change.
They are also seizing the market opportunities that solving clean energy and climate challenges present, and have no interest in ceded those opportunities to China or other countries.
We’ll see how businesses and investors wield their political as well as their economic power to manage those risks and opportunities as Trump 2.0 unfolds.
