The United States is the midst of a rapidly changing — and demanding — energy transition and could be well positioned to lead globally if it continues to embrace innovation and make significant investment in research and development, a group says.

“We want to work with anyone who’s serious about getting things done and reducing emissions right away, not years from now. If we’re going to move forward and reclaim the mantle of global clean energy leadership on innovation, if we’re going to restore energy manufacturing jobs, we’re going to (need to) remove the hurdles to clean energy deployment,” said Lindsey Baxter Griffith, founder and chief executive officer of Clean Tomorrow.

“These are all areas that are great for collaboration and are going to be considered this week as these nominations go forward.”

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In a media briefing Monday, the group said it will be tracking hearings on Doug Burgum, a former GOP governor from North Dakota. The Donald Trump-selected nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Interior and the newly-formed National Energy Council hails from an oil and gas rich state. It is the nation’s third largest producer of crude oil in the country. He pioneered a program that gives North Dakota supremacy over carbon capture wells, the first state in the nation to do so. He also had a goal to make North Dakota carbon neutral by 2030.

He has a scheduled hearing Thursday before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, after being moved from a Tuesday slot.

The group is also tracking Chris Wright’s nomination to lead the U.S. Department of Energy. The oil industry executive is likely to get strong pushback from Democrats and conservation groups. Wright, however, has served on the board of Oklo, a California developer of small modular nuclear reactors. Advanced nuclear technologies have enjoyed bipartisan support in three different presidential administrations, with a global race on to get them deployed and generating energy. Wright has a hearing Wednesday before a Senate committee.

Another nominee being closely watched is Lee Zeldin, tapped by Trump to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Zeldin, a former GOP congressman from New York, backed Trump’s exit from the Paris Climate Accord. He has vowed to roll back regulations that he asserts stymie U.S. global energy independence. Zeldin, while in Congress, strongly advocated for tighter scrutiny of PFAS, or forever chemicals. Zeldin’s hearing is Thursday.

“We’re looking forward to hearing more this week, particularly with how the administration may take advantage of bipartisan policies and bipartisan investments that have been put in place over the last five years or so,” said Evan Chapman, senior director of policy for Clean Tomorrow. “Clean energy and energy growth is not a partisan issue here, and we’re excited about the opportunities that will be presented over the next couple years.”

Chapman cited Wright’s experience in working with “cutting edge clean technologies” and involvement in helping the DOE bring clean tech innovation to a commercial scale.

The future of wind and solar

Critics of the three men worry they will stall developments of renewable energy, however, placing fossil fuel extraction as the highest priority. Such projects are already coming under attack at the state and local level, said Alex Breckel, senior director of programs for Clean Tomorrow.

“It is getting harder and harder to build clean energy projects,” Breckel said. “That’s true for transmission and grid infrastructure. It’s also true for wind and solar. In particular, wind and solar and batteries are facing the headwinds of local siting opposition, both politically and from a policy perspectives.”

As the cost of wind and solar have dropped dramatically, opposition is rising in some locales because of the space they require and other concerns.

“Clean energy bans have been popping up at the county and municipal level across the country. Fortunately, governors and legislatures are trying to tackle this issue head on. It’s a bipartisan issue,” Breckel said.

“It seems that administrations, both Democrat and Republican, and legislatures, understand that in order to allow the economic development of these new energy sources, or (meet) energy demand being developed in their states, they’re going to have to find ways to expedite building out affordable new sources of energy.”

Multiple states that include Massachusetts, Michigan and Illinois have moved to pass laws that make it harder for localities to make siting restrictions of such projects, including carbon capture and sequestration, more difficult to impose. But in Ohio, the state rolled back a law that Clean Tomorrow said worked well and instead made it easier for cities and counties to prohibit clean energy projects.

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“So it really is a phenomenon that we’re seeing across the country in various ways,” Breckel said.

Chapman pointed to Utah as being a forerunner in geothermal development and deployment.

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The hearings will provide both policymakers and organizations a closer look at these nominees and where they stand.

“There’s a lot of policy and a lot of programs and a lot of funding that have been passed in multiple administrations, and a lot of opportunity to keep moving forward,” Griffith said. This is really about a leadership moment, and for this country, and for both our communities, our private sector stakeholders. We have an opportunity to really see American leadership in the clean energy space. "

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