The Lot Sixteen Blog
Lot Sixteen Members Give Congressional Update for the Aluminum Association
Over a hundred Aluminum Association members from across the industry attended the Aluminum Association’s annual meeting here in Washington, D.C., at The Wharf. Several Lot Sixteeners were happy to join the meeting to discuss pressing matters facing the industry, from recycling and sustainability to trade and vehicle electrification. Here’s what we covered.
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Reading with the Lot: Three Favorites from Lot Sixteen’s Book Club
Each month Lot Sixteen’s book club researches trending books and must-read stories to provide some new ideas on which book we should read next. From there, we all take a vote and read the book that wins the majority. Here’s some of our favorites so far.
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Absent U.S. Leadership, Trans-Pacific Trade Pact Moves Forward
President Trump walked out of a major trade agreement with Pacific trading partners to the shock of many around the world. While President Biden is trying to forge a new path, China seeks to fill the void and U.S. allies are already stepping in, leaving the United States in the dust.
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Bioplastics Are Not the Answer to the Plastic Pollution Problem
Plastics made from plant material, such as corn starch or sugar cane, have emerged on the market and increased in popularity amongst consumers. These so-called “bioplastics” come in many forms, the most popular of which is polylactide acid, a type of bioplastic often used in the packaging industry for takeout containers and silverware. But are they really any better for the environment?
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Celebrating National Intern Day in the Nation’s Capital
We sat down with our six interns for a quick Q&A. They answered why they chose Lot Sixteen and laid out their favorite parts about being in Washington, D.C., including some fun facts they learned along the way.
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White House Climate Goals: The Great Disconnect
The private sector is doing its utmost to utilize the IRA and achieve Biden’s decarbonization goals. It would behoove the bureaucracy to pay attention to what ALL of the administration is doing and consider whether policies are helping or hindering the president’s climate goals.
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A Packed July for Congress, Long To-Do List Before Summer Recess
Summer is in full steam ahead. Here’s what we’re keeping an eye on…Both the House and Senate are back this week; Members roll up their sleeves to tackle a long to-do list before the August recess; NDAA action coming this week in the House, with FAA to follow next week; and the Appropriations slog continues.
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Congress Flexes Its Muscles Over Trade Authority
Earlier this month, leaders of the House Ways & Means and Senate Finance Committees unveiled a bipartisan bill that approves the first phase of recently agreed upon trade talks with Taiwan and lays out a process and expectations for congressional approval of subsequent agreements under the initiative. The bill cleared the House floor last week in a unanimous vote.
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How a Hill Staffer Navigated the Shift to Energy Lobbyist
In this short Q&A, Kellie Donnelly, Lot Sixteen EVP and General Counsel and a well-known name in the energy sector in Washington, D.C., talks career building in the nation’s capital, advice she’s taken and given over the years, and some of the harder parts of transitioning from the Hill into a lobbyist role.
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Permitting Reform – More to Come This Congress?
President Joe Biden signed legislation lifting the debt ceiling for two years and making modest changes to the National Environmental Policy Act. Since the deal was announced, we’ve been pessimistic that there’s enough oxygen left on Capitol Hill for a purported second bite at the permitting apple that members from both parties have insisted is in the cards. We’re still skeptical of the odds for more permitting reform in the 118th Congress, but we are also more optimistic after surveying the post-debt deal landscape over the past week.
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Climate Change Policies in a Changing Political Climate
Up this week: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) debt limit bill includes permitting, Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) rollbacks as threat of default looms and the European Union (EU) approves new carbon border tax. Here’s what you need to know.
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South Africa’s Energy Crisis is a Stress Test for the Global Energy Transition
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing one of his toughest challenges yet as Africa’s most advanced economy buckles under the pressure from the country’s deepening energy crisis. The South African government has declared a state of national disaster to address the crisis, and accelerating the growth of South Africa’s nascent renewable energy industry features prominently among proposed solutions.
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Perplexing Policy Paradoxes
After scoring some major legislative victories in its first two years, the Biden administration's climate agenda is running headfirst into political realities in year three – exposing divisions and contradictions that are manifesting themselves in the congressional agenda.
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The GOP ❤︎’s Carbon Tariffs
In case you've missed it, no fewer than three Republican senators are working on legislation that would create a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). After years of deriding Democrats for offering overly complicated cap-and-trade schemes and other command-and-control regulations to reduce carbon emissions, it's notable that Republicans are moving ahead with their own equally complex proposals that aim to tackle climate change.
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The 118th Congress: Who to Watch
It was obvious from the point when it took Rep Kevin McCarthy 15 roll call votes to win the Speakership that the 118th Congress was getting off to a rocky start. Only time will tell whether Congressional members can work across the aisle and enact policies that support, strengthen and benefit Americans. We’ll be watching carefully. But in the meantime, we thought it might be interesting to take a look at a few of the interesting people, pairings and personalities that will make – or break – the 118th Congress.
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Puerto Rico’s Clean Energy Future
Last week, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm made her third visit to Puerto Rico, focusing much needed attention on the island’s ailing electric grid. As a former Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, I thought it was worth using the Secretary’s visit as an opportunity to look back at how the island’s grid challenges have evolved over the last few years as a guide to point us toward a more successful future.
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Driving the Energy Transition with the Nation’s Largest Electric Bus Charging Depot
Alongside a fleet of electric buses that gently hummed under towering canopies of solar panels, Biden administration officials, federal, state and local policymakers, and corporate leaders gathered on a chilly, wet Monday morning to celebrate a milestone in sustainable transportation: the official launch of the first microgrid to power electric buses in the Washington region.
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Climate Policy: What’s Next for a Divided Congress?
With the approaching midterms and the very real possibility that Republicans will control one or both chambers in the 118th Congress, what are the next steps on energy and environmental issues, and how can the parties work collaboratively to reach agreement? To help answer that question, Kellie Donnelly, previously the Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, recently joined “Unpacking Republican Energy and Environmental Policy,” a panel discussion hosted by Columbia University.
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What’s it Like Interning in the Nation’s Capital?
What’s it Like Interning in the Nation’s Capital? Four key takeaways from Lot Sixteen’s summer interns and fellows
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A Turning Point for U.S. Climate Policy?
A Turning Point for U.S. Climate Policy? The Inflation Reduction Act and the Democrats’ unprecedented investment into clean energy may actually be big and broad enough to help usher in a new post-partisan era on climate policy. An early test may be how the parties negotiate permitting reform.
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