The first article for this media brief discusses public perception of electric vehicles. America is a country with a deeply rooted car culture and a lacking public transportation system. A study by the PEW research center indicates that Americans are divided on the idea that the country should phase out combustion engine vehicles by 2035 with 47% of U.S. adults supporting the idea while 51% oppose it (Spencer and Funk 2021). Other results from their study showed that 39% of Americans say the next time they purchase a vehicle, they are at least somewhat likely to purchase electric while 46% stated they are not too or at all likely to do so (Spencer and Funk 2021). Another 14% reported they are not expecting to purchase a car or truck in the future. It is commonly said the most eco-friendly device you own is the one you already have (although there are obviously exceptions). The pollution generated in the process of creating an electric car means that it is more beneficial to keep a perfectly good working car than to purchase an electric one. No information was given on how many people reported they would buy a used electric car. Climate scientists are in agreement that we need to dramatically reduce our carbon consumption in order to prevent catastrophe, but the fact that a majority of Americans oppose phasing out combustion vehicles by 2035 puts energy security at risk. America’s car culture is one of the biggest contributions to our greenhouse gas emissions and we are starting to see the impacts of it with the extreme weather events that occurred over the summer. 

The second article discusses a historic and unprecedented heat wave has swept through the country this summer, particularly in the Pacific Northwest with areas in Washington state seeing temperatures as high as 113 degrees fahrenheit. The heatwave is particularly detrimental  for households who may lack access to air conditioning or adequate air conditioning. “Populations most vulnerable to excessive heat are older adults, the sick, those experiencing homelessness and those who are socially isolated. Outdoor workers can also be in danger if not given frequent breaks,” the article states (Samenow and Leonard 2021). Heat Domes, which are large domes of high pressure, are largely responsible for heatwaves and evidence suggests they are getting more severe as time goes on due to climate change. A temporal analysis of the heatwave shows how a feedback loop is generated by such a heatwave. As temperatures increase, people with air conditioning are more likely to turn their air conditioning up for longer periods of time, which, in turn, contributes to more severe heat domes. Only time will tell when the breaking point for this cycle will be but if this cycle continues the consequences could continue to pile up, which is argued in our next article.

The third article elaborates on potential disruptions that could occur as a result of the unprecedented heat wave. A report by North American Electric Reliability Corporation's (NERC) Summer Reliability Assessment concluded that parts of the United States are at elevated or high risk for potential electricity emergencies this summer due to the increasingly hot summers caused by climate change. As mentioned previously, cooling infrastructure in the U.S. actually creates a feedback loop with phenomena like heat domes, which then lead to increased electricity demand due to temperature-related loads, such as use of air conditioning units. 

According to NERC’s assessment, electric supply shortages may occur in the western United States, Texas, New England, and parts of the Midwest (Manzagol 2021). The Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), which includes the western half of the United States, is at significant risk for disruptions. California, a WECC subregion, is at the highest risk of an electricity emergency. ERCOT, which only a few months ago faced a crisis in Texas, along with MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator) and New England are also at an elevated risk. This situation is one that the Energy Rights Project will be paying close attention to. Every state witnessed what occurred in Texas, and it will be telling to see what measures they take to prevent a blackout such as the one that occured in Texas. This potential crisis would be caused by extreme heat, when only a few months ago, a power grid failure  in Texas was due to extreme cold. Studies on how states allocate resources to manage the extreme cold vs extreme heat could yield interesting results, especially in states that have only had to deal with one of these extremes until recently. As can be  with the blizzard followed by an extreme heatwave only a few months later in Texas, states all over the country are experiencing temperatures and weather conditions previously thought to be nearly impossible. 

The feedback loop mentioned when discussing the second article comes up again in the fourth. This article discusses a report by the nonprofit North American Electric Reliability Corp which found Texas to be at elevated risk of power shortfalls (Takahashi 2021). The primary reason for these shortfalls is pinned on the extreme heat which is expected to be a regular occurrence this summer. As temperature increases, people will turn on their climate-damaging AC systems, leading to hotter temperatures later on. On a federal level, many activists are calling on the Biden administration to do more to combat climate change so situations like this do not get worse.

The final article in this theme discusses activists pressuring the Biden administration into including more measures in his infrastructure bill that would target climate change. The Biden Administration is planning to achieve many of their legislative goals through two bills, one that is a bipartisan infrastructure bill and the other is a reconciliation “Build Back Better” plan. With the latter bill being put on an indefinite hold due to two conservative Democrats, those in Congress are putting pressure on the president to include some of the climate measures in the Build Back Better plan into the bipartisan infrastructure bill, with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore stating, "It will not include comprehensive clean energy policy, and I am not willing to support throwing climate change overboard [...] The two bills have to be directly connected” (Daly 2021). The bipartisan infrastructure bill contained many drastic cuts to the climate proposals, including “plans promoted by Biden to make electricity carbon-free by 2035 and spend hundreds of billions in tax incentives for clean energy such as wind and solar power and technologies that capture and store carbon emissions” (Daly 2021). It appears that, at least for the time being, federal level climate agendas are at a standstill. This article shows the need for local and state level agenda setting to mitigate climate change, but even that is not enough. This brings us neatly to the next theme, which discusses energy policy shortfalls.