Welcome back, climate leaders.

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In today’s edition:

• 🇨🇳 Chinese solar companies caught evading tariffs

• 🔌 EV drivers face extra fees in conservative states

• 🔥 Who actually bears the cost of wildfires?

Read time: 5 minutes

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HOT TOPICS

1. ☀️ Solar tariffs: The US Department of Commerce found five Chinese solar companies evading US duties via Southeast Asia, endangering US solar growth. Although nearly 75% of the nation's solar panels are imported from Southeast Asia, the impact of this ruling has sparked significant opposition.

2. 🏢 Real estate: Commercial real estate is under financial strain due to more people working from home and increased costs from climate-change-related disasters. Insurance costs, surging due to frequent $1 billion natural disasters, are outpacing rent increases, making it difficult for firms to purchase adequate coverage.

3. 📉 Sustainable debt: US sustainable bond issuances faced a 39% downfall in the first half of the yearThis decline, from $65bn to $39.8bn, surpasses the 15% global decrease and might be due to anti-ESG political rhetoric.

4. 🤨 IRA spending: A year into Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, its spending implications remain elusive. The uncapped historic US climate law's incentives may push investments beyond initial estimates, potentially exceeding $1 trillion.

5. 🚌 Electric buses: Amtrak has launched its first electric bus service between Seattle and Bellingham, Washington. The nearly 200-mile electric bus route, the first of its kind in the US, can be completed on a single charge and can accommodate 60 passengers.

6. 🌬️ Windy shipping: Wind-powered shipping is gaining traction in efforts to reduce carbon emissions, yielding up to 30% emissions savings. Airseas' Seawing can decrease carbon emissions by 20%, while TOWT's wind-powered cargo ships launch in 2024.

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QUICK HITS

• Georgia Power Co. began loading fuel into the second new Vogtle nuclear reactor aiming to generate electricity by March 2024, despite being seven years overdue and $17 billion over budget. (link)

• North Carolina's GOP overrides Governor's veto, passing a bill forbidding residential building code overhauls until 2031, affecting energy efficiency and carbon reduction. (link)

• Conservative regions in the US levy extra fees on electric vehicle drivers, challenging President Biden's climate policies. (link)

• New York allocates $15M for energy storage projects, including a first-time demonstration by Form Energy featuring multi-day battery storage using iron-air batteries. (link)

TODAY’S DATA

$60m

Rondo Energy secured $60m in funding from global corporations and climate investors to expedite worldwide decarbonization projects and the deployment of their zero-carbon heat batteries.

ACCLIMATE RECS

• Is gas cheaper than electric car charging? Compare EV costs in 50 states

• Utilities are getting sued over wildfires. Who's bearing the cost?

• ClimateTechList: Software jobs at high-impact climate companies

• How much my Tesla Model 3 Depreciated In 4 years

• What Minnesota’s ban on ‘forever chemicals’ means for manufacturers

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Talk soon,

- Rick Jarrell, Founder of Acclimate