"The optimistic view of the new policy is that carbon capture plays an important role in mitigating climate impacts from industries that are difficult and expensive to decarbonize, such as cement and steel production," Olmstead said. "The more cynical view is that if you look through the portfolio of which industries will benefit most from this incentive, it rewards the industries that are currently producing and emitting a lot of fossil fuels."
"Federal legislation such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021) and the Inflation Reduction Act (2022) invested more in renewable energy than any previous law, while the recent One Big Beautiful Bill Act (2025) eliminated climate-protective policies such as vehicle and greenhouse gas emissions standards, said Olmstead, who is also a Cornell Atkinson Scholar."
"Design and planning for higher sea levels, extreme heat, flooding, wildfires or other natural disasters requires consideration of tradeoffs, such as whether to modify infrastructure to protect neighborhoods from heightened climate risks, whether to rebuild after disasters, or whether to abandon some buildings and change land use, Faircloth said."
Federal legislation such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021) and the Inflation Reduction Act (2022) invested more in renewable energy than any previous law. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (2025) eliminated climate-protective policies such as vehicle and greenhouse gas emissions standards. Carbon capture is presented as a tool to mitigate emissions from hard-to-decarbonize industries like cement and steel, but incentives risk rewarding industries that still emit large amounts of fossil fuels. A decade of climate resilience planning reveals tradeoffs in adapting to sea-level rise, extreme heat, flooding, and wildfires, including infrastructure modification, rebuilding, retreat, and land-use change while centering equity, heritage, and restorative approaches.
Read at Cornell Chronicle
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]