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Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Please have at it. I welcome your “yes, and,” “yes, but,” and “no, actually.”

Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

It's Climate Week. How can the climate community move from dysphoria to action? For a proposed path forward, see my new article below We need a climate agenda that: 1. Cuts costs 2. Expedites clean energy 3. Is written not about workers/communities, but by them democracyjournal.org/magazine/78/...

democracyjournal.org

Blueprint for a Popular Climate Agenda

The path forward is climate policy written not about impacted workers and communities, but by them.

Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Want a blueprint for pivoting from climate rollbacks to a strategic climate offense? That's my focus in a new article out today in Democracy Journal. The path forward is a new climate agenda written not about impacted workers & communities, but by them. democracyjournal.org/magazine/78/...

democracyjournal.org

Blueprint for a Popular Climate Agenda

The path forward is climate policy written not about impacted workers and communities, but by them.

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Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

What's the path forward for climate & clean energy policy? Tune in to this symposium tomorrow, where a few of us will offer ideas for what comes next. Livestream link below. Climate panel starts at 11:20am.

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Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

If you're in DC and abundance-curious, you might like this panel & happy hour tomorrow evening. We'll discuss policies that would deliver abundance vs. those that would take us backwards, moderated by Claire Jones of the Financial Times. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/abundance-...

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Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

Today's vote is a gut punch. But it's not over. Our generational task of building a more just, clean energy economy will outlive this political cycle. We'll fight – in the states, courts, & streets. When we win a gov't that reps the majority, we’ll pick up the baton the GOP dropped & keep running.

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Crafting a plan for clean energy abundance requires precision, not abstraction. We need to add industrial policies, end parochial restrictions, & use the labor/equity ingredients of the "everything bagel." To actually deliver abundance, let's differentiate between those needs.

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Delay #5: Workforce shortages Solution: Use policies that ensure fair wages for construction workers, which also support workforce retention in a tight labor market. Wage standards were also part of the IRA "everything bagel," given they advance both jobs & deployment goals.

Delay #4: Community opposition Solution: Community Benefits Agreements offer a proven tool for clean energy developers to obtain community support for projects, & for community & labor groups to secure wins. The IRA "everything bagel" encouraged CBAs as a pro-building solution.

Delay #3: Rising local restrictions on clean energy Solution: "Abundance" proponents are right that we must end these problematic policies. But the map of the policies — across red & blue states — suggests the core problem isn't progressive overreach, but transpartisan NIMBYism.

Delay #2: A 137-week wait to obtain a large power transformer, due to dependency on imports for 4 out of 5 transformers Solution: Enact industrial policies that stimulate domestic transformer production, including new manufacturing investments & a public stockpiling system.

Delay #1: A 5-year wait for clean energy projects to connect to the electrical grid Solution: Fill the regulatory void that has enabled an inefficient, piecemeal approach to transmission buildout. Require proactive, systemic transmission planning to slash the long lag time.

If labor & equity incentives aren't holding up clean energy projects, what is? Here are 5 of the biggest sources of delay, according to clean energy developers themselves. Many of these delays point not to an excess of policymaking, but an absence.

Labor & equity incentives didn't deter clean energy firms from applying for up to 10x the available IRA funding. And post-IRA data show potential for a win-win-win: ~100GW of clean energy built, unprecedented clean energy union density, AND 75% of investments going to low-income counties.

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They taste good because they combine ingredients that go well together. The question — whether for bagels or policies — is, are we using congruent ingredients? Clean energy, union jobs, & equitable investments — like garlic, onion, & poppy seeds — can indeed pair well together.

A common "abundance" critique of the IRA is that the law's core strategy — uniting climate, jobs, & justice goals — tries to do too much. Such "everything bagel" policymaking is said to slow clean energy deployment. But here's the thing about everything bagels: They taste good.

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The Energy Transition Needs More Policy, Not Less

The article names broadly-backed remedies for 5 major clean energy delays. While some "abundance" fans call for policy rollbacks, fixing these delays often requires the opposite. Here's the link. Come for the policy debate. Stay for the bagel metaphors. heatmap.news/ideas/abunda...

heatmap.news

In defense of “everything bagel” policymaking.

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Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

The "abundance" debate has been long on narrative, but short on precise solutions. What would a data-backed agenda for clean energy abundance look like? In many cases, it'd mean more policy, not less — despite some "abundance" claims. My piece in @heatmap.news offers examples: 🧵

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Thanks, Mike. I'm in the UK, speaking at a convening, and just dropped the everything bagel metaphor. Thought about trying to find a scone equivalent, but turns out the bagel heuristic also works on this side of the Atlantic.

Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Despite some "abundance" claims, many clean energy delays point not to an excess of policymaking, but an absence. I lay out a data-backed agenda for clean energy abundance in this new piece for @heatmap.news. In many cases, we need more policy, not less. heatmap.news/ideas/abunda...

heatmap.news

The Energy Transition Needs More Policy, Not Less

In defense of “everything bagel” policymaking.

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Reposted by Ben Beachy

Heatmap News @heatmap.news · 02/06/2025

"The data suggests that clean energy growth, union jobs, and equitable investments — like garlic, onion, and sesame seeds — can indeed pair well together," writes @ben-beachy.bsky.social. Why "everything bagel" energy policy is a win-win-win:

heatmap.news

The Energy Transition Needs More Policy, Not Less

In defense of “everything bagel” policymaking.

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Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

The Trump admin offers pro-manufacturing pablum while gutting funding for actual manufacturers.

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Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

If we asked ChatGPT to outline a cartoonishly cruel spending bill, it'd be hard pressed to do better than this: A dead-of-night vote to offer handouts to the rich by slashing health insurance, increasing energy costs, cutting food aid, and kneecapping a clean energy manufacturing boom.

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Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

America: We want cheap energy. And more manufacturing. And good jobs. House GOP: What if, and hear us out, we got rid of those things but gave some nice tax breaks to the rich? www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/c...

nytimes.com

A Clean Energy Boom Was Just Starting. Now, a Republican Bill Aims to End It.

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Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

"I don't think it's hyperbole to say that eviscerating NIOSH, as they have, will cause people to die." Coal miners need black lung screenings, not another empty sales pitch from a politician who doesn't give a shit about them. www.cbsnews.com/news/west-vi...

cbsnews.com

West Virginia coal miners lose black lung screenings after Trump slashes worker safety agency NIOSH

The Trump administration's cuts to NIOSH have gutted crucial programs affecting millions of workers across the U.S.

Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

Under Trump's new trade framework with the UK, the cheapest Rolls Royce could now sell for as low as $309,000. What a great bargain for the middle class.

Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

In the fight to replace lead pipes, Donald Trump has taken the side of the lead pipes. Trump's new budget proposes a $2.5 billion cut to federal programs that fund clean water.

Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Remind us again how the Trump admin is supporting manufacturing?

Claire Moser @clairemoser.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Reposted by Ben Beachy

Trump’s absurd war on clean energy is crushing American manufacturing NEW today from @climatepower.bsky.social: clmtpwr.us/April2025Job...

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Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

The Trump Admin wants to eliminate the office that's enabling U.S. manufacturers of steel, cement, & aluminum to cut costs & pollution, boosting industrial competitiveness. Helluva manufacturing agenda you've got there.

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Ben Beachy @ben-beachy.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

A number of us have suggested the abundance narrative needs precise policy asks to avoid being co-opted by fans of wholesale deregulation. If anyone thought that was silly, Elon Musk would like a word: bsky.app/profile/ben-...

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We all need a little motivation.

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Differentiating between those will be essential for crafting an agenda that actually yields abundance.

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-Some rules thwart building & undermine public interests (exclusionary zoning) –Some slow building but support public interests (environmental reviews) -Some don’t impact building & support public interests (childcare incentives) -Some boost our ability to build (antitrust)

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Despite the authors’ nuances, some in the dereg camp are choosing “rules = anti-abundance” as a convenient takeaway. But the reality is indeed nuanced:

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To be clear, Ezra Klein & @dkthomp.bsky.social don’t say otherwise. They explicitly offer “a lens, not a list” of policy prescriptions. But to avoid a deregulatory distortion of that lens, we’ll need data-backed prescriptions that separate regressive red tape from productive protections.

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And in some domains, building more requires more policy, not less. Antitrust, many have noted, is key to abundance. So are procurement policies, trade measures, & public investment conditions – each can boost building in communities & industries the market deems unprofitable.

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CHIPS' childcare support didn't stymie semiconductor factory buildout. BIL's wage standards didn't hamper bridge construction. IRA's incentives for Community Benefits Agreements didn't hamstring clean energy projects. We need to shield the babies while targeting the bathwater.

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