Sarah Oppenheimer

Making electricity cheaper: Modernising taxes and levies to incentivise electrification of industrial heat RAP experts Sem Oxenaar and Tom Butler look at the state of electricity and gas prices for industry and the impact of reducing taxes and levies.

The future energy bill is an electricity bill.

This is why we must 'Make Electricity Cheaper' for households, businesses and industry.

In our 3rd paper at RAP on this topic, Tom Butler & I look at reducing tax & levies added to electricity prices for industry.

tinyurl.com/4z4v5ssd

Carmakers Ought to Be Careful What They Wish for on EU Emissions Thanks for reading Hyperdrive, Bloomberg’s newsletter on the future of the auto world.

Be careful what you wish for. “China got to where it is today by setting a long-term strategy and sticking to it. There’s a lesson there for Europe’s policymakers and auto industry”. www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Steps to slash power prices In today’s episode of The Jolt, Kira looks into how Europe could cut its electricity bills, plus pushback on sustainability reporting as the United Nations calls for stronger ESG in mining

🎧 RAP’s @louisesunderland.bsky.social joins journalist @kirataylor.bsky.social to talk about making electricity cheaper and fairer.

Smart policies can cut bills and speed up the energy transition.

Listen here 👉 foresightmedia.com/story/sizlfj...

#Energy #Policy #Podcast

Jane Goodall, world-renowned primatologist, dies aged 91 Jane Goodall Institute says ‘tireless advocate’ for natural world died in California during US speaking tour

❤️❤️ not many of us are as great as this, what an inspiration. Big loss. www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Making electricity cheaper: Redistributing policy costs for affordable household heat electrification Affordable electrification relies on affordable electricity. Nuanced price reform will best equip decision-makers for success.

It's going to be a lot easier to decarbonize heating if we bring down electricity prices.

That's the focus of Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP)'s two papers out today: how to make electricity cheaper, especially for households.

www.raponline.org/knowledge-ce...

Proud to work with people who bring serious & practical suggestions to the challenge of making electricity cheaper, and accelerating the energy transition. 🙌💪

Galvanize fund run by top Democrats to capitalise on Trump green cuts New credit strategy to target viable companies and projects left in the cold by US policy shift

Important article which makes the obvious point that climate change is happening, the 'underlying foundational tailwinds have not changed' and 'there is a tremendous demand for energy'. All meaning there is money to be made shifting to safer, healthier and more efficient systems. on.ft.com/4nwFfdi

Opinion | The Most Environmentally Imaginative Country on Earth Is Under Assault

Hugely important and worrying news: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/o...

Southern Europe bakes and burns, turning holiday hotspots into infernos Black smoke is darkening blood-red skies across the continent – devastating residents and forcing travellers to start searching for ‘coolcations’ further north. Plus, the latest on Ukraine

“the formerly Instagram-friendly views now seem apocalyptic” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Spain wildfires are ‘clear warning’ of climate emergency, minister says Environment minister says blazes are proof of country’s vulnerability to global heating as fires burn across Europe

Big fan of Sara Aagesen www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

⚡️EU power is becoming less and less reliant on fossil fuels

EU countries with the largest fall in fossil share (2004 vs. 2024):

🇩🇰Denmark: 76% → 12% 🏆
🇵🇹Portugal: 73% → 15%
🇳🇱The Netherlands: 91% → 46%
🇮🇪Ireland: 95% → 55%
🇬🇷Greece: 90% → 50%
🇫🇮Finland: 44% → 5%

World on brink of climate breakthrough as fossil fuels ‘run out of road’, UN chief says António Guterres says ‘sun is rising on a clean energy age’ as 90% of renewable power projects cheaper than fossil fuels

Guterres really does have a great speechwriter, so many good lines here. And good change of tone. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Ed Miliband to tell MPs who reject net zero policies they are betraying future generations Exclusive: Energy secretary’s ‘radical truth-telling’ comes as Reform plans net zero bonfire and Tories also ditch targets

It's a sad reflection on the state of things when telling the truth is called 'radical' but good Ed Miliband has the energy and determination to call out the bullsh**t: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

4.6 Billion Years On, the Sun Is Having a Moment In the past two years, without much notice, solar power has begun to truly transform the world’s energy system.

“California is so far using forty per cent less natural gas to generate electricity than it did in 2023, which is the single most hopeful statistic I’ve seen in four decades of writing about the climate crisis.”

www.newyorker.com/news/annals-...

Texas floods reveal limitations of disaster forecasting under climate crisis Texas’s ‘flash flood alley’ could bring even more floods in near future as Trump cuts compound with warming climate

Thank you @ericholthaus.com I have been waiting for this analysis of the role of climate change, and recognition of the “trend towards increasing atmospheric moisture content globally as the world warms and the air can hold more water vapor”. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

‘The damage is terrifying’: Barbara Kingsolver on Trump, rural America and the recovery home funded by her hit novel Demon Copperhead, the author’s retelling of Dickens during Virginia’s opioid crisis, was a global success. Now she has used royalties from the novel to open a recovery residence

Barbara Kingsolver is so inspiring. I couldn’t love this woman and her writing and her actions more: www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...

🌲Ed Sheeran explains to Louis Theroux that he dislikes private jets and prefers trains because "I like the environment, I like trees." We know that this type of messaging from celebrities is hugely impactful. We need far more of this from more stars.
As posted by @nowthisimpact.bsky.social

Why investors remain bullish on US renewables Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ could slash clean energy tax credits but long-term backers in the sector are not spooked

On why US renewables are still a good investment: "this administration is just a blip on a 30-year megatrend"
on.ft.com/3HwWk7x

I have heard the complete opposite, that the diaspora is more liberal

I like this a lot although it has made me think I need to buy a tablet and I’m not sure that’s the point…

European carmakers’ challenge is to ‘stay on course’ with EVs Sales in Europe are up, but groups face shifting regulations, tariff uncertainty and competition from China

Thanks, Håkan Samuelsson, for choosing to invest in the future: on.ft.com/4k9mhZc

Shell faces shareholder pushback over gas strategy Special resolution calling for more detail on LNG business wins 20% backing

So low of Wael Sawan to say we need more gas to avoid power cuts like the one in Spain when the analysis of what went wrong isn’t out yet and he knows that - pure scaremongering on.ft.com/4jcPq48 Shell faces shareholder pushback over gas strategy

Vladimir Putin’s manipulation of Donald Trump If the US president is walking away from Ukraine, other allies must step up

Hard agree with this: on.ft.com/4mgkSBo

Daring to deliver: Pedro Sánchez and the revival of Spanish social democracy 10 Renewal 33.1_Heymann10 Renewal 33.1_Heymann.pdf108 KBdownload-circle Since 2018, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has led one of the most successful social democratic governments in the worl...

No government is perfect but it has been a relief to escape Brexit lunacy and live under one that has achieved significant social and environmental progress. renewal.org.uk/articles/dar...

European firms ramping up lobbying for climate action, report finds Research shows companies ‘aligned’ with strategies to meet climate goals have risen from 3% in 2019 to 23% in 2025

There is more prosperity from decarbonising than not decarbonising. (But Repsol, Enagás and others didn’t get the memo) www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Dive into the April 2025 #C3S Climate Bulletin summary: second-warmest April on record globally, 1.51°C above the estimated 1850-1900 pre-industrial average. End of four months with record low Arctic sea ice extent for the time of the year. 🔗 climate.copernicus.eu/2nd-warmest-...

How Xi sparked China’s electricity revolution Beijing’s aggressive pursuit of energy self-sufficiency could give it the upper hand in the trade war with the US

Important Big Read on China's electrification and huge grid investment. Western countries have progressed on decarbonising electricity but are lagging on wider system electrification, which is where true energy security lies.
on.ft.com/43g63Gl

Power Outage Rapid Response Toolkit A toolkit designed for clean energy advocates to help set the record straight on root causes of electricity blackouts and grid outages.

Reliability is a system attribute and is not dependent on any specific class of resources.

This @regassistproj.bsky.social package pulls together information and tools to respond quickly to misinformation about power outages like yesterday in ES/PT. 🔌💡

www.raponline.org/knowledge-ce...

Brilliant stuff! 🙌 What a great vote of confidence, trust and respect for Carbon Brief’s work across the board.