Good morning and happy Friday,

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President Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race has re-energized the Democratic campaign, as supporters rallied around Kamala Harris, smashing fundraising records and raking in more than $100 million between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening.

His announcement prompted allies to reflect on his legacy in multiple areas, including energy and climate, where he’s “proud to have delivered.” E&E News selected five numbers that define Biden’s energy legacy, but our favorite remains the nearly $125 billion in project funding (and 100,000+ jobs that will create) companies have announced since passage of the IRA.

Here's hoping all those projects (and many, many more) get built ASAP – a new analysis from Rhodium finds that the U.S. is making progress on its climate goals – but still falling short, and Copernicus Climate Change Service announced that on Monday July 22, the daily global average temperature reached a new record high of 17.15°C, the hottest day in their dataset, which begins in 1940.

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Read on for more.

It’s been a whirlwind of a week in presidential politics, and Kamala Harris has secured enough delegate endorsements to win her party’s nomination. Clean power advocates are generally comfortable with the Vice President’s positions on energy and climate, which could be even more progressive than President Biden’s. Here are a few talking points:

• Importantly, as a senator Ms. Harris staked out bold positions as an original co-sponsor of the Green New Deal and in casting the tie-breaking vote that led to passage of the IRA. While it’s an open question as to whether that legislation will help get her elected, former EPA director Gina McCarthy says the VP will “kick ass against Trump.” 
• Of course, there’s also been plenty of speculation about Harris’ potential running mate. The top contenders all get at least some positive marks on energy and/or the environment, although most have had to walk a “fine line” on key topics in their current positions.
• One important arrow in Harris’ quiver is her “go-to guy on climate.” Ike Irby served as her top climate adviser from 2021 to early 2024, having started on her Senate staff back in 2017. “A scientist by training,” he’s also “an expert policy adviser and tactician.” 

The KHive’s abuzz. ICYMI, Kamala Harris’ “longtime online fandom” is known as the KHive, and this week it’s been breaking the internet. The campaign quickly changed its website header to mimic the “neon lime” used for Charli XCX’s most recent album after the singer endorsed Ms. Harris, tweeting that “kamala IS brat,” a reference to the album’s title. Will a lime-green meme energize young voters and translate into a victory for green energy?

Senator Joe Manchin, chair of the Energy and Natural Resources committee, will retire at the end of this Congress, but he’s hoping a “last-ditch” attempt at passing permitting reform will succeed. The Energy Permitting Reform Act contains a little something for almost everyone and has received mostly – although not exclusively – positive reviews. Here’s the playbill:

• For developers, perhaps the most important thing to know about the legislation is that it has received wide backing from clean energy and transmission groups, including the American Clean Power Association, the Solar Energy Industries Association, the American Council on Renewable Energy, Advanced Energy United and Americans for a Clean Energy Grid. 
• The main reason clean energy trade groups support the bill is that it promises to significantly speed up the permitting process, particularly on public lands, and address transmission issues by providing “siting authority for interstate lines, compulsory interregional planning, and clarity on cost allocation.” 
• Environmental groups are less enthusiastic: the Sierra club says the bill offers handouts to the fossil fuel industry, the Center for Biological Diversity called it Frankenstein legislation, and Earthjustice says it “greenlights a massive fossil fuel buildout in the name of compromise.”

Lame duck sprint? Given that the presidential election will suck up all the oxygen for the next 100 days or so, while Sen. Manchin may seek to move the bill out of his committee soon, its “best shot of seeing the floor” won’t come until after November 5. Meanwhile, alternative proposals may emerge from the Environment and Public Works committee. President Biden, Vice President Harris, and congressional Democratic leaders have yet to weigh in on the legislation.

• Biggest tax payers: Wind power can be a major source of tax revenue, but officials struggle to get communities on board
• Hands off: Ohio advocates seek to ‘Trump-proof’ recent gains made on clean energy and climate
• Not cool, coal: Coal plants earned $1 billion for knocking cheaper midwest wind offline
• Ewenique: Avangrid hires 5,000 sheep for grazing on two solar projects in the Pacific Northwest
• Long extension cord: Parkwind sets up first-ever maintenance vessel charging system at Belgian offshore wind farm
• Tricky tradeoff: Lithium critical to the energy transition is coming at the expense of water
• Long-awaited: CPUC proposes procuring 7.6 GW of offshore wind by 2037
• “Misguided”: Advocates file injunction to halt new California battery installer requirements
• Expensive hoax?: Trump takes aim at offshore wind turbines in latest attack on green energy

• IN: Elkhart County Commissioners approve agreements for 850 acre solar project
• LA: A plan to build one of the state's biggest solar farms was rejected. Lawsuits have now been filed.
• MA: GE Vernova says Vineyard Wind blade break down to 'manufacturing issue'
• MT: Puget Sound Energy signs 25-year PPA with Clearway for 315 MW of wind 
• NV: Largest US solar-storage complex goes live
• NY: Town of Hartland extends solar moratorium, wraps up solar focus group
• OH: Streetsboro’s solar moratorium still on hold
• TX: SolarCycle reinstalls decommissioned solar panels at factory
• WI: Regulators urge scaling back Vista Sands Solar project due to concerns over prairie-chickens

Amidst the flurry of election reporting, the term “blue wall)” is often bandied about. Well, if Norwegian company Wind Catching Systems (WCS) has their way, green (energy) walls may soon become a thing, too.

WCS’s Windcatcher is a “floating wall of wind” designed for use in offshore environments. DNV, the leading international classification organization, recently certified the Windcatcher as technically feasible, which means the proto design can proceed to the next phase of development.

According to WCS, the modular nature of the Windcatcher “allows for easy expansion or contraction,” thereby enhancing its adaptability. In addition, the technology “maximizes the electricity production per floating unit, maximizing acreage utilization” and offers the potential to reduce the levelized cost of energy for floating wind.

As we wait to see if the Windcatcher, er, catches on, New York-based designer and Airvia co-founder Joe Doucet is working on designing wind fences that can be incorporated into urban landscapes. Although not (yet) sized for residential homes, the company says the technology is suitable for hotels, corporate buildings, and residential units. Things are definitely looking up for walls of wind!