Transition Finance Weekly - 7/17/2025
The World Leaves U.S. Behind on Clean Energy
1. 🚦 Congestion Pricing Is Working — for Climate, Transit, and New York
We love watching good policy deliver for people.
Despite a right-wing pressure campaign to kill it, New York City’s congestion pricing pilot — which got underway thanks to an uncommonly broad coalition of public agencies, advocates, and business groups — is already achieving everything it promised and more. A new wave of data shows that traffic is down not just inside the zone, but outside it, too. Subway ridership is up. Honking complaints are down. And public support is rising, especially among people who live in the city.
Congestion pricing works because it disincentivizes unnecessary driving while funding the cleaner alternatives cities need. It’s a simple concept: tax behavior that’s bad for the public at large (private cars on congested streets) and invest the proceeds in public benefits everyone can enjoy (plentiful quality transit). NYC’s program is on track to generate half a billion dollars this year to fund rail stations, signal improvements, more frequent service, new elevators, and more.
Cities around the world are ahead of us: Stockholm’s plan cut carbon by 3% and urban pollution by 15%. London slashed nitrogen oxides by 35% and particulates by 15%. Paris, under Mayor Anne Hidalgo, has taken even more aggressive steps to limit car use and expand walkable, people-centered streets — a vision New York may soon share if likely next mayor Zohran Mamdani follows through on his pledge to expand pedestrianized zones.
2. The World Is Powering Forward Without Us
As Trump retreats, the global clean energy transition accelerates.
Global clean energy investment is now more than twice that of fossil fuels, but as energy economics surge toward the future everywhere else, Trump and his allies are increasingly forcing the U.S. to hang back.
Across Europe, Asia, and Africa, renewables are overtaking coal, oil, and gas. In June, Poland — historically a top coal producer — generated more electricity from renewables than from coal for the first time ever. Europe now gets nearly half its electricity from solar, wind, and other renewables. In China, the International Energy Agency reports that accelerating EV adoption is driving down future oil demand faster than expected. Meanwhile, China is building 74% of all wind and solar projects under construction globally.
In emerging economies, the story is just as dramatic: Pakistan now gets a quarter of its electricity from solar, with both utilities and individuals rapidly deploying distributed systems. Bangladesh has installed over 5 million home-solar systems — nearly as many as in the U.S., despite having less than half its population. Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a market-driven solar boom, with minimal subsidies.
3. Texas Floods Reveal the Cost of Ignoring Climate Data
Outdated FEMA maps left homeowners vulnerable — and unprepared.
The devastating floods that swept through Central Texas this month have claimed more than 130 lives — and revealed a dangerous gap in our ability to track and prepare for climate-driven disasters.
Despite living in what locals call “Flash Flood Alley,” only 2% of homeowners along the Guadalupe River had flood insurance. The reason? FEMA’s outdated flood maps failed to classify most of the region as high-risk, leaving homeowners unaware and uncovered. These maps determine where flood insurance is required, but underestimate the real risks. A 2023 FEMA analysis showed that 40% of flood insurance claims come from outside of designated high-risk areas.
As climate change accelerates, risks are shifting — and our tools haven’t kept up. Without accurate, updated data on flood and climate risk, neither individuals nor governments can make informed decisions. And with the Trump administration dismantling federal climate research programs and gutting NOAA’s budget, we’re flying blind into more frequent and severe disasters.
4. Clean Energy Kept the Lights On During the Northeast Heat Wave
As fossil fuel plants failed, solar and batteries saved consumers $20 million.
When temperatures soared past 100°F across New England in late June, the region’s power grid teetered on the edge of crisis. Fossil fuel plants unexpectedly went offline, and grid demand spiked higher than forecast. But thanks to a growing network of clean energy solutions — from rooftop solar to distributed batteries — blackouts were avoided and households stayed cool.
New data from the Acadia Center shows that local solar and storage didn’t just stabilize the grid; they saved New Englanders more than $20 million in peak costs. Grid operator ISO New England leaned on clean resources to compensate for fossil fuel failures: they imported electricity, tapped reserves, and drew on solar and battery capacity that’s increasingly decentralized — and increasingly vital.
Clean, distributed energy isn’t just a climate solution. It’s a resilience strategy and a national security imperative. As the Trump administration attacks clean energy and props up costly fossil fuels, states and communities must keep investing in the solutions that are already delivering when it matters most.
Jamie Dickerson, Acadia’s Director of Clean Energy and Climate: “As we see more extremes, the region still will need to pursue an even more robust and diverse fleet of clean energy resources. The power grid was not built for climate change.”
5. Grain Belt Express Faces Ideological Attacks — and Grid Reliability May Suffer
A massive clean energy project is under siege.
The Grain Belt Express is an $11 billion project to carry clean wind energy from the Midwest to Eastern markets, backed by a $4.9 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy. It would expand the U.S. electric grid with critical high-voltage transmission capacity (just 55 miles of high-voltage lines were added nationwide in 2023). The project would also create over 20,000 construction jobs across multiple states.
But now, anti-climate officials are threatening to derail it. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is “investigating” the project, and Senator Josh Hawley is taking credit for pressuring the Trump administration to pause its progress. Their ideological crusade puts politics over energy reliability — and jeopardizes an upgrade that would power millions of homes. Will the country build the clean infrastructure our future demands — or let political gamesmanship sabotage it?
SPOTLIGHT: THE PRICE OF CLIMATE DELAY IN CALIFORNIA
A new report finds California forfeited up to $3 billion in potential revenue from its cap-and-trade program over the past year — equal to one-quarter of the state’s budget deficit.
Why? Delays in extending the program and regulatory uncertainty sent carbon allowance prices plummeting from a record $42 to just $26. That lost revenue would have helped lower utility bills and funded climate investments in frontline communities. When governments delay climate action, the cost isn’t just environmental — it’s financial, too.
