New York Climate Week: Evolving Conversations on Climate Change and Energy
As the midterm elections approach, conversations about climate change and energy are shifting. Although efforts to transition to a low-carbon economy remain ongoing, issues such as energy security, affordability, supply chain resilience and growing electricity demand from artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers are increasingly shaping the discussion.
In this episode of "Midterm Minute," Energy Senior Policy Advisor Beth Viola reflects on her experience at New York Climate Week and explores the key issues likely to impact voters. Watch the full video for insights into what these evolving conversations could mean for the energy industry.
Beth A. Viola: As we look at the upcoming midterm elections, while climate change itself may not be a headline issue for many voters, energy certainly has become one.
Last week, several of us from Holland & Knight participated in events during New York Climate Week. Every year, Climate Week brings together business leaders, policymakers and environmental stakeholders from across the country in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly. This year, Climate Week underscored just how much the conversation around climate change has evolved. While we continue to talk about how we make a transition into a low-carbon economy, the primary focus of the conversation is now how do we address energy security, affordability, supply chains and, of course, the significant new demand for electricity from AI and data centers. Electricity costs, gasoline prices, data center development and who pays for new infrastructure are quickly becoming central issues for voters.
So the political conversation around energy is about affordability, reliability, security and economic competitiveness. For the energy industry, that creates both challenges and opportunities and means the outcomes of the midterm elections could have important implications for the direction of both federal energy and climate policy.