How to End Fossil Fuel Dependence

An Urgent Next Step for Green Industrial Policy

An industrial policy revival is fueling widespread renewable energy production in the United States. But mitigating the climate crisis isn’t just about generating more energy from solar and wind—it’s about stopping greenhouse gas emissions by ending the use of fossil fuels. In a new report, Roosevelt Fellow Kate Aronoff lays out a framework for harnessing state power to wind down fossil fuels.

“The US continues to actively support and subsidize its fossil fuel industry as it pursues green industrial policies meant to—somehow, on some timeline—transition away from that very industry,” Aronoff writes. The energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables is not only necessary, but must be managed by the state, Aronoff explains. Without state intervention, the private sector may offload its risks onto the public. A vast policy tool kit—from new regulations to new government institutions—can help the government wind down the fossil fuel industry, which is already in decline.  

“The urgent, unfinished business of the Inflation Reduction Act,” writes Aronoff, is “not simply to actualize a transition to renewable energy and low-carbon goods, but to convince policymakers to embrace a more activist state to manage the decline of fossil fuels.”

Read more in Green Industrial Policy’s Unfinished Business: A Publicly Managed Fossil Fuel Wind-Down.

California Needs a Public Banking Option

Millions of Americans are locked out of full economic participation thanks to the unexpected banking fees associated with most financial products. In Capitol Weekly, Roosevelt President Felicia Wong and SEIU President April Verrett make the case for CalAccount, a bold public banking option in California that could serve the state’s primarily Black, Latinx, and immigrant underbanked population.

Five percent of households in the US lack bank accounts, and another 14 percent rely on predatory nonbank alternatives. On top of that, research shows that banks offer worse terms to Black and Latinx customers. CalAccount would not only provide these communities with access to financial services, but could inspire and inform the dozens of city and state legislatures—and even federal policymakers—looking to expand access to basic no-cost banking. 

“By ensuring that all Californians have access to fee- and penalty-free debit accounts,” Wong and Verrett write, “CalAccount can close the state’s growing racial wealth gap and rein in the banking industry’s unchecked, often discriminatory, profiteering.”

Read the piece: “California Can Improve Access to Banking for Women of Color.”

What We’re Talking About

#PrimeDay reminder ➡️ Amazon is a monopoly that gained power by dodging taxes. https://t.co/XieCsbbFJx

— Roosevelt Institute (@rooseveltinst) July 16, 2024

What We’re Reading

Why Unstable Prices, Inflation Could be Coming to a Store near You – feat. Roosevelt’s Elizabeth Pancotti – Business Insider

The Road to Freedom – feat. Roosevelt Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz – Pitchfork Economics [podcast]

Democracy Under Attack: Lieberwitz and Reddy on Unions, Universities, the Supreme Court, and More! – feat. Roosevelt Fellow Diana Reddy – Power at Work [podcast]

A Fintech’s Collapse Raises Questions about a Hot Business Model – feat. Roosevelt Fellow Todd Phillips – Bloomberg

The Best Way to Fight Heat Waves and Outages Is to Green the Grid – The New Republic