Watch: A conversation on the path toward a clean energy transition

The big picture: On Wednesday, October 25, in Washington, D.C. Axios senior climate reporter Andrew Freedman and national politics reporter Sophia Cai hosted conversations looking at how policymakers, companies and consumers can work together to encourage the long-term, safe uptake of more energy-efficient products.

• Guests included White House OSTP deputy director for industrial innovation Justina Gallegos, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Galvanize Climate Solutions co-executive chair Tom Steyer.

Justina Gallegos discussed how investments in clean energy development in the U.S. have increased following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.

• "So we are starting to see large booms in clean energy production and manufacturing here in the U.S., which is incredibly exciting. And so our team just released new analysis that was covered on Monday that shows that the private sector is doing that follow on investment at scale in the U.S., which is very exciting. We already knew that since the start of the administration there was about $70 billion in new clean energy manufacturing … but on Monday we found that there was an additional $133 billion in clean power generation, so actual power generation projects, had been announced or come online."

Rep. Ritchie Torres explained the role permitting reform plays in building out more transmission infrastructure and accelerating the clean energy transition.

• "I feel like the IRA is shifting the dynamics of the market in favor of clean energy, like coal is increasingly a relic of the past, oil, fossil fuels are becoming a relic of the past. I think there's no stopping the momentum in favor of clean energy. But we cannot get to decarbonization without transmission infrastructure, like in New York, most of the renewable energy production happens upstate. And so in order for New York City to become a clean energy economy, we need transmission infrastructure that's bringing clean energy from upstate New York to downstate New York. That's an essential element of the transition."

Tom Steyer said that he believes the clean energy revolution is happening at a rate much faster than the general public understands.

• "I think most people do not know how bad the climate statistics are, and they're terrible … But the other thing that's happening, this revolution is happening much, much, much faster than people understand, both in terms of the deployment of existing technologies like wind, solar, EVs, batteries but also in the development of technologies to solve these so-called hard to abate sectors. So I'll give you one other statistic just to keep in mind, which is we expect that in 2030, 7 years from now, 80% of the cars sold in the world will be EVs."

Sponsored content:

In the View from the Top sponsored segment, UL Standards & Engagement executive director Dr. David Steel explained how they are working to develop standards around clean energy products and sources to ensure safety for consumers in today's "second wave of electrification."

• "It's no longer about electricity to the home, it's now about electricity everywhere, it's about sources of clean energy. And so that's why we see for our standards development, clean energy is such a relevant, critical item because just as we've been ensuring safety for 120 years of energy coming into the home, electrical wiring systems in your home and so on, fire safety, all of these different topics, now we have a whole suite of safety standards from wind turbines, photovoltaic installations, all the way through energy storage systems … so making sure we have standards at all points in that clean energy value chain."

Thank you to UL Standards & Engagement for sponsoring this event.