The press release seems to suggest that the standard contractual clauses are still good enough - It'd be weird to suggest that if it isn't true in practice. But I'm unsure, and you have some valid points.
Yes relying on standard contractual clauses is a valid approach in general, but not necessarily for transferring data to the US. You can use them e.g. when transferring data to countries that provide effective and enforceable privacy guarantees, as e.g. Switzerland, South Korea or Singapore do.
