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Senator Boxer Outlines Principles for Climate Legislation On February 3, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) released a document outlining principles for the creation of a cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions “to levels guided by science to avoid dangerous climate change.” Boxer's principles for global warming legislation aim for a law that would: 1) set “certain and enforceable” short and long-term emissions targets; 2) ensure state and local entities keep working to address global warming; Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson stated that she was pleased by the quick action being taken toward legislation, and that the EPA “will be working closely with the Hill in the weeks and months ahead to address this tremendous challenge and opportunity.” The current document does not contain further details. In regard to when it will be completed, Boxer told reporters, “It will take a while, it could be weeks not months, but it will be before the end of this year.” For more information see: California Farms May Die with Climate Change, Chu Says On February 3, US Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu offered “some of the starkest comments” to date from President Obama’s Cabinet regarding the threat of climate change in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. Chu warned that in a worst case scenario, warming due to climate change could reduce the Sierra snowpack by 90 percent over the course of this century, which would eliminate the majority of natural water storage used for California farms and vineyards. “We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California,” Chu said. Beyond California, the rest of the West and upper Midwest could face major water shortages as well. Chu sees public education as an important strategy for the Obama Administration’s fight against global warming, in addition to a national electricity standard, a cap-and-trade legislation to limit greenhouse gas emissions, and billions of dollars for alternative energy research and infrastructure. Chu said he did not think the public “has gripped in its gut” what could happen as a result of climate change, and that he is “hoping that the American people will wake up." For additional information see:
Michigan Governor Puts New Coal Power Plants on Hold For additional information see:
Monaco Declaration Warns of Dangerous Ocean Acidification from CO2 Emissions On January 30, the Monaco Declaration, supported by an international panel of over 150 marine scientists from 26 countries, announced that a rapid increase in acidity was occurring in the world’s oceans that may cause “severe and widespread damages” if unchecked. The increased acidity is attributed to dissolved CO2, resulting in higher levels of atmospheric CO2 being absorbed by the ocean. The scientists found that the increase in surface-ocean acidity is faster than any natural change that has occurred in the last “many millions” of years. The acidity has a negative effect on the health of shellfish and coral reefs, which could ultimately interfere with marine food webs. “The chemistry is so fundamental and changes so rapid and severe that impacts on organisms appear unavoidable,” according to James Orr, who headed the symposium’s scientific committee and is a chemical oceanographer at the Marine Environmental Laboratory in Monaco. The Monaco Declaration is based on the Research Priorities Report developed by participants at last October’s second international symposium on “The Ocean in a High-CO2 World,” organized by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP). The Declaration concluded, “Climate-change negotiations focused on stabilizing greenhouse gases must consider not only the total radiation balance; they must also consider atmospheric CO2 as a pollutant, an acid gas whose release to the atmosphere must be curtailed in order to limit ocean acidification.” For additional information see:
UK Government Falls Short of Carbon Emissions Target On February 3, the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) reported that the nation’s CO2 emissions fell 1.5 percent in 2007. The total decline of CO2 since the baseline year of 1990 was 8.5 percent, substantially short of the government’s pledge of 20 percent by 2010. The decline by 2007 increases to 12.8 percent if it includes carbon credits bought from emission reduction programs overseas. The DECC said in a statement: “We are making definite progress towards the challenging 2010 domestic CO2 goal. However, we cannot be complacent and must continue to do more. As part of the Climate Change Act, we will be setting carbon budgets and putting into place a clear strategy to bring about real change, plotting a course to an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.” In measuring all six greenhouse gases (GHGs) covered by the Kyoto Protocol, which sets legally-binding targets for countries to cut their emissions, UK’s output was down 21.7 per cent in 2007, or 18.4 percent if not including purchased carbon credits. This still puts the UK well ahead of its target under Kyoto to cut overall GHG emissions by 12.5 per cent during 2008-2012. Responding to those figures, DECC Secretary Ed Miliband said, “It's good to see us making progress towards reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and we are on course to double our Kyoto commitment by 2012.” For additional information see:
World Economic Forum Report: $515 Billion Needed in Green Investments On January 29, the World Economic Forum and New Energy Finance released a report estimating that at least $515 billion must be invested in clean energy between now and 2030 to avoid levels of carbon emissions that scientists deem unsustainable. The report, Green Investing: Towards a Clean Energy Infrastucture, points to eight technologies that will significantly contribute to a clean energy infrastructure: onshore wind, offshore wind, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal electricity generation, municipal solid waste-to-energy, sugar-based ethanol, cellulosic and next generation biofuels, and geothermal power. The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2009, held in tandem with the release of the report, called for “unprecedented collaboration” in meeting the economic and political challenges of addressing climate change. The focus on climate change did not ignore the overshadowing dismal state of the economy, as many used the immediate pressing issue as an opportunity. The report’s authors, Max von Bismarck and Anuradha Gurung from the World Economic Forum, and Chris Greenwood and Michael Liebreich from New Energy Finance, concluded, “[E]normous investment in energy infrastructure is required to address the twin threats of energy insecurity and climate change. In light of the global financial crisis, it is crucial that every dollar is made to ‘multi-task’ to create a sustainable low-carbon economy.” For additional information see:
Fall in Price of Carbon Bad for Green Investment On February 1, The Financial Times reported that the price of carbon dioxide in the European Union (EU) has fallen so low it “no longer provides an incentive to low-carbon development, and seems unlikely to do so in the near future.” At the time, permits to emit CO2 were trading within the EUemissions trading scheme at about 11.80 euros ($15.12), hardly a third of their peak from last summer of over 30 euros. Dean Cooper, head of alternative energy at Ambrian Capital, told The Times that prices need to be at least 25 euros to affect low-carbon investments such as energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. The European Commission and member states have had trouble setting emission quotas that are both acceptable by industry, but also sufficient enough to promote low-carbon investment. The carbon price, correlated strongly with energy prices, has been low enough to have “little impact on green investment decisions,” Cooper said. For additional information see:
Sea Levels Would Rise Unevenly as Ice Sheet Melts, Study Says On February 6, the journal Science released a study projecting that a collapse and melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could cause an uneven distribution in the rise of global sea-level depending on the region of the planet. The melting of the Ice Sheet has been considered one of the potential threats of global warming, as previous studies have indicated it could cause sea-levels to rise an average of five meters. Jerry Mitrovica, a geophysicist at the University of Toronto who led the research team that made the discovery, claimed past estimates have been oversimplified because they ignore factors such as gravitational pull, the depression in Antarctica’s bedrock, and Earth’s rotational axis. By taking these issues into account, he found that some areas, such as the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines of the United States, could experience sea-level rises of “as much as 25 per cent more than expected, for a total of between six and seven meters if the whole ice sheet melts.” Mitrovica acknowledged that additional considerations need to be investigated, but he concluded, “The most important lesson is that scientists and policy makers should focus on projections that avoid simplistic assumptions.” For additional information see:
Pole-to-Pole Flight Provides First Global Picture of Greenhouse Gases On January 28, a team of scientists returned to Colorado after successfully flying from the Arctic to Antarctica during a three week analysis of atmospheric greenhouse gases. The flight was the first of five trips to take place over the next three years that will utilize a specially equipped jet known as the High-performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research (HIAPER). The project, HIAPPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO), is intended to create a “new picture of how greenhouse gases are entering the atmosphere and being removed from it, both by natural processes and by humans," said Steven Wofsy, a principal investigator from Harvard University. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is preparing to launch a satellite in February, called the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, which is also tasked with calculating the distribution of carbon emissions and sinks on Earth. International negotiations on reducing greenhouse gas emissions have made these studies increasingly significant. Britton Stephens from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and also a principal investigator for the HIPPO project, said, “This will lead to improved predictions about greenhouse gases and enable society to make better decisions about climate change.” For additional information see:
Other Headlines Lawsuit Filed Over Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
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Amy Sauer This EESI publication is a free, weekly electronic newsletter intended to inform interested parties, particularly the policymaker community, of the latest climate change-related news. Permission for reproduction of this newsletter is granted provided that EESI is properly acknowledged as the source. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute is a non-profit organization established in 1984 by a bipartisan, bicameral group of members of Congress to provide timely information on energy and environmental policy issues to policymakers and stakeholders and develop innovative policy solutions that set us on a cleaner, more secure and sustainable energy path. |
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