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April 6, 2015
This image is taken from a Climate.gov video showing two tropical cyclones, one on each side of the equator, near Australia from March 8-18, 2015. The storms were named Pam and Bavi. On March 13, Pam passed through the island of Vanuatu, causing considerable damage. Image courtesy of climate.gov. To see the video, click here.
On March 31, the Obama Administration submitted its plan to cut domestic greenhouse gases to the United Nations, an important step countries must complete before international climate talks in Paris later this year. The United States had previously committed to a 26-28 percent reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, below 2005 levels, by 2025. The new pledge includes a blueprint showing how the United States will meet this emissions target. Jennifer Morgan, Global Director of the Climate Program at the World Resources Institute, stated, “The United States’ proposal shows that it is ready to lead by example on the climate crisis.” Countries responsible for over 50 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions have announced INDCs, including Switzerland, the 28 countries in the European Union, Norway, Mexico, Russia and Gabon.
For more information see:
Medium, The New York Times, The Hill, Politico
On March 27, the Mexican government submitted a plan to the United Nations in advance of the Paris climate talks in December, pledging to hit peak greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2026, with a 22 percent reduction of GHG emissions and 51 percent cut in black carbon emissions by 2030. Additionally, the pledge sets a reduction target for its emissions intensity, with a promised 40 percent cut in carbon pollution per unit of gross domestic product by 2030. Mexico is the first developing country to submit an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, or INDC, to the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The White House released a joint statement with Mexico, saying, “Mexico is setting an example for the rest of the world by submitting an INDC that is timely, clear, ambitious, and supported by robust, unconditional policy commitments."
The White House, NRDC Switchboard, The Huffington Post, Mexico INDC
A poll released on March 25, conducted by the Benenson Strategy Group on behalf of the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Sierra Club, found 72 percent of Americans overall support an international climate agreement. The poll found 88 percent of Democrats support an international agreement, while 73 percent of Independents and 52 percent of Republicans are in favor. People aged 18 to 34 were more likely to be in favor at 86 percent, while older age groups (35-49 and 50+) were just below 70 percent in favor. The poll also found women were more likely to support a deal than men, with 79 percent of women in support compared to 63 percent of men. The poll surveyed 1,000 likely 2016 voters, with an “oversample” of 200 women, from January 12-20, 2015.
Huffington Post, Poll
On March 30, John Ashton, the United Kingdom’s former climate change envoy and founder of think tank E3G, wrote an open letter to Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden. The letter was a response to a speech van Beurden made in February, in which he said it was “naive” to consider replacing fossil fuels with renewables in the global energy mix to stop climate change. Ashton criticized van Beurden’s speech, calling it a “manifesto for the oil and gas status quo.” Ashton said the speech shows Shell wants to deal with climate change, without affecting its own business model. “Stop frustrating ambition. Talk to us about how you will play your part in a [clean energy] transition,” Ashton wrote.
The Guardian, The Guardian, Van Beurden Speech
On March 30, a study on ocean ecosystems was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The study found that marine life could need at least a thousand years to recover from climate change. Peter Roopnarine, co-author of the study and researcher at the Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology of the California Academy of Sciences, stated, “In this study, we used the past to forecast the future. We don’t want to hear that ecosystems need thousands of years to recover from disruption, but it’s critical that we understand the global need to combat modern climate impacts.” Higher temperatures result in decreasing oxygen levels in the oceans, which in the past has decreased ecological biodiversity for millennia.
NBC News, Study
A report published on March 30 in Nature Geoscience found Aspen trees are threatened by climate change and a warming atmosphere. The paper studied droughts in the western United States in the early 2000s, when millions of Aspen trees died. As droughts occur more often in the future as a result of climate change, such die-offs could become more routine. Aspen trees have shallow roots and are not able to tap into the moisture deep underground. When the shallow ground gets too dry, air bubbles form in the tubes trees use to draw up water, which “block[s] the pipes and interrupt[s] water transport, giving the tree a kind of heart attack,” stated the lead researcher of the report, William Anderegg.
The New York Times, Nature
On April 2, Politico published news that nonprofit Next Generation, co-founded by environmentalist Tom Steyer, is ending its climate and energy program and is likely to shift resources to its political work before upcoming presidential elections. Senior advisor and energy program leader, Kate Gordon, wrote in an email acquired by Politico that the nonprofit’s California-based energy policy program would move to NextGen Climate America, a nonprofit run by former Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) employee Dan Lashof. Gordon added in the email, “The great work our team has accomplished here at Next Generation — work focused primarily on bringing new voices and new allies into the fight against climate change and for a cleaner, more sustainable economy — will continue.”
Politico
Preliminary data released April 1 from the European Commission may indicate that the European Union (EU) has reached its 20 percent carbon reduction goal six years early. Data analysis by Bloomberg indicated greenhouse gas emissions covered by the EU’s carbon trading program dropped 4.9 percent, meeting the EU’s 2020 emissions goals. This is supported by an analysis from Sandbag, a British NGO, which estimates emissions fell below the EU’s 2020 target. However, a Thompson Reuters Point Carbon analysis estimated emissions only fell 4.5 percent, slightly above the EU’s target. For more information see: Climate Action Programme, Sandbag, European Commission
On April 1, a group of Senate Republicans led by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requesting it to release the climate change models used for its regulations. The letter was co-signed by Senators James Inhofe (R-OK), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and John Barrasso (R-WY), members of the Environment and Public Works Committee. The Senators wrote, “Given that the administration’s proposal to fundamentally change the nature of domestic electricity generation is based on the apparent need to avoid ‘devastating’ climate impacts to the United States and the planet, it is imperative that the agency be candid and forthright in assessing the reality of this projection.” EPA spokeswoman Liz Purchia said the agency will respond to the senators’ specific questions.
The Hill, News Release
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1. Cap and Trade Revenues in California Pass $1 Billion
2. EPA Administrator Says McConnell’s Clean Power Plan Amendment Shows Misunderstanding of Plan
3. Climate Change Makes Droughts Worse in Australia
4. Carl Pope Writes, Senator Reid’s Retirement Is Loss to Climate Movement
1. EPA’s Clean Power Plan: Will it Work and Will it Be Upheld?
Wednesday, April 8 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
B-318 Rayburn House Office Building Independence Avenue SW and South Capitol Street
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invites you to a briefing examining key policy and legal issues associated with the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rules to limit carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from existing power plants, which account for 38.7 percent of domestic carbon emissions. According to the EPA, its proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) would lead to a 30 percent cut in carbon emissions from the power sector by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. How will these cuts be implemented? And will the CPP hold up in court?
Please RSVP to expedite check-in.
2. The Transportation Clock is Ticking: Impacts, Risks, and Solutions
Thursday, April 9 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
B-369 Rayburn House Office Building Independence Avenue SW and South Capitol Street
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) invite you to a briefing about the looming expiration of the Transportation Bill. How does uncertainty over federal transportation funding put jobs and local economies at risk? What can be done to ensure stable, long-term federal investment in public transit, highways, and bridges? How can new information from APTA, to be released at the briefing, help us understand how the federal funding at risk impacts specific regions and the nation as a whole?
Authors: Samuel Beirne, Rachael Shook, and Caitlin Madera
Editor: Laura Small
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