Climate Change News - August 28, 2009

Poll: Obama Has Broad Support for Energy Reform

On August 28, a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that the majority of Americans support President Obama’s efforts to reform U.S. energy policy. The poll, conducted from August 13-17 among a random national sample of 1,001 adults, found that 57 percent of those polled support energy policy changes proposed by Congress and the Obama administration. Twenty-nine percent of the sample was opposed to the changes. A narrower majority of the sample, 52 to 43 percent, back a cap-and-trade system, a margin that has remained the same since June. When asked if they believe the proposed changes would address the issue of global warming, 52 percent of those polled said they believed they would, compared to 34 percent who said they would not. In addition, 52 percent felt that proposed energy policy changes would not raise energy prices, while 41 percent believed prices would increase as a result.

For additional information see: Washington Post

Climate Tipping Point Defined for U.S. Crop Yields

A study published August 24 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences predicts that the yields of three important U.S. crops could drop 30 to 46 percent under slow global warming scenarios in the next century, and 63 to 82 percent under the most rapid warming scenarios. Dr. Michael Roberts of North Carolina State and Dr. Wolfram Schlenker of Columbia University, used climate models developed by the UK’s weather service to measure the possible yields for corn, soybeans and cotton. Crop yields increase gradually between 50 to 86°F, the study found. But when temperatures rise above 84.2°F for corn, 86°F for soybeans and 89.6°F for cotton, yields fall steeply. “While crop yields depend on a variety of factors, extreme heat is the best predictor of yields,” Roberts says. “There hasn’t been much research on what happens to crop yields over certain temperature thresholds, but this study shows that temperature extremes are not good.” Roberts said that the while the study only looked at U.S. yields for these three crops, its effects will be felt worldwide, since the United States produces 41 percent of the world’s corn and 38 percent of its soybeans.

For additional information see: Science Daily , UPI , New Scientist

Report Finds Climate Change Could Bring More Heat Waves to United States

On August 25, a report published by the National Wildlife Federation and Physicians for Social Responsibility warned that climate change will bring more extreme heat waves, which will affect urban areas more, especially minority and elderly populations. Urban areas will feel the heat more acutely because asphalt, concrete, and other structures absorb and reradiate heat, causing temperature to be as much as 10°F higher than nearby rural areas, the report noted. Heat waves will make ozone pollution worse in many areas when temperatures rise dramatically, and can increase health risks such as heat stroke, heart attacks and asthma. This is another reason why we must take steps to curb global warming pollution as much and as quickly as possible," said Amanda Staudt, a climate scientist with the National Wildlife Federation.

For additional information see: PSR Press Release , Scientific American

New Tool to Show How Each State Affected by Climate Change

On August 27, The Nature Conservancy launched a new tool allowing people to see how temperatures in their states will rise over the next century as a result of climate change. The Climate Wizard is a tool that details how temperatures and precipitation in each U.S. state and other countries will change by month, season or year under different greenhouse gas (GHG) emission scenarios. The analysis used data from the 2007 report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and was produced help of experts at the University of Washington and University of Southern Mississippi. Overall, the analysis found that Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa would heat up the most if emissions continue to rise unchecked, followed by South Dakota, Oklahoma, Missouri and Illinois. “To many, climate change doesn’t seem real until it affects them in their backyards,” said Jonathan Hoekstra, director of climate change for The Nature Conservancy. “This study shows that from the food we put on the table to the animals that make our country unique, none of us is immune if temperatures continue to rise as projected.”

For additional information see: The Nature Conservancy Press Release , Deseret News , Louisville Courier-Journal

U.S. Bans Commercial Fishing in Warming Arctic

On August 20, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke approved a plan to prevent the expansion of commercial fishing into the Arctic sea, the ice of which is melting because of rising temperatures. The plan, which bars industrial fishing in U.S. waters north of the Bering Strait, including the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, received widespread support from several environmental and industry groups and is a precautionary measure to protect the Arctic, which is warming faster than the rest of the planet. “[The Arctic] plays a key role in regulating global climate," said Janis Searles Jones, vice president of the Ocean Conservancy. "Expanding industrial uses in a region that is poorly understood and already under enormous stress could have dire consequences, not only for the Arctic but for the planet as a whole." Locke said the target was to take time to develop a sustainable fishing plan that will not harm the overall health of the Arctic ecosystem.

For additional information see: NOAA , New York Times , AP

State Department Gives Green Light to Canada-U.S. Oil Pipeline

On August 20, the U.S. State Department approved construction of a 450,000-barrel-a-day pipeline connecting Canadian oil sands to the United States. These oil extraction projects have contributed to a sharp increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by Canada, which as a result will not meet its own climate change targets. The State Department said they had focused on “a number of strategic interests of the United States, including expanding available supplies of energy, also increasing trade with a stable and reliable ally such as Canada” and reducing foreign oil imports.

For additional information see: Washington Post , The Globe and Mail , Financial Times , UPI

Additional Fake Letters to Congress on Climate Bill Discovered

On August 18, it was announced that five more false letters claiming to be from charities opposing climate change legislation were discovered by Congressional investigators. The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming had asked the lobbying firm responsible, Bonner & Associates, and their client, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, to go through a total of 58 letters sent to three members of Congress. The total number of forged letters is now at 13, with 45 more under investigation. Jack Bonner, the firm’s founder, said the responsible employee was temporary and had been fired.

For additional information see: New York Times , The Guardian

Oil Industry Details Costs of Climate Bill

On August 24, the American Petroleum Institute (API) released a study looking at the impact of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) and concluded that by 2030, U.S. refining may fall by a quarter, or 4.4 million barrels a day. The API said costs associated with legislation, which passed the House in June and is now before the Senate, will discourage refiners from running plants at full capacity, and investment in refining may fall by as much as $90 billion, or 88 percent over this same period, which could make the nation more dependent on fuel imports. “The study clearly shows the devastating impact this legislation could have on U.S. jobs and U.S. security,” said Jack Gerard, API’s president. Under the legislation, the report found, refineries are considered responsible for 44 percent of U.S. emissions, but are only allocated 2.25 percent of the proposed permits to emit greenhouse gases. They say the bill “inequitably distributes free emission allowances” away from the refining industry.

For additional information see: Bloomberg , The Houston Chronicle , Wall Street Journal

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Seeks Trial on Global Warming

On August 25, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced that it has asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to hold a trial-style public hearing on the scientific evidence for man-made climate change, complete with witnesses, cross-examinations and a judge who would rule on the issue. The EPA is preparing to regulate greenhouse gasses under the Clean Air Act, after announcing in April they would declare that these emissions contribute to air pollution and endanger public health and welfare.

For additional information see: Los Angeles Times , New York Times

Scientists Warn UN 'Drastically Underestimated' Cost of Climate Change Adaptation

On August 27, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) released a report that claimed that the UN’s estimate for adapting to climate change is much smaller than the true costs. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has estimated the cost for adaptation to be around $40 billion to $170 billion a year until 2030. "Just looking in depth at the sectors the UNFCCC did study, we estimate adaptation costs to be two to three times higher, and when you include the sectors the UNFCCC left out, the true cost is probably much greater," said lead author Martin Parry, a visiting research fellow with the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London. Parry estimated the costs to be in “several hundreds of billions,” but added that it was difficult to be specific until further studies are done. A spokesman for the UNFCCC said the organization had to be conservative in their estimates. “Looking at what was out there in 2007, these were best estimates, which we simply collected; and we had to err on the side of caution," the spokesman said. “Finance is the key that will unlock the negotiations in Copenhagen," said IIED director Camilla Toulmin. "But if governments are working with the wrong numbers, we could end up with a false deal that fails to cover the costs of adaptation to climate change."

For additional information see: BBC , Telegraph , Reuters

Top UN Scientist Backs Ambitious Climate Target

On August 25, Rajendra Pachauri, the lead scientist for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), added his personal support to stricter targets for atmospheric CO2 concentrations. At the current level of 385-to-390 parts per million (ppm), severe impacts from climate change have started and may get worse over time. The 2007 IPCC report recommended that the world maintain CO2 concentrations below 450 ppm. In an interview with Agence France Presse, Pachauri said the world needs to target 350 ppm. Though constrained from giving professional recommendations by his position on the IPCC, Pachauri said, "as a human being I am fully supportive of that goal. What is happening, and what is likely to happen, convinces me that the world must be really ambitious and very determined at moving toward a 350 target."

For additional information see: The Guardian , AFP , Australian Network News

Black Carbon and Ozone Could Provide ‘Quick Climate Wins’

In the August 20 issue of Foreign Affairs, scientists argued for aggressively reducing black carbon soot and ground-level ozone in order to reach significant near-term benefits for climate and health. “Fully applying existing emissions-control technologies could cut black carbon emissions by about 50 percent. And that would be enough to offset the warming effects of one to two decades’ worth of carbon dioxide emissions,” wrote authors Jessica Seddon Wallack, director of the Center for Development Finance at the Institute for Financial Management and Research, and Veerabhadran Ramanathan, of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. Because black carbon particles and ground-level ozone remain in the atmosphere for periods of only weeks to months, as opposed to the centuries that CO2 remains in the atmosphere, the authors argue that mitigation measures targeting black carbon and ozone would therefore produce immediate climate benefits. “Reducing the human-caused ozone in the lower atmosphere by about 50 percent, which could be possible through existing technologies, would offset about another decade’s worth.”

For additional information see: Foreign Affairs , UCSD Press Release

Climate Change Could Deepen Poverty in Developing Countries

In the August 20 issue of Environmental Research Letters, the Development Research Group of the World Bank and climate researchers at Purdue University published a report that identifies the urban poor as the group likely to be hardest hit as a result of climate changes this century. "As the frequency and intensity of climate extremes increase, crop production damages from such events will change. Sharp reductions in crop supply put upward pressure on food prices,” the researchers explained. "Food is a major expenditure for the poor, and while those who work in agriculture would have some benefit from higher grains prices, the urban poor would only get the negative effects," said Thomas Hertel, who co-led the study.

For additional information see: Institute of Physics Press Release , Science Daily , Environmental Research Letters

Blair: Global Pact Will Accelerate Chinese Climate Change Action

On August 20, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair called for a “practical, realistic and objective” climate change pact to accelerate China’s efforts to transition to a low carbon economy. Speaking ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations in Copenhagen this December, he said, "I think the desire is there to reach an agreement at Copenhagen in a way it wasn't there 12 years ago at Kyoto. . . . The level of determination is bigger than it's ever been before," he said. "And I really believe this time that China and America need not be in collision on this issue. They can cooperate to find a common solution."

For additional information see: AFP , China View , China Daily

Africa Wants $67 Billion a Year to Fight Climate Change

On August 24, Reuters reported that a draft resolution from African leaders will ask rich nations for $67 billion per year to fight global warming. Ten African Union (AU) leaders recently met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to agree to a common and coherent stance ahead of a United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) summit in Copenhagen in December, in order to improve their negotiating position. "One single country will not solve its environmental problems on its own, it will need partners, and that's why it's very important that there's that unified common position," said Kenyan Environment Secretary Alice Kaudia. Speaking about the compensation claim, Lumumba Di-Aping, Sudan's deputy UN representative said, "the proposition is that it has to be an amount significant enough to lead to rapid, sustainable development and industrialization of developing countries, in particular Africa."

For additional information see: Reuters , BBC

September 1: State Energy and Climate Actions: Efficiency in the Built Environment

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and Center for Climate Strategies (CCS) invite you to a briefing to learn about state actions to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, industry and community land use. Experts on the panel will discuss the wide variety of policy measures their states have implemented to improve energy efficiency in the built environment. The briefing will take place on Tuesday, September 1, from 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. in 253 Russell Senate Office Building. This briefing is free and open to the public. No RSVP required. For more information, contact EESI at (202) 662-1892 or climate [at] eesi.org.

September 2: Building Information Modeling (BIM) and High Performance Buildings

The High Performance Building Congressional Caucus Coalition invites you to a luncheon briefing to introduce the opportunities that building information modeling can provide to support the overall goal of providing high performance buildings for our country. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is focused on eliminating significant amounts of redundant and wasted effort currently embedded in the design, construction, and operations of facilities due to the lack of software interoperability. All interested Congressional staff are cordially invited to this event on Wednesday, September 2, from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. in B-354 Rayburn House Office Building. There is no charge for the event, but space is limited. Please RSVP by August 27, 2009 to Holly Velez by fax at 202-289-1092 or hvelez@nibs.org. Lunch will be served.