Climate Change News - December 1, 2014 | Newsletter

This week’s image shows President Obama pardoning the Thanksgiving turkey, a tradition which President George H. W. Bush began in 1989.

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Top Energy Legislators Write to FERC over Grid Reliability Concerns with Clean Power Plan

On November 24, a group of energy-focused Republican lawmakers sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) over the members’ concern that President Obama’s proposed Clean Power Plan will negatively impact electricity reliability. The letter expressed concern that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not adequately consult FERC while preparing the proposed rule. The lawmakers cited a recent report from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) that identified potential grid impacts from states’ efforts to lower their greenhouse gas emission rates. The lawmakers also requested that FERC provide a record of communication with EPA over the past 18 months regarding the Clean Power Plan and “that FERC convene a technical conference to hear formally from DOE . . . and other relevant stakeholders so that FERC may examine the significant concerns, as identified by NERC’s report, that EPA’s Clean Power Plan presents for grid reliability.” The letter was from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), incoming chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee; Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee; and Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), chairman of Energy and Commerce’s Energy and Power Subcommittee.

For more information see:

The Hill, Letter

Interfaith Power and Light Delivers 10,756 Comments to EPA on Clean Power Plan

On November 18, Interfaith Power and Light (IPL), a group which brings together religious voices on climate change, met with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy along with 16 other religious organizations to voice their support for draft regulations on carbon emissions from existing power plants. To coincide with the meeting, IPL delivered 10,756 comments in support of the draft regulation to the EPA. “People in our religious communities understand that climate change is real and we are heart-sick about the suffering it causes our neighbors close to home and around the world,” commented Karen Leu, part of the Washington D.C. IPL chapter. Other religious groups who gathered to support the draft regulation represented Islam, Quakers, Hinduism, Reform Judaism, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the United Methodist Church, Baha’is, the Presbyterian Church, and other member organizations made up of many faiths and denominations.

For more information see:

IPL

NRG Energy Commits to Cutting Emissions 90 Percent by 2050

On November 20, NRG Energy, one of the largest energy companies in the United States, announced plans to reduce its carbon emissions 50 percent by 2030 and 90 percent by 2050. They have already achieved a previous goal of reducing carbon emissions 40 percent since 2005. “As the U.S. transitions to a renewables-driven, increasingly distributed, grid resilient energy system, we expect to be a leader in clean energy and in converting the carbon emissions of our conventional generation from a liability to a profitable by-product,” commented NRG Energy CEO David Crane. NRG Energy plans to continue use of coal power plants by retrofitting them to capture carbon emissions and either sequester the emissions underground or sell them. In addition, NRG Energy announced its headquarters have grown too small for its current size, and that it will be constructing a state-of-the-art building which “characterizes the NRG vision.” The building, due to open in 2016, will use combined heat and power (CHP), be off-grid capable, use energy-efficient lighting, rainwater harvesting, solar power generation, and have the capability to both charge electric vehicles and use them as back-up generators.

For more information see:

The New York Times, Sustainable Business

World Bank Climate Report Says 1.5 Degrees C Global Warming Unavoidable

On November 23, the World Bank released Turn Down the Heat: Confronting the New Climate Normal, the third report in its Turn Down the Heat series, stating that global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius is unavoidable, due to past and projected greenhouse gas emissions. The report looks closely look at climate-caused risks in three regions: Eastern Europe/ Central Asia, the Middle East/North Africa, and Latin America/the Caribbean. Across all the regions, the report found that rainfall has increased, drought-prone areas see droughts more frequently, and extreme temperatures both hot and cold are happening more often. “Dramatic climate changes and weather extremes are already affecting millions of people around the world, damaging crops and coastlines and putting water security at risk,” said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. In addition, melting permafrost is releasing methane, a greenhouse gas 84 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a 20 year period, further exacerbating the problem. However, the report says that with action, the worst effects of climate change and warming of two degrees Celsius can still be averted.

For more information see:

Business Insider, Reuters, World Bank Press Release, World Bank Report

Global Climate Financing Is Behind, Study Says

On November 20, the Climate Policy Initiative released its 2014 Global Landscape of Climate Finance report, which found that public and private global climate finance in 2013 totaled $331 billion, eight percent lower than 2012 levels. The International Energy Agency has said the world needs to invest $1.1 trillion annually in the energy sector to keep global warming below the internationally agreed upon target of two degrees Celsius. “In cumulative terms, the world is falling further and further behind its low-carbon and climate-resilient investment goals,” the report states. Most of the drop in investments comes from the private sector, which reduced spending 14 percent from 2012 to 2013. The report says part of this decrease in private spending can be attributed to the lower cost of renewable energy installations, especially solar photovoltaic, which cost $40 billion less in 2013 than 2012 for comparable amounts of installation. Public spending remained relatively constant.

For more information see:

Inside Climate News, Press Release, Report