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January 26, 2015
This week's image is of a video the released on climate.gov January 20, showing the age of Arctic sea ice from 1987 to 2014. The oldest perennial ice in the Arctic has drastically declined. Old ice is shown in white; new ice is blue. Watch the video here to see the decline of perennial ice in action. Image courtesy of climate.gov.
On January 20, during the 2015 State of the Union address, President Obama said of all the challenges facing future generations of Americans, none is greater than climate change. “The best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate, and if we do not act forcefully, we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods,” Obama said. “The Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security. We should act like it,” he added. The Obamas also invited Nicole Hernandez Hammer, a researcher who studies how climate change will impact the Hispanic population, to sit next to First Lady Michele Obama during the address.
For more information see:
Sciencemag, National Journal, The Hill
On January 22, the Senate voted on three amendments to the Keystone XL Pipeline bill regarding climate change. One of the amendments passed, two failed. The passing amendment (S. Amd. 29), authored by Sen. Whitehouse (D-RI), states, “It is the sense of the Senate that climate change is real and not a hoax.” This amendment passed 98-1, with Sen. Reid (D-NM) not voting for health reasons, and Sen. Wicker (R-MS) casting the only ‘no’ vote. The remaining two climate amendments failed due to contention over humanity’s contribution to climate change. Sen. Hoeven’s (R-ND) amendment (S. Amd. 87), which stated that “human activity contributes to climate change,” fell one vote shy of the 60 votes needed to pass, with all Democrats and 15 Republicans voting for it. Sen. Schatz’s (D-HI) amendment (S. Amd. 58), which said “human activity significantly contributes to climate change,” failed 50-49, with the support of five Republicans.
In related news on January 21, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) introduced a separate amendment to the Keystone XL bill (S.Amd. 79) stating the bilateral agreement on climate reached in November 2014 between President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping has “no force and effect” in the United States. This amendment, like the ones mentioned above, is nonbinding and meant to express the “Sense of the Senate.” On January 22 the amendment failed, 51-46.
The Hill, LA Times
On January 21, the White House announced that Brian Deese, current deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and former deputy director of the National Economic Council, will replace outgoing John Podesta, who served as a Counselor to President Obama. Deese will take over Podesta’s climate and energy policy portfolio, under the title of Senior Adviser. President Obama is expected to focus on energy and climate during his last two years in office. White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough stated, “Brian is kind of the whole package—policy, strategy, insight to legislative and public affairs matters—and that’s what the President was looking for.” Podesta, a Democratic strategist, will leave office in February. The Wall Street Journal has reported Podesta will be working on strategy and policy for Hillary Clinton’s presidential run.
The National Journal, Reuters
On January 15, Pew Research Center released a poll which found that 38 percent of Americans think climate change should be a top policy priority for President Obama and Congress. An additional 51 percent said the environment should be a top priority. The importance of climate change to the American people has increased 10 percent since last year. By political party, 66 percent of Democrats and 35 percent of Republicans think protecting the environment is important, while 54 percent of Democrats and 15 percent of Republicans think addressing global warming should be a top priority.
Washington Post, Pew Research
On January 19, the University of Michigan and Muhlenberg College released a poll finding that a majority of Americans support the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed regulation to lower carbon emissions from existing power plants, called the Clean Power Plan. Sixty-seven percent of voters said they supported the Clean Power Plan, and 73 percent said they supported requiring reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants as well. Seventy-nine percent of respondents said they supported alternative and renewable energy mandates, and 84 percent supported higher energy efficiency standards for new homes and appliances. However, close to 60 percent of poll respondents opposed a carbon tax. The poll was conducted over a random telephone survey of 942 American adults from October to November in 2014, with a margin of error of 3.5 percent.
Michigan News, Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition
On January 20, PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwC) released a survey of CEOs, “Leading in extraordinary times.” The survey found that just six percent of CEOs who participated in the survey thought addressing climate change should be a priority for policy makers. Instead, 78 percent of respondents were concerned about regulations and nearly two-thirds would like to see lower business taxes. Dennis Nally, chairman of PwC stated, “I think [concern about climate change] is there; I just don't think it is as prominent as some of the shorter-term issues.” This is despite the warning and advice of the insurance industry and groups such as the Risky Business Project, a group founded by Michael Bloomberg, Henry Paulson and Tom Steyer that has outlined the business costs of climate inaction. The annual survey of over 1,300 CEOs from 77 countries was released just prior to the World Economic Forum, an annual event where business and government leaders meet in Davos, Switzerland.
International Business Times, PricewaterhouseCoopers
On January 21, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s charity, in partnership with the Heising-Simons family, announced a new plan to donate $48 million over the next three years to help states use clean energy to comply with a coming regulation on carbon emissions. The proposed regulation from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will require states to submit plans outlining how they will reduce carbon emissions from operating power plants in their territories. The Bloomberg and Heising-Simons plan, called the Clean Energy Initiative, will not award grants directly to state governments. It will instead finance local and national groups to help states, by providing technical assistance such as analyzing grid optimization for clean energy and doing economic forecasting. Michael Bloomberg stated, “These grants will help states meet new federal clean power requirements in ways that save money and lives.”
The Hill, New York Times, Bloomberg
On January 12, a Yale, UC San Diego, and UC Berkley study published in Proceedings of the National Academy Sciences found the rate and magnitude of massive mortality events (MME) of animal species are increasing worldwide. The study defined an MME as a large population die-off of over 1 billion animals, the death of 90 percent of a population, or 700 million tons of dead mass. Over the last 70 years, MMEs have increased on average at a rate of one extra every year. Climate-influenced events, such as extreme weather, caused 25 percent of the die-offs. Co-author of the study and assistant professor of biology at the University of San Diego Adam Siepielski stated, “The study provides yet another example of the challenges to life that organisms are confronted with on a planet increasingly dominated by the influence of humans in the environment.”
National Geographic, Yale University, University of San Diego, Study
On January 19, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a policy paper calling for more action to be taken to protect the genetic diversity of the world’s food against climate change. According to the FAO, 16-22 percent of wild crops -- including 61 percent of peanut species, 12 percent of potato species, and 8 percent of cowpea species -- are in danger of extinction within the next 50 years. These varieties may harbor important traits farmers can capitalize on as weather and pestilence patterns alter under climate change. The paper recommended expanding seed banks, better farming and breeding practices, and researching the effects of climate change impacts on food crops. “In a warmer world with harsher, more variable weather, plants and animals raised for food will need to have the biological capacity to adapt more quickly than ever before,” according to Maria Helena Semedo, FAO’s Deputy Director-General.
Reuters, Tribune.com, United Nations
On January 13, a study by the University of Montana in Geophysical Research Letters found that warming measurements had been overstated in the Western U.S. mountain ranges. The National Weather and Climate Center’s Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) station network had measured more rapid warming at high elevations than lower elevations, a concern for water sources and ecosystems. Study lead author Jared Oyler found the temperatures reported were inflated between 217 and 562 percent, due to aging equipment. Oyler explained, “Extreme warming observed at higher elevations is the result of systematic artifacts and not climatic conditions.” Oyler continues that without these inaccurate “artifacts” the climate station network’s minimum temperature trend from 1991-2012 is “statistically indistinguishable” from the warming trends reported at lower elevations. None of the faulty data has been used in global climate change models.
Science News, Study
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1. Pharrell and Al Gore Doing Concerts to Raise Climate Change Awareness
2. Floating an Idea to Include Climate Change in the Food Pyramid
3. Drilling Deep into Antarctica to Discover Lessons about Climate Change
4. Why Religious People of Color Care about Climate Change
5. Climate Change Contributing to Decline of Big Trees in California
6. Small Temperature Rise from Global Warming May Drastically Reduce Wheat Yields
1. EDTA and EESI Briefing - Tuesday, February 10, 2015 on Capitol Hill
The Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA) and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) invite you to a briefing discussing the road ahead for electric drive vehicles: what can we expect in the market over the coming years and what role will federal and regional leaders play in speeding access to next generation transportation options? Policymakers and industry leaders will provide their expert insights, and a moderated Q&A will follow.
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Capitol Visitor Center Auditorium
Please RSVP to expedite check-in.
2. 2015 NASEO Energy Policy Outlook Conference - February 3-6, 2015 in Washington D.C.
NASEO's 2015 Energy Policy Outlook Conference will focus on the energy and economic opportunity in modernizing the nation’s energy infrastructure—electric grid, pipelines, buildings, and transportation—to achieve a more resilient, sustainable, and energy efficient future. The need to modernize our aging energy infrastructure is among the most important global competitive challenges facing the United States. Registration is now open--be sure to get your registration in before January 16, to get the discounted price. You may register here. For more information, please visit here.
EESI is a sponsoring organization of this event.
Authors: Samuel Beirne, Caitlin Madera, and Emily Jackson
Editor: Laura Small
Top-Rated Climate Nonprofit – 4-Star Charity