Advanced Search
November 3, 2014
Ice Watch by Olafur Eliasson and Minik Rosing, City Hall Square, Copenhagen. Image by Anders Sune Berg.
These are twelve pieces of ice, calved from the Greenland ice sheet and weighing a collective 100 metric tons, on display in the shape of a clock to mark the occasion of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 5th Assessment Report on Climate Change. See website for more details.
EPA Issues Final Climate Change Adaptation and Implementation Plans
On October 31, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the final Climate Change Adaptation Plan for its agency as a whole, as well as 17 Climate Change Adaptation Implementation Plans for its program and regional offices. The plans aim to reduce EPA’s greenhouse gas emissions and prepare the agency for climate change impacts, including risks from extreme weather, sea level rise, and flooding. Among other commitments, the plans require the EPA to factor climate change into its grants and funding processes to protect taxpayer investments under changing climate conditions. The plans were released initially in draft form, and collected comments for 60 days, during which states, tribes, municipalities and counties were consulted for input. “EPA’s Adaptation Plan provides the agency with a roadmap for how we will anticipate and plan for a changing climate,” said Gina McCarthy, Administrator of the EPA. Adaptation plans are required from all Federal agencies by President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, announced in June 2013. The EPA has also released a video to explain the cost of inaction on climate change.
For more information see:
Press Release, EPA Adaptation Plans
EPA Releases Data on Areas for Improvement to Clean Power Plan
On October 28, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a notice of data availability (NODA) with various ideas gleaned from public comments submitted regarding the Clean Power Plan (CPP), a draft regulation on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Stakeholders have brought to attention several problems that the NODA identifies as, “The trajectory—or glide path—of emission reductions from 2020 to 2029; aspects of the way building blocks are established; and the way state goals are calculated.” The NODA report addresses these concerns by providing information on the approaches taken in creating the CPP, and highlighting areas of concern that can be further developed. The EPA also asks for specific comments in regard to certain aspects of the CPP. In creating this NODA, the EPA worked in cooperation with an unprecedented amount of stakeholder groups, varying from state governments and utility companies, to labor and environmental groups.
In related news on the same day, the EPA released an add-on proposal to the CPP for reducing carbon pollution in Indian Country and U.S. territories that have fossil fuel-fired power plants. This proposal includes a diverse portfolio of compliance options for tribal and territorial governments to consider.
EPA News release, EPA Factsheet, EPA Supplemental Proposal
Senator Whitehouse Blames Citizens United Supreme Court Decision for Congressional Inaction on Climate Change
On October 29, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), in comments at a forum sponsored by New York University Law School's Institute for Policy Integrity, said he knows a dozen Senate Republicans who privately support action on climate change but stay silent to avoid political consequences . He attributed their silence to the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010, which effectively eliminated campaign contribution limits for companies and individuals. Whitehouse said, “After Citizens United uncorked all that big, dark money and allowed it to cast its bullying shadow of intimidation over our democracy, Republicans have backed away from any real work on major climate legislation.” He continued by saying that if the public called for action, then these Republicans would begin to emerge. The Senator said that after midterm elections, the political climate will be more amenable to moving climate legislation, such as the draft legislation he released in March with Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) to price carbon emissions.
Governors' Wind Energy Coalition
Boston Mayor Announces New Regional Climate Resiliency Initiatives
On October 29, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh announced a series of initiatives to help Boston increase its resilience to climate change. The initiatives include a $1.3 million grant for solar arrays at four Boston emergency shelters; a food resilience study to examine how production, storage and transportation systems in Boston may be affected by climate change; and a new partnership with insurance giant FM Global to protect 33 of Boston’s largest buildings from future extreme weather events. Other plans in the works include a regional summit on climate change, scheduled to kick off next spring at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. The summit hopes to “coordinate a regional approach to climate change,” with state agencies and officials from cities near Boston in attendance. In addition, an international design competition, “Boston Living with Water,” invites participants to design solutions for several Boston communities most vulnerable to flooding from sea level rise: the North End, Fort Point Channel, and Morrissey Boulevard. “The climate knows no municipal boundaries,” commented Mayor Walsh.
Boston Globe, Washington Times
Chinese Vice Premier Says China Will Cooperate with U.S. on Climate
On October 28, President Obama’s adviser John Podesta met with Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli in Beijing to discuss bilateral relations between the countries on many issues, including climate change. Podesta and Zhang agreed on the need for cooperation between China and the United States in tackling climate change, as these two countries are both the largest developed and developing nations in the world, and the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters. Zhang called for both countries to “stick to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities to jointly cope with climate change, and to further enhance dialogue on respective domestic policies and international negotiations based on respecting each other's core concerns.” 2014 is the 35th anniversary of the normalization of ties between these nations, and both are confident that common goals will lead to further strengthening of their ties. Podestra spoke on behalf of the United States, wishing for “progress in bilateral climate change cooperation, which should be made an important pillar in building the new model of relations between two major countries.”
Xinhuanet
IPCC Meets to Finalize Summary for Policymakers
On November 2, members of the United Nations (U.N.) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) finalized the Fifth Assessment Synthesis Report, the last in the most recent series of Fifth Assessment IPCC reports on climate change. The Synthesis Report is not a “cut-and-paste” of past Fifth Assessment IPCC reports, according to Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the IPCC since 2002. Instead, Pachuari says it offers an integrated approach which provides fresh insights on climate mitigation and adaptation “by highlighting contrasts and making comparisons between findings from all of these source documents.” It is Pachauri’s hope that the IPCC Synthesis Report will both quicken and ease the decision-making process for an international climate deal, scheduled to be concluded during U.N. talks to be held in Paris November 2015. The Synthesis Report will serve policymakers by comprehensively discussing the risks associated with climate change. From October 27 to 31, members of the IPCC met in Copenhagen, Denmark, to discuss the report and approve by consensus each sentence of the shorter Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers.
BBC, RTCC.org, Press Release, Report
Environmental Community Spending $85 Million in Midterm Elections
On October 17, five prominent environmental groups circulated a memo laying out plans to spend record amounts on key campaigns in the 2014 midterm elections. The groups involved in the memo are seeking to back candidates who will take leadership on climate issues, while criticizing opponents who deny climate change science. The Environmental Defense Action Fund, the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), NextGen Climate, and the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Action Fund are set to spend more than $85 million, as well as an additional $5 million raised by the website GiveGreen.com. Of these funds, over $40 million will be spent on six key races in Alaska, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, and North Carolina. “In each of these races, our groups are among the biggest, if not the biggest, spender on behalf of the pro-environment candidate,” states the document. The bulk of these funds are coming from NextGen Climate, led by billionaire Tom Steyer, accounting for over $50 million in campaign funds.
Washington Post, The Hill
CERES Report Shows Insurers Retreating as Climate Change Impacts Increase
On October 22, Ceres published a report on the preparedness of the 330 largest domestic insurance companies regarding climate change. Only nine companies were found to be explicitly integrating climate change into their risk analyses; however, overall, companies have pulled back from offering insurance in areas prone to natural disasters, reflecting the growing number of extreme weather events and associated losses. In 2013, damages caused by global natural catastrophes totaled $116 billion, of which less than one third were covered by insurance providers. Compare this to 2005 when hurricane Katrina hit, and insurance companies paid for 45 percent of the damages. The Ceres report stated, “In the long run, these coverage retreats transfer growing risks to public institutions and local populations, and reduce the resiliency of communities, which are less able to finance post-disaster recoveries.” This report summarizes the findings of a National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) survey given to insurance companies on climate change risks in 2013.
Bloomberg, The New York Times, Ceres Report
Report Finds Climate Change and Food Insecurity Will Increase Civil Unrest in 32 Countries
On October 29, Maplecroft Global Risk Analytics released the Climate and Environmental Risk Atlas, naming 32 countries, including Bangladesh, Nigeria, India, Myanmar, and the Philippines, as being at “extreme risk” of negative impacts from climate change. Maplecroft rated 198 countries based on 26 issues, including vulnerability to food shortages, civil unrest, and natural disasters. The report found that highly vulnerable countries were often very dependent on agriculture. The authors explain climate change contributes to civil unrest as it changes natural systems people depend on; they say drought and food insecurity contributed to the Arab Spring in Egypt, the emergence of Boko Haram and ongoing conflict in Syria, among others. Maplecroft estimates approximately two billion people will be affected by the “increasingly tougher prospects” caused by rising global temperatures, including three of the known West African ‘hotspots’ for the current Ebola outbreak – Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
RTCC, Maplecroft Report
Ocean Circulation Plays Large Role in Changing Climate
On October 23, researchers from Rutgers University published study findings revealing the major global cooling which occurred 2.7 million years ago may have been the result of a shift in the ocean conveyor belt. The ocean conveyor belt is a system of deep-ocean circulation that is in constant motion, driven by differentials in salinity and temperature. Ocean circulation draws heat and carbon dioxide (CO2) from the Atlantic and releases it in the Pacific. “Our study suggests that changes in the storage of heat in the deep ocean could be as important to climate change as other hypotheses – tectonic activity or a drop in the carbon dioxide level – and likely led to one of the major climate transitions of the past 30 million years," says Yair Rosenthal, co-author of the study. The study was done by gathering ocean sediment core samples ranging from 2.5 million to 3.3 million years old. Although the study suggests that past major shifts in climate may not have been the result of atmospheric greenhouse gas levels, the study authors write that “interactions between carbon dioxide, temperature changes and precipitation, and ocean circulation will result in profound changes.”
My Central Jersey, Accuweather.com, Rutgers, Study
Australian Scientists Say Government Plan for Great Barrier Reef Does Not Deal with Climate Change
In October 2014, the Australian and Queensland governments released a draft long-term sustainability plan to address the decline of the Great Barrier Reef by steeply phasing down nitrogen and pesticide pollution. However, the Australian Academy of Science says the draft plan is “inadequate to achieve the goal of restoring or even maintaining the diminished outstanding universal value of the reef,” due to its absence of a plan for climate change impact mitigation, as well as other shortfalls. Professor Terry Hughes, director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and a fellow at the Australian Academy of Science, said, “There is nothing in the plan on addressing climate change. The science is quite clear that you can’t keep the Great Barrier Reef in good condition if you're going to develop huge coal reserves . . . . We have stewardship of one of the world's premier reef systems and also stewardship of a huge reserve of fossil fuels—it's a conflict of interest, really.”
The Guardian, Australian Academy of Science
Headlines
=====================
1. Bonn Climate Talks Last Week Do Not Yield Many Results
2. Australia Has Warmest October on Record
3. Low Oil Prices Don’t Have Large Impact on Greenhouse Gas Emissions
4. Close to 10 Billion Gallons Overflow Sewers in Southeast Michigan Floods
5. Will Boston Become the Venice of the Northeast?
6. Fox News’ Parent Company Concerned about Climate Change
7. Department of Defense Knows It Needs to Consider Climate Change
Authors: Brendan Ingargiola, Emily Jackson, Angelo Bardales and Carlos Villacis
Editor: Laura Small
Top-Rated Climate Nonprofit – 4-Star Charity