Climate Change News – October 20,
2006
Brought to you by the
Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Carol Werner, Executive Director
California
Enters a New “Cap-and-Trade” Partnership with Northeast
States
On
October 16, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced
Executive Order S-20-06 to allow state businesses and
manufacturers to trade greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with at
least seven northeast states. Schwarzenegger's latest move after
signing the nation's first law capping statewide GHG emissions
in September 2006 (see Climate
Change News 9.29.06) will join California with the
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) (see Climate
Change News 12.23.05) through a “cap-and-trade”
system. Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
New York and Vermont already participate in the regional
market-based initiative, and Maryland is slated to join in June
2007. Schwarzenegger said, "But no state, of course, can
fight this war alone. I think we all have to work together. It
truly is a global problem. And states, regions, nations – all
have to work together in order to conquer this problem."
The
order will help California's businesses comply with the GHG
emission regulations by allowing them to purchase carbon
emission reduction credits from other businesses that are
polluting below the limit and thus have surplus credits, instead
of making their own reductions. The governor's spokesperson Adam
Mendelsohn said, "The more robust the (carbon trading)
market, the more effective we will be (in reducing
emissions)." Gino DiCaro, a spokesperson for the California
Manufacturers and Technology Association said,
"Implementing a cap and trade and allowing manufacturers to
offset some of the substantial costs will help manufacturers
deal with the greenhouse gas mandate."
Call to Climate Action by Evangelical Leaders
October 19 saw the launch of a
three week long, faith-based campaign using newspaper and
radio ads on global warming. The Christian Coalition of
America and the National Association of Evangelicals announced
'Call to Action', a global warming campaign to be carried
through radio, sermons, and an independent documentary 'The
Great Warming'. The Call to Action urges Christians to protect
the environment as part of their religious duty. Rev. Richard
Cizik said in an interview, "It (climate change) calls
for action soon. And we are saying action based upon a
biblical view of the world as God’s world. And to deplete
our resources, to harm our world by environmental degradation,
is an offense against God. That’s what the Scriptures say.
Therefore, if we are to be obedient to the Scriptures, there
is no time to wait, no time to stall, no time to
deliberate."
The documentary, which is
purchasing carbon offsets in order to be carbon neutral, has
been narrated by Alanis Morissette and Keanu Reeves, and will
be released across the country on November 3. ‘The Great
Warming’ is aimed at average citizens and does not want to
limit itself to a niche audience. Karen Coshof, the
documentary producer, noted, “In the course of making this
film, we were determined not to lose sight of our most
important advocate, the person on the street.” The film
emphasizes real solutions to the climate change problem that
have the potential to make a difference both short-term and
long-term.
Climate Change Brings Drought to Australia
Australia is confronting its worst
drought in a century with rampant fires devastating
agricultural areas, rivers drying up, crops failing, and
farmers forced to sell off their livestock. As reported by the
Belfast Telegraph, some politicians and environmental
groups are pointing to the increased frequency and severity of
drought-causing El Nińo weather patterns, which have been
attributed to global warming, as well as Australia’s role as
one of the top per capita producers of carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions.
In New South Wales alone, 92 per
cent of the state is officially in drought, and farmers have
begun offloading stock before the hot, dry summer sets in,
forcing them to buy feed and water. While some farmers are
braced for their first total crop failure in half a century,
consumers in urban areas are being warned to expect
significantly higher food bills. Australia is one of the
world's driest continents. But a national audit of water
resources, released yesterday, found that dwindling water
supplies were being wasted, despite restrictions imposed in
six major cities, including Sydney. The National Climate
Center has warned that without rain, the rivers will soon run
dry.
Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapse in 2002 Linked to Climate
Change
Scientists said on Monday that
they had found the first direct evidence linking the collapse
of the Larsen-B ice shelf in 2002 in Antarctica to climate
change. British and Belgian scientists, writing in the Journal
of Climate, reveal that stronger westerly winds in the
northern Antarctic Peninsula, driven principally by
human-induced climate change, are responsible for the marked
regional summer warming that led to the retreat and collapse
of the northern Larsen Ice Shelf.
Lead author Dr. Gareth Marshall of
the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) said, "This is the
first time that anyone has been able to demonstrate a physical
process directly linking the break-up of the Larsen Ice Shelf
to human activity. Climate change does not impact our planet
evenly - it changes weather patterns in a complex way that
takes detailed research and computer modeling techniques to
unravel. What we’ve observed at one of the planet’s more
remote regions is a regional amplifying mechanism that led to
the dramatic climate change we see over the Antarctic
Peninsula."
Click on the following links for
the full news stories: Reuters and
BAS
Major Corporations Expect Mandatory U.S. GHG Laws
A report by the Pew Center on
Global Climate Change released October 18 entitled
"Getting Ahead of the Curve: Corporate Strategies That
Address Climate Change" finds that many companies that
have developed a strategy for addressing climate change
anticipate that a U.S. federal law regulating greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions could take effect as early as 2010.
As reported by Dow Jones,
31 large corporations that the Pew Center sees as having a
history of addressing global warming concerns--including Alcoa
Inc., DuPont, Duke Energy, Royal Dutch Shell, Swiss Re and
Whirlpool--were surveyed for the report. The report aims to
highlight the thinking behind corporations that have already
committed to climate change strategies. "Nearly all
companies in this report (90 percent) believe that government
regulation is imminent and 67 percent believe it will take
effect between 2010 and 2015," the report said.
Lead author Andrew Hoffman of the
University of Michigan said, "If you're looking for proof
climate change is happening, stop looking for receding
glaciers and start looking at the changing marketplace."
Dupont Expects to Profit
from GHG Reductions
On October 10, DuPont Chairman
and CEO Charles O. Holliday, Jr. said the company is
broadening its sustainability commitments and will expand
its business offerings addressing safety, environment,
energy and climate challenges in the global marketplace. The
company expects to derive additional revenues of $6 billion
or more by 2015 from the targeted effort.
Holliday said, “Our top
priority is to create value for our shareholders. We will do
that by delivering sustainable solutions through science and
innovation.... Many companies say that what’s good for the
environment can also be good for business. We have a
slightly different view: What’s good for business must
also be good for the environment and for people everywhere
in the world.”
As part of its 2015
Sustainability Goals that are focused on the marketplace,
DuPont has committed to grow its annual revenues by at least
$2 billion from products that create energy efficiencies
and/or significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions
for its customers. DuPont estimates these products will
contribute at least 40 million tonnes of additional carbon
dioxide (CO2) equivalent reductions by its customers and
consumers.
Duke Energy Organizes Groups to Propose Conservation
Programs
Duke Energy Carolinas is
organizing citizen and business groups to propose
conservation programs that may be presented to state
regulators by early 2007. The groups, which have met twice
so far, consist of people from diverse backgrounds –
residential customers, commercial and industrial customers
wary of any surcharges for efficiency initiatives and
environmental groups such as Environmental Defense. They are
working with Advanced Energy, a non-profit corporation that
helps utilities and customers to improve the return on their
energy investment, to file specific energy efficiency
proposals with the NC Utilities Commission, Duke says that
it is looking for economically feasible programs that will
find acceptance among customers.
Cheaper to Deal with Climate Now Rather than Later
The Stern Review on the Economics
of Climate Change will be published on Monday, October 30. Sir
Nicholas Stern will be presenting the conclusions at the Royal
Society. Sir Nicholas, a former chief economist at the World
Bank and the UK’s HM Treasury, has spent more than a year
combing through the science and economics of climate change.
Preliminary reports are that the
review finds that cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will
be far cheaper than dealing with the impacts if global warming
continues unchecked. UK Treasury Chancellor Rt. Hon. Gordon
Brown, MP announced on July 19, 2005 that he had asked Sir
Nicholas to lead a major review of the economics of climate
change, to understand more comprehensively the nature of the
economic challenges and how they can be met, in the UK and
globally.
As reported by the Guardian,
a recent report by economists at PricewaterhouseCoopers
suggested carbon emissions could be cut to 60 percent below
expected “business as usual” levels in 2050, at a cost of
2-3 percent of 2050 global economic output—but only if the
rich world takes the initiative, and gets started now.
Canada Proposes New Domestic Targets To Cut Greenhouse
Gases
Canada’s Conservative government
introduced its Clean Air Act in the House of Commons on
October 19. The proposed Act sets a long-term target of
reducing GHG emissions by 45-60 percent from 2003 levels by
2050, along with interim deadlines for developing regulations
for vehicle fuel consumption, intensity-based and industry
targets, and smog and ozone levels. Canadian environment
minister Rona Ambrose said, “We will be the first federal
government to introduce mandatory regulations on all industry
sectors across Canada to reduce air pollution and greenhouse
gases.”
The bill, however, does not refer to Canada’s commitment of
cutting GHG emissions to six percent below 1990 levels by 2012
under the Kyoto Protocol. John Bennett of Sierra Club of
Canada said, “There is no intention now to even try to
achieve what we had pledged; we have decided to abandon our
international commitment.” Currently, the country’s GHG
emissions are 30 percent above 1990 levels.
EU Outlines Plan To Cut Energy Consumption
On October 19, the European
Commission put forth an action plan to cut Europe’s energy
consumption by 20 percent before 2020. The ambitious Energy
Efficiency Action Plan has over 75 measures setting energy
efficiency standards for a range of products such as
electrical goods, buildings, and cars. BBC News
highlighted ten priority areas identified in the Plan
including updated eco-labels on electrical appliances,
possible legislation to deliver car emissions targets,
encouraging investment in energy efficiency, making power
plants more efficient, and energy saving taxes and incentives.
The measures to be introduced over the next six years are
expected to result in annual savings of $126 billion and help
the EU meet its Kyoto commitments by cutting annual carbon
dioxide emissions of 780 million tons.
EESI Briefings
DVD’s
Available: Copies of DVD's
are available of EESI's recent climate
briefings: "Agriculture
and Climate Change: Threats and Opportunities," May
24, 2005; "What
Does Climate Change Mean for the Arctic? How is Alaska Being
Affected?,"
March 15, 2005; "Perspectives
on Climate Change: Business Initiatives to Reduce Greenhouse
Gas Emissions," November
18, 2004; “State
and Local Government Climate Change Efforts,” September
28, 2004; “Climate
Change Post 2100,” September 21, 2004; “Abrupt
Climate Change,” September 15, 2004; and
“Discussing Climate Change: A Multi-faceted View
of the Climate Stewardship Act,” June 3, 2004.
The discs are $20
ea. (incl. shipping/handling) plus tax 5.75%
(DC residents only). Click on the following link to
order a DVD: EESI
Climate Change DVD's
Events
September 30 – October 25, 2006
Free Showings of Gore
Climate Documentary
Greater Washington
Interfaith Power and Light (GWIPL)—a non-profit initiative
that helps congregations, religious institutions and others
in the Washington, D.C. area—is offering free screenings
of Former Vice President Al Gore’s climate change
documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth. The screenings are
at churches and synagogues throughout the Washington
metropolitan area from September 30 through October 25.
Click the following link for locations and times: GWIPL
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