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Brought to you by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Carol Werner, Executive Director
February 9, 2007
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Pelosi and Dingell Settle on Decision to Create Special Climate Panel

After a three week long compromise, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) have reached an agreement to create a select committee on global warming which will be chaired by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA).  Although the committee has been created, a letter written to Pelosi-signed by both Dingell and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)-specifically states that the select committee will have no legislative authority and will expire on October 30^th of 2008.  In addition, the letter outlines a measure that the Energy and Commerce Committee will have first choice to call witnesses when potential conflicts may arise, but does not clarify whether or not the select committee will have the authority to subpoena witnesses.

 According to Fox News, these legislative restrictions most likely stem from Pelosi's announcement January 18 that she wanted to have a special climate change committee.  This set off heated debate among House Democrats as major committee chairmen, including Dingell, became worried about losing power on the biggest environmental issue facing Congress.  In announcing the committee, Pelosi said she simply wanted to show that Democrats are serious about climate change.  Dingell has assured her and others that he will move aggressively on the issue despite his long opposition to efforts in Congress to impose more stringent fuel economy requirements. 

 Click on the following links for the full news stories: Fox News, Hill News (1) and Hill News (2) (pdf format) 

House Science Committee Vows Action on Climate Change 

Congress' first hearing on the findings of the Fourth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Working Group I Report was held Thursday, February 8. The hearing was historic because it was the first time a House Speaker had appeared as a witness before a Committee to testify about climate change. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was joined by witnesses Dr. Susan Solomon, Dr. Kevin Trenberth, Dr. Richard Alley and Dr. Gerald Meehl. 

Speaker Pelosi signaled Congress' intent to act during her remarks before the Committee, "We hold our children's future in our hands - not our grandchildren, or great-grandchildren, but our own children.  As the most adaptable creatures on the planet, it is time for us to adapt."

 Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) said, "The scientific experts have provided us with a diagnosis of the problem and a prognosis for our planet's health.  They've done their job and we know the prognosis is ominous.  Now, it is time for us - the policymakers - to do our jobs."

 Click on the following link for the full news story: House Science

Active Week for Climate Hearings

 On February 7, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held a hearing entitled "Climate Change Research and Scientific Integrity" with witnesses Bill Brennan, Richard Anthes, Thomas R. Knutson, James R. Mahoney, Rick Piltz and F. Sherwood Rowland. Committee Chair Daniel Inouye (D-HI) said, "We owe it to our constituents and future generations to support the fundamental science needed to fully understand the impact of climate change. However, before we can even begin debate on climate change, we must investigate the numerous allegations that our federal scientists are being constrained from conveying their research findings and conclusions."

 Also on February 7, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) held a subcommittee hearing entitled "Global Warming and Wildlife." Witnesses were Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy, Dr. Roger Mann, David Stalling, Dr. Lee Foote and Dr. Brendan Kelly. "It is a sad statement on the health of the planet when such a majestic species as the polar bear could be lost due to human activities," said EPW Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA). "But global warming's impacts on wildlife do not just affect individual species-they have a tremendous impact on our economy. From sport-fishing on the North Coast of California to big game viewing in the Sierra Nevada, biodiversity is one of our most valuable natural resources." 

Click on the following links for the full news stories: Senate Commerce and Senate EPW

Kerry and Inslee Join Lawsuit Over National Climate Assessment 

On February 8, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Representative Jay Inslee (D-WA) filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit against the Bush administration for its failure to issue a legally required National Assessment of climate change impacts on the United States that is now over two years overdue. The case is Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, and Greenpeace, Inc. v. Brennan, et al. (Case No. 06-CV-7062 (SBA) (N.D. Cal.)), a lawsuit calling on the administration to comply with the Global Change Research Act of 1990. 

According to E&E News, the Bush administration's failure to produce a second national assessment of the effects of global warming and the state of climate science is "part of a larger pattern of suppressing climate science," Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) said in the friend-of-the-court brief. At a February 7 Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Sen. Kerry blasted the Bush administration for "playing games, political games for money" by altering the work of federal climate scientists "to meet their political goals -- an allegation denied by Bill Brennan, acting director of U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), who said the Bush administration is taking action to "ensure government scientists do not face censorship on any scientific matter." 

A hearing on plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment is scheduled for April 17, 2007 in federal district court in Oakland, California 

Click on the following link for the full news story: Center for Biological Diversity

Bush Administration Accepts IPCC Report 

On February 5, US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said of the Summary for Policymakers of Working Group One of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report that, "We're very pleased with it. We're embracing it. We agree with it." Bodman told a news conference, "Human activity is contributing to changes in our Earth's climate and that issue is no longer up for debate." At the same time, Bodman reiterated the administration's opposition to mandatory caps on the emission of carbon dioxide. 

Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), a member of a committee that deals with energy, commerce and natural resources, took issue with the Secretary Bodman's remarks by making a connection with Friday's Groundhog Day celebration. "It sounds like the Bush administration, having seen the very real shadow of scientific evidence of global warming, has chosen to go back into its hole of denial by saying that it will not support measures to reduce global warming and its disastrous effects on our economy and environment," Markey said in a statement. 

Click on the following link for the full news story: Reuters

Mayor Will Wynn Announces Bold Steps for City of Austin to Fight Climate Change 

On February 7, Mayor Will Wynn announced a major plan that would make the city of Austin the nation's leader in the fight against greenhouse gases.  Specifically, he stressed the importance of individual efforts to fight global warming at a local level. 

"Ultimately, the problem is generated locally, by each of us in this room, as consumers, day in and day out, of energy, so we should do our part locally to solve the problem," Wynn said. 

His unprecedented plan, which sets ambitious goals across city sectors, will attempt to:

-Power 100 percent of city facilities with renewable energy by 2012.

-Make the entire city fleet carbon neutral by 2020.

-Require Austin Energy to meet 30 percent of all energy needs through renewable resources by 2020 and to achieve carbon neutrality on any new generation units.

-Make all new single-family homes zero net-energy capable by 2015.

-Increase energy efficiency in all other new construction by 75 percent by 2015.

-Require existing homes to be upgraded to be more energy efficient before they can be sold.

-Develop a locally based "carbon footprint calculator" to let Austinites figure out how much energy they are using daily. Calculator

-Promote carbon neutrality among visitors by allowing them to buy offset credits for the energy they used during their visit to Austin 

The plan will go before the city council next week for approval. 

Click on the following links for the full news stories: KVUE, KXAN and Cox News Service (pdf format)

Climate Change Affecting China 

At least 300,000 people in northwest China are short of drinking water because of unseasonably warm weather. The country's top meteorologist, Qin Dahe, said the recent dry and warm weather in northern China was related to global warming. He told reporters that China was committed to improving energy efficiency and planned to reduce carbon dioxide and other emissions by 20 percent in the next five years. 

Mr. Qin's comments, at a press conference in Beijing, mark the Chinese government's first official response to the findings of the recent IPCC Working Group One climate assessment report. "The Chinese government is taking climate change extremely seriously," he said. "President Hu Jintao has said that climate change is not just an environmental issue but also a development issue." 

China's foreign ministry spokesperson, Jiang Yu, reiterated the government's commitment to curbing greenhouse gases but also said, "Developed countries bear an unshirkable responsibility." Ms. Yu said that they should "lead the way in assuming responsibility for emissions cuts". 

Click on the following link for the full news story: BBC

Chinese Climate Officials Say Global Warming in Hands of Wealthier Nations 

Jiang Yu, spokeswoman for China's Foreign Ministry said China is willing to contribute to curbing greenhouses gases from industry, agriculture and vehicles, but Jiang and China's top climate official declared that wealthy countries bore the blame, and the solution lay in their hands.  "The key issue of the current international negotiations on climate change is that developed countries must continue to take the lead in cutting emission of greenhouse gases and take concrete measures in this regard, as required by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol," said Jiang.  This comment underscores an ongoing international debate between developed and developing countries (i.e., United States and China/India) regarding mandatory caps on carbon dioxide emissions. 

China, possibly becoming the world's third biggest economy by 2008, is currently the world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases contributing to climate change, trailing only the United States.  Nearly 70 percent of China's energy production fuelling this economic growth is attributed to coal-burning power stations, many of which are equipped with substandard pollution controls.  Qin Dahe, chief of the China Meteorological Administration, noted, "[China] lacks the money and technology to switch to cleaner alternatives to coal which supplies two-thirds of the country's energy but it is only a matter of time that [the country] moves to cleaner energies."  No Chinese official would directly say whether China would accept mandatory emissions caps, although there are proposals to establish a carbon trading exchange in Beijing. 

Click on the following links for the full news stories: Reuters, New York Times, People's Daily and China Daily

Beijing May Host Asia's First Carbon Trading Exchange 

China and the United Nations are working to set up a carbon trading exchange in Beijing - a move that could establish the Chinese capital as an important center for the multibillion-dollar global trade in carbon credits.  Finances from the program, entitled "MDG Carbon: Carbon Finance for Achieving Millennium Development Goals", will be used to alleviate poverty and develop the renewable energy sector in western China.  

Carbon trading, through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), is one of the ways that developed countries can meet their obligations of reducing greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol by investing in GHG emission reduction projects in developing countries.  While typical CDM projects do not lead to technology transfer or foster the development of clean energy in China, this 3-year project will aim to establish CDM centers in 12 provinces that will act as brokers between international investors and local partners to kick-start "green" investment in China's less developed regions. 

If successful, the exchange - which would be the first in the developing world - would compete with private sector carbon exchanges established in Europe (EU ETS) and the United States (CCX), and would help to further open the lucrative Chinese market in carbon credits.  China now supplies over one third of carbon credits to the global carbon market established under the CDM.  Speaking on the prospect of this carbon trading scheme, Khalid Malik, the UN resident coordinator in China, said, "I hope we can launch it this year - the sooner the better." 

Click on the following links for the full news stories: People's Daily, China Daily, Financial Times and China Internet Information Center

CCX and XShares to Develop Carbon Credit Emissions Products 

XShares Advisors LLC, a financial services company focused on the development and distribution of innovative Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), recently announced an agreement with the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) to develop products based on carbon emission credits.  CCX, the second largest carbon emission trading market in the world, is a legally binding allowance system which includes major players such as Ford Motor Company, DuPont, IBM, Motorola, and the State of New Mexico among the other 220 members.  The new products will be based on carbon emissions credits, which give firms or organizations the right to emit a specified amount of carbon dioxide over a certain time period. Emissions credits are bought and sold in carbon trading markets, however neither CCX nor XShares would say when the products will be released or how they will work.  "It's great that companies are doing this, but it's kind of like a precursor," said Judi Greenwald of the Pew Center for Global Climate Change. "It's really a voluntary program, so you don't know overall what you're getting out of it because people self-select. It's not a substitute for actually restraining emissions, which is what we need to do to address climate change." 

Click on the following links for the full news stories: PR Newswire, Medill News Service, Reuters and CCX

EC Urges Car Makers to Cut Emissions 

On February 7, the European Commission (EC) unveiled a broad strategy to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from cars, proposing binding limits that automakers say will threaten jobs and lead to price increases for consumers.  Backing the EC's strategy, Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said the rules were essential to meet Kyoto commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions 8 percent by 2012 from 1990 levels.  In addition, the EC released a strategy paper stating legislation would be framed to "ensure competitively neutral reduction targets which are equitable to the diversity of the European automobile manufacturers."  Dimas suggested consumers would be able to recoup increased costs in lower fuel bills. 

This debate stems from an agreement between auto manufacturers and the Commission made nine years ago to bring down the average emissions from new and imported cars to 140 grams of CO2 per kilometer by 2008.  Although emissions have been falling, they have not gone far enough, hitting only 162 grams in 2005.  Experts say that cars people buy have been getting heavier due to safety regulations and demand in the market for more comfort.  Jos Delbeke, head of the Commission's climate change unit, explains, "the downside of what has been done is that... only a third [of fuel efficiency gains] have been translated into reduced energy consumption and that is part of the problem that we have to address."  As of now, road transport currently contributes roughly one-fifth of the European Union's entire CO2 emissions; passenger cars alone account for 12 percent alone.  

Click on the following links for the full news stories: AP, EurActiv and Reuters

Australia Looks to Carbon Trading Scheme as Possible Climate Solution 

A task force set up by Australian Prime Minister John Howard to investigate carbon emissions trading released its issue paper on Wednesday, February 7.  The paper states, to the dismay of many environmentalists, "It is unlikely that a comprehensive international agreement to support a single trading scheme will emerge in the near future.  A key issue to consider is whether the introduction of a domestic emissions trading scheme is consistent with such a goal."  As a result, over the next four months Australia will consider a national carbon-trading system to combat global warming.  

While the task force promotes a carbon trading system over a carbon tax due to flexibility, they want to make sure their actions will not compromise Australia's competitive advantages in the possession of large reserves of fossil fuels and uranium.  Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane also points out, "What we're looking at is if we were to adopt a domestic trading scheme, how we would not... cost jobs in Australia to countries that don't have a carbon-trading scheme."  Specifically, Mr. Macfarlane is referring to real concerns whether India and China would agree to a global emissions trading system under the Kyoto Protocol, raising the prospect of Australia taking pre-emptive action. 

Like the United States, Australia has also refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse emissions. However, a report from British Treasury economist Sir Nicholas Stern on Oct. 30, 2006 suggests that emissions-trading systems from around the world could be linked using a pool of credits created under the Kyoto Protocol, creating a carbon credit price.  Ultimately, implementing a globally consolidated carbon trading system is a daunting task, and the jury is still out on what immediate actions Australia will take towards this goal.  

Click on the following links for the full news stories: The Australian, International Herald Times, The Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Government

Branson Launches $25m Climate Bid 

On February 9, British tycoon Sir Richard Branson announced a $25 million prize for the scientist who comes up with a way of extracting greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The Virgin Group chairman was joined by former US Vice President Al Gore and other leading environmentalists as he announced the challenge to find the world's first viable design to capture and remove carbon dioxide from the air. 

A panel of judges will oversee the prize, including James Hansen, the noted climate scientist and head of the NASA Institute for Space Studies; the inventor of Gaia theory James Lovelock; UK environmentalist Sir Crispin Tickell; the Australian mammalogist and palaeontologist Tim Flannery; and former Vice President Al Gore. 

They are looking for a method that will remove at least one billion tonnes of carbon per year from the atmosphere. The organizers of the Virgin Challenge said the winner would receive $5 million once judges rule they have succeeded. The rest of the money will be paid out over 10 years if the judges decide the goal of removing significant amounts of greenhouse gases has been met over the long term. 

Click on the following links for the full news stories: BBC and Sydney Morning Herald

Sonar Imaging May Reveal Meltwater Channels Beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet 

Over the past few weeks, a team of scientists aboard the James Clark Ross have been conducting research along the Antarctic coast.  During a recent project to map the sea floor using sonar imaging, the scientists believe they have discovered meltwater channels beneath the Antarctic ice sheet.  This data, along with similar data from satellite imaging, raises alarm among scientists because these channels are believed to be a crucial element contributing to the destruction of glacial sheets.  Essentially, the meltwater channels act as lubrication to gradually move the massive ice sheets sitting atop bedrock into the ocean.  

Rob Larter, a marine geophysicist with the British Antarctic Survey at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, explains, "What we have found is one piece of the machinery that operates in large ice sheets, which puts us one step nearer being able to reliably model how they behave." While one of the most fearsome consequences of climate change is significant rises in sea level due to glacial melting, Larter says the implications for predicting sea level changes will take some time to sort out.  The team aboard the Ross is the first to produce "hands on" evidence of these meltwater channels. 

Click on the following links for the full news stories: Science Now and British Antarctic Survey

EESI Briefings

Events

February 14, 2007               Developing and Financing Wind Energy Projects

The American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE), in collaboration with the American Bar Association's (ABA) Renewable Energy Resources Committee will host a teleconference entitled "The New Framework for Developing and Financing Wind Energy Projects." This teleconference will overview these "next generation" issues for current wind energy projects, including potential wind opportunities in the new Congress, novel financing strategies and techniques, and new issues facing project developers working on larger projects at more challenging sites. The event takes place on Wednesday, February 14 from 12:00-1:30 pm ET. There is a $20 charge for this event.  Click on the following link for more information: ABA

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Fredric Beck

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