Sen. Feinstein Outlines Democratic Plan to Address
Climate Change
On August 24, Sen. Dianne
Feinstein (D-CA) offered a new Democratic outline of a plan to
address global warming when the next session of Congress
convenes in January. The bills would require carmakers to
improve mileage and would push power producers to meet
emission standards, while extending California-style
green-technology programs nationwide. In addition to
previously introduced legislation, the plan adds a proposal to
bring agriculture and forest managers into a "cap and
trade" market system for greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).
This would allow farmers and landowners who plant trees or
convert crops into biofuels to earn emission credits that
could be sold to companies that exceed emission limits.
During an interview Sen. Feinstein
said, "There now is a scientific consensus that global
warming is happening and we can't stop it.... The effort we
have to make is to restrict it." As reported by the San
Francisco Chronicle, Sen. Feinstein said the goal would
be to keep global temperature increases to 1-2°C degrees by
the end of the century. To do so by 2050, she said, the United
States would have to cut carbon dioxide emissions to levels 70
percent below those of 1990.
New Insurance Products Address Climate Change
On August 22, investor coalition
Ceres released a report identifying 190 innovative products
and services from approximately 90 insurance companies,
brokers, and organizations in 15 countries that reduce
climate-related financial losses and greenhouse gas emissions,
many of which are win-win solutions. More than half of the
activities come from U.S. companies, covering climate change
solutions including energy efficiency, green building design,
carbon emissions trading and sustainable driving practices.
Ceres President Mindy Lubber said,
"Climate change poses unprecedented risks to the
insurance industry, but it also creates vast opportunities for
new products and services to help consumers and businesses
reduce their losses, while also reducing the pollution causing
global warming.... We've seen encouraging progress from
big-name insurers and brokers since last year's devastating
hurricanes, but many more creative services will be needed as
we confront what is perhaps the biggest threat in the
industry's history."
An examples of innovative
offerings is Firemen's Fund Insurance, which is launching a
first-of-its-kind 'green' coverage, including rate credits and
other incentives, for commercial building owners who re-build
damaged properties using green and LEED-certified building
practices. Also, Marsh, the world's largest insurance broker,
and AIG, the world's largest insurer, have launched carbon
emissions credit guarantees and other new renewable
energy-related insurance products that are allowing more
companies to participate in carbon offset projects and growing
carbon emissions trading markets. The insurance industry is
the world's largest industry, with $3.4 trillion in yearly
premium revenue.
Wildfires Threaten Release of Mercury Stocks in
Northern Soils And Plants
A five-year long study published
in the August 19 online issue of Geophysical Research
Letters finds that with climate change rapidly affecting
northern forests and wetlands, mercury reserves once protected
in cold, wet soils are being exposed to burning, likely
triggering large releases of mercury to the atmosphere. The
study, conducted by Michigan State University (MSU), the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS),the National Center for Atmospheric
Research (NCAR) and the Canadian Forest Service, indicates
that drier conditions in northern regions will cause soil to
relinquish its hold on hundreds of years of mercury
accumulation, sending that mercury back into the air at levels
considerably higher than previously realized. The report
says that boreal wildfires, which are becoming more frequent
and intense, are unleashing this sequestered mercury at levels
up to 15 times greater than previously calculated.
Lead author Merritt Turetsky, a
professor with the MSU Departments of Plant Biology and
Fisheries and Wildlife, said "We’re talking about
mercury that has been relatively harmless, trapped in peat for
hundreds of years, rapidly being spewed back into the air....
Some of it will fall back onto soils. Some will fall into
lakes and streams where it could become toxic in food
chains." The report concludes that "ongoing and
projected increases in boreal wildfire activity due to climate
change will increase atmospheric mercury emissions,
contributing to the anthropogenic alteration of the global
mercury cycle and exacerbating mercury toxicities for northern
food chains."
Temperatures Up, European Spring Arriving One to Two
Weeks Early
Scientists from 17 nations have
examined 125,000 observational series of 542 plants and 19
animal species in 21 European countries from 1971 to 2000
found "conclusive proof" that the seasons are
changing, with spring arriving earlier each year. The study
was published in the July 4 online issue of Global Change
Biology.
As reported by BBC,
spring is beginning on average six to eight days earlier than
it did 30 years ago. In regions such as Spain, which saw the
greatest increases in temperatures, the season began up to two
weeks earlier. The team of researchers also found that the
onset of autumn has been delayed by an average of three days
over the same period.
One of the paper's lead authors,
Tim Sparks from the UK's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH),
said the findings did not go as far as pointing the finger of
blame at human-induced climate change, but said it did show
that there was a direct link between rising temperatures and
changes to plant and animal behavior. Sparks said, "If
you have species that are dependent on each other changing at
different rates, that could just break down the food
web."
Industry Begins to Back Climate Legislation
Corporations are keenly aware that
lawmakers' views on climate change are shifting. Some industry
groups that have been fighting greenhouse gas (GHG)
regulations are beginning to call for federal regulation.
While Congress has yet to pass climate legislation, many
states are rushing to fill the void, most notably with the
California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) and
the seven-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
Alan Richardson, president and CEO
of the American Public Power Association recently told a group
of electric utility operators in Minnesota, "The issue is
no longer whether there is a human contribution to global
warming but the extent of that contribution...[There is] an
emerging public consensus and a building political directive
that inaction is not a viable strategy."
In a speech at the National Press
Club on August 18, Jim Press, president of Toyota North
America, challenged other automakers to work with Congress to
set reasonable goals for boosting fuel efficiency and curbing
greenhouse gases. Press said, "It's time for us to stop
being the 'against' industry and to come out strong for
something important, like a better Earth and a better quality
of life."
Zogby Poll: Americans Link Hurricane Katrina and Heat
Wave to Global Warming
A telephone survey sponsored by
the National Wildlife Federation, conducted Aug. 11–16 and
including 1,018 U.S. respondents, found that an overwhelming
majority say they are more convinced that global warming is
happening than they were two years ago.
As reported by Zobgy
International, three-fourths of likely voters (74%) are
more convinced from events over the past two years that global
warming is happening, with two in five (40%) saying they are
much more convinced. Just over one in five (22%) say they are
less convinced global warming is occurring. Majorities of
people in each political party are also more convinced, but
Democrats (87%) and independents (82%) are much more likely so
than Republicans (56%). Most men (70%) and women (77%) are
also more convinced global warming is happening.
Approximately two-thirds of
respondents feel that global warming has played at least some
influence or more on more intense hurricanes, on more frequent
droughts in parts of the U.S., on this summer’s heat wave,
and on less snowfall in parts of the country. A majority (58%)
believes global warming has been a major or at least some
influence on increased wildfires in parts of the U.S. Nearly
three in four respondents (72%) agree that addressing global
warming by requiring major industries to reduce green house
gas emissions can improve the environment without harming the
economy; this is up five percentage points from 2003 (67%)
when the same question was asked.
CFC Replacements Exacerbate Climate Change
A recent report from United
Nations (UN) climate experts finds that the
hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
promoted by the Montreal Protocol to address the stratospheric
ozone hole are significant greenhouse gases. According to the
UN report, use of HCFCs and HFCs is projected to add the
equivalent of 2 billion to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions to the atmosphere by 2015.
As reported by the New York
Times, the volume of greenhouse gases created as a result
of the Montreal agreement's phase out of CFCs is two times to
three times the amount of global-warming carbon dioxide the
Kyoto agreement is supposed to eliminate. While the volume
released is much smaller than CO2 emissions, the HCFCs and
HFCs are up to 10,000 times more potent than CO2 in terms of
greenhouse warming.
Alexander von Bismarck, campaigns
director for EIA's Washington, D.C. office said, "As it
stands, the global warming impact of world HCFCs and HFCs
emissions will rival the total greenhouse gas emissions of the
entire European Union within 10 years."
Coral Bleaching from High Ocean Temperatures: Warnings
Continue
On August 21, scientists said
Caribbean Sea temperatures have reached their annual high two
months ahead of schedule—a sign coral reefs may suffer the
same widespread damage as last year. Al Strong, a scientist
with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's (NOAA) Coral Reef Watch said sea temperatures
around Puerto Rico and the Florida Keys reached 83.5°F on
August 19—a high not normally seen until September. Strong
said, "We've got a good two more months of heating, if it
were to go up another degree, it would be pretty serious.
That's what we had last year." As reported by Associated
Press, researchers fear another hot summer could be
disastrous for coral still recovering from last year, when up
to 40 percent of coral died in abnormally warm seas around the
U.S. Virgin Islands.
Click on the following links for the full news stories: Associated
Press (1), Associated
Press (2) and NOAA
