Posts Tagged ‘Climate’

Super Pollutant Emissions Reduction Act Introduced in Congress Targets “super” climate pollutants: black carbon, methane, ground-level ozone, and HFC coolants

Posted by admin on May 11th, 2013

Washington, D.C. — Congressman Scott Peters (D-Calif.) today introduced the Super Pollutant Emissions Reduction Act of 2013, or SUPER Act, to establish a U.S task force to reduce super climate pollutants under existing authorities.  The super pollutants, also know as short-lived climate pollutants because they remain in the atmosphere for only short periods, include black carbon, a primary component of soot, tropospheric ozone, the principle component of urban smog, methane, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), factory-made chemicals used in air conditioning, refrigeration, and insulating foams.


The bill designates these as “super pollutants” because they are hundreds to thousands of times more potent in their warming effects than carbon dioxide.  Collectively, these super climate pollutants” have contributed up to 45% of observed global warming to date. 


Because of their powerful warming impacts and the short time they remain in the atmosphere, reducing these pollutants is essential for slowing the rate of climate change in the near term and reducing dangerous climate impacts over the next several decades.  In addition, black carbon and tropospheric ozone are traditional air pollutants, and reducing them will help to prevent many of the estimated six million deaths that occur every year from air pollution and will reduce the burden of disease for many more, while also improving food security.


“The combined benefits for improving public health and food security, as well as reducing near-term warming, should make reducing super pollutants a no brainer that is welcomed across party lines,” said Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development.


Reducing these super pollutants worldwide can cut the rate of global warming in half over the next 40 years, avoid more than 0.6°C in cumulative warming by 2050 and 1.1°C or more warming by 2100.  “Reducing the super  pollutants is absolutely essential for staying below the 2°C guardrail,” said Zaelke.  “In addition to cutting the rate of global warming in half, fast action to reduce these pollutants can cut the rate of warming in the Arctic by two-thirds, and the rate of warming over the elevated regions of the Himalayas and Tibet by at least half.” 


“The U.S. has shown leadership on short-lived climate pollutants at the international level by co-founding the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants,” said Zaelke. “But the U.S. is still among the largest emitters of HFCs in the world and per capita emitters of black carbon.  Taking decisive domestic actions will deliver concrete benefits here at home, and help restore U.S. leadership on climate protection worldwide.”



Congressman Scott Peter’s press release is here.


IGSD’s analysis of mitigation strategies for the SLCP Task Force is here.


IGSD’s Primer on Short-Lived Climate Pollutants is here.


The Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants website is here.



Contact Info: Durwood Zaelke [email protected], (202) 498-2457

Erin Tulley, (202) 338-1300, [email protected]

Website : Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development

ENN Network News – ENN

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Climate Change Necessitates Flood Barriers in European Cities

Posted by admin on May 1st, 2013

As climate change threatens with higher sea levels, heavy rainfall, floods, and destructive storms, European cities may have to assemble flood barriers, warned the continent’s environmental watchdog.

These would be similar to London’s Thames Barrier that protects the city from sea surges, which was finished in the 1980s after the disastrous floods of 1953.

Climate change effects will be so extensive across Europe that water suppliers will invest in desalination technology, farmers will have to grow new crops and vineyards might have to plant different grape varieties.

Infrastructure including communication, energy and transport networks, along with buildings, will also have to be adapted.

The report, Adaptation in Europe, was carried out by the European Environment Agency. It found half of the EEA’s 32 member countries to still lack adaption plans to global warming effects, but others have started to take action.

EEA’s executive director, Jacqueline McGlade, said adapting was about thinking in new ways, and acknowledging complexity, uncertainty, hazards and risks.

But she said it was a team, rather than independent, effort.

It will require Europeans to co-operate, to learn from each other and to invest in the long-term transformations needed to sustain our wellbeing in the face of climate change,” she said.

Europe is already experiencing climate change effects, according to the EEA, and more is to come. Even if existing bids to reduce international greenhouse gas emissions prove successful, further impacts are likely from a changing climate, such as more frequent “extreme weather events”, including periods of significant rainfall, heat waves and fiercer storms.

With Europe’s average temperatures increasing, south of the continent has less rainfall, the focal point of Europe’s agriculture, while in the north floods are rising due to more rainfall.

While preventative measures may incur costs initially, over the long-term this should result in savings.

The report’s authors refer to the Danube basin as an example, which is costing €183 million to restore to its natural state. But these renovated areas should safeguard against flooding, which cost €396 million in damage in 2005.

Image Credit Andy Roberts – Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Enviro News – News

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Adapt faster to changing climate, Europe warned

Posted by admin on April 29th, 2013

  • , environment correspondent

    • The Thames Barrier
    The Thames Barrier was planned from the 1960s and finished in the 1980s, after the disastrous sea surge and floods of 1953 that claimed hundreds of lives in the UK. Photograph: Rex Features

    Cities around Europe may have to erect flood barriers similar to the Thames Barrier that protects London from sea surges, as climate change takes hold and leads to the danger of much more destructive storms, floods, heavy rainfall and higher sea levels, Europe’s environmental watchdog has warned.

    The effects of climate change will be so far-reaching across the continent that vineyards may have to plant new grape varieties, farmers may have to cultivate new crops and water suppliers look to technology such as desalination in order to cope with the probable effects of more extreme weather. Buildings and infrastructure such as transport, energy and communication networks will also have to be changed.

    The warnings come in a report from the European Environment Agency, called Adaptation in Europe. The research found that half of the 32 member countries of the EEA still lack plans to adapt to the effects of global warming, although others have begun to take action.

    Jacqueline McGlade, executive director of the EEA, said: “Adaptation is about new ways of thinking and dealing with risks and hazards, uncertainty and complexity. It will require Europeans to co-operate, to learn from each other and to invest in the long-term transformations needed to sustain our wellbeing in the face of climate change.”

    The EEA has found that the effects of climate change are already being felt across Europe, and more is in store. Even if current efforts to cut global greenhouse gas emissions are successful, there are likely to be further impacts from a changing climate, including more frequent “extreme weather events” such as fiercer storms, heatwaves and periods of heavy rainfall. Average temperatures across Europe have risen, and there is now less rainfall in southern Europe, where much of Europe’s agriculture is focused, and more rainfall in northern Europe, where it gives rise to floods.

    Monday’s report classes the different measures to adapt to climate change as “grey”, meaning technological and engineering projects such as river or sea flooding barriers; “green” projects that are based on adapting natural ecosystems, such as changes to farming methods and crops; and “soft” measures which are categorised as policy changes, and measures such as early warning systems for forest fires. All will be needed to ensure Europe can adapt to the changes under way, and although the projects may incur upfront costs, they should result in savings over the longer term.

    The Thames Barrier was planned from the 1960s and finished in the 1980s, after the disastrous sea surge and floods of 1953 that claimed hundreds of lives in the UK, and almost 2,000 in the Netherlands. Policymakers in the UK decided that the risk of another such event to London’s financial centre and inhabitants was too great to leave them without protection. Since then, the barrier has been raised far more often than had been originally predicted, an increase that is likely to be at least partly due to climate change.

    The authors of the report point to the example of the Danube basin, parts of which are being restored to their natural state at a cost of €183m. But the restored areas should provide protection against flooding, which in 2005 cost €396m in damage.

    Environment news, comment and analysis from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

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    China and Montreal Protocol Team Up for Fast Climate Protection Equivalent of 8 billion tonnes of CO2 will be eliminated in China Bargain price less than 5 cents a tonne over 17 years

    Posted by admin on April 26th, 2013

    Washington, DC – The Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol will provide China $ 385 million over the next 17 years to completely eliminate its industrial production of HCFCs by 2030.  HCFCs are industrial gases used in refrigeration, air conditioning, and insulating foams that both warm the climate and destroy the ozone layer.


    “The Montreal Protocol once again demonstrated how important it is for climate protection by striking a deal with China this week to cut the equivalent of 8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions—for the bargain basement price of less than 5 cents a tonne,” said Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development.  “This is about the same climate mitigation as all the parties to the Kyoto Protocol have achieved through the first phase of that treaty.”


    Zaelke noted that “the deal with China also provides significant protection for the stratospheric ozone layer and helps reduce skin cancers, cataracts, and suppression of the human immune system.”


    Under the deal, the funding mechanism of the Montreal Protocol, the Multilateral Fund, is required to pay the “incremental costs” for developing countries making the transition from harmful HCFCs to more environmentally friendly substitutes.


    China is the leading producer of HCFCs, with more than 90% of the capacity in developing countries, supplying much of the world’s needs in the refrigeration, air conditioning, and insulating foam sectors.


    The Multilateral Fund will cover China’s cost of closing and dismantling its HCFC production facilities, which will include $ 95 million to cover the first stage of its HCFC phase-out plan.  China is taking these steps to meet its mandatory mitigation requirements under the Montreal Protocol’s decision in 2007 to accelerate the phase out of HCFC specifically for climate protection, as well as ozone protection.


    “The phase-out of HCFC production in China means that all the developing countries will comply with the Montreal Protocol and that the Protocol will continue as the world’s best environmental treaty, and best climate treaty,” added Zaelke.


    “China’s willingness to accelerate its phase out of HCFCs is a positive sign we hope will be matched by its willingness to avoid moving into the super greenhouse gas HFCs as replacements,” Zaelke said.  “Such a move would cancel the climate benefit, and be a major setback for the Montreal Protocol.”


    The China deal comes only a week after the Federated States of Micronesia and the Kingdom of Morocco on April 16 formally filed a proposal to use the Montreal Protocol treaty to phase down the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), super-greenhouse gases that have global warming potentials hundreds to thousands of times higher than carbon dioxide, and have been the leading replacement for HCFCs in the developed countries. The North American parties, including the United States, Canada and Mexico, filed a similar proposal to phase down HFCs.  Both proposals would reduce HFCs by 85-90%, and provide the equivalent of100 billion tonnes of CO2 in mitigation. Again, the cost would be pennies a tonne.


    The proposals were filed two days after publication of research led by Dr. V. Ramanathan of Scripps Institution of Oceanography concluding that the rate of global warming could be cut in half by 2050, and sea level rise could be reduced by a quarter by the end of the century, through reductions of HFCs and other short lived-climate pollutants, including methane, tropospheric ozone, and black carbon.


    “Reducing HFCs and the other SLCPs is critical for slowing both temperature increase and sea-level rise and similar impacts,” said Zaelke, “although cutting CO2 also is critical. “ Zaelke added that, “A failure to cut SLCPs will halt the impressive gains in poverty reduction of the past few decades, driving millions more into extreme poverty.”


    Because three SLCPs are potent air pollutants, cutting them can save millions of lives every year, while significantly increasing crop yields, making this important for promoting sustainable development. In South Asia, for example, air pollution is the leading preventable cause of disease, according to a recent report by the World Health Organization.

    ***



    The Micronesia and Morocco amendment is here.

    The North American proposal is here.

    A summary of the sea-level rise study is here.

    The abstract of sea-level rise study is here.

    IGSD’s Primer on SLCPs is here.


    Contact Info: D. Zaelke (202) 498.2457, [email protected]
    Erin Tulley (202) 338-1300, [email protected]

    Website : Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development

    ENN Network News – ENN

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    Fracking may threaten UK climate targets and may not cut costs – MP report

    Posted by admin on April 26th, 2013

    26 April 2013

    Reacting to a new report published today (Friday 26 April 2013) by the Energy and Climate Change Committee on the impact of shale gas on energy markets, Friends of the Earth Energy Campaigner Tony Bosworth said:
     
    “This report does little to back the case for a UK shale gas revolution.
     
    “MPs say clearly that shale gas production may threaten our climate targets, may not stop the price of gas from soaring further and we can’t rely on it to improve energy security.
     
    “Fracking is dirty, unnecessary and a threat to our climate and environment – it’s little wonder so many communities are in opposition.
     
    “Instead of gambling with shale gas we should be building an affordable power system based on our abundant clean energy from the wind, waves and sun.”
     
    ENDS
     
    Notes to editors:
      
    1.     Friends of the Earth’s Clean British Energy campaign, backed by TV Dragons’ Den’s Deborah Meaden, is urging the Government to act now to fix our broken energy system by setting a target in the Energy Bill to clean up our electricity by 2030. Slashing energy waste and developing renewable power from our wind, sun and waves will tackle climate change, create thousands of UK jobs, and make our future fuel bills more predictable.

    If you’re a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

    Published by Friends of the Earth Trust

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    MEDIA ADVISORY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 22 April 2013 Youth leaders, top litigation lawyers launch climate actions

    Posted by admin on April 22nd, 2013

    Bantayan Island, Cebu, The Philippines – On Earth Day,April 22, youth leaders from all over the world, backed up by top litigationlawyers, converged in Bantayan Island, Cebu. Together, they launched a seriesof socio-political and legal actions to compel to the present generation totake action act on the impacts of climate change.

    Climate change is an issue of intergenerational justice andequity. Frustrated by the failure of the present generation to take meaningfulaction to
    address the climate crisis, the youth are fired to assert theirright to a safe and healthful
    future by using the power of the law.


    Road sharing movement in the Philippines


    For ground-level action, Filipino youth leaders launched thefiling of petitions for the Road Sharing Movement. This movement calls on thePhilippine Government to transform the road and transportation system from thepresent car-based system to one that is fairer and more people-friendly.


    Using a little known law on peopleʼs initiative, youngFilipino leaders, backed by their lawyers, will file petitions to directlypropose their local governments to pass an ordinance. The proposed ordinancecalls for the sharing of the road space: At least one-half of roads
    will be used only for path-walks and bicycle lanes, and the otherhalf for a good public transport system.


    Other petitions in twenty-four barangays all over the Philippinesin Metro Manila cities, in the Visayas (Dumaguete and Cebu), and as far away asCoron, Palawan and Kidapawan in North Cotabato in Mindanao were also filed byresidents of said barangays. The barangays were all petitioned by theirresidents to share the roads to put up wide and all-weather sidewalks andbicycle lanes. It is estimated that only 2 per cent of the people in thePhilippines have motor vehicles. Yet these motor vehicles have been given allof the road space, leaving hardly any space for the 98% of the Filipinos whohave no motor vehicles. “Those who have less in wheels must have more inroads,” said the organizers.


    The team of youth leaders and their lawyers are also sending out aNationwide Notice to Sue to the Philippine Government addressed to the ClimateChange Commission (CCC). The CCC is the sole policy-making body of thegovernment tasked to coordinate, monitor and evaluate the programs and actionplans of the government relating to climate change. Since its establishment in2009, the CCC has failed to pass any policies to reduce fossil fuel emissionsespecially from motor vehicles.


    International acclaim


    Top Filipino lawyers Tony Oposa, Sig Fortun, Golly Ramos, GenTadaba, Beryl Desabelle, Rica de Guzman, and a team of young lawyers, werejoined by international environmental lawyers Brook Meakins, Durwood Zaelke,John Boyd of the US, Selyna Pereis of Sri Lanka, Stephen Leonard of Australia,among others.


    “We congratulate the Filipino people for once again showing theworld the way of a peaceful revolution. This time, they are leading arevolution of the mind,” said Durwood Zaelke, Founder of the Center forInternational Environmental Law and Director of the International Network forEnvironmental Enforcement.


    “Involvement of the youth is of critical importance to addressingthese issues for the purpose of ensuring our environmental treasures areprotected for future generations,” says Australian lawyer Steve Leonard, an experton climate change impacts on world heritage sites.


    Intergenerational justice


    Brook Meakins, representing the International Climate Legal ActionTeam, said, “This may seem like a small pebble that was tossed into a pond. Butthe ripples that it will create will start a wonderful wave of change that theyoung of the world can learn from and perhaps, emulate.”


    “Today, the youth of the Philippines, backed by theirinternational supporters and top lawyers, have launched a peaceful revolution… of the mind. This revolution will be waged with only the sword of reason,the firepower of the Law, and the violence of an idea whose time has come,”said Filipino lawyer Tony Oposa, a co-convenor of the event and member of theInternational Climate Legal Action Team.


    In the coming months, youth from around the world will call ongovernments, corporations,
    and international institutions to protect the climate in the nameof present and future
    generations. The voices of youth will unite, compelling thesedecision-makers to address the
    intergenerational justice dimensions of climate change and holdingthem accountable for
    their actions and/or inactions.



    From a car-based system (left) to one whereat least half of the road is devoted to wide sidewalks, bike lanes, and ediblegardens (right). The other half will be dedicated to an efficient publictransportation system.



    Youth of Bantayan Island, Cebu, filed apetition to the Municipal Council to share the roads of the town of Sta Fe inBantayan Island. Seen here are the children who filed in the Municipal Hall ofSta. Fe, with their local and international lawyers, among them Brook Meakins(US(, Stephen Leonard (Australia) and Selyna Pereis of Sri Lanka.


     

    Contact Info: Mr. Lito Arlegue

    [email protected] +63.922.883.9594

    Atty. Brook Meakins

    [email protected]

    Website : Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development

    ENN Network News – ENN

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    Micronesia and Morocco Throw Climate Lifeline to a Drowning World Through Filing of Proposal to Reduce Super-Greenhouse Gas

    Posted by admin on April 18th, 2013

    Reducing factory-made HFCs part of critical strategy for slowing sea level rise, other near-term impacts


    Washington, DC, – The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Kingdom of Morocco on Tuesday formally filed a proposal to use the Montreal Protocol treaty to phase down hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, super-greenhouse gases that are hundreds to thousands of times more potent in their warming impact than carbon dioxide. These factory-made chemicals are the fastest growing greenhouse gases in the U.S. and many other countries, and their production is projected to increase up to tenfold by 2050.  According to a new paper by a team led by V. Ramanathan at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, halting the production and use of HFCs is part of a key package of near-term measures that would significantly slow down sea-level rise during this century.


    Micronesia and Morocco’s proposal comes just two days after the publication of the Scripps paper, which concluded that global sea level rise could be reduced by up to 22% through controls on HFCs and three other “short-lived” climate pollutants. Several science papers have already highlighted that aggressive measures to reduce HFCs could prevent up to 0.5°C of global warming by 2100.  The proposal also comes on the same day as a similar one from the United States, Canada and Mexico.


    “The damage from rising seas and higher storm surges is one of the most visible and costly effects of climate change,” said Ambassador Asterio Takesy of the Federated States of Micronesia.  “Reducing HFCs is critical for slowing both temperature increase and sea-level rise.  We are happy the U.S. shares our view on using the Montreal Protocol reduce HFCs.  As a native of the Pacific islands himself, we hope that President Obama will help us to seal an agreement on HFCs this year.”


    “The countries of the world have been clamoring for immediate action on climate change, rightly insisting that mitigation ambition must be increased before 2020, said Abderrahim Chakour, Division Chief of the Ministry of Business and New Technologies of Morocco. “Addressing HFCs is an essential component of this urgently needed international action.”


    As global sea levels rise, populations and infrastructure of coastal cities will become more vulnerable to flooding and storm surges, which are expected to become stronger and more frequent with rising temperatures. In addition to coastal erosion and infrastructure damages, indirect harms from sea-level rise include impacts on job markets and tax revenues, and changes in populations, including migration. According to a 2010 OECD study, a rise in sea-levels of only one meter by 2070 puts at risk 150 million people and $ 35 trillion in assets in just 20 of the world’s most vulnerable and fastest growing port cities, more than half of which are in developing Asian countries.


    “Morocco and Micronesia are throwing the world a climate lifeline,” said Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development. “The Scripps study confirms that cutting HFCs is crucial for slowing disastrous rises in sea level. It’s time to move from study to action.  World leaders should live up to the promise they made at Rio last year to support an HFC phase down.  The G8 and G20 leaders can help to ensure this is accomplished this year.”


    The Scripps study calculates the significant additional benefits that mitigation of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) can provide by the end of the century—a critical 1.1°C reduction in future warming. This is the same avoided warming aggressive carbon dioxide mitigation can produce in this period. Reducing both SLCPs and carbon dioxide can prevent 2.3°C of warming and keep the planet under the 2°C guardrail, according to the study, and can reduce the rate of sea-level rise by up to 50%, with SLCP’s providing two-thirds of the reductions.


    Micronesia has a history of success at bringing about effective climate mitigation under the Montreal Protocol. In 2007, the Montreal Protocol Parties agreed to a historic proposal by Micronesia to accelerate the phase-out of HCFCs.  Since then, support for phasing down the substitute HFCs under the Montreal Protocol has been steadily increasing. Over 110 nations have followed Micronesia’s lead in calling for HFCs to be replaced with chemicals that have a low impact on global warming.


    The Micronesia proposal is here. A similar proposal by North American parties is here. The study led by V. Ramanathan at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, is here.

    Contact Info:

    Website : Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development

    ENN Network News – ENN

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    EU climate chief vows to save scheme

    Posted by admin on April 17th, 2013

  • in Brussels

    • Member of European Commission in charge of Climate Action Connie Hedegaard
    Connie Hedegaard, EU commissioner for climate action, at a press conference on a 2030 framework for EU climate change and energy policies. Photograph: Etienne Ansotte/Shimera/EU Press office

    Europe‘s climate chief vowed on Wednesday to fight on to save the EU’s flagship environmental policy, the emissions trading system (ETS), after a serious blow on Tuesday when MEPs rejected reforms aimed at repairing the ailing system.

    MEPs voted 334 against to 315 in favour of “backloading” the market – a proposal aimed to reverse the plummeting price of carbon that has resulted from a surplus of permits in the ETS market – leading the price of carbon to fall by almost half to under €3 on Tuesday.

    Connie Hedegaard, EU commissioner for climate action, said: “We are preparing structural [longer-term reforms]. We will have new meetings for stakeholders, in parallel with an impact assessment. We are preparing an initiative.” The proposals include measures to restrict rights to carbon permits under the system, and to allow for reviews of the number of permits companies receive for free.

    Phil Hogan, the Irish environment minister who holds responsibility for the portfolio under the Irish presidency, said: “We are not prepared to allow this issue to die. We have a working party, and we will see what we have to do to put [this issue] up to people in a democratic process.”

    These attempts will face fierce opposition, however, from a powerful business lobby that has opposed the penalties on carbon dioxide emissions that Europe has sought to impose, in order to tackle climate change.

    The EU ETS, which began in 2005 and covers the majority of the EU’s energy-intensive industries, is one of only two major carbon dioxide trading systems in the world, intended to cut emissions by putting a price on carbon. The vote by the European parliament to throw out reform proposals was seen by analysts and traders as a potentially fatal blow.

    Much more is at stake than the EU’s own emissions. A breakdown of the scheme, which is the cornerstone of the European commission‘s efforts to tackle global warming, would severely damage Europe’s reputation as a global leader on climate issues and diminish the bloc’s clout in ongoing international climate change negotiations aimed at replacing the 1997 Kyoto protocol. Mechanisms such as emissions trading are viewed as essential to force countries and businesses to cut their greenhouse gases, at a time when global emissions are still rising strongly despite ever more stark warnings from scientists.

    Hedegaard said the commission had already put in train a variety of proposals that would require far-reaching structural reform to the trading system.

    Under the ETS, energy intensive industries are allocated or required to purchase carbon permits to cover the emissions they produce. The resulting penalty on carbon emissions is supposed to act as an incentive for companies to become more efficient and invest in cleaner technologies, such as renewable energy.

    But the system has been troubled since soon after its inception, when it was found that member states had allocated far too many free carbon permits to their industries, resulting in a crash in the carbon price. Permit prices recovered when the rules were tightened, but that was in good economic times – when recession struck from 2008-09, many companies were producing far less while still receiving mountains of free permits. That resulted in a massive surplus of permits in a market that relies on scarcity for its very existence – the resulting price of carbon has been so low, at a few euros per tonne, that it provides no incentive for businesses to change their behaviour.

    The reforms that were rejected on Tuesday would have shored up the price of carbon, by postponing planned auctions of 900m new permits. But some business groupings lobbied hard against the proposals, which they said would impose costs on companies that overseas competitors do not face, and the vote was narrowly lost – in part because a number of the UK’s Tory MEPs rebelled against David Cameron’s party line.

    For carbon traders and campaigners, the MEPs’ rejection of “backloading” – the postponement, not cancellation, of permit auctions – was a disaster.

    Stig Schjølset, head of EU carbon analysis at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon, said the vote would “make EU ETS irrelevant as an emissions reduction tool for many years to come” and that it was “very unlikely that any political intervention in the scheme will be agreed during the third phase from 2013 to 2020″.

    As a result, he predicted the price of carbon would not rise much above its current €3s and could fall again before 2020.

    BusinessEurope, a business group that spearheaded the lobbying of MEPs to reject the shorting up of the carbon market, said its members had been “unanimous” in opposing backloading. However, other business groupings have disagreed, including the CBI which supports shoring up the EU’s carbon price.

    Milton Catelin, chief executive of the World Coal Association, called the European parliament vote “a triumph of common sense and balanced policy”.

    Environment news, comment and analysis from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

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    Green-Powered Northwest Colleges and Businesses are Reducing Pollution and Fighting Climate Change (OR, WA)

    Posted by admin on April 17th, 2013

     

    Release Date: 04/17/2013
    Contact Information: Skadowski, EPA Region 10, 206-553-6689, [email protected]

    (April 17, 2013 – Seattle) –– Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the Green Power Partnership Top 50 Green-Powered organizations using electricity from clean, renewable sources such as solar and wind energy. Several businesses and colleges in the Pacific Northwest are among the best in the nation in increasing renewable energy use.

    Microsoft Corporation moved into 2nd place in the Top 50 nationwide by increasing its green power use to nearly 2 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually. Starbucks Company owned stores moved up to 8th place by increasing their green power use to nearly 1 billion kWh annually.

    Nine northwest colleges in the College & University Green Power Challenge are among the nation’s highest in green power use: University of Washington, Oregon State University, Western Washington University, Gonzaga University, Evergreen State College, Southern Oregon University, Lewis & Clark College, Pacific Lutheran University, and Whitman College.

    “We applaud the leadership demonstrated by organizations that are helping reduce carbon pollution and spur the growth of clean, American-made energy sources by increasing their use of renewable energy,” said EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe. “As President Obama has made clear, clean energy is critical to our health, our economy, our security, and our ability to effectively address climate change.”

    Green power includes electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, eligible biomass, and low-impact small hydroelectric sources. Green power represents the renewable energy resources and technologies that provide the highest environmental benefit.

    As part of EPA’s Green Power Partnership, more than 1,400 organizations are purchasing more than 27 billion kWh of green power annually, avoiding carbon pollution equal to that created by the electricity use of more than 2.8 million American homes. The partnership provides quarterly updated lists of partners using green power including K-12 schools, local government, and technology and telecommunications industries.

    U.S. Top 50 Green-Powered Organizations: www.epa.gov/greenpower/toplists

    College & University Green Power Champions: www.epa.gov/greenpower/initiatives/cu_challenge.htm

    EPA Green Power Partnership: www.epa.gov/greenpower

    Follow EPA on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EPAgov

    U.S. EPA News

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    Republican cites bible to refute climate change

    Posted by admin on April 11th, 2013
    Joe Barton
    In 2010, Joe Barton apologised to BP over a deal requiring the company to set aside $ 20bn for oil spill clean-up costs. Photograph: Haraz N Ghanbari/AP

    The Texas Republican Joe Barton stands out even among his fellow conservative Republicans who have made it an article of faith to deny the existence of a human component to climate change.

    On Wednesday, Barton cemented that reputation by citing the Old Testament to refute scientific evidence of man-made global warming, drawing on the story of Noah’s ark.

    “I would point out that if you are a believer in the Bible, one would have to say the great flood was an example of climate change,” Barton told a congressional hearing on Wednesday in a video first shown on the Buzzfeed website. “That certainly wasn’t because mankind had overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy.”

    Barton was speaking at a house subcommittee hearing called by the Republican leadership to promote a bill that would allow Congress to fast-track a controversial pipeline that would pump crude from the tar sands of Alberta to refineries on the Texas coast.

    The Texas congressman began by reiterating his support for the Keystone XL pipeline. He went on to say that he did not dispute the existence of climate change – just any connection to human activity, such as the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the burning of fossil fuels.

    “I would point out that people like me who support hydrocarbon development don’t deny that climate is changing,” he said. “I think you can have an honest difference of opinion of what’s causing that change without automatically being either all in, that’s all because of mankind, or it’s all just natural. I think there’s a divergence of evidence.”

    Barton has made a reputation for his outspoken rejection of man-made climate change, and for his support for the oil industry.

    In 2010, in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Barton became an object of ridicule for offering a profuse apology to the oil company

    Barton told then-BP-chairman Tony Hayward he was ashamed that the White House had reached a deal requiring the company to set aside $ 20bn for clean-up and restoration costs. “I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterise as a shakedown, in this case, a $ 20bn shakedown,” Barton said at the time. “I apologise. I do not want to live in a country where any citizen or corporation that does something that is legitimately wrong is subject to some sort of political pressure that, again in my words, amounts to a shakedown. So I apologise.”

    Environment news, comment and analysis from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

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