Solve Climate: Daily Climate News and Opinion

Foreign Competition Pressuring US to Support Clean Energy at Home

Matthew Berger — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:17:10 -0800

Industry leaders, politicians and other stakeholders gathered Friday on Capitol Hill to rally support for a move to a renewable energy-based economy.

The tone was largely optimistic and painted a picture of the U.S. at a crossroads where, if the right path is chosen, numerous challenges can be addressed at once – including energy security, unemployment and climate change. But speakers warned that a failure to act would put the US at a global disadvantage.

“We've got a Kennedy-esque moment to attract the boldest and brightest to the renewable energy sector,” said Cathy Zoi, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, as she mentioned workers in industries like steel and manufacturing who, she says, would be eager to transition to green energy sectors.

Saying unemployment is even worse than current numbers, United Steelworkers president Leo Gerard said, “this is either a crisis or an opportunity."

“If we electrify our railways...and say all that [goes into the project] is going to be made in America, all our workers go back to work,” he said. “The next industrial revolution is going to be the clean energy revolution.”

The American Council on Renewable Energy Conference was titled “Phase II”, as in the second phase of renewable energy development and deployment in the U.S. The first phase, according to ACORE, was from 1975 to 2000, when wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, ocean energy, biomass and biofuel technology was developed with the help of federal funding.

New SO2 Standards Highlight EPA's Role in Regulating Coal Plants

SolveClimate Staff — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:03:51 -0800

With an ongoing debate in Congress over what the EPA's role should be in regulating greenhouse gas emissions from large industrial sources of pollution, every move by the agency to flex its muscle is scrutinized for hidden meaning.

So last Tuesday, when the EPA moved to tighten restrictions on sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions -- which is not a greenhouse gas -- it looked like it was more than a routine regulatory update. The new SO2 regulations were the first update in forty years, and timed it seemed, to have maximum effect on a larger discussion.

On Monday EPA held hearings in Virginia to give the public an opportunity to weigh in on the agency's proposal to begin regulating global warming gases from power plants, oil refineries, factories and other major sources. On Wednesday, similar hearings were held in Chicago. The SO2 regulations were released on Tuesday, the day right smack in-between.

Was it a signal to lawmakers and the public to demonstrate that in the Clean Air Act, EPA has a powerful tool for regulating coal plant emissions in order to protect human health and the environment?

UN Climate Chief: Global Deal Hinges on More Ambition from Rich Nations

Stacy Feldman — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:20:43 -0800

The US remains the only industrialized nation that has not committed itself to a greenhouse gas reduction target with Copenhagen climate talks just weeks away. Pressure is increasing on the U.S. to commit to a target, but the UN climate chief warned that the lack of ambition from rich nations as a whole could still foil hopes of any kind of agreement by the end of 2009.

"Unfortunately, it is not a single country that holds the key to success," said UN climate chief Yvo de Boer (pictured here), during a press conference wrapping up the final two days of pre-negotiations in Copenhagen this week.

An American number "is critical," de Boer explained. "But we are also still in the situation that the targets offered by the group of industrialized countries as a whole are not in line with what science is telling us is necessary," he said.

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Today's Climate: November 20, 2009

Stacy Feldman — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:00:34 -0800

UN Climate Chief Seeks $10 Bln Pledge from Rich Nations (Reuters)

The UN climate chief has called on rich nations to pledge $10 billion a year for three years at next month's Copenhagen summit to help poor states begin to tackle climate change.

Germany Calls for Binding Climate Deal in 2010 (AP)

German Chancellor Merkel has called for all nations to fix binding climate targets next year at the latest, saying that no such deal is likely at global talks in Copenhagen.

Australia's Rudd Faces Showdown on Carbon Vote (Reuters)

Australia's parliament votes next week on Prime Minister Rudd's plan for a sweeping carbon trade scheme, with hopes it will finally win approval after two years of divisive debate.

AES Corp. Agrees to Pollution Disclosures (AP)

AES, which operates several coal plants in the U.S, is the latest power company to agree to give investors more information about its global warming pollution in financial disclosures.

Energy Leaders Back Climate Change Deal (AFP)

Energy industry leaders representing 93 nations have called for an international deal on climate change to tackle financial uncertainty and prevent catastrophic warming.

Approval Granted for US-Canada Wind Transmission (Recharge)

U.S. regulators have approved a transaction to finance construction of a 345-kilometer electricity transmission line connecting wind-rich markets in Montana and Alberta, Canada.

Offshore Oil Drilling Debate Renewed in Senate Hearing

Matthew Berger — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:26:33 -0800

The national debate over offshore oil drilling picked up again today at a hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Though discussion wasn't as heated as in the '08 Presidential campaign that saw the Republican Party rally around the "Drill, Baby, Drill" slogan, the trade-offs Senators are going to have to weigh when settling national policy were put on full view.

The Committee passed its portion of the climate bill in June, and it included an amendment that would allow drilling for oil as close as 45 miles from Florida’s Gulf Coast – and even closer in the Destin Dome area off Pensacola.

Sens. Lindsey Graham, John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, working on a climate bill proposal of their own, see increased offshore drilling as a necessary compromise for securing passage of a climate law that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Today's hearings were called to address concerns raised last June on the environmental impacts of offshore development.

“Access to the vast resources of the OCS [outer continental shelf] is critical; we need it and it’s good for this country,” Shell president Marvin Odum argued at the time.

But many senators and organizations remain far from convinced that tells the whole story.

Peak Soil Has a Simple Fix, But Will We Manage It?

Amy Westervelt — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:21:17 -0800

At the Carbon Farming conference in Australia earlier this month, speakers pointed to a problem that has worried environmentalists for about a decade: peak soil.

China is losing soil 57 times faster than nature can replace it, according to John Crawford, a professor at the University of Sydney’s Institute of Soil Sciences. In the United States, conservation practices have helped reduce soil loss, but top soil is still being eroded 10 times faster than it can be replaced, according to the National Academy of Sciences.

This is a concern, not only because it limits the amount of food-producing land, but also because soil and the crops that grow in it can help sequester carbon, so the more of it we lose, the more carbon we leave out in the atmosphere.

The cause of all this soil loss? Ostensibly wind, rain and other natural forces, but industrial agriculture is also partly to blame, particularly the practices of monoculture, overgrazing, the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and a lack of cover crops.

Today's Climate: November 19, 2009

SolveClimate Staff — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:14:59 -0800

EU: Russia Ready for Deeper Emissions Cut (AFP)

Russia is ready to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 to 25 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels, raising its target from 15 percent just weeks ahead of a UN climate summit, the head of the European Commission says.

Power Plant-Only Climate Bill Possible in US Senate (GreenWire)

A bipartisan faction of Senate moderates is examining the idea of passing a bill that deals only with the heat-trapping emissions from power plants, saying it would have a better chance of passing.

California Restricts Energy-Guzzling TVs (San Francisco Chronicle)

California regulators brought the state's pioneering greenhouse gas reduction efforts into the living room, approving limits on how much energy TVs can consume, citing the increased use of power-guzzling flat-panel sets.

Degraded Peatlands Unleash Vast Amounts of Carbon (Washington Post)

A vast layer of coal-black peat, once locked away but now drying and disintegrating as swamps are shorn of trees, has helped make Indonesia the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.

Copenhagen Still 'Golden Opportunity' for Carbon Offset Reform (Reuters)

U.N. summit in Copenhagen next month is unlikely to agree on a new global climate treaty, but carbon market players are urging delegates to seize the opportunity to reform the $33 billion trade in carbon offsets.

India PM Heads to US in Test of Ties with Obama (Reuters)

India's prime minister and U.S. President Barack Obama meet next week to strengthen ties, with the emerging Asian power increasingly playing a bigger role on global issues such as climate change and trade.

Indonesia Deporting 2 More Climate Activists, 2 Reporters

Guest Writer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:18:53 -0800

By Daniel Kessler

On Nov. 16, two Greenpeace activists from Germany and Italy and two members of the press from India and Italy, all of whom were traveling on valid business and journalist visas, were picked up and detained by Indonesian police.

They were on their way to meet the villagers of Teluk Meranti, who have been supporting Greenpeace in its efforts to highlight rainforest and peatland destruction in the Kampar Peninsula — ground zero for climate change. The police also took into custody an activist from Belgium who had been working at our Climate Defenders Camp there.

Despite the validity of their travel documents and the absence of any wrongdoing, two of the activists and both journalists are now being deported by immigration authorities on questionable and seemingly contrived grounds, even though no formal deportation permits have been issued.

Just a few days before, immigration authorities deported 11 other international Greenpeace activists who participated in a non-violent direct action in an area where Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Ltd., or APRIL, one of Indonesia's largest pulp and paper companies, is clearing rainforest and draining peatland on the peninsula.

Made in America by China: New Turbine Factory Offers Glimpse into the Future

Stacy Feldman — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:41:28 -0800

China-based A-Power's new deal to build a $50 million wind turbine factory in the United States is about helping America meet its surging demand for wind power, the company said in its announcement.

But it's about far more than that: The plant is a sign that Chinese energy firms are using America's renewables boom to establish their brands stateside — and everywhere.

The new factory will produce 1,100 megawatts of "highly advanced" wind energy turbines each year at an unannounced U.S. location. That's enough to power 330,000 homes. The facility will also generate about 1,000 domestic jobs upon completion, according to A-Power.

The venture is the second this year between A-Power Generation Systems, a subsidiary of Shenyang Power Group, and the U.S.-based Renewable Energy Group.

Their first collaboration — a 600-MW, $1.5 billion wind farm deal in West Texas — set off a firestorm in Washington when it was announced on Oct. 29.

The reason: jobs.

World's Youth Demand Fair, Effective Climate Action

Mara MacKinnon — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:50:24 -0800

When global leaders gather in Copenhagen three weeks from now, the concerns of the world’s youth will be impossible to ignore.

Young adults and teens know that if their parents’ generation fails to stop climate change, they will be the ones left to contend with the ensuing nightmare. So, what they lack in deep pockets, the climate change generation is making up for in determination and the media savvy.

By galvanizing large numbers of people around the world to call for climate change action, young people are making a bigger impact on the global political scene than ever before.

“Traditionally, there were the media, NGOs, lobbyists and governments that shaped what came out of these [international negotiations]. Now there is a rising impact from global civil society that is being engaged by young people,” said Richard Graves, a youth delegate to the 2007 climate talks in Bali and now a coordinator for TckTckTck.org.

“Bringing technology to bear on organizing is something that young people have gotten sophisticated about and have brought to political organizing.”

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