Climate News Live

New legisation introduced in the U.S. Senate seeks to increase dramatically the alternative fuel requirements for U.S. utilities. 

"A bill about to be introduced in the Senate would push utilities to generate drastically more of their power -- 15%, compared with the current 2% -- from sources such as wind or the sun by 2020. While three similar measures have died after passing the Senate, this one has powerful bipartisan support.

Environmental groups have long sought a federal law requiring utilities to use a variety of cleaner natural resources. Several states already direct utilities to meet minimum standards; a federal benchmark could give utilities a uniform interstate market and make compliance easier.

The measure would authorize the Department of Energy to set up a national market to trade what are called renewable-energy certificates, which would be created and sold by producers of a certain amount of renewable energy. Utilities that generate more wind power than they need to meet the renewable-energy standard could sell credits to utilities in areas without much wind, and these utilities could use the credits to meet the standard. At the end of the year, the utilities that still don't meet the standard would face a civil penalty."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118005538351514203-search.html?KEYWORDS=%22climate+change%22&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month

Andrew Ehrlich • Federal . Trackback (0)

Utah governor turns corner in fight against greenhouse gas emissions; we can expect more governors to lend their support in the fight against global warming regardless of political affiliation. What was typically viewed as a "blue" or left-leaning issue has now simply just become a non-partisan "green" issue.

"The fight against global warming is about to get more personal for Utahns, with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. joining forces with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. On Monday, Schwarzenegger will be in Utah as Huntsman signs the Western Regional Climate Action Initiative, a pact enacted earlier this year by Schwarzenegger and four other Western governors. The agreement calls for an overall regional goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all six states collectively and calls for a cap and trade program whereby emission credits could be sold. In addition, a tracking registry for emissions would be implemented."Deseret Morning News, May 20, 2007, http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660222290,00.html

Andrew Ehrlich • Federal, State . Trackback (0)

Political pressure is building in Washington.

Democratic congressional leaders urged President George W. Bush on Friday to "reverse course" and strengthen -- not weaken -- the U.S. stance on global warming in a declaration by the world's richest countries. Fifteen heads of committees in the House of Representatives cited reports that the Bush administration wants to delete references to specific limits on global warming and the greenhouse gases that spur it from a declaration by the Group of Eight industrialized countries next month. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/18/AR2007051801427.html

Andrew Ehrlich • Federal . Trackback (0)

Are you aware of the range of technologies that are available to improve the efficiency of your home -- and save you money?

"A sign at the head of Strizki’s long gravel driveway said, 'Welcome to the first solar-hydrogen residence in North America.” Strizki, the 50-year-old director of residential and commercial systems for Advanced Solar Products, a solar installation company, designed a backyard power plant that provides all the house’s energy, using a combination of solar panels and solar-generated hydrogen."http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/magazine/20solar-t.html

Andrew Ehrlich • Technology . Trackback (0)

Governor Crist continues to stress the need to address global warming:

"In his first State of the State speech, Gov. Charlie Crist devoted 306 words, or about one out of every 10 words in the historic address, to global warming. With almost 1,200 miles of coastline and the majority of our citizens living near that coastline, Florida is more vulnerable to rising ocean levels and violent weather patterns than any other state," he said in the March 6 speech from Tallahassee. Naplesnews.com

Andrew Ehrlich • State . Trackback (0)

Green states call on Federal government to get out of the way: 

"Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, is governor of California. Jodi Rell, a Republican, is governor of Connecticut.  California, Connecticut and 10 other states are poised to enact tailpipe emissions standards -- tougher than existing federal requirements -- that would cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars, light trucks and sport-utility vehicles by 392 million metric tons by the year 2020, the equivalent to taking 74 million of today's cars off the road for an entire year."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/20/AR2007052001059.html

Andrew Ehrlich • Federal, State . Trackback (0)

New study shows carbon dioxide emissions increased faster than ever before. 

"Warnings about global warming may not be dire enough, according to a climate study that describes a runaway-train acceleration of industrial carbon dioxide emissions. Fueled by rapid growth in coal-reliant China, rates of carbon dioxide emission from industrial sources increased from 2000 to 2004 "at a rate that is over three times the rate during the 1990s," says a report released by the journal Proceedingsof the National Academy of Sciences."  http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-05-21-carbon-levels_N.htm?csp=34

Andrew Ehrlich • General News . Trackback (0)

Regardless of which comes first -- an EPA decision or a California lawsuit -- the commotion is certainly ruffling feathers all over Washington, DC.  Nearly a dozen states are following the State of California's lead in enforcing more stringent vehicle greenhouse gas emission requirements. 

"California Attorney General Jerry Brown warned Environmental Protection Agency officials May 22 that the agency has only until late October--and perhaps even less time--to rule on the state's clean vehicle standards before the state files suit to force a timely decision...The California attorney general issued the challenge at an EPA hearing held in the Washington, D.C., area in which the agency heard from various state officials, environmental organizations, and auto industry representatives on how it should proceed on the California regulations given the U.S. Supreme Court's recent greenhouse gas ruling."  BNA Daily Report for Executives, May 23, 2007.  http://pubs.bna.com/ip/bna/der.nsf/eh/a0b4n9v8w6

Andrew Ehrlich • State . Trackback (0)

Mayors from around the world are not only seeing the environmental benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but -- with billions of dollars at stake -- they are also seeing dollar signs. 

"The C40 group of large-city mayors from around the globe issued a communiqué May 17 calling for the leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized countries to use a June summit meeting in Germany to 'commit to a long-term goal for the stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.'  Meeting at their own biennial summit, hosted by New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (R) and sponsored by corporations headed by JPMorgan Chase, the mayors further urged the G-8 leaders to take into account the latest findings of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change...The communiqué further pressed for parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change to use a November meeting in Bali to begin global negotiations on a plan to prevent a gap between the 2012 expiration of targets in the convention's Kyoto Protocol and 'what will follow subsequently.'"  BNA Daily Report for Executives, May 22, 2007.  http://pubs.bna.com/ip/bna/der.nsf/eh/a0b4n7j2c7

Andrew Ehrlich • International . Trackback (0)

Increasing scrutiny by financial analysts could be on tap.

"The CFA Institute, an influential group that develops training materials and certifies financial analysts is developing guidelines on assessing the economic risks from global warming. The upcoming guidance document is likely to expand Wall Street’s sensitivities to the effects of global warming and could drive publicly traded companies to expand … efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions."Carbon Control News, May 1, 2007, www.carboncontrolnews.com.

Andrew Ehrlich • Investor . Trackback (0)

Increasing momentum for federal legislation by following similar action of other mayors around the United States,

"Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa presented a plan May 16 to cut the city's greenhouse gas emissions to 35 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.  The "cornerstone" of the climate action plan is increasing the city's use of renewable power. Under the plan, 35 percent of the electricity the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power provides customers in 2020 must come from solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal sources. BNA Daily Report for Executives, May 17, 2007.http://pubs.bna.com/

Andrew Ehrlich • Federal . Trackback (0)

Some contend that the U.S. has the technology and capability to begin reducing carbon dioxide emissions now.

"Making buildings and appliances more energy efficient and developing more fuel-efficient vehicles are 'low hanging fruit' that decision makers should address as a first priority in tackling global warming, one of the authors of a U.N. report on mitigation strategies told the House Science Committee on May 16." BNA Daily Report for Executives, May 17, 2007. http://pubs.bna.com/

Andrew Ehrlich • General News . Trackback (0)

The Florida legislature recently created the Florida Energy Commission because policymakers understand the need to address the threat of global warming.  

"Democrats and independents most strongly favored government action to curb greenhouse gases, with 81 percent of Democrats and 83 percent of independents agreeing, according to the poll. About 54 percent of Republicans supported government action."  http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070515/NEWS/705150375/1004

Andrew Ehrlich • General News, State . Trackback (0)

The President is taking positive steps to address the threat of global warming. 

"President Bush signed an executive order directing federal agencies to craft regulations that will cut gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. He ordered the agencies the departments of Transportation, Agriculture and Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency to have the rules in place by the end of 2008." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/14/AR2007051400870.html

Andrew Ehrlich • General News, Federal . Trackback (0)