Climate News Live

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell pushes his energy proposals, but how exactly do they stack up against other States?

"If states serve as what Justice Louis Brandeis called "laboratories of democracy," their lab benches are increasingly crowded with energy experiments.  Last week, Gov. Rendell urged the legislature to move Pennsylvania into the thick of the action, saying energy issues "affect our basic economic health and our national security" and, at the same time, offer tremendous economic opportunity to the state." 

The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 30, 2007.

Submitted by J. Dilley

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Governors testify to changes occurring throughout the D.C. watershed.

"The governors of Virginia and Maryland urged a U.S. Senate panel yesterday to begin reducing national greenhouse-gas emissions during a hearing that described the creeping impact of climate change on the Chesapeake Bay. Virginia's Timothy M. Kaine and Maryland's Martin O'Malley, both Democrats, told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that rising temperatures could bring problems such as larger "dead zones" and rising water levels around the bay." 

The Washington Post, September 27, 2007.

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Powerful Committee Chairman introduces discussion draft for legislation to establish a carbon tax.

Dealing with global warming will be painful, says one of the most powerful Democrats in Congress. To back up his claim he is proposing a recipe many people won't like -- a 50-cent gasoline tax, a carbon tax and scaling back tax breaks for some home owners. I'm trying to have everybody understand that this is going to cost and that it's going to have a measure of pain that you're not going to like,'' Rep. John Dingell, who is marking his 52nd year in Congress, said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press.

Dingell will offer a ''discussion draft'' outlining his tax proposals on Thursday, the same day that President Bush holds a two-day conference to discuss voluntary efforts to combat climate change.  But Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that will craft climate legislation, is making it clear that he believes tackling global warming will require a lot more if it is to be taken seriously.

New York Times, September 27, 2007 

Submitted by J. Andrews

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Group sees enormous potential behind cap-and-trade proposal as way to curtail carbon emissions.

“Where politicians opt to implement carbon constraints, then it should be cap-and-trade,” said Imtiaz Ahmad, head of emissions trading at Morgan Stanley in London and vice president of a lobbying group called International Carbon Investors and Services, which is being created to represent the banks.

The banking companies, which include Citigroup, Lehman Brothers Holdings and Morgan Stanley, are giving strong signs that Wall Street wants Washington to open the way to reduced emissions using a trading system based on the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement the United States did not ratify, rather than by enacting carbon taxes."

New York Times, September 26, 2007

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Wisconsin is eyeing California law, and weighing the benefits and consequences to strict emissions standards.

"A plan to dramatically lower greenhouse gas emissions won support from environmentalists at a state Senate hearing Tuesday, while an opponent cautioned that the bill would raise gas and electric prices.  The Wisconsin proposal is one of several being considered by states following California's passage of a law requiring the lowering of greenhouse gases by 2020." 

Forbes, September 25, 2007.

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In an effort to breathe life into his energy proposal, Governor Ed Rendell links it to national security.

"Linking the war in Iraq to the nation's reliance on foreign oil, Gov. Rendell yesterday made an urgent pitch to the legislature to pass his sweeping, but embattled, alternative-energy plan...Whether the broader themes of national security and energy independence that Rendell touched on yesterday will bring along lawmakers who have already fought him on this issue once - bringing government to the brink of a shutdown - remains a question mark." 

The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 25, 2007

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Colorado's Regional Air Quality Council heard from California officials on curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

"California motorists will pay more for cars that emit less greenhouse gases, but they will come out ahead through energy savings, a Golden State official told a Colorado air-quality panel Thursday.  The price of a passenger car will go up by $367 to meet California's 2012 standards and $1,064 to meet the even tougher 2016 standards, said Charles Shulock of the California Air Resources Board." 

Rocky Mountain News, September 21, 2007.

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Amyris sees entry into biodiesel as first step into market for alternative fuels that could be used in today's engines.

"Amyris Biotechnologies, which announced $70 million in Series B funding today, says it can make a biofuel that can run in regular car engines, not just diesel, and it can do it with current biofuel plant technology.  Unlike other cellulosic startups, Emeryville, Calif.-based Amyris, spun out from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2003, isn't making ethanol. "Our fuels are hydrocarbons. They're designed, as closely as possible, to resemble components in current gasoline, in petroleum diesel, in jet fuel," Neil Renninger, Sr. VP of development and co-founder of Amyris Biotechnologies, told Cleantech.com."

Cleantech.com, September 19, 2007 

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Institutions of Higher Education continue to take steps to reduce their carbon footprints.

"Harvard has agreed to limit greenhouse gas emissions from the university’s proposed four-building science center in the Allston section of Boston, the state’s environmental officials announced yesterday. The agreement, which Harvard entered voluntarily at the state’s suggestion, will cut emissions 50 percent below the levels required by the national standard, said the state’s energy and environment secretary, Ian A. Bowles." 

The New York Times, September 18, 2007.

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Ruling would essentially allow for the creation of a de facto national policy.

"Governors want to expand state regulation of greenhouse gases in hopes of increasing pressure for federal action on global warming, the chairman of the National Governors Association said Wednesday. Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., said in an Associated Press interview that getting more states to limit greenhouse gases is a priority among clean energy issues for the group. Others include spurring energy conservation and broadening use of renewable fuels such as ethanol."

Associated Press, September 13, 2007.

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Virginia Governor Tim Kaine introducing a fairly aggressive bipartisan energy proposal.

"Kaine's [energy and health-care] proposals are designed to serve as blueprints for helping achieve two of his priorities as he nears the midpoint of his four-year term. Parts of the plans are ambitious; Kaine (D) calls for a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2025." 

The Washington Post, September 13, 2007.

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While both approaches use incentives to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, there are stark differences between a carbon tax and cap and trade system.

"Many academics, even conservatives, favor a tax on carbon emissions. Many lawmakers, including some liberals, fear a political backlash against new fees. They lean toward a cap-and-trade system, which would set a limit on carbon-dioxide emissions and require companies to obtain permits to release carbon dioxide into the air.

Still, both sides say important principles are at stake. A cap-and-trade system, say its critics, could reward big polluters if it bases its allotment of permits on how much industries emit now. It also could spark a lobbying frenzy as industries fight to turn the system to their advantage. Defenders of cap and trade say it will provide a better incentive to cut emissions because companies can sell excess permits. They call a tax heavy-handed."

Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2007.

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Eager to uncover new markets, the coal industry is hoping it can supply the military with fuel.

"The coal industry wants the U.S. military to jump-start a major new market for its product: liquid transportation fuels derived from coal.

The effort, however, faces skeptics who say the Pentagon shouldn't be subsidizing the high cost and potential environmental harm of what is known as coal-to-liquids technology.

The debate, unfolding in Washington, underscores the difficulty of finding alternatives to oil in a time of global supply concerns. Unconventional sources -- from Canada's vast tar sands, to natural-gas liquids, to ethanol -- promise to supplement supplies of crude from difficult-to-reach or politically unstable regions. Yet these sources face their own challenges, with cost often a major stumbling block."

Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2007.

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One of the nation's largest municipal utilities is looking for direction.

"Huge energy projects — some strikingly innovative — are competing for approval and billions of dollars, even as a couple of high-profile projects have been scuttled. Complicating the debate over the [Long] Island’s energy future are transformations in the two entities responsible for the system, the Long Island Power Authority and KeySpan Energy."

The New York Times, September 9, 2007.

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One of the nation's largest municipal utilities is looking for direction.

"Huge energy projects — some strikingly innovative — are competing for approval and billions of dollars, even as a couple of high-profile projects have been scuttled. Complicating the debate over the [Long] Island’s energy future are transformations in the two entities responsible for the system, the Long Island Power Authority and KeySpan Energy."

The New York Times, September 9, 2007. 

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But, try not to do it at the expense of your neighbors.

"In an era when going green is all the rage, one man's effort to harness wind energy has run up against a powerful opponent: zoning laws."

The Boston Globe, September 9, 2007. 

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As convential energy production continues to look 'dirtier' nuclear looks better.

"Geopolitics, technology, economics and the environment are all changing in nuclear power's favour. Western governments are concerned that most of the world's oil and gas is in the hands of hostile or shaky governments. Much of the nuclear industry's raw material, uranium, by contrast, is conveniently located in friendly places such as Australia and Canada.

Simpler designs cut maintenance and repair costs. Shut-downs are now far less frequent, so that a typical station in America is now online 90% of the time, up from less than 50% in the 1970s. New “passive safety” features can shut a reactor down in an emergency without the need for human intervention. Handling waste may get easier. America plans to embrace a new approach in which the most radioactive portion of the waste from conventional nuclear power stations is isolated and burned in “fast” reactors."

The Economist, September 8, 2007.

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Could we see a resurgence of rail travel as the U.S. looks to lessen dependence on oil?

"While sleek new passenger trains streak through Europe, Japan and other corners of the world at speeds nearing 200 mph, most U.S. passenger trains chug along at little more than highway speeds — slowed by a half-century of federal preference for spending on roads and airports.

But advocates say millions of Americans may be ready to embrace high-speed rail for everything from business travel to vacations because of soaring gas prices, airport delays and congested freeways that slow travel and contribute to air pollution.

'We have to change these things really fast. The era of cheap oil is over,' said Rick Harnish, executive director of the non-profit Midwest High Speed Rail Association. 'People want choices in how they travel, and it's time for the states and feds to start providing those'..."

USA Today, September 8, 2007.

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California Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols means business.

"The California Air Resources Board today will propose several new measures designed to cut the state's global warming emissions within the next 2 1/2 years. The proposals include retrofitting trucks, reducing pollution in computer manufacturing and requiring car owners to keep their tires properly inflated. Altogether, they would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2.8 million metric tons a year, an early dent in the 174 million metric tons that must be slashed by the year 2020." 

The Los Angeles Times, September 7, 2007.

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Linking global warming to species and habitat destruction could provide another avenue to addressing global warming.

"Environmentalists may have gained a powerful new legal weapon to fight global warming: the Endangered Species Act.
The act's leverage will grow, environmentalists say, as climate change becomes recognized as a factor in species' decline. The number of species-recovery plans that cite global warming as a damaging factor has gone from zero as recently as 1990 to 141 today – with most of the growth since 2000.

While that's still just 9 percent of the 1,494 species listed at one time or another, the increase suggests that a large group of species still awaiting listing will have global warming cited as a major cause in their decline. The polar bear, 12 species of penguins, and the Kittlitz's Murrelet, an Alaskan bird that nests on the edges of glaciers, are all candidates, Mr. Suckling says."

The Christian Science Monitor, September 7, 2007.

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While both the House and Senate have passed energy bills, a 'perfect storm' of obstacles awaits.

"Galvanized by a combination of $70-a-barrel crude oil prices, $3-a-gallon gasoline, war in the oil-rich Middle East and growing anxiety about climate change, House and Senate leaders have pushed through separate energy bills.

The only problem is that the two bills don't match, and the differences could prove tough to iron out.  The Senate voted for raising average vehicle fuel efficiency to 35 miles a gallon; in the House, disagreement among Democrats prevented such a measure from reaching the floor. The House voted for a renewable-energy standard for utilities; support in the Senate fell short.  The Senate voted to raise the minimum level of ethanol consumption nationwide; a House version never came to a vote.  The House voted to increase royalty and tax payments for oil companies and give tax incentives for renewable resources and energy efficiency; the Senate didn't adopt any tax package."

The Washington Post, September 5, 2007.

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Citigroup leads the way as companies look to 'green' themselves, and save money in the process.

"Stephen Lane is at the forefront of one of the hottest trends in commercial real estate: retrofitting buildings so they use energy more efficiently.

Power use by all buildings world-wide accounts for nearly a fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions, making it one of the largest sources of global warming, according to many scientists' estimates. Not only do companies help the environment by cutting emissions, they save money by lowering their operating costs.

Mr. Lane says Citigroup can save as much as $1 per square foot a year by making its offices use less energy. That would add up to savings of almost $100 million annually. The New York financial behemoth last year launched a $10 billion plan to reduce the carbon footprint from its facilities 10% below its 2005 level by 2011."

Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2007.

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Wind turbines are catching on in rural Midwest America

"As the price of energy increases and the environmental effects of burning fossil fuels become more apparent, utility companies around the country are looking to alternative energy to generate at least part of their electricity. One place where such a program is moving forward quickly is the Midwestern state of Iowa."

Voice of America, September 5, 2007.

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Announcement comes ahead of the September 17th legislative special session to address Governor Rendell's Energy Independence Strategy proposal. 

"A new solar energy power station is being built in southeastern Pennsylvania that will be the fourth-largest facility of its kind in the country and the largest east of Arizona when operations begin next April."

Environment News Service, September 4, 2007.  

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As a leader in renewable energy development, Colorado is looking at ways to cement its national role.

"Colorado's status as an up-and-coming player in alternative and renewable energy is prompting the state's leading public-sector utility and energy agencies to collaborate on a 'new energy' summit. More than 30 energy leaders will discuss Colorado's role in energy policy and development at an Oct. 30 conference in Denver called Colorado's New Energy Economy: The Path Forward." 

The Denver Post, September 3, 2007. 

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Continued focus on finding new sources of energy is driving innovation.

"As policymakers promote alternative energy sources to reduce the United States' emissions of greenhouse gases and its dependence on foreign oil, entrepreneurs are becoming increasingly inventive about finding novel ways to power the economy.  Beyond solar power and wind, which is America's most developed renewable-energy sector, a host of companies are exploring a variety of more obscure technologies. Researchers are trying to come up with ways to turn algae into diesel fuel. In landfills, startups are attempting to wring energy out of waste such as leaves, tires and "car fluff" from junked automobiles."

The Washington Post, September 1, 2007.

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