Climate Change

Federal Efficiency Initiative – As I think I’ve noted before, DOE and EPA have often struggled mightily against political headwinds and still managed to get some heroic work done.  (They’ve also, to be sure, caved, on more than a few occasions over the years, to pressure from on high, abdicating their responsibilities.  See under “California Standards” here for example.)

On a most positive note, DOE’s weekly newsletter “EERE Network News” reports DOE and EPA Release an Energy Efficiency Action Plan for States.  “If implemented by all states, the plan could lower energy demand across the country by 50% …”  Pas mal, n’est-ce pas?!  See EPA’s webpage on the “National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency” for more.

By the way, I’m reading a great book now,  Energy in America - A Tour of Our Fossil Fuel Culture and Beyond, by Ingrid Kelley.  The book reminds us that we’ve come a very long way indeed in this country on energy efficiency since the Arab Oil shock of 1973 and the ensuing federal and state initiatives to improve our performance in this key area.  We have, of course, miles to go before we sleep.

Urban Heat – I love geothermal.  What’s not to love?  See “Drill, Baby, Drill 2.0” most recently, among many other references at the blog.

I am going to let my friend, Michael Vickerman, director of the highly effective RENEW Wisconsin, jump in here on a great “NY Times” story from last week:

“There were two excellent articles this week on a very ambitious ground-source heat pump system serving General Theological Seminary.  The later article delves into the regulatory headaches encountered by the engineering firms–agencies with overlapping authority, no single point of contact, etc.).  If any institution can plan for seven generations, it’s General Theological Seminary.”   See the articles here and here.

John Petrarca, an architect in NYC, designed a geothermal townhouse a few years back.  See the story from “Natural Home” magazine.  See also Do Geothermal Heat Pumps Have Mainstream Potential? (including the comments) from RenewableEnergyWorld and the informative DOE webpage on heat pumps.

So, architects and developers!  Let’s get on it.  

There’s No Business Like Show Business – NYC’s Great White Way is going green, from “Crain’s NY Business,” notes “Ten theaters already have replaced some 10,000 bulbs with more energy-efficient ones. And within the next 12 months, all of Broadway’s theaters will have made the switch.”  In the press release from the Broadway League, we also learn that several serious commitments are being made, among them a high degree of information sharing among shows about what works.

Not surprisingly, the League has brought in NRDC for its considerable expertise.  See also the “Broadway Goes Green” website for more information and links to other initiatives like London’s green theatre plan and some fascinating websites. 

Coal, obviously, is one of the biggest roadblocks to averting catastrophic climate change.  China, the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, gets 75% of its electric power from coal.  The US, number two on the carbon dioxide hit parade, gets half of its electricity from coal-fired plants.  Worldwide in 2006, coal (and peat) generated 41% of the electricity, according to the International Energy Agency, and 26% of total primary energy supply.  (Oil accounts for 34.4% of TPES.)  I’ve written about coal here a number of times.  See Coal Takes Some Lumps and King Coal for instance.  I also highly recommend the magisterial Big Coal by Jeff Goodell.

The Center for American Progress recently took a close look at some of the politics, law and policy around coal mining and power production in the US.  Their coverage hangs its hat on the decision by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board on November 13 that the EPA had no valid reason for failing to place limits on the global warming emissions from a proposed power plant in Utah.  This has tremendous implications not only for this plant but for scores of other proposed facilities throughout the country.  The Sierra Club took the lead on bringing this critical challenge to the EAB and their press release proclaims the decision nothing less than “…the start of our clean energy future …” 

It was a little over a year ago when Kansas blocked two new coal plants because of the threat of warming they represented.  I wrote then about that landmark decision here and included a most-lucid video of the Kansas Health and Environment Secretary explaining the decision. 

The incoming administration is going to have a lot more to say about environmental rule making and I daresay things are going to be done just a tad differently than they’ve been done over the past eight years. 

I’ve been so jazzed by the coup d’état in the House of Representatives (see last two posts below plus this from early this month) that I’ve neglected some other big stories.  There are some great ones out there. 

GHG Cap in the UK – MPs pass landmark climate change bill is the story from AFP.  Parliament is mandating an 80% reduction from 1990 levels.  This is the target that President-Elect Obama and environmental leaders in the Congress are seeking.  Not incidentally, the story reports that “Climate change minister Joan Ruddock said she had recently spoken to officials in the US Congress and they had praised the way British lawmakers worked together on such an important issue.”  Ruddock heads the brand new Department of Energy and Climate Change.

The implications for this include the notion that Britain and the US, along with others, may go to Copenhagen next year very well prepared to negotiate serious GHG reductions for the international community as a whole.  The upcoming Conference of the Parties in Poland will be a critical stepping stone to the meetings in Copenhagen in December of 2009. 

Canada – Meanwhile in another key realm of the British Commonwealth, and a G7 country to boot – not to forget, the call has come out, finally, for a cap-and-trade regime.  Even better, Canada wants to create a single North American system.  See this from Reuters.  The Western Climate Initiative already includes four Canadian provinces as partners and one as an observer.  In addition, six Mexican states are observers.  (See the lists.)

It makes sense, given the existence of NAFTA and the groundbreaking work of the WCI that a full North American compact come into being.  Again, as with the British, should this take shape prior to Copenhagen, it’ll be another convincing argument for a robust international agreement.

Macedonia – This small proud country, one of the former Yugoslavian states, made a bold statement this week.  Macedonians Plant Six Million Trees In Single Day is the scoop, also from Reuters’ consistently excellent PlanetArk newsfeed.   Opera singer Boris Trajanov initiated this superb investment in his country’s future and wants to expand the project to other Balkan countries.  He said:  “If Macedonia, a country of two million people, can plant six million trees, we can only imagine how many trees can be planted in other, bigger countries.”  Bravissimo!

UNFCCC – The Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Yvo de Boer, has lauded Barack Obama’s recent remarks supporting strong energy and climate change legislation.  (See November 18 just below.)  In talking to, once again, Reuters, de Boer said of Obama’s remarks:  “I think that will have a very positive influence on the negotiations.  He indicated that he intends to show national and international leadership.  I think that that statement will be seen as a huge signal of encouragement to the international community.”  See the whole story here.

This is another instance of how the world is embracing the change in tone on international issues, from the world economy to energy and the environment, as we transition from the last days of the present administration to Obama’s.  You’ve been seeing this in the international press consistently from Election Day.

Henry Waxman did it.  Waxman beats Dingell to chair energy committee is the story from Reuters.  In a secret ballot vote of 137 to 122, the Democratic Caucus in the US House of Representatives voted to install a smart, tough, progressive to the chair of the most significant committee (in the House) by far for the critical climate change and energy legislation that is looming in the next Congress.  For all the political punditry on this about Nancy Pelosi’s influence, and the Old Seniority System coming under fire, and the Blue Dogs vs the Freshmen etc, etc, I think there’s another subtext.  (Don’t get me wrong about the punditry here.  Some of the analyses have been very interesting.) 

The big story here, for my money, is that the House is going to be dead serious about the life-and-death issues of energy, the environment and global warming.  Waxman has already offered stronger legislation on climate change than the draft that we’ve seen come out of Energy and Commerce.  Waxman, when he was chairman of the Health and Environment Subcommittee from 1979 to 1994, championed tough environmental legislation, and often had to battle with John Dingell tooth and nail to get it through.  This vote indicates that the House Democrats want legislation that is going to be better and, frankly, less given to cater to the special interests of Detroit, the extractive industries and the utilities.  The House Democrats, many of whom are going to be Freshmen and Sophmores, want to push the edge of the envelope.  I think Nancy Pelosi wants that.  I think Barack Obama and many Senate Democrats do too.  There are, to be sure, any number of Republicans in the House and Senate who want smart, tough legislation going forward as well.

Henry Waxman’s election as the new Chair of Energy and Commerce is a stunning, hopeful signal that we’re going to get a lot of this stuff right.  It means there’s not only the will to get this done, but that we’re lining up the right thinking and the best thinkers. 

House Panel Backs Waxman Over Dingell As Energy Chair is the story from ABC News.  This news is not just big.  It’s “yooge” as Bernie Sanders would say.  Dingell may have finally created more discontent than the Democrats could support.  It also may be that Waxman has been perceived as the right man for the job at this critical time for not only energy and the environment, but for health care.  “In a stinging rebuke, the House Steering committee voted 25-22 by secret ballot during a closed-door Democratic leadership meeting.”  See my previous post here on this critically important contest.  See also this insightful piece at the “NY Observer” today on Nancy Pelosi’s role.

Tomorrow this goes to the full House Democratic caucus.  Don’t think that John Dingell has given up the ship.  He’s got less than 24 hours to retain his power – and he’ll pull out the stops trying to do it. 

This video from President-Elect Barack Obama talking to the attendees at the Governors’ Global Climate Summit is unequivocal.  (See my post from November 13 below on the summit.)  Obama reaffirms his support for a vigorous cap-and-trade regime and for truly robust federal support for renewables.

Read more about this at the “NY Times” - Obama Affirms Climate Change Goals.  See also this item at Dot Earth, the “NYT” blog on climate change, energy and the environment.

Now we’re cooking with gas, as the old, and one-day-soon-to-be-archaic expression has it!

I’m a big fan of the “Financial Times.”  I think they have consistently excellent coverage on global issues, very much including energy and the environment.  Their top reporter on the  environment beat, Fiona Harvey, really seems to get to the heart of things and to find the compelling angles.  They have an ongoing “In Depth” section devoted to Climate Change and also one in their Partnership Publishing series.  (By the way, you have to register to get some of the articles.  This is fast and free.) 

The FT, backed by Hewlett-Packard and Forum for the Future, has just announced a new competition to spur innovation on climate change solutions.  The “FT Climate Change Challenge” aims “… to find ideas that are below the radar – being developed by think-tanks, academic institutions or individual entrepreneurs – and identify those that can be taken to scale quickly and make a real difference.”

I want to flag a few more things here for you, including a recent op-ed from Daniel Yergin, the head of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, What lower oil prices mean for the world.  Let me quote a few salient points here:

“The energy policies of the new US administration, as in other countries, will emphasise greater energy efficiency and renewables. A ‘green stimulus programme’ is already high on the transition agenda. But the worried question around Washington now is: to what degree lower prices will crimp investment in renewables and efficiency.”

With constrained resources – to say the least – as we struggle through the world recession that is upon us, in the US, “… some kind of charge or auctioning for carbon permits may suddenly take on new attractiveness, not just for combating climate change but as a revenue-raising measure for a federal government that certainly needs the money.”  This if, for my money, a compelling argument for a federal cap-and-trade regime and/or a carbon tax that will help support government activities in hard times, including extending federal lifelines to local and state governments.  (For more on Yergin, see under “Trillions for Renewables!” here.)

The “FT” has had a number of special reports on energy, including an excellent compendium of articles earlier this month.  You can find the recent report in its entirety here in pdf.  I found particularly interesting reading in Fiona Harvey articles on CSP, energy efficiency and the concept of “negawatts,” and on the “smart grid.”  (A magazine article I’ve done on the smart grid, a critical concept moving forward, will appear in next month’s “Planning.”  See also under “Smart Grid” here.)  There’s a cornucopia on energy at the “FT.”  You can also check out a series of informative videos on Business and Carbon here.

Great stuff, consistently, from one of the world’s top newspapers.

I did the right thing today and brought some electronic waste downtown to a Department of Sanitation drop-off site.  I can’t say that I’m impressed with New York City’s program in this.  The advertising was poor - you really had to search for it even at their website.  Plus, there were far too few locations in each of the five boroughs and this all only happens periodically.  Recycling, I’m sorry to say, has never been a top priority of the city administration at any point.  There have been various times when the impulse has flowered compared to others when the City has dragged its feet.  I would not say, however, that the full potential here has ever been anywhere near embraced.  (I like to plug my grand scheme at this point – Urban Gold – which I shopped around a few years back and for which I got a pretty fair hearing in a number of places.)

I do want to flag a really compelling article from National Geographic magazine from last January - High-Tech Trash.  Aside from the article itself, and the always superb photographs, NGM’s website has some in-depth features including this interactive look at all the toxic components of a computer and monitor.  There’s also a section on how you can reduce e-waste.  See also EPA’s “eCycling” webpage.

Followup:  See this excellent article on the life cycle of computers from GreenerComputing News - How Activists Are Forcing Change in Green IT. This is precisely what the doctor ordered: tremendous built-in reductions in electronic waste as a direct consequence of paying attention to the life cycle.

There are always all sorts of meetings, conferences, conventions and other gatherings ongoing.  Here are a few worthy of note.

Governors’ Global Climate Summit – The Governator, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, will host US governors and some top international policymakers on climate change and energy in LA next week.  Governors taking part in this event include Charlie Crist from Florida, Jim Doyle from Wisconsin, Rod Blagojevich from Illinois, and Kathleen Sebelius from Kansas.  Schwarzenegger, not incidentally, has been mentioned as a possible Obama administration Energy Secretary and Sebelius has been mentioned for EPA.  This looks to be an exciting conference.  It’s being webcast by UCTV so if you can’t make it out to LA, tune in here or visit later for archival video.

By the way, the Foreign Policy Association’s sister organization, the World Affairs Councils of America, is helping get the word out. 

G20 – Tomorrow in Washington, world leaders will start to gather for meetings to address the global economic crisis.  See Many Seats, Agendas At Global Roundtable from the “Washington Post.”  President-Elect Obama, although invited, will not be there.  What the meetings hope to achieve, I’m not really certain, even though it’s being billed as “Bretton Woods II.”  I doubt anybody really thinks it’s going to be quite that.  In any event, see some comprehensive coverage here from the “FT.”

As far as the climate change crisis goes, you should check out this excellent piece from the Worldwatch Institute - Opinion: Building A Green Economy.  Here’s a capsule of their view:  “The perfect storm of today’s economic, environmental, and social ravages requires a robust, multi-pronged response. Indeed, the challenge for global political leadership, including U.S. President-elect Obama, is not merely to kickstart the global economy, but to do so in a way that creates jobs and stabilizes climate, increases food output using less water and pesticides, and generates prosperity with greater equality of incomes.”

Carbon Market Insights Americas 2008 – This is a terrific conference going on in Washington this week.  It’s being coordinated by Point Carbon and the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, both superb organizations in the forefront of the action.  (I would’ve loved to have made this conference, but I had other cats to whip, as the French say so disarmingly.)

The Point Carbon folks have two reports which you can get from them:  Carbon Markets and the Incoming US Leadership and Business Opportunities in the Carbon Market.  Regarding the former, they say they “…expect Obama’s presidency to bring with it increased momentum toward the establishment of mandatory carbon markets in the US.”

Here is some of their thinking behind the second report:  “Regional programs across North America would potentially create markets with a volume close to 900 million tons by 2012 – almost half the size of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).  At a conservative price of $10 per ton of carbon dioxide, this would open up billions of dollars worth of transactions and considerable business opportunities.”

As Everett Dirksen said, “A billion here, a billion there.  Pretty soon you start talking about real money!”

Poland – The major international climate change meetings of the year are taking place in Poznań, December 1 through 12.  This is the last “Conference of the Parties” (COP) to the UNFCCC before the critical COP in Copenhagen in December of 2009.  (Here is Poland’s website for the conference as well.)

In the wake of the momentum built by the Bali meetings last year, and the critical IPCC Fourth Assessment Report and other developments, and with an eye on Copenhagen, Poznań will be a launching pad for a “plan of action and programmes of work” and to further a “‘shared vision’ for a new climate change regime.”  Very interested participants and observers will certainly include members of Congress and staff, as well as key players in the next administration. Copenhagen will be where the international treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol will be finalized.

This upcoming meeting and subsequent discussions that will take place in 2009 may very well mean life or death.  Hyperbole is always a danger but when you are talking about global warming, as we’ve seen here and on which we’re getting more alarming evidence by the week, life and death is not too strong an expression.

Carbon Finance – World Bank Creates Green Bond to Finance Mitigation and Adaptation is the headline from Climate-L.org, an excellent “knowledge management project for international negotiations and related activities on climate change” run by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).  The World Bank’s press release notes that this is a “…partnership with SEB and several key Scandinavian institutional investors … to raise funds for projects seeking to mitigate climate change or help affected people adapt to it.”  SEB is a bank based in Sweden.  

Not incidentally, the World Bank’s Carbon Finance Unit does very good work and is a tremendous source of information.  I’ve also made reference to this critical aspect of the fight against global warming a good number of times.  See Carbon Markets. 

Stamps – The UN has issued climate change stamps.  They’re quite handsome and come in different denominations.  You can go here to see them and to order.  They’re a creation of the photographer Gary Braasch who has been doing some superb work documenting the impacts of climate change.