News Monitoring | Oct. 31 – Nov. 6, 2009
FRONT AND CENTRE
1)
David Suzuki.org
Climate Leadership, Economic Prosperity
There is now a broad scientific consensus that more than 2°C of average global warming above
the pre-industrial level would constitute a dangerous level of climate change. The science
indicates that to have a chance of not exceeding the 2°C limit, industrialized countries need to
reduce their combined emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to 25-40 per cent below the 1990
level by 2020, if they are to make a fair contribution to the necessary cuts in global emissions.
The Government of Canada's current GHG target of 20 per cent below the 2006 level by 2020 is a
much more modest reduction of just three percent relative to the 1990 level. However, as it is the
government's current commitment, it is important to understand what policies would be needed
to achieve this target.
The Pembina Institute and the David Suzuki Foundation therefore commissioned an in-depth
study of federal and provincial government policies to allow Canada to meet a "2°C target" to
reduce GHG emissions to 25 per cent below the 1990 level by 2020, based on the science
outlined above, as well as the federal government's current target.
The analysis shows that with strong federal and provincial government policies, Canada can
meet the 2°C emissions target in 2020 and still have a strong growing economy, a quality of life
higher than Canadians enjoy today, and continued steady job creation across the country. The
analysis also shows that the federal government needs to implement far stronger policies than it
has proposed to date to meet its current GHG target.
http://beta.davidsuzuki.org/downloads/2009/Climate_Leadership_Economic_Prosperity__Web.pdf
2)
Email message received by the Climate Change Hub (with 2 items):
From: Canadians for Action on Climate Change [mailto:canadiansforactiononclimatechange@bell.net]
Sent: Monday, November 02, 2009 7:40 PM
To: Canadians for Action on Climate Change
Subject: WMA Declaration of Delhi on Health and
Climate Change
Alberta's senior medical health officer Dr. Gerry Predy sent this letter (attached *see below) to
all of his medical health officers in the province encouraging them to embrace the climate
change issue, through advocacy and other means, as an essential feature of their good public
health professional practice.
At the same time, the World Medical Association (WMA) passed a declaration on climate
change:
WMA Declaration of Delhi on Health and Climate Change
http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/c5/index.html
The WMA response to climate change, includes this powerful statement from Canadian
physician and WMA President Dr. Dana Hanson: "Climate change represents an inevitable,
massive threat to global health that will likely eclipse the major known pandemics as the leading
cause of death and disease in the 21st century".
2
"I myself was terrified when I saw these numbers."
October 2009, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber - One of the world's half-dozen most eminent climate
scientists.
He urges governments to agree in Copenhagen to launch "a Green Apollo Project." Like John Kennedy's
pledge to land a man on the moon in ten years, a global Green Apollo Project would aim to put leading
economies on a trajectory of zero carbon emissions within ten years. Combined with carbon trading with
low-emissions countries, Schellnhuber says, such a "wartime mobilization" might still save us from the
worst impacts of climate change.
*letter
Letter from Alberta's senior medical health officer Dr.
Gerry Predy to all of his medical health officers in the
province:
Dear Medical Officers of Health:
I am writing at a critical time in our history, with an essential but perhaps unusual message.
In less than 100 days, 192 countries will meet to thrash out a global agreement to avert
catastrophic climate change. This is a historical occasion, the outcome of which will shape the
course of human health and development forever. Post the Copenhagen negotiations, we must
immediately embark on a massive cultural transformation – one that rapidly yields a low carbon
future, and peace, prosperity and health for all.
If we are to succeed, we must all – all of us – play our part.
As health professionals, we have an essential role and capacity to contribute to the collective
response to climate change.
We should be especially concerned about the effects of climate change on human health. They
are many and potentially severe. At its worst, climate change will cause death and disease for
hundreds of millions of people worldwide. In Canada, we are relatively better protected from
these health effects, at least in the near-term, but we are not immune. Moreover, we have all
committed to primum non nocere – to “first, do no harm”. In upholding our commitment, we
must take aggressive action to slow and prevent the massive harm that climate change
threatens to cause.
As highly respected and trusted professionals with a reach and prominence in communities
across Canada, we have the opportunity to promote positive changes on many levels. This
includes by adding our voices to the calls for stronger climate protection policies at all levels of
government, by working toward healthier public policy more generally, by greening the health
care system (which is a massive energy user and polluter) and by actively participating in
reshaping the cultural underpinnings that are at the root of the climate crisis. These are all
essential contributions for resolving the climate crisis, and should be essential to our good
health professional practice.
The good news, if we can call it that, is that our work on climate change is very much
complementary to our work on many other important health issues that we have embraced.
Former California Health Officer Dr. Richard Jackson speaks incisively to this fact: “What’s
good for our kids and their health and what’s good for their neighbourhood, school, and our city,
state, nation and planet are all the same thing”.
I urge us all to embrace the climate change issue and to act on it however appropriate, both in
our individual capacity as citizens and in our unique capacity as health professionals.
Yours sincerely,
G. Predy, MD, FRCPC
3
Senior Medical Officer of Health
Videos:
PlanetArk.org | Gabriella Podimane | October 31, 2009
EU agrees on climate
Gabriella Podimane reports.
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55290
From last week
GreenNexxus| Darragh Worland | October 16, 2009
Meatless Mondays in Baltimore
US - Cafeterias throughout the Baltimore school district have adopted "Meatless Mondays,"
reports CNSNews.com, making the city's 80,000 public school students the first in the nation to
forgo chicken, beef and pork at school once a week. [more]
Mondaq | Kyle Danish, Shelley Fidler, Kevin Gallagher, Megan Ceronsky and Tom s Carbonell | October 26, 2009
United States: Weekly Climate Change Policy Update
Executive Branch
President Obama Sees "Growing Consensus" on Climate Change Legislation. In a brief speech at
an energy-themed event at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, President Barack Obama
said that "consensus is growing" on Capitol Hill in favor of climate change and clean energy
legislation [more]
PRNewswire-USNewswire | October 30, 2009
Air Transport Association Urges U.S. Climate Negotiators to Oppose Climate
Change Tax Targeting International Air Passengers
WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Air Transport Association of
America (ATA), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, yesterday urged
climate negotiators to oppose an exorbitant new climate change tax to be imposed on the airlines
and their passengers. The so-called "International Air Passenger Adaption Levy," would single
out aviation to raise $10 billion per year for climate-change projects to be built in developing
countries. [more]
NYTimes | Jeremy Lovell | October 30, 2009
British Launch Ad Campaign to Raise Fading Climate Concerns
LONDON -- The U.K. government has launched a guilt-laden advertising campaign after a
series of opinion polls showed that the majority of the public has not bought into climate change
despite years of political haranguing and millions of pounds spent on information and
advertising. [more]
NYTimes | James Kanter and Stephen Castle | October 30, 2009
E.U. Reaches Funding Deal on Climate Change
European Union leaders on Friday offered to contribute money to a global fund to help
developing countries tackle global warming hoping kick-start stalled talks on a new agreement
on climate change. But E.U. leaders disappointed climate campaigners by making the offer
conditional on donations from other parts of the world and by failing to decide how much Europe
would contribute to a global pot of up to 50 billion euros by 2020. [more]
4
October 31, 2009
Reuters.com | Richard Cowan | October 31, 2009
Republicans move to delay climate bill progress
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - All seven Republicans on the U.S. Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee plan to boycott next week's work session on a climate-change bill, an aide
said on Saturday, in a move aimed at thwarting Democratic efforts to advance the controversial
legislation quickly. [more]
Examiner.com | JoAnn Blake | October 31, 2009
Republicans out to lunch for climate-change work session
Not so fast with a clean energy and climate-change bill.
Just when landmark legislation appeared to be gaining wider support (a CNN poll found six in 10
Americans and 68 percent under 50 years old support cap and trade), [more]
GlobalAtlanta.com | Phil Bolton | October 31, 2009
Jimmy Carter Joins ‘The Elders’ in Istanbul to Tackle Climate Change
Atlanta - 10.31.09 - Former President Jimmy Carter was in Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 31, to join “The
Elders,” a group of global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela, to issue a statement
underscoring their concern about climate change prior to negotiations on the issue coming up in
Copenhagen, Denmark. [more]
November 1, 2009
Canwest News Service | Mike De Souza | November 1, 2009
Pressure on U.S. president at climate talks, Canada says
OTTAWA — The Canadian government says the pressure will be on U.S. President Barack
Obama's administration as the world meets for a crucial week of international climate
negotiations in Spain on Monday. [more]
Guardian.co.uk| David Adam and Jonathan Watts | November 1, 2009
World leaders accused of myopia over climate change deal
Senior officials and negotiators increasingly gloomy about the prospects for a global warming
deal next month
Melting ice in Greenland. British officials say negotiations on a deal to curb global warming
have been progressing too slowly. [more]
Financial Times - ft.com November 1, 2009
Follow the science on climate change
As next month’s Copenhagen conference approaches, politicians should not be distracted by the
apparently growing volume of sceptical voices challenging the need for global action against
climate change. Some of the sceptics may have scientific backgrounds but [more]
McClatchy Newspapers| Renee Schoof And David Goldstein| 11.01.09
Farmers fight climate bill, but warming spells trouble for them
WASHINGTON -- Farm state senators and others soon will get a taste of what their colleagues
from Missouri already have piled high on their desks: thousands of letters from farmers urging
them to vote against the climate and energy bill. [more]
5
McClatchy Newspapers | Renee Schoof and David Goldstein | November 1 (?), 2009
Higher temperatures will harm many crops, report says
WASHINGTON -- Global warming would be bad news for all those amber waves of grain, and for the corn
and soybeans that are plentiful throughout the Midwest. "The grain-filling period" - the time when the seed
grows and matures - "of wheat and other small grains shortens dramatically with rising temperatures. Analysis
of crop responses suggests that even moderate increases in temperature will decrease yields of corn, wheat,
sorghum, bean, rice, cotton and peanut crops … [more]
November 2, 2009
environmentalresearchweb | Liz Kalaugher - Sustainable Futures | November 2, 2009
Simple household changes could cut US emissions by 7.4%
With carbon emissions – and temperatures – continuing to rise, the need for action is pressing.
With that in mind, researchers have found that simple actions using existing technology by US
households could save as much as 123 metric tonnes of carbon a year by the tenth year of
implementation, equivalent to 7.4% of US national emissions. [more]
PlanetArk. org | Svetlana Kovalyova | November 2, 2009
Italy Set To Relaunch Solar Mirror Power Sector
MILAN - Italy is to relaunch concentrated solar power (CSP) generation which uses sunlight and
mirrors to make electricity and expects have 200 megawatts of new solar farms on stream in
2012, a top industry official said Friday. [more]
Wall Street Journal | Stephen Power | November 2, 2009
No Deal: Chamber Chief Battles Obama
WASHINGTON -- With President Barack Obama bidding to overhaul the health-care system,
tighten bank oversight and make industries pay for their greenhouse-gas emissions, some tradeassociation chiefs have decided to compromise with the party in power. [more]
McClatchy Newspapers | Renee Schoof and David Goldstein | November 2, 2009
Higher temperatures will harm many crops, report says
WASHINGTON -- Global warming would be bad news for all those amber waves of grain, and
for the corn and soybeans that are plentiful throughout the Midwest. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Pete Harrison and David Brunnstrom | November 2, 2009
EU Makes Progress On Climate Funding Deal
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - European Union leaders made progress on Friday toward an
agreement on funding that could boost efforts to reach a global deal to fight climate change in
Copenhagen in December.[more]
PlanetArk.org | Risa Maeda | November 2, 2009
Japan CO2 Emissions From Fuel Drop
TOKYO, JAPAN - A slumping economy pushed down Japanese CO2 emissions from burning
fuels by a record 6.7 percent in the year to March 2009, the trade ministry said on Friday, but the
country is still far from meeting its Kyoto Protocol obligations.[more]
PlanetArk.org | Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent | November 2, 2009
U.N. Talks In Spain Seek To Salvage Climate Deal
OSLO, NORWAY - Climate negotiators from 175 nations meet in Spain next week for a final
session to try to break deadlock between rich and poor and salvage a U.N. deal due in
Copenhagen in December.[more]
6
PlanetArk.org | David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, Asia | November 2, 2009
Mass-Market U.N. Carbon Scheme Finds Favor In India
SINGAPORE - A new type of U.N. scheme is spreading clean energy technology to millions of
people in India, promising to cut carbon emissions and help investors earn valuable carbon
credits.[more]
PlanetArk.org | Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent | November 2, 2009
New Polar Bear Rule Sent To White House
WASHINGTON, US - Protection for polar bears' shrinking icy habitat is the subject of a
proposed rule sent to the White House by the Interior Department.
The proposed rule, "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Critical Habitat
Designation for the Polar Bear" is the latest step in a long process aimed at shielding the big
white bears from the effects of climate change.[more]
Telegraph-Journal | Carl Duivenvoorden | November 2, 2009
Resolve to act on climate change
Nearly eighty years ago, a diminutive old man set out from Ahmedabad, India on a 380kilometre march to the sea. His aim was to draw attention to an unfair tax levied by the British
authorities of the day. Thousands of Indians were inspired and walked with him.[more]
Times and Transcript| Ross Marowits | November 2, 2009
Gore effect spawns green investing
Socially responsible investment funds have grown nearly 10-fold in six years
MONTREAL -- Some call it the Al Gore effect, others say it just makes good business sense.
Concern about climate change, popularized by the former U.S. vice-president, has helped to
accelerate interest in green and socially responsible investing, say industry experts.[more]
The Daily Gleaner | Gwynne Dyer | November 2, 2009
The avalanche of evidence
The news is bad, and it's coming in fast.
Turn tens of thousands of scientists loose on a problem for two decades, and the results will seem
pathetic for the first few years, because it takes time to gather the data - even to build the
equipment with which you gather the data. [more]
November 3, 2009
environmentalresearchweb | Liz Kalaugher - Research Highlights | November 3, 2009
Methane has greater warming effect
If its effects on atmospheric aerosols are included, methane's global warming potential may be
around 10% higher than previous estimates. This could affect calculations of the cheapest way to
mitigate climate change in the short-term. [more]
CNW | Nov. 3, 2009
Partners of 2010 Winter Games join forces to help make Canada's Games carbon
neutral
VANOC, Offsetters to offset air travel of 2010 Olympians and Paralympians - On the eve of the
100-day countdown to the Games, 25 partners of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic
Winter Games are among the first to join forces in an ambitious effort to leave Canada and the
world an environmental legacy of carbon neutral Games in 2010, including offsetting air travel
for Olympians and Paralympians. [more]
7
SustainableBusiness | Nov 3, 2009
Portland Adopts Aggressive Climate Change Policy
Portland, Oregon is adopting one of world's most aggressive programs in the US to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The City Council passed a 40-year plan with a 4-0 vote.
[more]
The Times | Hannah Devlin | November 3, 2009
Kilimanjaro's snows melt away in dramatic evidence of climate changeThe snows of
Mount Kilimanjaro will be gone within two decades, according to scientists who say that the
rapid melting of its glacier cap over the past century provides dramatic physical evidence of
global climate change. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Gopal Sharma | November 3, 2009
Climate Worries To Send Nepal Cabinet To Everest Base
KATHMANDU, NEPAL - Nepal's cabinet plans to meet at the base camp of Mount Everest this
month to highlight the impact of global warming on the Himalayas ahead of next month's U.N.
negotiations on climate change, a minister said on Monday. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Niluksi Koswanage | November 3, 2009
Palm Oil CO2 Targets Delayed As Planters, NGOs Clash
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Planned palm oil carbon emission targets will be delayed by
at least a year as planters clash with NGOs on calculating the vegetable oil's environmental
impact, officials said on Monday. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Sunanda Creagh | November 3, 2009
Indonesia Wants Funds For Environment Enforcement
JAKARTA, INDONESIA - Indonesia's new environment minister said on Thursday he needs
more funds for law enforcement to stop illegal logging and pollution, in a bid to curb emissions
by one of the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Yereth Rosen | November 3, 2009
Alaska Oil Explorers Encountering More Polar Bears
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Oct 6 - Oil companies scouring the coastline of Alaska's North Slope
for new production sites are converging on the same territory as hungry polar bears trying to
escape shrinking and thinning sea ice. [more]
Reuters.com | November 3, 2009
Global Report: Climate Change Exposes the Oil and Gas Industry to Risk
ARMONK, N.Y., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Over three quarters of the world's oil and
gas companies surveyed believe inevitable climate change could impact their business:
increasing downtime, system failures and safety; but only 19 percent are taking action, says a
new Acclimatise report backed by IBM (NYSE: IBM). [more]
The Telegraph | Nick Allen – Los Angeles| November 3, 2009
Al Gore 'profiting' from climate change agenda
Al Gore has been accused of profiting from the climate change agenda amid claims he is on
course to become the world’s first “carbon billionaire”.
He is a partner in a Silicon Valley venture capital firm which invested £45 million in Silver
Spring Networks, a small California company which has been developing technology to monitor
household power use to make the electricity grid more efficient. [more]
The Daily Gleaner | Stephen Llewellyn | November 3, 2009
Distribution network key to developing green power – council
New Brunswick should keep control of its electricity distribution network to promote the
development of green power, says David Coon, executive director of the Conservation Council
of New Brunswick.[more]
8
GreenBiz.com | Dave Douglas | November 3, 2009
The Big Picture on Eco-Engineering Our Environmental Impact
The planet's population is now approaching 7 billion -- an increase of about 5 billion people in
just the past five decades -- and the total population is likely to increase by another 1 billion
people in the next decade.[more]
The Guardian | Damian Carrington | November 3, 2009
UN secretary general calls for increase in pledged funding for climate change
Money paid by rich countries to fight global warming will have to "be scaled up" from the
$100bn a year on offer, the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said today.[more]
The Guardian | John Vidal | November 3, 2009
Global warming could create 150 million 'climate refugees' by 2050
Environmental Justice Foundation report says 10% of the global population is at risk of forced
displacement due to climate change
Global warming will force up to 150 million "climate refugees" to move to other countries in the
next 40 years, a new report from the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) warns.[more]
Philly.com | Sandy Bauers - Inquirer Staff Writer| November 3, 2009
A primer on climate change by Al Gore
Al Gore admits it won't be easy.
His critics are loud. And painful as it is, he has to contemplate that we might not "find the moral
courage" to solve global warming, which he calls the foremost planetary crisis before us.
But because he's optimistic, he's giving us a road map for how to address it. Due in bookstores
today, it's called Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis. [more]
Reuters | Ayesha Rascoe | November 3, 2009
Global carbon markets to continue to grow - IETA head
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Global emissions markets will continue to grow regardless of the
outcome of international climate negotiations this December, the head of the International
Emissions Trading Association said on Monday. [more]
PICS- Univ. Victoria | November 3, 2009
New Research Gives Green Light To Electrifying BC’s Vehicle Fleet
British Columbia has sufficient underutilized generation capacity in its electrical grid to support
the introduction of more than two million plug-in electrified vehicles, enough to eventually
replace nearly every registered vehicle in the province, provided that recharging occurs in offpeak demand periods, according to new research from the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions
(PICS). [more]
November 4, 2009
environmentalresearchweb | Kate Ravilious - Sustainable Futures | November 4, 2009
Balancing REDD politics and effectiveness
Chopping down and burning trees is a major source of greenhouse gases, accounting for around
one-fifth of global carbon dioxide emissions. What's more, tropical forests account for around
half of the carbon absorbed by land-based sinks. Reducing and stabilizing deforestation is
essential if we are to achieve IPCC targets and combat climate change. [more]
9
environmentalresearchweb | Research Highlights | November 4, 2009
Salt-starved termites increase carbon storage
While animals need sodium to thrive, plants do not. Now, researchers from the US and Panama
have found that a shortage of sodium in inland tropical rainforests such as the Amazon may slow
down the carbon cycle by limiting the decomposition and consumption of plant matter by
animals. [more]
Canwest News Service | Mike De Souza | November 4, 2009
Africans urge Canada to be tougher at climate talks
OTTAWA — The Harper government acknowledged Wednesday that its negotiators will be
tough at international climate change talks as frustration mounted against Canada and other
developed nations for delaying progress at meetings in Barcelona, Spain. [more]
guardian.co.uk | Suzanne Goldenberg and John Vidal | November 4, 2009
US scales down hopes of global climate change treaty in Copenhagen
The US has given up hope of reaching a global climate change treaty at Copenhagen and is
working towards a deal late next year, the Obama administration said today. The decision ends
hopes of a legally binding deal being sealed next month. [more]
Reuters | Sarah Hills | November 4, 2009
Insurance sector can't cope with climate change: trade group
LONDON (Reuters) - The general insurance industry may not be able to cope with the increased
frequency and severity of floods and typhoons brought about by climate change, the Association
of British Insurers (ABI) said on Wednesday. [more]
www.cec.org | Montreal | November 4, 2009
New study to provide roadmap for sustainable freight transportation
The Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has embarked on a
new study to evaluate opportunities for making freight transportation more sustainable in North
America. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Gina Keating | November 4, 2009
Disney To Give $7 Million To Reforestation Projects
LOS ANGELES, US - The Walt Disney Co said on Tuesday it will invest $7 million in forest
conservation projects in the Amazon, Congo and United States as part of its effort to reduce
emissions, waste and energy use as a corporation. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Laura Isensee - Analysis | November 4, 2009
Solar Companies Focus On Nuts And Bolts To Cut Costs
LOS ANGELES, US - Even as solar companies cook up high tech ways to cut costs, the next
push to make the renewable energy source more economical could come from workers who bolt
panels onto rooftops and mount them across empty fields. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Noah Barkin and Susan Cornwell | November 4, 2009
Angela Merkel Presses U.S. On Climate In Speech To Congress
WASHINGTON, US - German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged the United States Tuesday to
agree to binding climate goals, telling U.S. lawmakers in a speech to Congress there was "no
time to lose" in the fight against global warming. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Richard Cowan | November 4, 2009
Q+A: How Will U.S. Climate Negotiators Approach Copenhagen?
WASHINGTON, US - When U.S. negotiators show up in Copenhagen next month to work on a
deal to tackle global warming, they probably won't have in their pockets what they most wanted:
a law enacted by Washington committing the country to carbon pollution reductions. [more]
10
PlanetArk.org | Josie Garthwaite - Earth2Tech | November 4, 2009
RecycleBank Adds $28M, Joins Up With Kashless
US - RecycleBank, which partners with cities to provide incentives for residential recycling, has
just put another $28.25 million in the bank, according to a filing with the SEC. Separately this
morning, the company announced a new partnership with Kashless.org, the re-commerce
company founded by former Imperium Renewables CEO and serial entrepreneur Martin Tobias.
[more]
PlanetArk.org | Doug Palmer | November 4, 2009
Full Climate Deal Unlikely By Copenhagen: Barroso
WASHINGTON, US - A full-fledged international climate deal to fight global warming will not
be reached next month in Copenhagen but a framework pact is still possible, the head of the
European Commission said Tuesday. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Stacy Feldman | November 4, 2009
Forest Protection Hinges On 10-Word Phrase
BARCELONA, SPAIN - Developing nations could end up being paid billions of dollars to raze
rainforests and build palm oil plantations in their place if the current text of the Copenhagen
climate treaty sticks, a group of advocates warned at the United Nations climate talks on
Tuesday. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Chris Buckley | November 4, 2009
China's Wen Tells EU To Stick To Current Climate Pact
BEIJING, CHINA - China will insist key global climate change negotiations next month build
on current treaties that limit the obligations of poor countries in controlling greenhouse gas
emissions, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Katrina Manson | November 4, 2009
Kilimanjaro's Ice May Disappear By 2033
DAR ES SALAAM, AFRICA - The ice on Africa's highest mountain could vanish in 13 to 24
years, a fate also awaiting the continent's other glaciers, a study said Monday.
U.S.-based researchers Lonnie Thompson and colleagues said glaciers on Kilimanjaro,
Tanzania's snow-capped volcano which attracts 40,000 visitors a year, could disappear. [more]
Telegraph-Journal | Gwynne Dyer | November 4, 2009
Pressure mounts to shift off fossil fuels
The news is bad, and it's coming in fast. Turn tens of thousands of scientists loose on a problem
for two decades, and the results will seem pathetic for the first few years, because it takes time to
gather the data - even to build the equipment with which you gather the data. But slowly the flow
of data will grow, and at the end of 20 years you can expect major new insights every month or
so. [more]
Reuters.com | Alister Doyle and Gerard Wynn | November 4, 2009
Poor urge deep climate cuts
BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Developing countries said on Wednesday they risked "total
destruction" unless the rich stepped up the fight against climate change to a level that even the
United Nations says is out of reach. [more]
GreenBiz.com | GreenerComputing Staff | November 4, 2009
ICT's Carbon Impacts Must Figure into Copenhagen Talks, Analysts Say
BARCELONA, Spain — At the U.N. Climate Change talks in Barcelona this week, industry
experts are calling on policymakers to find ways to spur investments in information technologies
that can help cut companies' and countries' greenhouse gas emissions.[more]
11
Reuters | Emma Graham - Harrison | November 4, 2009
China pushes CO2 capture, storage questions loom
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is pushing to complete its first commercial-scale power plant that can
capture and store emissions, but must do more research on how and where to lock away carbon
dioxide if the technology is to get wide roll-out.[more]
Time | Simon Shuster | November 4, 2009
Russia Still Dragging Its Feet on Climate Change
Russia doesn't seem to care two bits about global warming, and it's not hard to see why. Most
Russians would probably be happy if the country was a little warmer. Officials even joke that
once climate change has run its course, people may start pouring in to Siberia instead of trying to
escape it.[more]
mondaq | Danielle Waldman | November 4, 2009
Canada: OPA Launches Ontario’s Feed-In Tariff Program - A First In North
America
On September 30, 2009, the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) (re)released the official feed-intariff (FIT) rules and contract. The FIT program is intended to encourage and promote greater
use of renewable energy sources including wind, waterpower, renewable biomass, bio-gas,
landfill gas and solar for electricity generating projects. [more]
The Canadian Press | November 4, 2009
N.S. looking to speed up schedule for renewable energy
The Nova Scotia government is looking to speed up the province's green energy schedule.
The government has asked the provincial regulator to allow Nova Scotia Power to buy renewable
energy well in advance of target dates. [more]
November 5, 2009
PlanetArk.org | Deborah Zabarenko and Richard Cowan | November 5, 2009
U.S. Climate Envoy Takes Aim At Developing Nations
WASHINGTON, US - As a top American diplomat accused developing countries of inaction on
global warming, a coalition of senators on Wednesday stepped up efforts to break a political
deadlock that has choked U.S. steps on climate change. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Scott Malone | November 5, 2009
How To Boost Fuel Efficiency? Raise Taxes, Executives Say
DETROIT, US - There's a simple way to get Americans to drive fuel-efficient cars, according to
auto executives, but they are not going to like it -- sharply hike the gas tax.
While politically unpalatable, gasoline that costs at least $4 a gallon would have a far greater
effect on American fuel usage than Washington's $25 billion loan program meant to spark
investment in new technologies, executives told the Reuters Auto Summit in Detroit. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Sarah Hills | November 5, 2009
Insurance Sector Can't Cope With Climate Change: Trade Group
LONDON, UK - The general insurance industry may not be able to cope with the increased
frequency and severity of floods and typhoons brought about by climate change, the Association
of British Insurers (ABI) said on Wednesday. [more]
12
PlanetArk.org | Daniel Fineren | November 5, 2009
UK Energy Park Gets All Clear
LONDON, UK - Peterborough Renewable Energy Limited (PREL) has been granted approval to
build a waste recycling and green power plant that could eliminate the need for landfill sites in
the area, the government said on Wednesday. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Gerard Wynn | November 5, 2009
Study Finds Vital Peatlands Neglected
BARCELONA, SPAIN - Draining and burning of the world's peat bogs accounts for about 5.5
percent of global carbon emissions but are currently excluded from governments' climate targets
and U.N. talks, a study found on Wednesday. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent | November 5, 2009
Climate History Forces Action -- After Decades
BARCELONA, SPAIN - President Lyndon Johnson and British Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher made stark warnings about global warming decades ago, but convincing evidence for
action only amassed in recent years, experts say. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Alister Doyle and Gerard Wynn | November 5, 2009
Poor Urge Deep Climate Cuts
BARCELONA, SPAIN - Developing countries said on Wednesday they risked "total
destruction" unless the rich stepped up the fight against climate change to a level that even the
United Nations says is out of reach. [more]
PlanetArk.org | David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, Asia - Analysis | November 5, 2009
Investors Warm To Scaled-Up U.N. Offset Scheme
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - A U.N. scheme initially shunned by investors as too risky is now
pulling them in to help achieve dramatic cuts in carbon emissions in developing countries and
improve the livelihoods of millions of people. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Ari Rabinovitch | November 5, 2009
Israeli Firms Aim To Plug World's Water Leaks
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - Outside a small town near Tel Aviv, a pilotless drone aircraft with a
three-foot (1-meter) wingspan collects data from hundreds of gauges [more]
PlanetArk.org | Niluksi Koswanage | November 5, 2009
Indonesia Defends Converting Peatlands To Palm Estates
KUALA LUMPUR, INDONESIA - Indonesia will stick to a controversial plan to open peatlands
for oil palm estates as it seeks to develop the economy despite protests from green groups that
this type of land conversion speeds up climate change. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Emma Graham-Harrison - Analysis | November 5, 2009
China Pushes CO2 Capture, Storage Questions Loom
BEIJING, CHINA - China is pushing to complete its first commercial-scale power plant that can
capture and store emissions, but must do more research on how and where to lock away carbon
dioxide if the technology is to get wide roll-out. [more]
ST. PAUL | PRNewswire-USNewswire | Nov 5, 2009
U.S. Chamber Blasted for Weak-Kneed Response to Climate Change Legislation
-- On Tuesday, November 3, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a press release in which it
said it supports strong federal climate change legislation. In a letter to Senators Boxer and
Inhofe, the Chamber called for a fresh approach that strikes the right balance between new and
conventional sources of energy to smoothly transition to a low-carbon future. [more]
13
Christian Post | Aaron J. Leichman | Nov. 05 2009
'Green Patriarch' Meets with Obama to Discuss Climate Change
The spiritual leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians met with President Obama on
Tuesday and raised the issue of climate change… [more]
VOA News | Joe De Capua
| November 5, 2009
Agriculture Both Climate Change Victim and Contributor
There's been a lot of talk about boosting agriculture to ensure food security in the coming years.
But Thursday, at the Barcelona climate conference, a new report linked agriculture and climate
change. [more]
Kansas City Star | Yael T. Abouhalkah | November 5, 2009
Democrats steamroll GOP boycott on climate change bill
Now that's more like it. Hanging together, Democrats on Thursday steamrolled GOP opposition
to a climate change bill in a U.S. Senate committee. [more]
Sfgate.com | David R. Baker – Chronicle Staff Writer | November 5, 2009
New business group backs climate-change bill
A new group of businesses - including retail giant Gap Inc. and several large utility companies joined the lobbying fray over climate change on Wednesday, arguing that Congress must pass
legislation to limit greenhouse gases as soon as possible. [more]
The Associated Press | Arthur Max, Katy Daigle | November 5, 2009
Negotiators scale back expectations of reaching full climate treaty by December
deadline
BARCELONA, Spain - Negotiators and diplomats were working Thursday on a scaled-back
version of a global climate change treaty that could be agreed by next month's deadline, without
firm U.S. commitments. [more]
Reuters | Gerard Whynn and Alister Doyle | November 5, 2009
China should halve CO2 emissions by 2050: U.S
BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - China should roughly halve its greenhouse gas emissions by
2050 to keep the world on a safe climate path, the head of the U.S. delegation at U.N. climate
talks in Barcelona said on Thursday.[more]
The Earth Times | November 5, 2009
UN: Developed countries need to cut gas emissions by 25-40 per cent
Athens - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on developed countries to cut greenhouse
gas emissions by 25 to 40 per cent in an address to the Greek parliament Thursday.[more]
Bloomberg.com | Alex Morales | November 5, 2009
Germany’s Efficient Offices Called Best G-20 Green Policy by WWF
Germany’s program to subsidize energy-efficient buildings is the best policy among major
economies for curbing greenhouse gases and creating jobs, the environmental groups E3G and
WWF International reported.[more]
Bloomberg.com | Catherine Airlie | November 5, 2009
Deforestation as Carbon Culprit Drops Relative to Fossil Fuel
Deforestation’s relative contribution to global carbon emissions has declined as pollution from
fossil fuels increased, according to a researcher at the faculty of earth and life sciences at VU
University in Amsterdam.[more]
14
Environmental News Network | Ben Jervey | November 5, 2009
Washington, Stop Dithering, US Goals on Climate Urgently Needed
As the last round of "intersessional" climate talks before Copenhagen opened today in Barcelona,
all eyes were looking in the same direction they were when we left Bangkok three weeks earlier:
at the United States.[more]
November 6, 2009
PlanetArk.org | Nicky Loh | November 6, 2009
Taiwan Recycles Plastic Into Clothing
TAIWAN - Daai Technology Chairman Walter Huang poses with scarves made from recycled
plastic bottles at the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation building after a news conference in
Taipei November 4, 2009. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Ikuko Kurahone and Emma Farge | November 6, 2009
Climate Bill To Force Refinery Closures: Petroplus
LONDON, UK - An international pact and U.S. legislation to tackle climate change will hit oil
refiners' profits and may force some to shut some capacity, Thomas O'Malley, chairman of Swiss
refiner Petroplus, said on Thursday. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Gerard Wynn and Richard Cowan | November 6, 2009
Climate Treaty May Need Extra Year
BARCELONA/WASHINGTON - A U.N. climate treaty may need an extra year beyond a
December deadline to agree details, delegates at U.N. talks said on Thursday even as a U.S.
Senate committee approved a carbon-capping bill. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Reuters | November 6, 2009
Low-Carbon Farms Can Raise Food Output, Food Agency Says
BARCELONA, SPAIN - Low-carbon farming can both curb climate change and boost food
output in developing nations and so must be rewarded under a global climate deal due in
December, the U.N.'s food agency said on Thursday. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Cho Mee-Young | November 6, 2009
South Korea Drops Weakest 2020 Emissions Cut Target
SEOUL - South Korea, the OECD's fastest-growing carbon polluter, has ditched its weakest
voluntary 2020 emissions target and will choose one of two stricter options ahead of a global
meeting in Copenhagen. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Leonora Walet, Asia Green Investment Correspondent | November 6, 2009
Philippines Targets $2.5 Billion Geothermal Development
HONG KONG - The Philippine government aims to approve contracts to explore and develop
the country's massive geothermal energy resources, which could attract more than $2.5 billion in
private investment, an official said. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Vera Eckert - Analysis | November 6, 2009
German Nuclear Policy Skirts A Taboo
FRANKFURT, GERMANY - Germany's nuclear power policy of keeping old reactors open
longer to bridge the gap to greener energy may also leave the door open to eventually break a
major electoral taboo -- new atomic power plants. [more]
15
PlanetArk.org | Reuters | November 6, 2009
FACTBOX: Nuclear Power Plans In Europe
EUROPE - Nuclear energy is seen by some countries as an effective way to keep up electricity
supplies while cutting emissions of climate warming gases from burning fossil fuels. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Reuters | November 6, 2009
FACTBOX: European Nuclear Plant Life Extensions
EUROPE - Most nuclear power plants have a nominal design lifetime of up to 40 years but
many have been approved to operate for longer. [more]
PlanetArk.org | Marcelo Teixeira - Analysis | November 6, 2009
Greens Call Brazil Oil Finds A Tempting Trap
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - Brazil's huge offshore oil find, though an economic treasure chest,
threatens to undermine the renewable energy industry the country has worked so hard to build.
A possible oversupply of oil products in the local market once expensive exploration, production
and refining initiatives are up and running could make ethanol, biodiesel and hydroelectricity
less competitive. [more]
From last week
GreenNexxus| Darragh Worland | October 16, 2009
Meatless Mondays in Baltimore
From: Tonic, the "good news" site
US - Cafeterias throughout the Baltimore school district have adopted "Meatless Mondays,"
reports CNSNews.com, making the city's 80,000 public school students the first in the nation to
forgo chicken, beef and pork at school once a week.
Mellissa Mahoney, a chef and dietitian with the school district, told CNS News that the idea
started as part of a themed-approach to lunch planning, but evolved after representatives from the
Meatless Monday movement approached her and other administrators involved in lunch planning
for the district.
Meatless Monday is a national and international non-profit that aims to reduce meat consumption
worldwide by 15 percent.
16
The organization's Web site claims that going meatless just once a week could not only reduce
the risk of developing of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity, but also reduce greenhouse
gases and preserve natural resources such as fresh water and fossil fuel.
According to a 2008 New York Times article, global demand for meat has swelled in recent years,
and so has the impact of the industry on the environment.
"Meat factories consume enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate
significant greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn, soy and other grains, a
dependency that has led to the destruction of vast swaths of the world's tropical rain forests,"
writes Mark Bittman.
Americans are by far the most avid meat eaters, consuming roughly twice the global average of
meat every day. The Times article says that if Americans were to reduce that consumption by
about 20 percent, it would be as if each of us had traded in our gas-guzzling sedan for an energyefficient Prius. Wow! Now that would make an impact.
Supporters of Meatless Monday include former Beatle Paul McCartney and animal
rights groups, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Of course, not everyone is happy to hear that school kids are being deprived of meat once a
week.
Patrick Boyle, president and CEO of the American Meat Institute, sent a letter to the CEO of the
Baltimore City Schools, urging him to drop the program.
"I was disturbed to read about your school system’s decision to bow to an animal rights
organization in holding 'Meat Free Mondays,'" Boyle wrote. "This initiative is sponsored by the
Grace Spira Project at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The name Spira
refers to Henry Spira, who is widely regarded as one of the most extreme animal rights activists
of the 20th century."
Well, you can't please everyone.
Photo courtesy of Robert Brook via Flickr.
http://www.greennexxus.com/gnx.aspx?name=tonic-meatless
Mondaq | Kyle Danish, Shelley Fidler, Kevin Gallagher, Megan Ceronsky and
Tom s Carbonell | October 26, 2009
United States: Weekly Climate Change Policy Update
Commentary
Sen. Barbara Boxer released a new version of the Kerry-Boxer comprehensive climate and
energy bill. This "Chairman's Mark", which introduces allowance allocations to the original S.
1733, will serve as the basis for EPW mark ups, which are expected to begin in the next few
weeks . . . For the past two or so years, we have waited for decisions on a set of pending motions
to dismiss in three climate change tort lawsuits. Now, they are coming fast and furious, and the
defendants have so far prevailed in one of the three. In the other two cases, the plaintiffs now
will have to meet evidentiary burdens on causation, etc . . . The governments of China and India
signed an agreement to cooperate on international and domestic climate change policy and
mitigation strategies.
17
Executive Branch
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President Obama Sees "Growing Consensus" on Climate Change Legislation. In a
brief speech at an energy-themed event at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
President Barack Obama said that "consensus is growing" on Capitol Hill in favor of
climate change and clean energy legislation. Stating that climate change "should not be a
partisan issue," the President criticized "those who make cynical claims that contradict
the overwhelming scientific evidence when it comes to climate change, claims whose
only purpose is to delay the change we know is necessary." The President also credited
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) for his efforts to win the support of Republicans, such as Sen.
Lindsey Graham (D-SC), on climate change legislation and complimented Rep. Ed
Markey (D-MA) for his work to get a bill past the U.S. House of Representatives.
Administration Officials Ask Business Community for Climate Bill Support. The
White House convened its second "Clean Energy Economy Forum" to urge
representatives of major businesses for support in lobbying Congress to enact climate
change and clean energy legislation. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Secretary of
Commerce Gary Locke, and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Jane Lubchenco spoke to an audience that included representatives of the
Electric Power Research Institute and the Chicago Climate Exchange. Secretary Chu said
"We need the voice of the other side of the business community" and exhorted the
business leaders "to use whatever means you can . . . to speak up and let your views be
known."
EPA Claims 26 Million Ton Reduction in International Methane Emissions. The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that its Methane to Markets
Partnership program, which provides funding for international methane emission
reduction projects, achieved a reduction of 26 million metric tons CO2-equivalent in
2008. As of 2008, the program has involved a U.S. investment of $39 million, leveraging
an additional $277 million in contributions from public and private sector partners in the
program.
Presidential Appointments.
•
o
The Senate confirmed the nomination of Arun Majumdar to serve as Director of
the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, within the Department of
Energy
Congress
•
Senator Boxer Unveils "Chairman's Mark" of Climate Change and Energy
Legislation. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on
Environment and Public Works (EPW), released a new 925-page version of the KerryBoxer comprehensive climate and energy bill, also known as S. 1733 or the "Clean
Energy Jobs and American Power Act of 2009." This "Chairman's Mark" will serve as
the basis for EPW mark ups, which are expected to begin in the next few weeks. The
Chairman's Mark introduces some significant changes to the original language of S.
1733, most notably by specifying precise allocations of allowances for industry sectors,
consumers, and various climate and clean energy programs. In general, the Chairman's
Mark sets aside a greater quantity of allowances than the Waxman-Markey bill for deficit
reduction and a cost-containment pool known as the "strategic reserve," and thus leaves
slightly fewer allowances available for free distribution. The Chairman's Mark also
changes the incentive program for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects to
18
allow certain recipients to claim incentive "bonus allowances" in advance, before actually
sequestering any CO2; allows small petroleum refineries to defer compliance with the
cap-and-trade program until 2015; and provides new allowance allocations for public
transportation grants and transportation emission reduction programs.
Simultaneously with the release of the Chairman's Mark, EPA released its initial economic
analysis of the Chairman's Mark. EPA's analysis does not contain new modeling results tailored
to S. 1733, but instead identifies aspects of S. 1733 that differ significantly from the WaxmanMarkey bill and analyzes the likely effect of those changes on the economic impacts that EPA
projected for the Waxman-Markey bill. The analysis noted that several features of the bill - such
as the more stringent emissions target for 2020, the deferral of emission performance standards
until 2020 (and the corresponding increase in the supply of domestic offset credits), the larger
strategic reserve pool – both would increase and decrease the price of allowances, and could
even cancel each other out. EPA concluded that the impact of S. 1733 on household consumption
would be similar to the Waxman-Markey bill, which EPA predicted would reduce household
consumption by less than 1% in 2050 relative to a "business-as-usual" scenario. EPA's analysis
did not take into account any economic benefits that would accrue from mitigating climate
change.
•
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Sen. Boxer Releases Hearing Schedule. Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) released the schedule for hearings on the
Kerry-Boxer cap-and-trade bill. The hearings will begin on October 27th with
Administration witnesses and continue on October 28th and 29th with panels on jobs and
opportunities, national security, utilities, adaptation, transportation, and the clean energy
economy. For witness lists, see
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Home.
Sen. Murkowski Signals Possible Climate Bill Support. In a C-SPAN interview, Sen.
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said she would "keep my mind open" about her vote on a capand-trade bill, provided the legislation contains sufficiently robust provisions supporting
domestic oil and gas development and nuclear energy. However, at Wednesday's Energy
and Natural Resources Committee hearing on allowance allocation, Sen. Murkowski
agreed with Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) that the Committee's
energy bill should be voted on without creating a comprehensive energy and cap-andtrade bill. Sen. Murkowski also expressed skepticism about the allowance distributions in
the Waxman-Markey bill, describing them as "decades-long earmarks." Sen. Corker said
that he could support a climate bill if it returned 100% of allowance value to taxpayers.
Nuclear Streamlining Talks Continue. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), who has been
involved in efforts to craft nuclear energy provisions to be added to climate legislation,
told reporters that the Senators are considering streamlining the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission's licensing process for new nuclear plants locating at already-approved sites
and plants built according to a standardized, approved design. In addition, Sen.
Lieberman said that additional incentives for nuclear plant construction could be
provided through a combination of loan guarantees and tax credits.
House Committee Considers Climate Adaptation. The House Select Committee on
Energy Independence and Global Warming held a hearing on adaptation to climate
impacts. Witness John Stephenson of the Government Accountability Office (GAO)
discussed the GAO's report on Climate Change Adaptation and told Committee members
that government officials lack funds, site-specific climate impacts data, and clarity about
roles and responsibilities for adaptation efforts. The report suggests that federal efforts
could increase awareness about climate change impacts and available adaptation
strategies among government officials and the public by providing better impacts data,
19
•
•
and developing a national adaptation strategy. Stephenson's testimony is available at
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10175t.pdf, and the GAO report is available at
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10175t.pdf.
House Passes Solar Bill. The House of Representatives passed H.R. 3585, a bill to
authorize $2.25 billion for solar energy research and development projects. No
companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate.
Sens. Hutchinson & Bond Release Carbon Tax Publication. Sens. Kay Bailey
Hutchinson (R-TX) and Kit Bond (R-MO), joined by a farmer and a trucker, released a
publication arguing that the Waxman-Markey legislation is a $2 trillion gas tax and a
$1.3 trillion diesel tax that will harm American families and businesses. They also
contend that the Kerry-Boxer bill will constitute an even higher gas tax. The publication,
which is supported by the American Highway Users Alliance, the American Trucking
Association, the American Farm Bureau, and the National Black Chamber of Commerce,
is available at http://hutchison.senate.gov/pr102109a.html.
Judicial
•
Following Second Circuit, Fifth Circuit Finds Private Plaintiffs Have Standing in
Climate Tort Action. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled
that private plaintiffs have standing to bring suit in federal court to claim damages from
major GHG emitters for financial harm they allege resulted from climate change. The
decision in Comer v. Murphy Oil, No. 07-60756 (5th Cir. Oct. 16, 2009), follows close on
the heels of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals' September 21 decision in Connecticut
v. AEP, finding that the state and private plaintiffs may bring federal common law
nuisance claims against the defendants, which are major emitters of GHGs. In Comer, the
plaintiffs are property owners along the Mississippi Gulf coast who argue that defendants'
GHG emissions contribute to global warming, thereby exacerbating the ferocity of
Hurricane Katrina and causing excess damage to their property. Reversing the lower
court's conclusion that the case presented a "political question" over which federal courts
have no jurisdiction, the Fifth Circuit found that the plaintiffs had sufficiently pleaded the
key elements of standing: an "injury in fact"; a "fairly traceable" link between the
defendants' actions and the alleged injury; and the ability of the court to redress the
alleged injuries. However, the Fifth Circuit rejected additional claims brought by the
plaintiffs – alleging that defendants unjustly profited by deliberately misleading the
public and policymakers about the dangers of climate change – as presenting "a
generalized grievance that is more properly dealt with by the representative branches and
common to all consumers of petrochemicals and the American public." The opinion is
available at http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/07/07-60756-CV0.wpd.pdf.
Industry and NGOs
•
NGSA Issues Recommendations for Climate Change Bill. The Natural Gas Supply
Association (NGSA), a trade association of producers and marketers of natural gas, sent a
letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) with six recommendations for
modifications to the Kerry-Boxer climate change bill introduced in September, S. 1733.
The letter warned that contemplated allocations of free allowances to "high-carbon
emitters" (specifically, coal-fired generators and coal-dependent utilities) would "mask
the true price of carbon for decades to come" and discourage investments in cleaner
sources of energy. As an alternative, the letter recommended that allowances be provided
as an incentive for retirement of old, carbon-intensive generating facilities and increased
reliance on natural gas for power generation. NGSA also called for research and
20
•
development funding and allowance allocations to benefit carbon capture and
sequestration projects at gas-fired sources, and research into high efficiency natural gas
turbines.
Business Roundtable Calls for Nuclear, Expanded Drilling in Climate Bill. In a white
paper titled "Unfinished Business: the Missing Elements of a Sustainable Energy and
Climate Policy," the Business Roundtable called for climate change and energy
legislation to include measures that, in its view, would enhance U.S. energy security.
Particular policies advocated in the report include expansion of nuclear power and
replacement of nuclear generating units whose decommissioning is imminent; expanded
domestic oil and gas exploration; research and development funding, regulatory
guidance, and incentives for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology; and the
enhancement of energy efficiency in the residential and commercial sectors through
revised building codes and improvements to existing buildings. The Business Roundtable
is an association of U.S. chief executive officers whose members include American
Electric Power, Boeing, Caterpillar, and other major corporations. Click here to view the
report.
Studies and Reports
•
•
NAS Issues Report on "Hidden" Costs of Energy Production. The National Academy
of Sciences released a study identifying and, in certain cases, quantifying, the "hidden"
costs of energy production on health, grain crops and timber, buildings, and recreation
that are not reflected in fossil fuel or electricity prices. The study found that the
unaccounted-for 2005 costs totaled $62 billion from coal-fired electricity generation and
$56 billion from motor vehicles. The study also identifies a range of values for damages
from climate change, concluding that the damages caused by each ton of CO2 would
increase by 50-80% by 2030 due to climate impacts. The report is available at
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12794#.
Biomass "Accounting Error" Study Released. A study published in Science found that
the treatment of all biomass as "carbon neutral" under the Kyoto Protocol and climate
legislation may lead to increases in net emissions by failing to account for changes in
emissions from land use when biomass is harvested or grown. As an example, the study
cites the clearing of established forests to burn wood or grow energy crops, which is
treated as a reduction in emissions while causing a large release of carbon. In response to
the study, the Environmental Defense Fund announced that it was launching a working
group to work towards a consensus approach for biomass carbon accounting. The study's
abstract is available at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/326/5952/527.
International
•
EU Ministers Finalize Common Negotiating Position for December Climate Talks.
Environment Ministers from the 27 member nations of the European Union finalized the
EU's negotiating position for the December climate change talks in Copenhagen,
Denmark. The EU common position calls for developed nations to reduce their emissions
by 80 to 95 percent from 1990 levels by 2050; for developing nations to achieve a
reduction of "in the order of" 30 percent from 1990 levels by 2020; and for a 20 percent
and 10 percent reduction from the shipping and aviation sectors, respectively, by 2020. In
addition, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso announced that the
Commission will appoint an EU "Climate Action Commissioner". The Commissioner
will seek the implementation of strong climate change-related policies within the EU and
abroad.
21
•
Major Economies Forum Cites Progress on Climate Financing. In a communiqu
issued following a two-day meeting in London, the 17 members of the Major Economies
Forum on Energy and Climate Change announced progress on international climate
financing. The release called for increased financing for reducing emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation; noted the members' agreement that an emission
reduction plan should not be a precondition for the receipt of climate financing by
developing nations; and called for the periodic submission of GHG emission inventories
by all but the least developed countries.
China, India Sign Climate Cooperation Agreement. Indian Environment Minister Jairam
Ramesh and Chinese Vice-Chairman and National Development and Reform Commission
Minister Xie Zhenhua signed an agreement that commits the two nations to cooperate on climate
change adaptation and mitigation. Under the India-China Partnership for Combating Climate
Change, India and China agreed to hold regular ministerial level discussion; create a working
group to address issues of international and domestic climate change policy; and expand
cooperation on climate change and low-carbon technology research, education, and training.
http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=88322&email_access=on
PRNewswire-USNewswire | October 30, 2009
Air Transport Association Urges U.S. Climate
Negotiators to Oppose Climate Change Tax Targeting
International Air Passengers
WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Air Transport Association of
America (ATA), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, yesterday urged
climate negotiators to oppose an exorbitant new climate change tax to be imposed on the airlines
and their passengers. The so-called "International Air Passenger Adaption Levy," would single
out aviation to raise $10 billion per year for climate-change projects to be built in developing
countries.
ATA wrote to the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change, Todd Stern, urging the United States
to strongly oppose this steep tax on international air travel.
"The proposed tax would unfairly and unreasonably target one industrial
sector, a sector that has a tremendous fuel and greenhouse gas efficiency record, to the detriment
of the economy," said ATA President and CEO James C. May.
"Even though the U.S. airlines account for less than 2 percent of the U.S. greenhouse gas
inventory, we are committed to doing more. However, this hefty new tax would be
counterproductive, siphoning away to the developing countries the very funds that the U.S.
airlines need to continue to invest in new aircraft, retrofits, alternative fuel and other upgrades
critical to the airlines' environmental performance and the U.S. economy," said May. "We should
not be considered a piggy bank for developing countries."
In its letter, ATA urged the United States to oppose the tax, and instead to support the industry's
proactive proposal for a global, sectoral approach to aviation and climate change.
22
U.S. airlines improved their fuel efficiency by approximately 110 percent between 1978 and
2008, saving 2.7 million metric tons of CO2 – roughly equivalent to taking 19.5 million cars off
the road each of those years.
ATA airline members and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline
passenger and cargo traffic. For additional industry information, visit www.airlines.org.
SOURCE Air Transport Association of America
Elizabeth Merida, +1-202-626-4205; or David Castelveter, +1-202-626-4033, both of the Air
Transport Association of America
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS235545+30-Oct-2009+PRN20091030
NYTimes | Jeremy Lovell | October 30, 2009
British Launch Ad Campaign to Raise Fading Climate
Concerns
LONDON -- The U.K. government has launched a guilt-laden advertising campaign after a
series of opinion polls showed that the majority of the public has not bought into climate change
despite years of political haranguing and millions of pounds spent on information and
advertising.
The campaign started with screenings of a 60-second television spot showing a father reading a
bedtime story to his young daughter, telling her about the ravages from climate change and its
human causes. It ends with her asking, "Is there a happy ending?"
"It is up to us to see how the story ends. See what you can do," comes a maternal voice-over.
The ad was prompted by market research showing that 52 percent of people don't believe that
climate change will affect them and 18 percent don't believe it will even affect their children.
"The advertisement is very emotive. But it is directed to the feedback we got from our research,"
said a spokeswoman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), which
organized the £5.75 million ($9.56 million) campaign.
"People see climate change as something far off. But they are prepared to act if they understand
that it will affect their children," she told E&E. Flagging interest in climate change also poses a
problem for the Obama administration in the United States. With little more than a month before
the United States is expected to lead in international climate talks in Copenhagen, a recent poll
by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows only 35 percent of Americans see
global warming as a serious problem, a drop of 9 percentage points since last year.
The British government's campaign, aimed at shoring up waning support, will also be in print,
and will run until mid-November. It notes that some 40 percent of the climate-changing carbon
dioxide emitted by Britons comes from housing and personal transport. It immediately drew
more than 200 complaints to the advertising standards authority, the national watchdog for
misleading advertising. The DECC spokeswoman said the bulk of the complaints were over the
science cited in the ad.
That, she said, came as something of a shock. "At the climate negotiations, people say the
science is settled, and we must move forward. But this suggests that the public doesn't
necessarily buy that," she said.
Climate change? Yes, but not in our backyards
It comes at an awkward time for the government as Prime Minister Gordon Brown exhorts his
fellow world leaders to agree on a far-reaching new climate pact at a crunch meeting in
Copenhagen in December, with tough emissions curbs on all developed countries, reduced
23
emission growth paths for major developing nations and massive transfers of money and
technology from rich to poor.
The opinion poll behind the new DECC campaign is echoed by new research by pollster
YouGov for Consumer Focus, a consumer lobby group set up a year ago.
That showed that British consumers are far more aware of climate change than they were two
years ago, but still less than half feel they may be at risk from heat waves and less than one-third
from flooding -- two of the likely consequences of climate change. Both heat waves and floods
have hit Britain in the past six years.
At the same time, the number of people who feel they will not be affected at all by climate
change has nearly doubled to 25 percent now from 13 percent in 2007. The YouGov research
also found that the level of awareness and concern about climate change hardly varied across
social groupings.
More research using focus groups, published last month by the Institute for Public Policy
Research think tank, produced very similar findings: Essentially, Britons are bored by climate
change, with some describing it as "a gimmick," "a bit faddy" or a "bandwagon."
Others covered by the IPPR research expressed cynicism over the level of government rhetoric
on the issue. "I find it all a bit schizophrenic when they open new airport terminals for everyone
and drive us mad about what we are doing to the environment when we are flying off every day,"
was one comment from a female participant in London.
Is cost the explanation?
For IPPR researcher Simon Retallack, the reasons are simple. Being green still costs too much.
This, he says, is because while the government has, after a very slow start, begun to make a lot of
noise about the personal responsibility of everyone to act on climate change, it has still done very
little to make personal action affordable.
Sale and manufacture of traditional incandescent 100-watt and frosted light bulbs are now
banned across the 27-nation European Union, and while their low-energy alternatives have fallen
steeply in price, they remain relatively expensive.
Highly energy-efficient domestic appliances like refrigerators and washing machines also remain
expensive, while hybrid cars are high-priced and the few electric car models available have a
poor public profile. At the same time, moves to raise taxes on air transport, road transport and
fuel are simply seen as a way to raise money for a government that is running on financial empty
after bailing out the banks at the height of the economic crisis.
"The government is doing far too little to make clean tech appliances more attractive," said
Retallack. "There need to be incentives to both make and to buy. Being seen to be green is not
cool if it makes you look like a fool with an expensive gadget." He noted that it should not be a
surprise that people have become disenchanted with climate change. It became a concern during
something like the 2003 killer heat wave or the major flooding in northern England in 2007, but
otherwise has seemed a rather distant issue.
"Apart from the occasional extreme weather event, business continues much as normal," he told
E&E. "For most people, it is not an everyday issue. It is something that happens elsewhere. And
taking action on a personal level is still too expensive."
While pollster IPSOS-MORI said it had not published any recent climate change-related work, a
survey last year found that only 1 in 3 people believed that climate change was due mainly to
human activities.
"People are getting mixed messages, and it is easy to latch on to sceptical voices if it helps to
justify your own inaction," a spokesman said.
And it would appear that it is not just in Britain or the United States that climate has been shoved
to the back burner after enjoying a higher profile. In Australia, a recent poll found that the topic
had dropped to seventh on a list of foreign policy concerns, despite a decadelong drought and
24
multiple bush fires. It was ranked No. 1 in 2007, when the country finally ratified the Kyoto
Protocol.
The issue is still seen as very important by 56 percent of people -- far higher than in Britain -- but
that itself is down 19 points from 2007. In the United States, repeated polls show a majority of
people are concerned about climate change, but when respondents are asked to rank it against
their concerns about other issues, such as the economy, national security or education, climate
sinks to the bottom of the list.
Copyright 2009 E&E Publishing. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/10/30/30climatewire-british-launch-ad-campaign-to-raisefading-c-28845.html
NYTimes | James Kanter and Stephen Castle | October 30, 2009
E.U. Reaches Funding Deal on Climate Change
European Union leaders on Friday offered to contribute money to a global fund to help
developing countries tackle global warming hoping kick-start stalled talks on a new agreement
on climate change.
But E.U. leaders disappointed climate campaigners by making the offer conditional on donations
from other parts of the world and by failing to decide how much Europe would contribute to a
global pot of up to 50 billion euros by 2020.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt insisted the E.U. now had "a very strong negotiating
position" to press for a global deal at United Nations talks in Copenhagen in December that are
aimed at agreeing a successor accord to the Kyoto Protocol.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, also stressed that Europe was leading the way.
"There is no-one else among the industrialized nations" to have made as concrete an offer of
climate finance, Ms. Merkel told a press conference in Brussels.
But environmental groups took a mostly negative view of the results of the two-day summit,
saying E.U. leaders had chosen vague, global figures and thereby diminished chances of
unblocking climate negotiations ahead of the meeting in Copenhagen.
"Europe has failed once again to say how much it is prepared to contribute for climate finance,"
said Sonja Meister, a climate campaign coordinator for Friends of the Earth Europe. "In every
way the EU is shirking its historical responsibilities and blocking progress towards the just and
fair agreement the world needs in Copenhagen," she said.
The European Commission had called on E.U. leaders to make an offer of up to 15 billion euros
annually by 2020.
Mr. Reinfeldt, the Swedish prime minister, said leaders had instead agreed that developing
nations needed about 100 billion euros annually by 2020 and that, of that sum, between 22
billion euros and 50 billion euros would have to come from public funds, as opposed to private
sources like investments in carbon-reduction projects.
Mr. Reinfeldt also said that E.U. nations could make a voluntary decision to contribute to a socalled fast-track mechanism that would make funds available immediately to developing
countries.
Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, put a brave face on the result,
underlining that the trade bloc should not be "naive" going into the negotiations in Copenhagen
that are set to begin in fewer than six weeks.
"Our offer is not a blank check," said Mr. Barroso. "We are ready to act, if our partners deliver,"
he said.
E.U. officials said that Ms. Merkel, the German chancellor, who had been reticent over making
any European commitment, had been persuaded that the figures were only conditional on steps
being taken by other nations.
25
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/science/earth/31iht-UNION.html?_r=1
October 31, 2009
Reuters.com | Richard Cowan | October 31, 2009
Republicans move to delay climate bill progress
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - All seven Republicans on the U.S. Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee plan to boycott next week's work session on a climate-change bill, an aide
said on Saturday, in a move aimed at thwarting Democratic efforts to advance the controversial
legislation quickly.
"Republicans will be forced not to show up" at Tuesday's work session, said Matt Dempsey, a
spokesman for Republican senators on the environment panel.
Under committee rules, at least two Republicans are needed for Chairwoman Barbara Boxer to
hold the work sessions that would give senators an opportunity to amend the controversial
legislation and then vote to approve it in the panel, which is controlled by President Barack
Obama's fellow Democrats.
But Republicans are demanding more detailed economic analysis of the bill by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency -- a task that could take more than a month -- before agreeing
to participate in the work sessions that are called "mark ups."
The seven Republicans have not indicated they ultimately would vote for the bill, which Boxer
wants to move through her committee before December's international climate-change summit in
Copenhagen.
Even with committee approval of the bill, the full Senate is not expected to vote on it this year.
The legislation, as currently written, would have a hard time gaining the support of the 60
senators needed to pass major bills.
Nevertheless, the Obama administration is hoping for more progress by Congress before the
Copenhagen summit. In June, the House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill to reduce U.S.
emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
CARBON POLLUTION
Boxer's bill, which she wrote with Democratic Senator John Kerry, would require U.S.
manufacturers, utilities and refineries to reduce their carbon pollution output 20 percent by 2020,
from 2005 levels. That is slightly more ambitious than the House-passed bill.
Most Republicans and some moderate Democrats in the Senate have criticized the emissionsreduction target of the Kerry-Boxer bill.
Kerry already has begun talking to other senators about significant changes to his bill, including
expanding U.S. nuclear power generation.
Republicans on the environment committee say the climate-change bill would cause significant
job losses by encouraging manufacturers to relocate more of their plants in countries that do not
have as strict carbon controls.
They also say it would significantly boost consumer prices as companies are forced to use more
expensive alternative fuels -- a claim that has not been backed up by some independent analysis
or by a preliminary EPA analysis.
"Republicans are insisting on a full EPA analysis before a mark up. We are not opposed to a
mark up, only on holding one this rushed," said a statement by committee Republicans. Full
details of the Democratic bill were unveiled only a week ago.
The senior Republican on the committee, Senator James Inhofe, has been an outspoken
opponent of legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, saying there is no sound scientific
evidence that the world is suffering due to carbon emissions resulting from human activities.
26
(Editing by Will Dunham)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/31/AR2009103101048.html
Examiner.com | JoAnn Blake | October 31, 2009
Republicans out to lunch for climate-change work
session
11:08 PM
DC Environmental Policy Examiner
Not so fast with a clean energy and climate-change bill.
Just when landmark legislation appeared to be gaining wider support (a CNN poll found six in 10
Americans and 68 percent under 50 years old support cap and trade), all seven Republicans on
the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee have decided to boycott next week’s
work session, the AP has reported.
Under committee rules, at least two Republicans are needed for Chairwoman Barbara Boxer to
hold the work sessions that would give senators an opportunity to amend the legislation and then
vote to approve it in the panel, which is controlled by Democrats.
Republicans are demanding a more detailed economic analysis of the bill by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, the AP article states, before agreeing to participate in the
work sessions that are called "mark ups."
The Obama administration was hoping for more progress on the bill so the negotiating team
wouldn’t be embarrassed by the country's continued inaction on this crucial issue at the
Copenhagen summit in December.
With Sen. Jim "Global Warming Is a Hoax" Inhofe on the panel, imagine the stalling and
theatrics during these Senate panel meetings. See this video for an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u1vfnlqWVQ&feature=related
http://www.examiner.com/x-12720-DC-Environmental-Policy-Examiner~y2009m10d31Republicans-out-to-lunch-for-climatechange-work-session
GlobalAtlanta.com | Phil Bolton | October 31, 2009
Jimmy Carter Joins ‘The Elders’ in Istanbul to Tackle
Climate Change
www.theelders.org
27
Jimmy Carter, 85, and his grandson, Hugo Wentzel, 10, in Istanbul for 'The Elders' meeting on
climate change.
Atlanta - 10.31.09 - Former President Jimmy Carter was in Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 31, to join “The
Elders,” a group of global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela, to issue a statement
underscoring their concern about climate change prior to negotiations on the issue coming up in
Copenhagen, Denmark.
The group, which is chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, included Gro Harlem Brudtland, former
prime minister of Norway and the U.N.’s secretary-general’s special envoy on climate change;
Martti Ahtisaari, former president of Finland; Ela R. Bhatt, founder of India’s Self-Employed Women’s
Association; Mary Robinson, former Irish president; Kofi Annan, former U.N.secretary general;
Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil and Graca Machel, international activist on
women’s and children’s rights.
The Elders brought 13 of their grandchildren to join them to emphasize the urgency of the issue
for future generations. Mr. Carter’s grandsons, Hugo Wentzel, 10, and Jeremy Carter, 22, were
among the participants.
According to www.theelders.org, the group urged the heads of government that are to attend to
Copenhagen meeting in December to agree to a two degree Celsius target as the outer limit of
global temperature increase that humankind can tolerate.
The Web site also indicated that they agreed that global greenhouse gas emissions must be
reduced by at least 50 percent by 2050 to stop further global warming.
In addition, they called on the representatives of the G8 and other industrialized countries to
accept their historic responsibility for the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions in the
atmosphere, and to commit to emissions cuts of 25-40 percent by 2020, and at least 80 percent
by 2050, relative to levels in 1990, backed by verifiable national action plans.
The site said that they also agreed that the big emerging economies reduce their emissions
through national action plans that are measurable and verifiable and that they agreed that
industrialized countries are to provide the majority of financial support of at least 100 billion
euros a year to help developing countries to shift to low carbon prosperity and adapt to the
damaging effects of climate change that are already tackling climate change.
http://www.globalatlanta.com/article/22550/
November 1, 2009
Canwest News Service | Mike De Souza | November 1, 2009
Pressure on U.S. president at climate talks, Canada
says
28
President Barack Obama (R) tours the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center with Lewis
Hay (2nd L), chairman and CEO of Florida Power and Light, and DeSoto plant construction
manager Greg Bove on October 27, 2009 in Arcadia, Florida. Obama's Senate allies launched a
major push behind sweeping legislation to battle climate change, with time running short before
a high-stakes global summit in December.
Photograph by: Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images
OTTAWA — The Canadian government says the pressure will be on U.S. President Barack
Obama's administration as the world meets for a crucial week of international climate
negotiations in Spain on Monday.
Although Environment Minister Jim Prentice has been criticized for leaving Canada "emptyhanded" at the negotiating table without its own national plan for reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, he said that the discussions are actually being hampered by the U.S. opposition to the
Kyoto Protocol which requires developed countries to assume legally binding commitments.
"In other words, the United States will not sign Kyoto, and will not sign something that looks
like Kyoto," Prentice said in an interview with Canwest News Service. "There are countries who
did sign Kyoto who insist that the new treaty has to look very much the same. That's the issue at
the negotiating table at the present time that we've been unable to resolve."
Developing countries have also criticized Canada for not honouring its commitments under the
Kyoto agreement and proposing to replace some of its key elements in a new treaty. But Prentice
said that other countries, including the U.S. and China, must move forward in order to reach an
international consensus at a global climate summit next month in Copenhagen.
"There are the associated difficulties that the United States is unable to secure legislative
approval for their targets before Copenhagen and the Chinese in response are not prepared to put
forward specific targets," said Prentice. "Those are the issues at the negotiating table."
The talks in Barcelona represent the final five days of formal negotiations before the summit in
Copenhagen. Most observers and participants are still hopeful that the December conference will
result in a political agreement with key elements that lay the groundwork for a treaty that would
29
restructure the global economy toward sustainable development and stop human activity from
causing dangerous changes to the atmosphere and climate.
But one veteran observer of international negotiations said that Canada is excluding itself from
the process because it continues to make "excuses" for delaying action on climate change that
targets Canadian industries.
"When it's not the (fault of the) Chinese or the Indians, it's the Americans. They (Conservatives)
have come up with every possible excuse in the book," said Steven Guilbeault, the co-founder of
Equiterre, a Quebec environmental organization. "Their only plan is that the talks fail because if
any other scenario happens, then we're not prepared (and) we have nothing to say."
Guilbeault, who will attend the Barcelona talks as an observer, added that Obama's government
is actively seeking common ground with China through a separate bilateral agreement to advance
the negotiations.
"We're probably one of the least productive players around this table," said Guilbeault.
Developing countries have also sought financing from richer countries to help invest in measures
to reduce emissions that trap heat in the atmosphere and also to adapt to ongoing changes in the
climate that disrupt economies and lifestyles. One study produced last summer by an Albertabased environmental research group estimated that Canada's share of an aid package in a global
climate treaty could be as high as $5.7 billion per year.
But the Canadian government says it has not proposed any specific amount to transfer in a future
climate pact because it is still focusing on establishing conditions for how developing countries
will use the money received and measure or report on progress.
"There's a little bit of a chicken and egg situation in the discussions because scaled-up finance
would be in support of specific actions that developing countries propose to take," said Michael
Martin, Canada's chief climate negotiator, in a phone interview from Barcelona. "But there are
no such actions on the table that have been proposed."
mdesouza@canwest.com
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Pressure+president+climate+talks+Canada+says/217013
6/story.html
Guardian.co.uk| David Adam and Jonathan Watts | November 1, 2009
World leaders accused of myopia over climate change
deal
Senior officials and negotiators increasingly gloomy about the prospects for a global warming
deal next month
30
Melting ice in Greenland. British officials say negotiations on a deal to curb global warming
have been progressing too slowly. Photograph: Corbis
The head of the international group leading the fight against climate change has accused
countries of pushing science aside in favour of self-serving "political myopia" ahead of the vital
Copenhagen summit.
Senior officials and negotiators are increasingly gloomy about the prospects for a global
warming deal next month, with the British government admitting there is now no chance of a
legally binding treaty.
Speaking as officials gather in Barcelona tomorrow for a final round of negotiations, Rajendra
Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said: "I gave all the world's
leaders a very grim view of what the science tells us and that is what should be motivating us all,
but I'm afraid I don't see too much evidence of that at the current stage.
"Science has been moved aside and the space has been filled up with political myopia with every
country now trying to protect its own narrow short-term interests. They are afraid to have
negotiations go any further because they would have to compromise on those interests."
British officials say the negotiations have been progressing too slowly, and the best Copenhagen
can achieve is a "politically binding" agreement. But they insist this does not represent a
lowering of ambition for the talks, and say a political deal would still be a major achievement.
"Nobody thinks we will get a full treaty," said a spokesman for the Department of Energy and
Climate Change. "Copenhagen must deliver a comprehensive politically binding agreement ...
This must cover all the major issues including binding economy-wide emissions reductions from
developed countries, significant action from developing countries to slow their emissions
growth, and finance. Only this can deliver a legally binding treaty which puts the world on a
trajectory to a maximum global average temperature increase of two degrees and provides a fair
deal for developing countries."
In an apparent effort to lower expectations ahead of Copenhagen, billed by Gordon Brown as the
world's last chance to prevent "catastrophic" climate change, senior figures are playing down the
chances of producing a binding treaty.
Yvo de Boer, the UN's most senior climate official, said last week: "It is physically impossible,
under any scenario, to complete every detail of a treaty in Copenhagen." He added: "It is
absolutely clear that Copenhagen must deliver a strong political agreement and nail down the
essentials."
31
Lars Løkke Rasmussen, prime minister of Denmark, said: "We do not think it will be possible to
decide all the finer details for a legally binding regime."
Hanne Bjurstroem, Norwegian cabinet minister and chief climate negotiator, told Reuters: "I
don't believe we will get a full, ratifiable, legally binding agreement from Copenhagen."
De Boer pointed out that the 1997 Kyoto protocol, the world's existing treaty on greenhouse gas
emissions, took several years to finalise and to come into force.
Pachauri said although negotiations had not moved far and many leaders are playing down
expectations, he has not given up on an agreement. "My feeling is leaders don't want to be left
with the responsibility for any possible failures so they are hedging their bets. They are
downplaying expectations because if we don't get an agreement that reaches people's
expectation, there will be a lot of finger-pointing," he said.
On current trends, he warned global temperatures are on course to reach the high end of the
IPCC forecast of 6.4C by 2100 with dire consequences for social stability, food production and
health.
The Nobel prize winner co-ordinated 1,250 of the world's leading scientists and 2,500 reviewers
to draw up an IPCC report in 2007 that asserted climate change was a fact and all but certainly
caused by carbon emissions from human activity. He said: "It is a fact that unfortunately
negotiations haven't moved very far, but that is not a major indicator of lack of progress because
this is the way negotiations go. Often these things fall into place two minutes before the midnight
hour. I am cautiously optimistic."
Pachauri said that a six-month or one-year delay in the search for a deal was not the worst
outcome. "This is certainly not desirable, but if it meant a stronger agreement that addressed the
seriousness of the problem, it may not be that bad."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/01/climate-change-world-leaders-accused
Financial Times - ft.com | November 1, 2009
Follow the science on climate change
As next month’s Copenhagen conference approaches, politicians should not be distracted by the
apparently growing volume of sceptical voices challenging the need for global action against
climate change. Some of the sceptics may have scientific backgrounds but they are not in the
mainstream of contemporary climate research. The real experts – hundreds of scientists
worldwide who are examining the link between climate and carbon dioxide emissions – have no
doubt that man-made global warming is a real crisis that must be addressed urgently.
When science and politics mix, scientists have to simplify their arguments to enable politicians
to grapple with the issues. The sheer complexity of climate science, from atmospheric physics to
polar glaciology, makes it harder to convey than some other science-based issues such as space
policy, stem cells or HIV/Aids. And there has inevitably been oversimplification – sometimes
amplified by environmental groups keen to present the threat of global warming in the starkest
terms.
The most important point to grasp about global warming is that it has not proceeded and will not
continue at anything like a uniform, predictable pace around the world. As sceptics like to point
out, 1998 was the warmest year on record globally (because of a particularly intense El Niño
event in the Pacific Ocean) but locally things have heated up considerably since then – especially
in the Arctic, where summer sea ice has shrunk alarmingly over the past five years.
A common mistake is to try to draw a clear distinction between “man-made” and “natural”
change. The real climate results from an incredibly complex interplay between natural variation
and the increasingly important human influence.
The geological record shows that natural change can happen extremely fast – on several
occasions within the past 20,000 years global temperatures have risen or fallen by several
32
degrees over a century. Sceptics sometimes seem to draw comfort from this natural variability
but, to a climatologist with a sense of history, the wild swings in the past are anything but
comforting. They suggest a real (though probably small) risk that, by pumping carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere to levels not seen for millions of years, we could trigger catastrophic, runaway
global warming.
Future climate is intrinsically unpredictable. For planning purposes policymakers need
projections of changes decades ahead, and scientists oblige by issuing consensus forecasts
through bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Remember that the figures are not firm predictions. If climate is less sensitive to increasing
carbon dioxide than the models suggest – or if unexpected natural events, such as a slight
dimming of the sun or exceptional volcanic activity, intervene – then we may get away with little
warming. The most likely rise in global temperature is somewhere between a just manageable
2°C and potentially catastrophic 4°C, depending on how quickly the world gets a grip on
emissions. It could be even worse than that.
Ultimately, when all the uncertainties are combined with the scientists’ view that we are doing
something significant to the global climate, a good reason why the world should invest hundreds
of billions of dollars in cutting carbon emissions is to insure against truly cataclysmic climate
change that might destroy industrial civilisation – a case made persuasively by Martin Weitzman,
the Harvard economist.
Fortunately the science becomes much clearer when we move from predicting the climate itself
to assessing how best to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Forget about esoteric “geoengineering” proposals to cool the earth. Technology that already exists (or is in development)
can do the job perfectly well by increasing the efficiency with which we use carbon-based
energy.
The least glamorous forms of energy conservation, such as insulating buildings properly and
making transport more efficient, still have a huge contribution to make. So do nuclear power and
the various forms of renewable energy from sun to wind and waves, though it will be essential to
invest heavily in “smart grid” technology to make the best use of them. As the final preCopenhagen negotiations begin in Barcelona, an editorial in Tuesday’s FT will outline the
policies that can make a real difference to climate change without causing unacceptable
disruption to the global economy.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. You may share using our article tools. Please
don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ec04319c-c703-11de-bb6f-00144feab49a.html?nclick_check=1
McClatchy Newspapers| Renee Schoof and David Goldstein| 11.01.09
Farmers fight climate bill, but warming spells trouble
for them
WASHINGTON -- Farm state senators and others soon will get a taste of what their colleagues
from Missouri already have piled high on their desks: thousands of letters from farmers urging
them to vote against the climate and energy bill.
The Missouri Farm Bureau started the letter campaign early, weeks before the bill was fully
written and made public. It was followed in October with a pitch from the American Farm
Bureau, the nation's largest agriculture lobby, to get farmers to take farm caps, sign their bills
and send them to senators with notes that say, "Don't cap our future."
Agriculture is likely to have a central place in the debate on the bill later this year about the
short-term costs of acting to curb climate change - and the costs of failing to address the longterm risks.
Farm lobby groups and senators who agree with them argue that imposing limits on the nation's
emissions of heat-trapping gases from coal, oil and natural gas would raise the cost of farming
33
necessities such as fuel, electricity and natural gas-based fertilizer. A government report,
however, warns of a dire outlook for farms if rising emissions drive more rapid climate shifts in
the decades ahead.
The Senate bill includes provisions that would hold down energy costs for consumers, and some
senators are working to add sections that would help farmers.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in written testimony while traveling in China last week
that the bill would create opportunities for farmers to sell renewable energy and to earn money
by selling credits for reducing emissions. He also said the bill contained provisions that would
prevent fertilizer price increases before 2025, even though fuel prices would rise.
The benefits of the bill probably will outweigh the costs in the short run, and "easily trump"
increased costs in the long run, he said.
Others are worried, however.
"I can understand in the political world why they're trying to get this under control," said Bill
Wiebold, a University of Missouri agronomist, a scientist who specializes in crop production and
soil. "What are the ripple effects? That's what farmers are concerned about. They understand that
what's being passed in Washington, D.C., could have a direct effect on their bottom line."
Another side of the cost question will be the burden on the daughters and sons who succeed
today's farmers, and the generations after them. A comprehensive review of scientific literature
and government data undertaken by a team of 19 U.S. scientists at the end of the Bush
administration and released in June forecast a disturbing future for American agriculture as
warming accelerates in the decades ahead.
The report, "Global Change Impacts in the United States," is the most comprehensive U.S. effort
so far to move from a global view of rising temperatures due to accumulating greenhouse gases
to a more regionally focused look at current and future changes.
The key messages on agriculture:
-Early on, some warming and elevated carbon-dioxide levels may be good for some crops, but
higher levels of warming impair plant growth and yields. More frequent heat waves, for
example, would be hard on crops such as corn and soybeans.
-Other more frequent extremes, such as heavy downpours and droughts, also would be likely to
reduce crop yields.
-The quality of grazing land will decline, and heat and disease will be harder on livestock.
-Finally, warming will be good for something: pests and weeds.
"This is going to have profound effects on agriculture and forests around the world," said
William Hohenstein, the director of the Global Change Program at the Department of
Agriculture.
It's not clear how agriculture might adapt to a changing climate and at the same time improve
productivity to help meet the needs of a growing population.
"We may not keep up," said Melanie Fitzpatrick, an Australian glaciologist and science adviser
to the Union of Concerned Scientists. The environmental advocacy group recently produced
reports on climate change in Midwestern states.
Jere White, the executive director of the Kansas Corn Growers Association, said that farmers
might be leery of predicted climate changes because "they have a perspective of having to
appreciate what occurred with the weather over a fairly long period of time. It's not an abstract
issue to them. It's part of their livelihood."
Climate scientists, in reports such as those used in the government study, say that while the
weather will keep varying from year to year, the long-term warming trend that's already being
observed will continue and accelerate. The severity of the warming will depend on the amount of
heat-trapping gases that build up in the atmosphere.
Richard Oswald, 59, grows corn and soybeans and raises cattle with his son on 2,000 acres in
Rock Port, in Missouri's northwest corner. He's the chairman of the board of the Missouri
Farmers Union, which is part of the National Farmers Union, a group that supports a mandatory
34
cap on emissions and a trading scheme for pollution permits, as long as farmers' concerns are
met.
"We can either get behind this and push this legislation in a direction that will help farmers, or
we can sit back and fight it all the way and get something we really don't want," Oswald said.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, the Agriculture Committee's ranking Republican, said he'd
oppose the bill because it would bring "economic pain for no benefit" and would "only hurt
farmers, ranchers and forest landowners, and provide them no opportunity to recoup the higher
costs they will pay."
"The huge taxes on carbon would be devastating to Midwest farmers," said Sen. Kit Bond, RMo.
The bill would charge large sources of emissions, such as power plants, for the amount of
greenhouse gases they produce. Farms wouldn't be required to reduce their emissions.
As those limits further tighten, businesses would have to find ways to comply or pay more.
Some of those penalty payments would be used to help vulnerable industries and consumers.
Energy costs would rise, but how that would affect Americans would depend on the policies the
law imposed.
Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., who was the secretary of agriculture for several years during the
Bush administration, said that higher energy costs were certain if the bill passed. He wasn't
convinced by the government study that climate changes are equally certain.
It's important to know "the predictability of the studies relative to what climate change could
look like," Johanns said. "That gets tougher. The USDA is only starting to dig into that."
He said the report on climate changes in the U.S. was "based on some studies I think are
incomplete."
The USDA had a lead role in the agriculture section of the study. The report's conclusions drew
from a large body of scientific reports.
Richard Krause, an American Farm Bureau lobbyist, said his group wouldn't dispute the study,
but he stressed that it was "about future events, based on models and assumptions."
Unless China, India and other developing countries also reduce emissions, "we're going to be
spending money on something for very little return," Krause said. "All the impacts are going to
happen anyway."
The U.S., China and other countries have started to move toward cleaner sources of energy, but
studies conclude that more changes will be needed to prevent dangerous climate shifts. Climate
scientists, meanwhile, say that climate disasters aren't a given but can be averted by large
reductions starting soon.
"Most farmers are just sort of skeptical," said Oswald, the farmer and Missouri Farmers Union
board chairman. "You're out every day working to overcome adversity from the government,
adversity from Mother Nature, adversity from the market. You learn not to put all your eggs in
one basket. That's where we are now with climate change. Farmers aren't willing to sign off on
all of it."
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/AP/story/1311377.html
McClatchy Newspapers | Renee Schoof and David Goldstein | November 1 (?), 2009
Higher temperatures will harm many crops, report
says
Related Content
http://www.climate.noaa.gov/education/
http://www.globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impacts
WASHINGTON -- Global warming would be bad news for all those amber waves of grain, and for the corn
and soybeans that are plentiful throughout the Midwest.
35
"The grain-filling period" - the time when the seed grows and matures - "of wheat and other small grains
shortens dramatically with rising temperatures. Analysis of crop responses suggests that even moderate
increases in temperature will decrease yields of corn, wheat, sorghum, bean, rice, cotton and peanut crops,"
according to "Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States," a report based on a comprehensive review
of scientific literature and government data by a team of American scientists.
Other details from the study:
-Plant winter hardiness zones - each of which represents a 10-degree Fahrenheit change in minimum
temperature - in the Midwest are likely to shift by a half- to a full zone about every 30 years. By the end of the
century, plants now associated with the Southeast are likely to become established throughout the Midwest.
-"Higher temperatures will mean a longer growing season for crops that do well in the heat, such as melon,
okra and sweet potato, but a shorter growing season for crops more suited to cooler conditions, such as potato,
lettuce, broccoli and spinach."
-Fruits that require long winter chilling periods, such as apples, will experience declines.
-"Higher temperatures also cause plants to use more water to keep cool. ... But fruits, vegetables and grains can
suffer even under well-watered conditions if temperatures exceed the maximum level for pollen viability in a
particular plant; if temperatures exceed the threshold for that plant, it won't produce seed and so it won't
reproduce."
-Climate change is expected to result in less frequent but more intense rainfall. One consequence is expected to
be delayed spring planting. In the Midwest, heavy downpours are now twice as frequent as they were a century
ago.
In the Great Plains, most water comes from the High Plains aquifer. Water withdrawals outpace natural
recharge. Increasing temperatures, faster evaporation rates and more sustained droughts will stress the water
resource further.
ON THE WEB
"Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States" report:
http://www.globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impacts
A guide for all ages by U.S. scientists, "Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science":
http://www.climate.noaa.gov/education/
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/AP/story/1311374.html
November 2, 2009
environmentalresearchweb | Liz Kalaugher - Sustainable Futures | November 2, 2009
Simple household changes could cut US emissions by
7.4%
With carbon emissions – and temperatures – continuing to rise, the need for action is pressing.
With that in mind, researchers have found that simple actions using existing technology by US
households could save as much as 123 metric tonnes of carbon a year by the tenth year of
implementation, equivalent to 7.4% of US national emissions.
This could occur with little or no reduction in household well-being and at relatively low cost,
the team believes.
“However promising new policies and technologies may be, they will take years to implement
widely,” Tom Dietz of Michigan State University, US, told environmentalresearchweb. “Yet
reducing emissions is urgent. We were aware that a substantial amount of energy use in US
households is wasted and that there have been successful programmes to eliminate such waste.
Our main point is that a policy to help households reduce emissions is a logical first and
immediate step in US climate strategy.”
Household energy consumption makes up 38% of US carbon emissions and 8% of world
emissions.
To come up with their figures, Dietz and colleagues from the University of Michigan, Vanderbilt
University, and the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education at the US National
36
Research Council looked at 17 household actions in five different behaviour categories. The
actions included insulating the home, routine maintenance of vehicles and air conditioning,
drying clothes on a line rather than using a tumble dryer, reducing laundry temperatures and
changing to a more efficient vehicle.
Some of these actions required new equipment or equipment upgrades while others required
equipment maintenance or one-off adjustment. Others still called for a change in daily behaviour.
To assess the likelihood of households altering their habits, the team looked at rates of behaviour
change in previous studies of energy efficiency measures, some from the energy crisis in the
1970s, and similar behaviour changes in health promotion initiatives. The result is, the
researchers believe, the first study of its type, including an assessment of likely take-up rates
based on actual data rather than estimates of how people will react.
“I’ve seen many analyses that make wild assumptions about how hard or how easy it is to get
people to change their behavior, without any basis in science,” said Dietz. “We look at what has
been feasible in bringing about changes in energy consumption behaviour.”
The team wanted to do an analysis that started with behavioral science considerations as well as
considering engineering and economics. “Some of the team (Gerald Gardner, Paul Stern and
myself) began working on the problem in the 1970s but there has been almost no funding for this
important topic so efforts have been episodic,” said Dietz. “Others of the team have made
important contributions to the literature more recently. The mix of disciplines involved psychology, sociology, physics, law and policy - is critical to getting the analysis right.”
According to Dietz, research to date has mainly focused on engineering approaches to build
better technology. “But the best technology we can devise doesn’t do any good if people don’t
use it,” he said. “We can make great progress with the technologies we already have if we pay
attention to behaviour – how people use the technologies they already have.”
The resesarchers found that the actions could cut total US carbon emissions by 5% over five
years and by 7.4% in 10 years, an amount equivalent to total emissions by the US petroleum
refining, steel and aluminium industries. Over 10 years, the reduction would be equivalent to
roughly three of the stabilization wedges proposed by Pacala and Socolow.
“A US demonstration of leadership on achieving the behavioural wedge might help induce other
countreis to do the same,” write the researchers in PNAS. It’s likely that Canada and Australia,
which have similar carbon profiles to the US, would be able to achieve similar percentage
savings, while Europe and Japan, with a household sector that’s less energy intensive, could
achieve percentage savings half these levels. Similarly, on a smaller scale, acquaintances of those
adopting energy-saving measures may be more likely to join in. “We know from a lot of research
that most people, companies and governments are most likely to change behavior when they see
their peers change,” said Dietz. “So someone will weatherize their houses when they see others
do it, and governments are most likely to develop policies when they see other governments
doing it.” Dietz reckons that a great deal can be accomplished at low cost if the US develops a
sound national policy to help people become aware of and reduce energy waste in household
uses. “To do that effectively such a programme has to be grounded in solid social science
research,” he said.
The researchers, who plan to sketch out such a policy for reducing household energy waste in
their next publication, reported their work in PNAS.
About the author
Liz Kalaugher is editor of environmentalresearchweb.
37
http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/futures/40858
PlanetArk.org | Svetlana Kovalyova | November 2 , 2009
Italy Set To Relaunch Solar Mirror Power Sector
MILAN, Italy - Italy is to relaunch concentrated solar power (CSP) generation which uses
sunlight and mirrors to make electricity and expects have 200 megawatts of new solar farms on
stream in 2012, a top industry official said Friday.
Italy, which worked on CSP technology in 1970s but then shelved pilot projects, aims to catch up
with the world's leaders California, Spain and Israel, Cesare Fera, chairman of new industry body
ANEST told Reuters in a telephone interview.
ANEST was set up this month to promote CSP generation in Italy where photovoltaic (PV)
technology which turns sunlight into power has boomed since 2007 thanks to generous
incentives.
Work is underway to build four experimental CSP plants with a total capacity of about 10 MW
on the island of Sicily and in central Italian regions of Lazio and Marche which should start up
next year, Fera said.
"Then industrial-size plants will follow, in 2011 and 2012. Permitting process is already under
way in Sardinia, Sicily and other regions. Hopefully authorizations will be done next year, then a
year for construction and on stream in 2012," he said.
The current government support scheme puts a 200 MW cap on a cumulative capacity of projects
to be covered by incentives which guarantee operators 28 euro cents per every kilowatt hour of
power produced, he said.
Applications to build CSP farms -- which use mirrors to capture the sun's rays to create steam
that turns a turbine to make electricity -- well exceed 200 MW and the limit will be reached in
2012, Fera said.
GROWTH HINGES ON INCENTIVES
"We must start thinking about post-2012 now," he said.
"One of the goals of our association is to convince the government to extend this limit to at least
2,000-3,000 MW. This will allow us to make big-size installations, to use top technology," he
said.
CSP, which currently costs about 3-6 times more to make than gas-fired power widely used in
Italy, is likely to become competitive with electricity produced by fossil-fired plants in about 7-8
year at best, Fera said.
CSP's sister PV technology is expected to become competitive with traditionally generated
power in 2010-2012, ahead of European rivals thanks to abundant sunshine, falling PV module
prices and high electricity prices in Italy.
But CSP technology has a lot of room to cut operating costs and has a considerable advantage
over PV installations because it allows for storing energy, Fera said.
The global CSP capacity is currently at about 500 MW -- enough to meet power demands of
210,000 families, according to industry estimates -- with most of it installed in the United States,
but it can grow fairly rapidly to 150,000 MW, Fera said.
CSP plants to be built in deserts have the potential to generate up to a quarter of the world's
electricity by 2050, according to a report by pro-solar groups in May [ID:nLO523100].
Italy's limited free space due to its geography and dense population would put a natural cap on
CSP growth at about 5,000-7,000 MW, Fera said.
(Editing by Nigel Hunt)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55279
38
Wall Street Journal | Stephen Power | November 2, 2009
No Deal: Chamber Chief Battles Obama
WASHINGTON -- With President Barack Obama bidding to overhaul the health-care system,
tighten bank oversight and make industries pay for their greenhouse-gas emissions, some tradeassociation chiefs have decided to compromise with the party in power.
Not Thomas Donohue. On many of Mr. Obama's priorities, the president and chief executive of
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is working to defeat the administration—delighting some
members, causing some to quit and sparking a furious reaction from the White House and leftwing activists. In the process, he has made the Chamber one of Mr. Obama's most visible
opponents.
View Full Image
Bloomberg News
Thomas Donohue, president and CEO of U.S. Chamber of Commerce
On climate change, Mr. Donohue's group says warmer temperatures could help by reducing
deaths related to cold weather.
On health care, a Chamber ad says Democrats' approach will kill jobs and slow growth.
On financial regulation, one ad says the administration's plan will hurt small businesses, "even
the small butcher"—a line that prompted Mr. Obama to denounce the Chamber from the
presidential podium this month.
Now, Mr. Donohue aims to spend $20 million annually for several years advocating free-market
policies such as open trade and less regulation, taking aim at much of the Democrats' agenda.
The public-relations campaign is the biggest undertaking in the Chamber's 100-year history.
A question hanging over all this is whether Mr. Donohue's aggressive stance will work better
than compromise. The Chamber, which says it has 300,000 dues-paying members, has become a
political target in Washington's partisan atmosphere. Though Mr. Donohue has strong
supporters, a vocal minority of companies, including Apple Inc. and Nike Inc., have recently quit
the Chamber or its board.
"They've put Main Street businesses in a precarious place by taking a position that's not credible
and doesn't allow them to shape legislation to their members' benefit," said James Rogers, chief
executive of Duke Energy Corp.
He says he has cut the electric utility's contributions to the Chamber over two years to protest the
group's stance on climate change. Duke is one of the biggest owners of nuclear reactors in the
U.S. but also the country's third biggest emitter of carbon dioxide because of its reliance on coal.
It has said it favors legislation putting a price on carbon partly out of a desire for regulatory
certainty in making investment decisions.
Through a spokesman, Mr. Donohue declined to be interviewed for this article. In an interview
with The Wall Street Journal and other news organizations this month, the 71-year-old said "the
great preponderance of our members believe in our position [on climate change] and support it."
Watch a December 2007 ad, paid for by the Chamber of Commerce, attacking a proposal then
making its way through the Senate that called for cutting U.S. emissions roughly 70% from 2005
levels by 2050.
39
Watch a confrontation from Oct. 19 at the National Press Club in Washington between a
spokesman for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and pranksters falsely claiming to represent the
Chamber of Commerce and "announcing" that the Chamber was dropping its lobbying efforts
against climate legislation in Congress.
Tom Donohue: Business Fights Back
10/23/2009
On the Chamber's general approach, he said: "We work very hard to be inclusive, to give people
a fair hearing, to ask for their input, and go back and forth with them." In a response to written
questions, Mr. Donohue said Duke's Mr. Rogers "remains a good strong member whose counsel
we greatly value."
Though it has attacked the leading proposals in Congress to make companies pay for their
greenhouse-gas emissions, the Chamber says it accepts the idea that man-made emissions
contribute to climate change and supports reducing them.
Some supporters of Mr. Donohue say if anything, he has been too accommodating to companies
that support climate-change legislation. "You can never herd all companies in the same direction.
He's doing as good a job as anyone I've seen heading one of these organizations," said Don
Blankenship, CEO of coal producer Massey Energy Co., and a Chamber board member.
But, he added, "I don't like to see trade associations refer to global warming as "an issue"
because it supports the idea something needs to be done about it." He said he has pressed Mr.
Donohue to take an even tougher stand against proposals in Congress to require companies to
pay for their emissions. He said high emissions "mean you've got a better, more productive
economy."
Some other trade groups have moved to compromise with Democrats. Drug makers have offered
$80 billion in savings to help fund a health-care overhaul. The Alliance of Automobile
Manufacturers not only endorsed the administration's plan to raise national fuel-economy
standards but helped it thwart a proposal by Senate Republicans to weaken the Environmental
Protection Agency's authority to regulate emissions.
The Chamber is in the unusual position of quarreling publicly with major corporations. In recent
weeks, Apple, PG&E Corp., PNM Resources Inc. and Exelon Corp. have quit the association,
citing its position on climate change, while Nike quit its board. Exelon, a big generator of
nuclear energy, says it expects an annual revenue boost of about $1.1 billion if climate
legislation approved by the House in June is enacted.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently called the resignations "wonderful." The senior
Republican on the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, Rep.
James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, said it was "disingenuous" for Nike and Apple to criticize
the Chamber "while manufacturing their products in countries that consistently refuse mandatory
emission impacts." Representatives of both companies declined to comment.
With environmentalists and activist shareholders pressuring some firms to quit the Chamber, it
sent members a memo two weeks ago apologizing for "any annoyance and inconvenience these
efforts against us might cause you."
The Chamber recently disclosed it spent $34.7 million to lobby the government in the third
quarter. That was up 68% from the same period last year.
A former Postal Service executive and trucking lobbyist, Mr. Donohue has tripled the Chamber's
revenue over 12 years, helped beat back tougher air-quality rules and helped pass legislation that
makes it harder to bring class-action lawsuits. The Chamber's board has rewarded him with a
chauffeured car, $3.1 million in annual pay and the use of corporate aircraft often stocked with
oatmeal-raisin cookies, his favorite snack.
Shortly after taking over in 1997, he pledged to dispel what he said was the Chamber's image as
"a sleeping giant, missing in action from many important battles." He publicly expressed hope
someone would punch the then-president of the AFL-CIO, John Sweeney, "in the mouth."
40
To bolster firepower, Mr. Donohue hired a new team, including William L. Kovacs as senior
vice president for environment, technology and regulatory affairs. The Chamber then launched a
series of attacks on climate-related bills.
Democrats in Congress want to bring down emissions by requiring companies to have permits to
emit the gases. Over time, the U.S. would issue fewer permits, with the aim of reducing
emissions.
In December 2007, the Chamber produced a TV and Internet ad depicting a family wearing coats
indoors, cooking over candles and walking to work. Legislation in the Senate "could make it
more expensive to heat our homes, power our lives and drive our cars," it said. "Is this really
how Americans want to live?"
The ads surprised the U.S. unit of Germany's Siemens AG, which could see more demand for its
wind-power and nuclear-services businesses if the U.S. adopts carbon caps. "We told [Mr.
Donohue] we didn't agree with the ads and that we'd like a heads-up when a decision is made on
how to represent the Chamber's position on climate change," a Siemens spokeswoman said at the
time.
AFP/Getty Images
Duke Energy CEO James Rogers is critical of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce stance on a
climate-change bill.
Associated Press
Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship says the Chamber should be even tougher in its
opposition.
The ads also got the attention of Gen. James L. Jones, a retired Marine Corps commandant and
then president of the Institute for 21st Century Energy, a unit of the Chamber that makes
recommendations to policy makers. According to a person familiar with the matter, Gen. Jones
complained to Mr. Donohue that the ads put him in an awkward spot because the general was
seeking a United Nations foundation's support for Chamber energy initiatives.
Two months later, the Chamber released another Internet video, on the eve of a U.N. climate
conference in Monaco, accusing U.N. diplomats of hypocrisy for staging summits in locations
requiring jet travel.
"Jones's concern was that it would make the Chamber look like bullies," said the person familiar
with the matter.
Gen. Jones, now Mr. Obama's national security adviser, didn't respond to requests for comment
left with his office. Mr. Donohue, through a spokesman, declined to comment on his discussions
41
with Gen. Jones except to say the two "have had literally thousands of conversations over a full
range of topics." He said the general is a "great friend" and was "an absolutely superb president
of our Institute for 21st Century Energy."
Some Chamber members who support tougher regulation see it as just one of many important
issues and praise other positions taken by the group. George Nolen, a retired CEO of Siemens's
U.S. unit, cites the Chamber's support of free-trade policies. "They can't possibly have every
member company in agreement on how to attack the problem in the same way," he said.
But as a House panel prepared for hearings on emissions restrictions in April, Johnson &
Johnson's vice president for government affairs, Clifford Holland, urged the Chamber to express
its members' "full range of views" on the issue. He expressed hope "a consensus can be reached
that reflects the views of the range of Chamber members."
Until this past summer, the Chamber's uneasy balance on climate change was holding. Then in
June, the group petitioned the EPA to hold a hearing on the agency's declaration that greenhouse
gases endanger public health—the basis for regulating them under the Clean Air Act.
The Chamber accused the EPA of ignoring analyses that "show that a warming of even 3 degrees
Celsius in the next 100 years would, on balance, be beneficial to humans' because the reduction
of wintertime deaths would be "several times larger than the increase in summertime heat stressrelated" deaths.
In interviews with reporters, Mr. Kovacs, the Chamber's environment chief, spoke of its desire
for a hearing that would be the "Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century," referring to the 1925
trial that pitted evolutionism against creationism.
Environmentalists and some Chamber members pounced. In a letter to Mr. Donohue dated Sept.
18, PG&E CEO Peter Darbee said his company would leave the Chamber as a result of "deep
concern" over "extreme rhetoric and obstructionist tactics."
Mr. Donohue said the Chamber continues to support federal investments and incentives for
power that can be produced without emitting carbon dioxide, while "standing firm" in its
opposition to the legislation passed by the House. "If people want to attack us, bring 'em on," Mr.
Donohue told reporters.
They are. Last week, a group claiming to represent the Chamber staged a phony press conference
in Washington to announce the Chamber would suspend all lobbying against climate legislation.
A real Chamber spokesman interrupted the fake announcement, but not before several news
organizations reported it.
The Chamber called the hoax "a foolish distraction from the serious effort by our nation to
reduce greenhouse gases." This week, it sued the group that organized the stunt, alleging in
federal court that it had violated trademark law by using the Chamber's emblem.
Write to Stephen Power at stephen.power@wsj.com
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A22
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125685614562317127.html?mod=rss_Today's_Most_Popular
McClatchy Newspapers | Renee Schoof and David Goldstein | November 2 , 2009
Higher temperatures will harm many crops, report
says
Related Content
http://www.climate.noaa.gov/education/
http://www.globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impacts
WASHINGTON -- Global warming would be bad news for all those amber waves of grain, and
for the corn and soybeans that are plentiful throughout the Midwest.
42
"The grain-filling period" - the time when the seed grows and matures - "of wheat and other
small grains shortens dramatically with rising temperatures. Analysis of crop responses suggests
that even moderate increases in temperature will decrease yields of corn, wheat, sorghum, bean,
rice, cotton and peanut crops," according to "Global Climate Change Impacts in the United
States," a report based on a comprehensive review of scientific literature and government data by
a team of American scientists.
Other details from the study:
-Plant winter hardiness zones - each of which represents a 10-degree Fahrenheit change in
minimum temperature - in the Midwest are likely to shift by a half- to a full zone about every 30
years. By the end of the century, plants now associated with the Southeast are likely to become
established throughout the Midwest.
-"Higher temperatures will mean a longer growing season for crops that do well in the heat, such
as melon, okra and sweet potato, but a shorter growing season for crops more suited to cooler
conditions, such as potato, lettuce, broccoli and spinach."
-Fruits that require long winter chilling periods, such as apples, will experience declines.
-"Higher temperatures also cause plants to use more water to keep cool. ... But fruits, vegetables
and grains can suffer even under well-watered conditions if temperatures exceed the maximum
level for pollen viability in a particular plant; if temperatures exceed the threshold for that plant,
it won't produce seed and so it won't reproduce."
-Climate change is expected to result in less frequent but more intense rainfall. One consequence
is expected to be delayed spring planting. In the Midwest, heavy downpours are now twice as
frequent as they were a century ago.
In the Great Plains, most water comes from the High Plains aquifer. Water withdrawals outpace
natural recharge. Increasing temperatures, faster evaporation rates and more sustained droughts
will stress the water resource further.
ON THE WEB
"Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States" report:
http://www.globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impacts
A guide for all ages by U.S. scientists, "Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate
Science": http://www.climate.noaa.gov/education/
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/AP/story/1311374.html
PlanetArk.org | Pete Harrison and David Brunnstrom | November 2, 2009
EU Makes Progress On Climate Funding Deal
43
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso (L) arrives at a meeting of the European
People Party (EPP) ahead of a two-day European Summit in Brussels, October 29, 2009.
Photo: Sebastien Pirlet
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - European Union leaders made progress on Friday toward an
agreement on funding that could boost efforts to reach a global deal to fight climate change in
Copenhagen in December.
Britain said agreement had already been reached on financing to help developing countries
combat the effects of global warming. But diplomats said EU leaders were still trying to bridge a
rift between countries in east and west Europe.
Agreement on the last day of an EU summit in Brussels would boost efforts to reach a deal at the
international talks in Copenhagen on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations' anticlimate change scheme, which expires in 2012.
"Europe is making three conditional offers, money on the table, saying we will do everything we
can to make a climate change deal happen," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.
"I think this is a breakthrough that takes us forward to Copenhagen and makes a Copenhagen
agreement possible."
An EU diplomat later confirmed progress had been made but said: "I think they've come a long
way, but not yet reached full agreement."
The EU's Swedish presidency drew up revised proposals after talks broke down on Thursday,
largely because of a rift between nine countries from eastern Europe and the richer member
states over how the burden should be shared. [nLT246249]
Funding is central to the chances of success in Copenhagen because developing countries say
they will not sign up to tackling climate change without enough funds from rich nations.
CRITICISM BY TUTU
A draft summit declaration showed the leaders of the 27 EU countries were preparing to back an
estimate that developing nations need 100 billion euros ($148 billion) a year by 2020 to tackle
climate problems.
The EU will put up some of that money, together with other countries and industry. But the
poorer EU countries in eastern Europe want to know how much they will have to provide.
44
Many EU states say agreeing figures now would encourage others, such as the United States, to
follow suit. But Germany wants to wait until other global powers have said how much they will
provide.
"The EU will be pioneering in this respect (financing). However, the commitments will also be
tied to other countries making similar financial pledges," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told
reporters.
The EU leaders faced criticism from Nobel-prize winning South African cleric Desmond Tutu,
who urged Merkel and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in particular to help make a deal
possible in Copenhagen.
"World leaders are backtracking, mumbling about domestic difficulties and lack of time whilst
the European Union, previously progressive champions for action on climate change, is
paralyzed by the unseemly bickering amongst its member states over who will pay the bill," he
wrote.
BLAIR'S HOPES SLIDE
The main achievement on the first day of the summit was an agreement opening the way to
ratification of the Lisbon treaty, which would ease EU decision-making, create an EU president
and increase the powers of its foreign policy chief. [nL0338354]
Under the deal, the leaders accepted Czech President Vaclav Klaus's demands for an opt-out
from a rights charter attached to the treaty, to shield the Czech Republic from property claims by
ethnic Germans expelled after World War Two.
Ratification by the Czech Republic, the only EU state that has not ratified, now depends on its
constitutional court rejecting a legal challenge in a ruling expected on Tuesday.
The leaders said they did not discuss who would be the EU president, but former British prime
minister Blair's hopes faded when his candidacy failed to secure the blessing of European
socialists who are his ruling Labour Party's allies.
The post is now more likely to go to a center-right leader, especially as center-right parties
dominate the European Parliament and form a majority among EU leaders.
No front-runner has emerged, but possible contenders include Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter
Balkenende, former Finnish prime minister Paavo Lipponen and Luxembourg Prime Minister
Jean-Claude Juncker.
(Editing by Kevin Liffey)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55275
PlanetArk.org | Risa Maeda | November 2, 2009
Japan CO2 Emissions From Fuel Drop
45
A meter in Nissan Motor Co's electric vehicle (EV) prototype is pictured during a test drive on
the company's Oppama test drive course in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo July 27, 2009.
Photo: Yuriko Nakao
TOKYO, JAPAN - A slumping economy pushed down Japanese CO2 emissions from burning
fuels by a record 6.7 percent in the year to March 2009, the trade ministry said on Friday, but the
country is still far from meeting its Kyoto Protocol obligations.
Improvements in energy efficiency in Japan, the world's fifth-biggest emitter, and a shift to nonfossil fuels contributed to less than 10 percent of the decline.
Japan's Kyoto commitments are to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1.19 billion tonnes in carbon
dioxide (CO2) equivalent on average in the five years starting from the last fiscal year, down 6
percent from 1990/1991 levels.
CO2 created from burning fuels, which are largely affected by industrial activity, account for
about 90 percent of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions. CO2 from chemical reactions
and other processes account for about 5 percent and the remainder is made up of other
greenhouse gasses, such as hydrofluorocarbons used in refrigerators and air conditioners.
In the year to March 2008, Japan saw its greenhouse gas emissions rise 2.4 percent to a record
1.37 billion tonnes in CO2 equivalent, final government data showed in April.
The preliminary data on Friday showed that CO2 emissions from fuel fell 6.7 percent to 1.14
billion tonnes in fiscal 2008/2009 from a year earlier when a record 1.22 billion tonnes were
emitted.
"This is not an ideal way for the economy to join hands with the environment in a sustainable
manner," said Takashi Ishizaki, director of the ministry's energy policy planning office.
The decline in CO2 emissions was mainly attributed to a record 6.8 percent decline in Japan's
final energy consumption in the past fiscal year, when the world's No.2 economy shrunk by 3.2
percent and the number of people who lost their jobs rose by a hefty 640,000.
"I don't think (CO2 emissions) are peaking out because if and when the economy picks up, it is
highly likely we will see CO2 emissions rising," Ishizaki said in a news conference.
Unlike in the EU where companies being bound to compulsory emission caps play a key role in
curbing greenhouse gas emissions, Japan's plans to meet its minus 6 percent reduction goal are
based on voluntary emission cuts by major industries.
46
The plans also include buying of emissions offsets from abroad via the Kyoto Protocol's market
schemes.
(Editing by Joseph Radford)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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PlanetArk.org | Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent | November 2, 2009
U.N. Talks In Spain Seek To Salvage Climate Deal
Cooling towers are demolished in an attempt to save energy and reduce emissions, at a power
plant in Xinxiang, Henan province, October 28, 2009. The United States does not expect to reach
an agreement on climate change with China during President Barack Ob
Photo: Donald Chan
OSLO, NORWAY - Climate negotiators from 175 nations meet in Spain next week for a final
session to try to break deadlock between rich and poor and salvage a U.N. deal due in
Copenhagen in December.
The November 2-6 talks in Barcelona of almost 4,000 delegates, led by senior government
officials, will seek to end deep splits about sharing out curbs on greenhouse gases and ways to
raise billions of dollars to help the poor tackle global warming.
In a step forward, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said European Union leaders agreed on
funds at a summit on Friday with three conditional offers for Copenhagen. He said poor nations
need 100 billion euros ($148 billion) a year from 2020.
Brown told reporters in Brussels that EU states would pay their "fair share." "I think this is a
breakthrough that takes us forward to Copenhagen," he said.
Most industrialized nations have not outlined offers.
All sides agree progress has been too slow since talks began in 2007, spurred by findings by the
U.N. Climate Panel that world emissions would have to peak by 2015 to avoid the worst of
desertification, floods, extinctions or rising seas.
47
"Time has almost run out," Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, told
delegates in a video message. "In Barcelona, all nations must step back from self-interest and let
common interest prevail."
The worst financial crisis since the 1930s has distracted attention from global warming and the
United Nations and many countries say a legally binding treaty is impossible at the Copenhagen
meeting from December 7-18.
The U.S. Senate is unlikely to agree legislation to cut U.S. emissions before Copenhagen, raising
fears that other rich nations will be unwilling to promise deep cuts.
"The issue is 'can we agree on the core questions?'," said Michael Zammit Cutajar of Malta, chair
of a group negotiating commitments by all nations. "I think we can."
HUGE PUZZLE
"It's a huge puzzle politically to get things done," said Bill Hare, of the Potsdam Institute for
Climate Impact Research. He said there had been too much optimism that U.S. President Barack
Obama would bring new momentum this year.
"There is a big risk that you end up with a woolly G8-type statement that doesn't take us
anywhere," said Mark Kenber, of London based think-tank the Climate Group. The Group of
Eight club of the world's leading industrialized nations usually releases non-binding statements
of principle after its summits.
Developing nations such as China and India say that the developed countries must cut their
emissions by at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 -- arguing they got rich by burning
fossil fuels since the industrial revolution.
Offers on the table so far from the rich countries total cuts of about 11 to 15 percent. And
developed nations say the poor must also do more by 2020 to slow their rising emissions -China, the United States, Russia and India are the top emitters.
"It's crucially important that we keep ambitions high, to reach something we can consider 'the
Copenhagen Deal'. We do not support any notion of postponing into 2010," said Kim Carstensen
of the WWF environmental group.
De Boer wants Copenhagen to agree four key elements -- individual cuts in emissions for rich
nations, actions by poor nations to slow their rising emissions, new finance and technology for
developing nations and a system to oversee funds.
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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PlanetArk.org | David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, Asia | November 2, 2009
Mass-Market U.N. Carbon Scheme Finds Favor In India
48
Smoke billows from a chimney of an industrial plant in India's financial capital Mumbai
September 16, 2009.
Photo: Punit Paranjpe
SINGAPORE - A new type of U.N. scheme is spreading clean energy technology to millions of
people in India, promising to cut carbon emissions and help investors earn valuable carbon
credits.
Two leading carbon offset project developers in India say the scheme offers the promise of
improving livelihoods and greatly expanding the reach and potential investment returns of the
U.N.'s existing Clean Development Mechanism.
The CDM allows investors to build clean-energy projects, such as wind farms and solar power
stations, in developing countries and earn carbon offsets in return. These can be sold on to help
buyers in rich nations meet mandatory emissions targets.
But the CDM is hampered because it is based on the approval of single projects, which can take
up to two years and is costly.
The expanded scheme, called program of activities (PoA), aims to allow the launch of identical
emissions-reduction projects across a much wider user base in a single program, so cutting
overall costs and simplifying the roll-out.
"India's the best place for PoAs. There's a lot of hunger to do these renewable projects because
they know the government is committed," said Chandra Shekhar Sinha, head of environmental
markets in Asia for J.P. Morgan.
The country of 1.1 billion people has large areas cut off from the electricity grid and is ideal for
the deployment of clean energy via solar, wind or biomass, such as crop waste.
Areas that are linked often have old and inefficient lighting and powerlines that need upgrading
and transport networks that need to switch to cleaner fuels.
Investment programs that can deploy cleaner energy and drive greater efficiency with the carrot
of revenue from selling carbon offsets are seen as a key way to help poorer nations curb the
growth of their greenhouse gas emissions.
SOLAR LANTERNS
J.P. Morgan is developing three PoAs in India and is evaluating others. One scheme involves the
deployment of 1.2 million solar lanterns in the northern state of Bihar.
The other two cover the roll-out of more fuel-efficient commercial cooking stoves in restaurants
and biomass boilers and gasifiers for agro industries, such as sugar mills.
49
All three are estimated to yield about 12 million U.N. offsets called certified emissions
reductions (CERs) by 2012, Sinha said. CER futures traded on the European Climate Exchange
closed at 13.76 euros on Thursday.
"I've seen many new projects coming up in programmatic CDM," Ashutosh Pandey, CEO of
Emergent Ventures India, told Reuters.
He said interest in PoA has surged over the past 6 months once some of the teething troubles of
the scheme were overcome and he expected 15-20 programmatic CDM projects to be launched
in India over the next 6 to 12 months.
U.N. data shows that, globally, one PoA project is already formally registered and 15 more are
being checked out by U.N.-approved auditors. Several are in India.
Emergent Ventures has several PoA projects under development, including transmission line
improvement, street lighting upgrades and biomass gasifiers to generate power.
The street lighting scheme swaps out old systems for more efficient ones. "We are starting with a
couple of cities and the program will be valid for 28 years and we hope to include 70-80 cities,"
Pandey said.
Programmatic CDM initially stalled over rules that would have saddled the U.N.-approved
auditors with liability costs over mistakes in the design or execution of projects already
registered and given credits.
Rule changes have partly removed this stumbling-block but other challenges, such as preventing
people from selling off their solar lanterns, compact fluorescent bulbs or portable stoves to make
money, still remain.
Sinha said J.P. Morgan's solution was not to subsidize the price of the solar lantern.
"The consumer will still end up paying 850 rupees ($18) because that's the price they would
pay," he said. "It's the distributor that gets the carbon revenue stream so that they push the
technology."
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55278
PlanetArk.org | Deborah Zabarenko, Environment Correspondent | November 2, 2009
New Polar Bear Rule Sent To White House
WASHINGTON, US - Protection for polar bears' shrinking icy habitat is the subject of a
proposed rule sent to the White House by the Interior Department.
The proposed rule, "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Critical Habitat
Designation for the Polar Bear" is the latest step in a long process aimed at shielding the big
white bears from the effects of climate change.
Details of the proposed rule were not immediately made public, but it was filed on Monday with
the White House.
The Bush administration designated polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act,
on the grounds that the sea ice they use as hunting platforms is literally melting under their paws.
However, the 2008 threat listing allowed oil and gas companies to operating in the polar bear's
habitat, which environmental groups pointedly criticized as a flawed understanding of the
relationship between fossil fuels, climate change and the fate of Arctic wildlife.
In May, the Obama administration said it would keep a Bush-era "polar bear special rule," which
weakens protection for the polar bear's habitat and plays down links between the threatened
status of the species and climate change.
The rule exempts from government review all activities that occur outside the polar bears' range,
which means that individual sources of greenhouse gas emissions that lead to climate change
cannot be directly linked to the polar bear's habitat.
50
'ENVIRONMENTAL TRAGEDY'
Obama administration Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said on May 8 that the melting of polar
bear habitat is "an environmental tragedy of the modern age."
But Salazar went on to say, "The best course of action for protecting the polar bear under the
Endangered Species Act is to wisely implement the current rule, not revoke it at this time."
Polar bears depend on Arctic sea ice as a platform for hunting seals, their main prey.
Malnourished polar bears have more problems reproducing and raising their young. The U.S.
Geological Survey has said two-thirds of the world's polar bears -- some 16,000 -- could be gone
by 2050 if predictions about diminishing Arctic sea ice hold true.
Asked about the new proposed rule, John Kostyack of the National Wildlife Federation said the
Obama administration needs to be more "honest with the science than the previous
administration."
"There is extremely strong link between climate change and the decline of the polar bear, and if
we hope to conserve the polar bear for future generations, we're going to have to take some
strong steps to reduce the non-climate stressors ... the chief one would be oil and gas
development," Kostyack said in a telephone interview.
Arctic sea ice has declined in the last three years to its smallest area since satellite views began in
1979, according to the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center. The 2009 summer ice had
grown from the previous two years but was still less than in 1979.
"It's nice to see a little recovery over the past couple years, but there's no reason to think that
we're headed back to conditions seen back in the 1970s," the center's director and senior
scientist, Mark Serreze said in a statement on Tuesday. "We still expect to see ice-free summers
sometime in the next few decades."
(Editing by Philip Barbara)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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Telegraph-Journal | Carl Duivenvoorden | November 2, 2009
Resolve to act on climate change
Nearly eighty years ago, a diminutive old man set out from Ahmedabad, India on a 380kilometre march to the sea. His aim was to draw attention to an unfair tax levied by the British
authorities of the day. Thousands of Indians were inspired and walked with him.
“We must be the change we wish to see in the world,” he said.
The need for citizen activism has not diminished since Gandhi popularized it through his words
and actions. If anything, the need has grown. That's especially true in the area of climate change
action, where two troubling trends are converging.
It's not cooling
The first is what's happening in our global environment, as climate change continues its
frightening march.
Globally, September 2009 was the second hottest September on record. The polar ice cap over
the Arctic Ocean continues to be a concern; only twice has it been smaller than it was in
September, and the remaining ice is thinner than usual. World ocean temperatures for the
summer of 2009 were the highest on record (that's especially significant when you consider how
51
much heat it takes to warm an ocean). In short, changes are happening faster than scientists have
been predicting.
A disconnected public
But just when meaningful action on climate change is needed more than ever, many citizens are
sitting on their hands, disillusioned by their inability to affect outcomes that appear to have
already been decided without their input.
Worst of all, young people - those who will be most affected by a fouled environment - seem
particularly disengaged from a democratic system that appears insensitive to their goals and
indifferent to their timelines. The recent upswing in campaign attack ads surely hasn't helped,
serving only to reinforce reasons not to vote.
Be the change
Decades ago, Gandhi demonstrated that ordinary citizens acting peacefully can generate
tremendous change. Today, more than ever, we have all the tools we need to be the change we
wish to see in the world. Today, as deceitful denial messages continue to sow confusion with the
aim of softening our resolve, more than ever, the world needs us to act.
If you are ready to be the change on climate change, here are ways to begin:
* Contact your elected representatives at all levels and tell them exactly how you feel. Signed
letters are better than emails, and letters to federal MPs - important folks to reach on this issue don't even need a stamp. You can find your MP's full contact information at www.parl.gc.ca.
Follow up with phone calls. Refuse to be silent, and refuse to be afraid. (Email me if you need a
draft letter.)
* Use the internet to bring out your inner activist. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other social
networking sites can be tremendous resources for linking up, exchanging ideas and launching
initiatives. (A Fredericton restaurant recently learned that the hard way: it found itself in an
unwelcome spotlight when a disgruntled patron started a Facebook group that snowballed; the
issue was fixed in two days.) You can join existing campaigns at 350.org, TckTckTck.org and
Avaaz.org, or you can start your own action at sites such as GoPetition.com or
ThePetitionSite.com. Dismissed by some as feel-good "slacktivism," on-line activism is still far
better than doing nothing.
* To participate in more direct action, consider contacting organizations such as the
Conservation Council of New Brunswick, the Sierra Club of Canada or Greenpeace, all easily
found on the Internet. Greenpeace, well known for its ability to generate awareness and media
attention, is running a Climate Action Camp in Halifax Nov. 20-22.
Action is what really matters
In the run up to next month's critical international climate negotiations in Copenhagen, citizen
activism is more important than ever - our leaders need to hear from us.
Inspired by Gandhi and with commitment, creativity and perseverance, we - any of us - can be
the change we wish to see in the world.
52
Carl Duivenvoorden www.changeyourcorner.com is a speaker, writer and green consultant
living in Upper Kingsclear. His column runs every other Monday.
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/search/article/843540
Times and Transcript| Ross Marowits | November 2, 2009
Gore effect spawns green investing
Socially responsible investment funds have grown nearly 10-fold in six years
MONTREAL -- Some call it the Al Gore effect, others say it just makes good business sense.
Concern about climate change, popularized by the former U.S. vice-president, has helped to
accelerate interest in green and socially responsible investing, say industry experts.
In six years, the assets of socially responsible investment (SRI) funds have grown nearly 10-fold
to $609 billion from $65.5 billion, according to the Social Investment Organization, a non-profit
association that is the voice for the socially responsible investment industry in Canada.
"One of the big drivers in this has been the whole consciousness around environmental issues,
largely as a result of climate change and the change in consciousness on global warming," says
executive director Eugene Ellmen.
The desire to be part of the solution has pushed more to buy hybrid cars and organic food. Many
are taking that next step by trying to use their money as tool to spur companies to improve their
environment, social and corporate governance standards.
A majority of Canadians say they have an interest in having their investments reflect a sense of
corporate responsibility, Ellmen said in an interview.
"We believe that the untapped potential of this market is huge."
However, many financial and investment advisers fail to discuss this option with their clients, he
said. The association is trying to educate professionals about SRIs, which only represents less
than two per cent of total investments.
Socially responsible investments produce competitive rates of return and charge comparable
fees, says Michael Jantzi, head of an independent investment research firm that evaluates and
monitors the social and environmental performance of securities.
The Jantzi Index, which includes 60 Canadian companies chosen based on their environmental
and social records, has outperformed the Toronto Stock Exchange since it was launched nearly a
decade ago.
"This myth that you're going to lose money just simply hasn't proven true," he said from
Toronto.
It's the reason that a growing number of institutional investors are turning to SRIs, even though
interest by North American pension funds lags five to 10 years their European counterparts, said
Jantzi.
53
As of 2008, Canadian pension funds have $544 billion in socially responsible investments, up 26
per cent in two years. The amount includes fund managers like the Caisse de depot et placement
du Quebec, whose assets are included in the total because it follows a socially responsible
investment policy.
Excluding pension funds, Canadian SRI assets declined 5.6 per cent in two years to $54.2 billion
in 2008 because of market conditions. But they are up from $37.8 billion in 2004.
Dermot Foley, vice-president strategic analysis for Inhance Investments which has $75 million
of assets under administration, said its funds have "tracked the market within 100 basis points."
Because diversity is important to good investing, Foley recommends investors consult with
professionals, especially when considering SRIs.
Inhance invests in companies that have demonstrated records on environmental and social
leadership, human rights policies and corporate governance.
It selects companies judged best in their sector even though they may not have unblemished
environmental records. Despite its involvement in the oil sands, Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) is on
the list because of its environmental efforts, but Imperial Oil (TSX:IMO) is not.
The Daily Gleaner | Gwynne Dyer | November 2, 2009
The avalanche of evidence
The news is bad, and it's coming in fast.
Turn tens of thousands of scientists loose on a problem for two decades, and the results will seem
pathetic for the first few years, because it takes time to gather the data - even to build the
equipment with which you gather the data
But slowly the flow of data will grow, and at the end of 20 years, you can expect major new
insights every month or so.
That's where we are now with climate change. September's unwelcome news, from the Hadley
Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Britain, was that if fossil fuel use continues on the
present trend line, the planet will be an average of 4 degrees C warmer by the 2060s.
This contrasts with the prediction of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published
in 2007, that we might see 4 degrees C, at the most, by 2100.
This month's bad news came from the drilling ship JOIDES Resolution (Joint Oceanographic
Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling), which brought up cores from the ocean bottom containing
sediments dating back 20 million years.
The news was that when the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was last at 450 parts per million,
the average global temperature was 3-6 degrees C hotter than now, and the sea level was 25-40
metres (80-130 ft) higher.
That is bad news because 450 parts per million is where we are hoping to halt the rise in CO2 in
the atmosphere this time around. (We are currently at 390 ppm.)
54
All the world's major governments have agreed in principle that the warming must never be
allowed to exceed 2 degrees C, because beyond that we risk runaway warming - and it was
thought that 450 ppm would let us stop at that point.
Not so, it would appear, or at least not for long. The leader of the JOIDES research team,
Aradhna Tripati of the University of California at Los Angeles, put it bluntly: "What we have
shown is that in the last period when CO2 levels were sustained at levels close to where they are
today, there was no icecap on Antarctica and sea levels were 25-40m higher."
Suspicions that the 450 ppm target is much too high have been growing for some time.
Late in 2007 James Hansen, the director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New
York, made a public appeal at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union to move to a 350
ppm target.
Hansen's study of ancient climates had led him to the conclusion that the first time permanent ice
appeared on the planet, after a complete absence for tens of millions of years, was when the
amount of carbon dioxide fell to 425 ppm some 35 million years ago.
His calculations had a possible error of plus or minus 75 ppm, so for safety's sake he settled on
350 ppm as the long-term target for human stewardship of the atmosphere.
Did that word "stewardship" throw you?
Many people instinctively recoil from any direct human intervention in the atmosphere, on the
grounds that we don't know enough to get it right.
But when we have already been changing the atmosphere unintentionally for two centuries, since
the start of the industrial revolution, it's a bit late for such qualms.
We have already destabilized it, and only we can reverse the changes we have caused.
Hansen even thought that 350 ppm might still be too high, because the "normal" level of CO2
during the 10,000 years of human civilization, before we began burning fossil fuels, was only
280 ppm. Now JOIDES has given us a more accurate measure of ancient climate, from closer to
the present.
By 20 million years ago, almost all the ice on the planet had been lost again, due to a prolonged
period of volcanic activity in the Columbia River basin of North America.
The carbon dioxide emitted by that activity had raised the average global temperature to 3-6
degrees C above the current level, and all the melted ice had raised the sea level by 25-40 metres.
But the actual level of CO2 that caused all that was only 400 ppm.
We will be there in five years, but we must not stay there for very long or history will repeat
itself.
In reality, we are going to go to at least 450 ppm, and more likely 500 ppm, before we get our
emissions under control, and then we will have to commence the long and arduous task of
55
getting the CO2 in the atmosphere down to a level that will preserve our present climate over the
long term.
That may have to be as low as 300 ppm.
And all through that time, we must prevent the warming from exceeding 2 degrees C, which
means that a resort to various methods of geo-engineering to keep the heat down is almost
unavoidable.
That is what these numbers are telling us, and we would be wise to listen.
November 3, 2009
environmentalresearchweb | Liz Kalaugher - Research Highlights | November 3, 2009
Methane has greater warming effect
If its effects on atmospheric aerosols are included, methane's global warming potential may be
around 10% higher than previous estimates. This could affect calculations of the cheapest way to
mitigate climate change in the short-term. That's according to a team from NASA Goddard
Institute for Space Studies and Columbia University, US, who studied interactions between
atmospheric gases such as methane, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, NOx, SO2
and ammonia emissions, and aerosols.
"The whole point of trying to put all the greenhouse gases on a common scale (using their global
warming potential, which is their impact relative to the impact of carbon dioxide) is to allow for
greater economic efficiency by letting the market choose the least expensive way to reduce the
total climate impact," researcher Drew Shindell told environmentalresearchweb. "By having
the wrong value when comparing methane with carbon dioxide or other gases, we will not get
the maximum value for our money."
The IPCC's fourth assessment report did not include the effect of gas–aerosol interactions when
assessing the global warming potential of short-lived gas emissions, apart from the indirect effect
of NOx emissions on nitrate aerosols.
Shindell and colleagues used NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies Model for Physical
Understanding of Composition-Climate Interactions and Impacts (G-PUCCINI) model to analyse
the effect of gases such as methane, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and ammonia
emissions on concentrations of sulphate and nitrate particles.
The gases tend to react with hydroxyl molecules that would otherwise have reacted with NOx
and SO2 to form nitrate and sulphate aerosols. While aerosols such as black carbon can have a
warming effect, both sulphate and nitrate aerosols tend to cool the Earth, both by scattering
incoming light and by prolonging the lifetime of clouds.
"More methane means less hydroxyl, less sulphate and more warming," said Shindell.
According to the model, methane decreased the global burden of hydroxyl by 26% and the global
burden of sulphate by 11%, while carbon monoxide decreased hydroxyl by 13% and sulphate by
9%. This means that the global warming potential of carbon monoxide is also significantly larger
than previous estimates.
NOx, on the other hand, increased the global burden of hydroxyl by 18% and that of sulphate by
13%, giving the gases a net cooling effect when its aerosol effects are taken into consideration.
Previously the gases have been associated with the formation of ozone, a greenhouse gas.
"At present emissions of CO, VOCs, SO2 and NOx are all regulated solely for air-quality
purposes, but as concern over climate change increases more and more effort is being put into
56
trying to understand the climate implications of air-quality policies, and so we suggest that such
analysis should include the gas–aerosol interactions," said Shindell.
According to Shindell, emissions such as methane, CO and VOCs that lead to both air pollution
and warming of the climate are really quite powerful and so offer an opportunity to limit nearterm climate change – because they don't last in the atmosphere too long – while at the same
time cleaning up the air. "To me, this is a very encouraging result," he said. "It doesn't eliminate
the need to deal with carbon dioxide, as that's still the most important in long-term climate, but
carbon dioxide's long lifetime and slow response time means we can't do much to change nearterm climate via carbon dioxide, so targeting the warming air pollutants is a good parallel path to
pursue."
Now the team would like to include more realistic ecosystem models in their analysis to examine
the interaction between air quality, ecosystems and climate. Ecosystems can produce secondary
organic aerosols and interact with air pollutants in a complex manner.
"We are also examining the climate impact of specific economic activities to see the net effect
when multiple gases and aerosols are emitted, as this is the case for many activities (e.g.
vehicles, power plants) so that the net effect when cooling and warming agents are both emitted
isn't obvious without detailed calculations," said Shindell. "These will hopefully make attribution
of climate forcing to emissions even more useful to policy makers."
The last word goes to Shindell's colleague Gavin Schmidt. "The bottom line is that the chemistry
of the atmosphere can get hideously complicated," he said. "Sorting out what affects climate and
what affects air quality isn't simple, but we're making progress."
The researchers reported their work in Science.
About the author
Liz Kalaugher is editor of environmentalresearchweb.
http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/research/40864
CNW | Nov. 3, 2009
Partners of 2010 Winter Games join forces to help
make Canada's Games carbon neutral
VANOC, Offsetters to offset air travel of 2010 Olympians and Paralympians
- On the eve of the 100-day countdown to the Games, 25 partners of the Vancouver 2010
Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are among the first to join forces in an ambitious effort
to leave Canada and the world an environmental legacy of carbon neutral Games in 2010,
including offsetting air travel for Olympians and Paralympians.
The partners, including corporate sponsors, governments and broadcasters, have volunteered to
offset some of their own carbon emissions related to the Games; such as emissions generated by
delegations travelling to and from the Games region.
These partners will invest in a portfolio of British Columbia clean energy technology projects, as
well as international Gold Standard offset projects. The 2010 Legacy Portfolio is developed and
managed by Vancouver-based Offsetters, the Official Supplier of Carbon Offsets for the 2010
Winter Games, in partnership with the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic
and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC).
The energy efficiency and renewable energy projects will help offset a newly updated forecast of
268,000 tonnes of carbon emissions - 118,000 tonnes from direct emissions and 150,000 tonnes
from indirect emissions resulting from Games-time travel by participants and spectators.
This updated estimate, prepared by the Centre for Sustainability and Social Innovation at the
University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business, was released today by VANOC at a
breakfast event called "2010 Talks Carbon." It reflects Games operational efficiencies and more
accurate data on participants and spectators.
57
In 2007, preliminary estimate prepared by the David Suzuki Foundation and reviewed by
PricewaterhouseCoopers suggested the Games would produce approximately 330,000 tonnes
(110,000 direct, 220,000 indirect) of carbon emissions.
"We're excited to announce that 25 of our partners are helping us make the 2010 Winter Games
carbon neutral and we expect more to join in the near future," said Linda Coady, VANOC's vice
president of sustainability. "What's more, athletes at the Games will be the first carbon neutral
athletes in Olympic and Paralympic history - the result of our partnership with Offsetters -where
the travel and accommodation of close to 7,000 athletes, coaches and officials will be offset as
part of the Games' direct carbon footprint."
"The Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will not only showcase British Columbia to the
world, it will also establish a carbon neutral legacy for future Games," said John Yap, BC's
Minister of State for Climate Action. "We are really pleased to see the efforts of these 2010
partners and sponsors and encourage more to join in to make these clean, green and carbon
neutral Games."
The first companies and governments participating in the 2010 Carbon Partner Program for
voluntary offsets include: Acklands-Grainger, Afexa Life Sciences (COLD-FX), Aggreko, Atos
Origin, Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC), BC Hydro, Bell, Bombardier, the British
Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium,
Canadian Pacific, Canwest Publishing Inc., City of Surrey, Coca-Cola, Hudson's Bay Company,
the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC), McDonald's, Panasonic, the Province of
British Columbia, Royal Bank of Canada, Resort Municipality of Whistler, Ricoh Canada,
Samsung, The Globe and Mail, and Visa.
In what is another first for the Olympic Movement, Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay
presenting partners Coca-Cola and RBC have joined VANOC in offsetting all their emissions
arising from the 45,000-kilometre journey across Canada, as well as from their entire operations
related to the Games.
The support of the 2010 Legacy Portfolio by these companies will not only reduce carbon
emitted into the atmosphere, it will also showcase made-in-BC climate change solutions,
explained Dr. James Tansey, president of Offsetters, a leading BC-based carbon asset
management company and supplier of high-quality carbon offsets.
"We're proud to be the first Official Carbon Offsetter in Olympic and Paralympic history and
have the opportunity to showcase how British Columbia is playing a leadership role within
Canada and internationally in the fast growing clean technology sector," he said. "We look
forward to working with these companies to find environmentally friendly solutions to offset
their Games-time carbon emissions."
"We also invite spectators participating at the Games, along with members of the public, to help
play a role in making the 2010 Winter Games carbon neutral by voluntarily offsetting emissions
from their travel to and from the Games region," Tansey added. By clicking
www.offsetters.ca they can calculate their carbon footprint and purchase carbon credits
immediately online.
As part of the offset portfolio for the Games, Offsetters is working with BC clean technology
companies to establish demonstration projects, such as: biomass gasification systems for
renewable heat and power production, manufacturing of cellulosic ethanol (biofuel made from
wood debris), proton exchange membrane hydrogen fuel cell technology, computer controlled
hybrid fossil fuel and electric building heating systems, and reduced carbon footprint silviculture.
The 2010 Legacy Portfolio of carbon reduction projects for the Games will provide high-quality
offsets consistent with the standards applied by new BC provincial greenhouse gas regulations,
and have been designed to meet or exceed the highest international standard for carbon
accounting and offsetting.
About Offsetters
58
Offsetters is Canada's first and leading integrated carbon management company. Since 2005,
Offsetters has been helping individuals and organizations understand, reduce, track, and offset
their greenhouse gas emissions. Offsetters uses carbon offset funds to develop and invest in highquality, renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that would otherwise not take place.
The goal is to create a mainstream shift toward clean energy systems, away from the fossil fuel
dependence of today.
About VANOC
VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic
Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games
will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler
will host the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit
vancouver2010.com.
For further information: Media Contacts: Stephanie Snider, VANOC Communications, (604)
403-1817, stephanie_snider@vancouver2010.com; Kari Grist, VP Marketing & Client
Engagement, Offsetters, (604) 699-2657, kari_grist@offsetters.ca
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2009/03/c5411.html
SustainableBusiness | Nov 3, 2009
Portland Adopts Aggressive Climate Change Policy
Portland, Oregon is adopting one of world's most aggressive programs in the US to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The City Council passed a 40-year plan with a 4-0 vote.
Under the Climate Action Plan, the city of Portland and surrounding county, Multnomah County,
will slash GHG 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.
The plan covers energy use in buildings, transportation, urban planning and agriculture. It will go
a long way toward creating a local green economy, which will not only stabilize the region
environmentally while growing the economy and jobs, but will establish leadership in services
and products that can be exported globally.
93 actions are listed in the plan for the next three years, as well as benchmarks to meet by 2030.
The plan and its performance will be reviewed every three years.
Targets Include:
-- Net zero GHG emissions in new homes and buildings;-- Energy use in current buildings
reduced 25%;-- Neighborhoods designed so 80% of county residents (90% of city residents) can
walk or bicycle to meet daily needs.-- Miles driven per day reduced 30% per person.-- Solid
waste reduced 25%; 90% of waste reused or recycled-- Locally grown food increased
significantly-- Urban forest expanded to cover a third of Portland
Reprinted with permission from SustainableBusiness.com
59
http://www.reuters.com/article/mnCarbonEmissions/idUS293463686120091103
The Times | Hannah Devlin | November 3, 2009
Kilimanjaro's snows melt away in dramatic evidence
of climate change
The snows of Mount Kilimanjaro will be gone within two decades, according to scientists who
say that the rapid melting of its glacier cap over the past century provides dramatic physical
evidence of global climate change.
If the forecast - based on 95 years of data tracking the retreat of the Kilimanjaro ice - proves
correct it will be the first time in about 12,000 years that the slopes of Africa's highest mountain
have been ice-free.
Since 1912, 85 per cent of the glacier has disappeared and the melting does not appear to be
slowing down. Twenty-six per cent of the ice has disappeared since 2000.
The study, published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
concludes that the primary cause of the ice loss is the increase in global temperatures. Although
changes in cloudiness and snowfall may also play a role, these factors appear to be less
important. Even intense droughts, including one lasting about 300 years, did not cause the
present degree of melting.
The study, based on terrestrial and satellite photographs, shows the shrinking contours of ice at
points between 1912 and 2007. The 12 sq km (4.6 sq miles) of ice coverage in 1912 contracted to
1.9 sq km by 2007, going from two large ice fields to a collection of several smaller, isolated
patches.
In a second part of the study, scientists from the Ohio State University drilled down to the rock
beneath the ice and extracted cylindrical crosssections, known as ice cores, at six different sites
on the glacier. The cores, which were up to 49m (160ft) long, provided a record of the freezing,
melting and precipitation patterns of the past 11,700 years.
Elongated bubbles in the surface layer of one of the cores indicated that extensive melting and
refreezing had taken place in the past 40 years. In the past even extreme climate events had not
led to substantial melting. A severe drought 4,200 years ago lasting three centuries left a 1in dust
layer but no evidence of significant melting.
Radioactive dating techniques also showed that the ice was quickly thinning, as well as
contracting in area. The Southern Ice Field had thinned by 5.1m between 2000 and 2007, and the
smaller Furtwängler Glacier had thinned by 4.8m - 50 per cent of its total depth.
"There will be a year when Furtwängler is present, and, by the next year, it will
have disappeared," Lonnie Thompson, a paleoclimatologist at Ohio State University who led the
study, said.
The melting of Kilimanjaro is part of a trend of glacial retreat throughout Africa, India and South
America. Melting is occurring on Mount Kenya, the Rwenzori Mountains in central Africa, as
well as on tropical glaciers high in the Andes andHimalayas.
60
"The fact that so many glaciers throughout the tropics and subtropics are showing similar
responses suggests an underlying common cause," Professor Thompson said.
He attributed the changes to increases in the Earth's surface temperatures, which are exaggerated
at high altitudes. Scientists predict that, even if no further significant warming occurs, all but the
very highest of summits will eventually melt.
The melting of glaciers can be devastating for species who rely on snowy environments for
survival. It can also have consequences for agriculture. Much of the river flow in glacial regions
comes from melt water and glacial retreat is predicted to increase water scarcity.
The Met Office predicted this month that glacial retreats could lead to a 20 per cent decline in
global agricultural productivity.
www.timesonline.co.uk
PlanetArk.org | Gopal Sharma | November 3, 2009
Climate Worries To Send Nepal Cabinet To Everest
Base
Mount Everest, world's highest peak with a height of 8,848 metres (29,029 feet) above sea level,
is seen from the Tibetan side June 7, 2009.
Photo: Ang Tshring Sherpa
KATHMANDU, NEPAL - Nepal's cabinet plans to meet at the base camp of Mount Everest this
month to highlight the impact of global warming on the Himalayas ahead of next month's U.N.
negotiations on climate change, a minister said on Monday.
The base camp is located about 5,300 meters (17,400 feet) up the 8,850 meter (29,035 feet)
mountain and is the point from where climbers to the Everest summit begin their ascent.
61
"The cabinet meeting is meant to draw the attention to the adverse impact of climate change to
the Himalayas including Sagarmatha," Forest Minister Deepak Bohara told Reuters, using the
Nepali name of the mountain.
The Maldives held the world's first underwater cabinet meeting last month, in a symbolic cry for
help over rising sea levels that threaten the Indian Ocean archipelago's existence.
Bohara said Nepal would also send some of its renowned Everest climbers to Copenhagen next
month to highlight the problems of glacier melting, erratic rains and unprecedented forest fires.
Negotiations for a new global accord to fight global warming are scheduled to conclude at the
United Nations Climate Change Conference in the Danish capital in December.
Bohara also appealed to Everest climbers from around the world to gather in their climbing gear
in Copenhagen on International Mountain Day on December 11 to draw the attention of the
delegates to the risks of climate change in the Himalayas.
Experts say mountainous Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 tallest peaks, including Mount
Everest, is vulnerable to climate change despite being responsible for only 0.025 percent of
global greenhouse gas emissions, among the world's lowest.
Thousands of glaciers in the Himalayas that are the source of water for 10 major Asian rivers,
whose basins are home to a sixth of humanity, could go dry in the next five decades because of
the global warming, they say.
Global temperatures rose by an average of 0.74 degrees Celsius over the past 100 years,
according to the Kathmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development
(ICIMOD). It says the warming in the Himalayas has been much greater than the global average.
"We want to put across our point to the world that the Himalayas are melting and draw the
attention of the international community through the rally to save them," Bohara told reporters.
Mount Everest has been climbed by more than 3,600 people since it was first scaled by New
Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in 1953.
(Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and Alex Richardson)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55304
62
PlanetArk.org | Niluksi Koswanage | November 3, 2009
Palm Oil CO2 Targets Delayed As Planters, NGOs
Clash
Oil palm fruits are gathered on a deck before being collected for process, near Kinabatangan
river in Malaysia's state of Sabah on the Borneo island February 19, 2009.
Photo: Bazuki Muhammad
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Planned palm oil carbon emission targets will be delayed by
at least a year as planters clash with NGOs on calculating the vegetable oil's environmental
impact, officials said on Monday.
The measure was aimed at combating the negative image of palm oil output, which green groups
say has been partly fueled by producers in Southeast Asia cutting down swathes of rainforests
and draining carbon-rich peatlands.
But Malaysian and Indonesian producers say imposing limits on land expansion based on
greenhouse gas emissions was an unfair barrier to trade as oil palm estates could act as net
carbon sink.
The CO2 targets were delayed by a year pending further study and watered down to a voluntary
undertaking during the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) that brings together
producers, buyers and NGOS this week in the Malaysian capital.
"We are disappointed because we wanted the target for this year," said Jan Kees Vis, chairman of
the RSPO, which has been tasked with formulating a green standard for the industry.
"However, looking at how even the Copenhagen climate talks may not even reach a resolution in
December, perhaps its not too bad. It's part and parcel of trying to get everyone to agree."
Once hailed as a biofuel feedstock that can cut the world's reliance on petroleum diesel, palm oil
now struggles with a negative image that estate expansion fuels climate change.
New oil palm estates often replace tropical forests that absorb carbon dioxide and production of
the vegetable oil releases high quantities of methane gas, scientists and green groups say.
Palm oil producers say CO2 standards such as the European Union's move to use biofuels that
reduce emissions by at least 35 percent versus fossil fuel in 2010 are trade barriers, sidelining
palm oil which the E.U. considers to save 19 percent.
DIFFERENCES
63
Differences over palm oil's eco-credentials have often made it difficult for the RSPO to come up
with a consensus.
It was only last year that producers and green groups hammered out a set of criteria for palm oil
produced without harming wildlife or displacing local communities, despite the RSPO being in
existence since 2002.
"We agree on some conditions and then they (green groups) throw something at us," said a
Malaysian planter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
"I won't be surprised in some of the planters get fed up and walk out of this."
Part of the producers' anger stems from the slow uptake of certified green palm oil during the
economic crisis, observers said. WWF last week issued a buyer's scorecard that showed most
European palm oil buyers have shunned green palm oil priced at a premium.
"The scorecard will benchmark the industry. There is some progress with palm oil buyers, the
producers should be heartened by this," said Adam Harrison, senior policy officer of WWF
International, who came up with the scorecard.
(Editing by Michael Urquhart)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55300
PlanetArk.org | Sunanda Creagh | November 3, 2009
Indonesia Wants Funds For Environment Enforcement
A farmer uses a horse to transport his crops during the harvest season in Gowa regency in South
Sulawesi province October 28, 2009.
Photo: Yusuf Ahmad
JAKARTA, INDONESIA - Indonesia's new environment minister said on Thursday he needs
more funds for law enforcement to stop illegal logging and pollution, in a bid to curb emissions
by one of the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases.
As the world's third-biggest contributor to climate change, behind the United States and China,
Indonesia is seen as a key player when it comes to putting a brake on deforestation and reaching
an agreement on fighting climate change.
64
However, Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta warned that the U.N. climate
conference in Copenhagen in December would probably fail to reach a broader global pact to
fight climate change, largely because the various parties would not compromise.
"It seems to me that Copenhagen will not be a success. Each party is maintaining their position
very strongly," Hatta, an academic who founded a forestry research center in Kalimantan on
Borneo island, told Reuters in an interview.
Curbing deforestation -- which accounts for nearly a fifth of greenhouse gas pollution -- by
Indonesia, Brazil and tropical Africa is seen as an important step in soaking up carbon dioxide
emissions.
Indonesia's president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, last month told the Group of 20 (G20)
nations that Indonesia would cut its emissions by 26 percent by 2020, or as much as 41 percent
with international funding and transfer of technology.
But to achieve that kind of reduction requires funding for effective law enforcement, Hatta said.
"Enforcement of the law -- that is what we need to reach this 26 percent," said Hatta, 57.
"We have civil guards that can directly arrest people found breaching the law and bring them to
court but we have only 220 in the whole country. We want a total of 1,000 but we obviously
can't do that on our current budget."
Hatta said he would ask for his ministry's budget to be doubled to 800 billion rupiah ($83
million) to pay for enforcement of laws against illegal logging and pollution.
He said that to cut emissions by as much as 41 percent would require transfer of technology and
international funding for programs such as the reduced emissions from deforestation and
degradation (REDD) scheme, which involves paying developing countries not to chop down
forests.
Hatta said he intended to enforce a new environment law that allows the government to cancel
the operating permit of any company found to be breaching the terms of its environmental
impact assessment.
"I am very serious about this. We have already briefed regional leaders so they can brief the
people in their own areas. We plan to write the regulations needed to implement this law within
one year," he said.
Hatta, an academic with a PhD in forestry from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, was
considered a surprise choice for the post of environment minister and has drawn a mixed
response from conservation groups.
However, he could easily run into problems with the powerful business interests in the timber
and palm oil sectors, as well as with other ministers.
The environment ministry is relatively powerless compared to the forestry, agriculture, and
energy ministries but Hatta said he would lobby the relevant ministers to stop environmentally
damaging practices such as allowing mining in protected forests or planting of oil palm in peat
lands, and would commission a new review of mining to identify areas that are over-mined.
"In some areas, for instance, they are only supposed to mine 5 percent but they mine 10 percent.
Later, with this review, I will be able to recommend new limits on mining to the relevant
ministry," he said.
(Editing by Sara Webb)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55294
65
PlanetArk.org | Yereth Rosen | November 3, 2009
Alaska Oil Explorers Encountering More Polar Bears
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Oct 6 - Oil companies scouring the coastline of Alaska's North Slope
for new production sites are converging on the same territory as hungry polar bears trying to
escape shrinking and thinning sea ice.
Polar bears have not attacked any workers recently, but oil companies are reporting four times as
many sightings as they did last decade.
"These bears will walk the coast," said Craig Perham, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. "So if you've got an operation right on the coast, you're going to see bears."
There were 321 polar bear sightings in and around Alaska oil and gas operations in 2007 and 313
in 2008, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. That is about four times the annual
average posted for the period of 1994 through 2000.
The last polar bear mauling at a North Slope industrial site occurred in 1993 at a military facility.
A bear crashed through a window and severely hurt a contract worker inside.
But close encounters are getting more frequent. Even reality television has documented the
phenomenon. On the closing episode of "Ice Road Truckers" on the History Channel, one truck
driver was briefly held up from delivering his final load of diesel fuel to Exxon Mobil Corp's
(XOM.N) Point Thomson field because wandering polar bears had shut down traffic.
Oil companies probably are recording multiple sightings of individual bears that, instead of
making brief stops on land, are extending their stays, Perham said.
"What this appears to be is bears looking for another option because their traditional habitat is
not as healthy as it used to be," said Steve Amstrup of the U.S. Geological Survey. This summer,
Arctic sea ice shrank to its third-lowest area on record [ID:nN17442487].
Like roaming bears awaiting freeze-up, denning females -- mother bears giving birth and nursing
cubs -- are settling on land rather than on sea ice, according to a study by Amstrup and others.
Oil-field workers rarely see denning females, the scientists said, but there have been some
interactions. A mother bear with cubs forced a late-season shutdown of the ice road to Point
Thomson last spring, state officials said.
The Exxon-operated Point Thomson prospect, 55 miles east of Prudhoe Bay, is at a site holding
the coastal bluffs that naturally draw polar bears.
"Clearly, Point Thomson is in the midst of polar bears," Amstrup said.
Other sites attractive to polar bears but targeted for drilling are Oliktok Point west of Prudhoe,
where the Italian company ENI (ENI.MI) is developing its Nikaitchuq prospect, and the offshore
Liberty prospect, which BP (BP.L) plans to drill from the edge of land east of Prudhoe Bay.
Meanwhile, oil companies are making more efforts to document sightings, said Marilyn
Crockett, executive director of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association.
She said last year's designation of polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act
adds new monitoring responsibilities for operators in polar-bear habitat.
Most companies hold letters from the Fish and Wildlife Service authorizing "incidental takes" of
polar bears, meaning generally minor, accidental disturbances, said Crockett, who added that
companies take great efforts to avoid any potentially dangerous encounters.
"So if you have more companies operating under LOAs (letters of authorization), then reporting
sightings are going to increase," she said.
(Editing by Bill Rigby and David Gregorio)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55293
66
Reuters.com | November 3, 2009
Global Report: Climate Change Exposes the Oil and
Gas Industry to Risk
Changes in Climate Could Impact Oil and Gas Company's Assets, Operations and Safety
ARMONK, N.Y., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Over three quarters of the world's oil and
gas companies surveyed believe inevitable climate change could impact their business:
increasing downtime, system failures and safety; but only 19 percent are taking action, says a
new Acclimatise report backed by IBM (NYSE: IBM).
"The Oil and Gas industry is an important contributor to our society and economy, so if anything
impacts the industry it could well impact people at home, at work, on the move, or even their
personal finances," said Allan Roberts, IBM's Industrial Strategy & Change Leader, IBM Global
Business Services, UK & Ireland. "While oil and gas companies are typically well run and have
systems for monitoring risks, they have been exposed to problems with their major projects and
operations in the past. Evidence in the report shows companies may not be fully appreciating the
risks posed by climate change or have in place responses which are robust."
The report titled "Global Oil & Gas - The Adaptation Challenge" is based on the Carbon
Disclosure Project's annual request for investor information that was sent to the world's largest
128 oil and gas companies globally (based on market capitalisation). Analysed using the
Acclimatisation Index(TM).()Methodology, the report identified the top five impacts of climate
change and the industry implications.
Top Five Industry Impacts of Climate Change
Increased pressure on water resources: Concerns over changing rainfall patterns, water shortages,
poor water quality, drought and flooding is significantly increasing the demand for water.
Growing competition for available resources could create operational problems for companies
which rely heavily on water for oil and gas production. The demand may also create conflicts
with local communities and other water users throughout the world changing the risk landscape
for oil and gas companies. Nearly all companies surveyed did not appear to recognise the risk
landscape is changing - only 6% reported knowledge of potential civil and geo-political risks and
3% identified adverse risks for local communities.
Physical asset failure: The report revealed that many existing plants and equipment have been
designed on the basis of historic climatic conditions and may not withstand changing
environmental conditions. Fluctuating temperatures can affect efficiency and performance of
physical assets leading to transport disruption, damaged buildings and increased operational
delays and costs. Only 6% of respondents indicated they were taking actions to manage
disruptions to off-site utilities (energy, communications, water and waste treatment).
Employee health and safety risks: Volatile working conditions in extreme environments and
physical assets which are potentially not suitable for the changing climatic conditions have the
potential to impact the health and safety of employees. However only 1.5% of respondents
reported to incorporate climate change considerations into their health and safety risk
assessments. Employer and public liability insurance cover may be compromised if companies
fail to take climate change into account during health and safety risk
assessments.
Drop in value of financial assets: To meet the growing demand for energy, oil and gas companies
need to continue securing investment for new exploration, production and manufacturing.
67
Potential investors and stakeholders are placing greater importance on the business impacts of
climate change as the risks impact cost and revenue drivers. Insurance costs could potentially
rise because of greater chances of physical plant damage due to weather events, an issue only
recognised by 10% of respondents. The current reported value of proved reserves may also be
affected by companies failing to take into account the full impact of climate change. This could
result in changes to the disclosed value of reserves which has major financial implications.
Damage to corporate reputation: As knowledge and awareness of climate change grows, any
failure to monitor and report the impacts of climate change on social and ecological resources is
increasingly likely to harm a company's reputation. Contractual relationships that do not
adequately foresee and manage risks driven by climate change, may damage the company's
reputation with stakeholders as the risk of parties turning to litigation increases.
"It is difficult to justify the position taken by any company that fails to assess the vulnerability of
existing and future assets to acute and chronic changing climatic risks, given the information we
now have," said John Firth, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, climate change adaptation
specialists Acclimatise. "Companies that develop an integrated approach, recognising that we no
longer have a stable climate, will be the winners. This is not merely an environmental issue, it is
about bottom line consequences and the future viability of oil and gas companies."
Drivers for Change
Given the Oil and Gas industry's ability to innovate there is no reason why it will not continue to
be a major contributor to society and the economy of the future. There are a number of drivers
for change that will influence the level and rate of innovation.
Cost/revenue drivers - Operating costs at refineries could increase in response to changes in asset
efficiency and resilience with higher ambient air temperatures. Disruptions to transport links due
to permafrost thaw are already having significant impacts with companies having to hold and
maintain larger on-site spare parts and materials stores. Operational costs could increase in
response to changes in design standards for offshore platforms.
Stakeholder pressure - Investors and other stakeholders, including market and financial analysts,
governments and regulatory agencies, research institutions, consumers, local communities and
NGOs - are already starting to place greater pressure on oil and gas companies to address climate
risks and opportunities.
New regulatory landscapes - Although new regulatory policies are being developed in many
countries there remains a great deal of uncertainty regarding the scope, content and format of
future legislation on emissions.
Greater certainty about the future regulatory landscape is required to encourage companies to
invest in alternatives to fossil fuels and develop cleaner and sustainable energy sources.
In the United Kingdom the Climate Change Act 2008 gives the government an adaptation
reporting power that requires oil and gas companies to assess and disclose the impacts climate
change might have on their business. The UK Government recently updated the Petroleum Act,
tightening the laws on decommissioning, making it compulsory for companies to take the
impacts of climate change into account.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission ask publicly-listed companies to disclose climate
threats to their bottom lines in annual reporting.
68
Opportunity to Improve
Acclimatise and IBM have jointly prepared a set of 10 Prepare-Adapt questions to help oil and
gas executives take informed steps towards building corporate resilience to inevitable climate
change.
To start, a company should undertake a high-level assessment of how climate change could
impact their business model. The next step is to analyse the individual areas that could have the
greatest material impact on performance - two areas of consideration could be Non-Market
Strategy and Asset Lifecycle Management. Finally companies need to adapt reporting and
performance management to incorporate risks arising from climate change.
Paul Simpson, Chief Operating Officer, Carbon Disclosure Project, said, "This report shows how
important it is for the oil and gas sector to plan for a changing climate. Issues such as water
shortages and changing weather patterns and temperatures will impact infrastructure, operations,
revenues and costs. As a result, investors want to know how oil and gas companies are dealing
with these risks and planning for them in the future. This report helps answer those questions."
For a full copy of the report:
http://www-05.ibm.com/uk/green/cdp2009/oil_and_gas.pdf
Methodology
The analysis has been undertaken using our Acclimatisation Index(TM)
methodology. This enables a semi-quantitative analysis of the responses
recognising the scope of the questions.
The Index can take into account information from other sources to provide a more
comprehensive analysis if needed. The Index also allows a relative score for each company to be
calculated, although these scores are not available as part of this project.
The Acclimatisation Index(TM) has been used to analyse the resilience of global oil and gas
companies to climate change in response to questions contained within sections 1 and 4 of the
Carbon Disclosure Project questionnaire. It describes how global oil and gas companies
understand the risks and opportunities they face as a result of the changing climate, and how they
plan to adapt to them.
For more information on IBM go to: www.ibm.com/uk/green.
For more information on Acclimatise:
Acclimatise is a risk management consultancy focused on helping its clients become resilient to
the impacts of inevitable climate change. Founded in 2004 Acclimatise advises some of the
world's largest corporates, banks and pension funds. It also provides strategic guidance to
governments, government agencies and to cities.
For more information on Carbon Disclosure Project:
The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is an independent not-for-profit
organization holding the largest database of corporate climate change
information in the world. CDP gathers data through its annual Information Requests on behalf of
475 institutional investors with assets under management of $55 trillion, purchasing
organizations and government bodies. Since its formation in 2000, CDP has become the gold
69
standard for carbon disclosure methodology and process, providing primary climate change data
to the global market place.
For more information, visit www.cdproject.net.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS116799+03-Nov-2009+PRN20091103
The Telegraph | Nick Allen – Los Angeles| November 3, 2009
Al Gore 'profiting' from climate change agenda
Al Gore has been accused of profiting from the climate change agenda amid claims he is on
course to become the world’s first “carbon billionaire”.
Since leaving office Mr Gore has campaigned relentlessly on green issues. Photo: AP
The former US vice president is in line to make a large profit from a firm producing smart meters
which monitor household electricity use.
He is a partner in a Silicon Valley venture capital firm which invested £45 million in Silver
Spring Networks, a small California company which has been developing technology to monitor
household power use to make the electricity grid more efficient.
Last week the US Energy Department announced £2 billion in grants and a proportion of that,
thought to be more than £305 million, will go to utility operators with which Silver Spring has
contracts.
The venture capitalists who invested, including Mr Gore, now look set to receive a handsome
return.
Since leaving office Mr Gore has campaigned relentlessly on green issues. His 2006 film “An
Inconvenient Truth”, which followed his attempts to educate people about the dangers of global
warming, won an Oscar for best documentary. It showed Mr Gore giving comprehensive slide
shows about the catastrophic effects of climate change. He has presented the slide show more
than 1,000 times.
Mr Gore, who won a Nobel Prize in 2007, has also just published his latest book on global
warming “Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis” which advocates new energy saving
technologies and policies.
Since he quit mainstream politics, Mr Gore’s personal fortune has risen from £1.2 million to an
estimated £60 million.
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He has made significant investments in environmentally friendly projects like carbon trading
markets, solar power, biofuels, electric vehicles, sustainable fish farming and waterless
lavatories. He has also invested in non-climate change related investments, including putting
money into Google and Apple.
Mr Gore said it was “certainly not true” that he was going to become a “carbon billionaire” and
that the suggestion came from global warming deniers.
He said: “I am proud to put my money where my mouth is for the past 30 years. And though that
is not the majority of my business activities, I absolutely believe in investing in accordance with
my beliefs and my values.” At a hearing earlier this year on clean energy legislation, Mr Gore
was challenged by Republican congresswoman, Marsha Blackburn, over his investments.
She said: “The legislation that we are discussing here today, is that something that you are going
to personally benefit from?”
Mr Gore said: “I believe that the transition to a green economy is good for our economy and
good for all of us, and I have invested in it.”
He added that he had put “every penny” he has made from his investments into the non-profit
Alliance for Climate Protection, which campaigns for solutions to climate change.
In a heated exchange Mr Gore said: “If you believe that the reason I have been working on this
issue for 30 years is because of greed, you don’t know me.”
Mr Gore said he was “proud” of his record of investing in green technology.
But global warming sceptics are not convinced. Marc Morano of climatedepot.com said: “Al
Gore wants to become the first carbon billionaire and he is poised to do it.
“As much as Gore’s made now, it is going to be a piker league compared to what he is going to
make in five years if all these new carbon trading mandates go through.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/6496196/Al-Gore-profiting-fromclimate-change-agenda.html
The Daily Gleaner | Stephen Llewellyn | November 3, 2009
Distribution network key to developing green power –
council
New Brunswick should keep control of its electricity distribution network to promote the
development of green power, says David Coon, executive director of the Conservation Council
of New Brunswick.
"We need to keep control over the wires and electricity sales to New Brunswickers in order to
make a rapid transformation to a sustainable, renewable energy future," he said Monday.
Last week, Premier Shawn Graham signed a memorandum of understanding with Quebec
Premier Jean Charest to sell most of the assets of NB Power to Hydro-Quebec for almost $10
billion.
Among the assets to be sold is the New Brunswick Power Distribution and Customer Service
Corp. That's the company that distributes power to homes and businesses, not the transmission
company that moves power between jurisdictions.
The distribution company reported revenues of $1.36 billion and assets of $796 million,
according to NB Power's 2007-08 financial report.
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The conservation council said in a news release that it will be easier to help New Brunswickers
reduce their energy use, convert from electric heat and sell renewable power to the electricity
system if the NB Power Distribution and Customer Service Corp. remains in public hands.
"To finance energy efficiency, an off-electric program and renewable energy, the provincial
government should place a public benefits levy on the profit Hydro-Quebec earns from New
Brunswickers," said Julie Michaud, climate action co-ordinator for the conservation council.
She said that revenue should flow to New Brunswick through Efficiency New Brunswick and the
new Renewable Energy Development Corp.
"There are all kinds of problems with the deal when you start to drill down into it," said Coon.
He said NB Power's distribution company isn't so valuable that its absence would scupper the
deal.
Coon said that the deal would still have the environmental benefit of replacing polluting power
sources here with clean hydroelectric power in Quebec. But that doesn't mean that overall it's a
good deal for the province, he said.
Coon said that Hydro-Quebec shouldn't be exempt from taxes or levies on income earned in New
Brunswick as proposed in the memorandum of understanding.
On Monday, Energy Minister Jack Keir said nothing in the agreement would prevent energy
development in New Brunswick or the government's so-called energy hub.
He said New Brunswick's biggest advantage is its geographic location and that doesn't change.
"Whoever owns the utility doesn't change the fact that there are synergies associated with having
the oil refinery very close to the LNG plant with the nuclear terminal in New Brunswick," he
said.
"They don't have to be owned by the province."
The oil refinery and the LNG terminal are not owned by the province, he said.
GreenBiz.com | Dave Douglas | November 3, 2009
The Big Picture on Eco-Engineering Our
Environmental Impact
The planet's population is now approaching 7 billion -- an increase of about 5 billion people in
just the past five decades -- and the total population is likely to increase by another 1 billion
people in the next decade. Analysts now expect that the ranks of the middle class (people who
may want your products!) will swell by as many as 1.8 billion in the next 12 years.
You've probably seen similar projections, and even though you know intellectually that an extra
couple of billion people represents a sustainability challenge, it can be hard to relate those huge
numbers to your job. So, to make the scale more real, let's work through what it would mean to
give the next 1 billion middle-class citizens of the world a single 60-watt incandescent light bulb.
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Each bulb weighs about 0.7 ounce, including the packaging, so a billion of them weigh around
20,000 metric tons, or about the same as 15,000 Toyota Prius cars. As an engineer, you know
that multiplying anything by a billion makes a big number, but even from this simple case you
start to get a feel for how
dramatic the scale is in real-world terms.
Next, let's turn on those light bulbs. If they're all on at the same time, they would consume
60,000 megawatts of electricity -- and that would require 120 new 500-megawatt power plants to
keep them burning. Luckily, our imaginary middle-class consumers will use their light bulbs
only four hours per day, so we're down to 10,000 megawatts at any given moment. However,
that means we'll still need 20 new 500-megawatt power plants. If coal-fired, each of those plants
burns 1.43 million tons of coal per year.
That doesn't sound like a good idea from an eco perspective, so let's try solar power for our light
bulbs. If we use current commercially available solar technology, we'll need roughly 50 square
kilometers of solar panels, or more than one-third the land area of either San Francisco or
Boston. Hmmm. So, let's try wind power instead… We'll still need one-tenth of all the wind
power produced in the world in 2007, just to keep those new light bulbs on for a few hours a day.
This is the scale we're dealing with when we're talking about a billion consumers of any product
or service. Thousands or millions of tons of material. Thousands or millions of megawatts. And
it keeps going. Think about the raw materials consumed to make those light bulbs, the energy
consumed by commuting factory workers, the packaging materials, the ships and trucks used for distribution, and
ultimately, the waste that is involved when we have a billion light bulbs. And if we're having
trouble delivering a single light bulb to a billion people sustainably, what happens when these
billion people want stoves, refrigerators, TVs, computers, cell phones, radios, and cars? What
happens when they want street lights, low-cost air travel, hotels, and restaurants?
You get the idea.
As engineers, we are already challenged by the environmental impact of products and services
today -- and the challenge will continue to grow as the world's economy grows. As a result, the
scale of our innovation is going to need to meet the scale of the demand for sustainable products
and services.
We need innovation on many fronts. Using our earlier example, we need the innovation of the
compact fluorescent light bulb, which cuts the number of new plants required from 20 to 5; the
innovation of better solar and wind-generated power to help us avoid building those plants at all;
and the innovation of better product designs using fewer natural resources and more renewable
materials.
The Core Challenges of Eco-Engineering
Eco responsibility remains difficult and uncharted territory for most engineers today, despite the
unsustainable nature of today's products and services. Five particular challenges stand out.
• The number of possible environmental impacts is large, and each one can, in and of itself, be
difficult to calculate.
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• Key impacts of your product may lie outside your company. For example, there may be a large
fresh-water impact at one of your suppliers as they make your product, or there may be
significant GHG emissions at your customer site as they use your product.
• Most attempts to reduce impacts in one area result in impacts somewhere else. Using wind
power is better than burning coal from a GHG point of view, but it involves the manufacture of
wind turbines and visual impact to the natural landscape.
• Tradeoffs often involve things that appear, at the surface, to have little to do with each other.
For example, what's the cost of cutting down and processing trees for paper bags, versus the
short- and long- term waste issues of plastic bags? Many eco tradeoffs are similar, requiring us to
make "apples versus oranges" comparisons.
• Engineers think they know how their products will be used, but customers use products how
they want to, and transformative products often change users' behavior. Factoring this into
product design can be tricky. Could Henry Ford have foreseen the scale of the behavioral change
that resulted from widespread availability of affordable automobiles?
Moreover, very little formal training is focused on eco-engineering, despite the avalanche of
press about "green" products and eco-friendly design. It is not part of the core curriculum in most
engineering schools; it is not a common topic for on-the-job training courses; it's even hard to
find a webinar about eco-responsible engineering. As a result, it is often difficult for engineers to
get started. The eco-responsibility chapters in my book will help you understand how to work
through these challenges and come up with an approach that works for your situation. And there
are 7 billion reasons why we really need to get this right.
The Guardian | Damian Carrington | November 3, 2009
UN secretary general calls for increase in pledged
funding for climate change
Money paid by rich countries to fight global warming will have to "be scaled up" from the
$100bn a year on offer, the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said today.
Finance is the key, said Ban, to successful negotations on a global treaty to fight climate change,
due to conclude at UN talks next month in Copenhagen.
Ban also revealed that he will next week meet all the US Senators involved in deliberations over
the energy and climate bill. Agreement on that bill is seen as vital to negotiations, as without it
the US team in Copenhagen will have little domestic mandate to agree a deal. The announcement
of the personal intervention of the secretary general is a clear sign of the importance of the
matter.
However, in a separate development, Democratic leaders in the Senate conceded today they
would not attempt to vote through climate change legislation before Copenhagen. Barbara Boxer,
the chair of the environment and public works committee, said the final draft of a climate change
bill would be submitted to the US Environmental Protection Agency for a five-week analysis
before being put to a vote. That in effect rules out a Senate vote before Copenhagen starts on 7
December.
Gordon Brown was praised by Ban as having originated the $100bn figure for the total global
public and private funding needed each year by 2020 to tackle climate change. It would be spent
on cutting emissions by providing green technologies, and on enabling countries to adapt to more
frequent fierce storms and rising sea levels. The figure was adopted last week by the European
Union as its official negotiating position for Copenhagen and is the only offer on the table so far.
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Ban says that the $100bn figure 'should be scaled up as we go along' Link to this audio "I think it
can be a good start but it needs to be scaled up," said Ban.
Development groups have estimated the money needed at up to $400bn a year. But the amount
by which it would need to increase was uncertain, he said: "We have to see how measures are
effective. As time goes by we may need to change arrangements."
Ban's senior climate adviser, Janos Pasztor, added: "The needs are obviously much larger and it
needs to be scaled up."
Developing nations are demanding significant new funding at the climate negotiations, which are
continuing this week in Barcelona, and deep cuts in rich country emissions in exchange for
pledges to curb their own fast-growing carbon emissions.
Problems in the talks erupted in public today with African nations boycotting meetings, forcing
their cancellation. They want rich nations to commit to much bigger cuts in their emissions than
they have so far, arguing that African countries will suffer most from global warming yet are
least responsible.
Ban said last week that the negotiations were "gridlocked" but today said that "significant"
progress was being made. A critical issue, he said, was a lack of trust between developed and
developing nations, which a suitably large financial settlement would help to bridge.
"Too many countries have domestic problems," he added, without naming the US and the
difficulty President Obama faces getting his climate bill through the Senate. Ban also revealed
that he had met all the committee members of the House of Representatives both individually
and collectively, before the it passed its climate bill.
The new extended timetable announced by Boxer – an attempt to win Republican support – is
bound to dismay Ban as well as European leaders in Washington today to try to press the US to
act on climate change.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is scheduled to address a joint session of the Senate and
house later today on climate change, Afghanistan and other issues.
Boxer had been struggling with fellow Republicans on her committee who want more time to
participate in producing a draft climate change bill, and object to some key measure it contains.
The near-boycott by Republicans and criticism from conservative Democrats in the environment
committee have sharply reduced the prospects for passing a rigorous climate change law at all –
let alone before Copenhagen.
Earlier, Ban confirmed there is now no chance that the Copenhagen summit will produce a
legally binding agreement, as there is too little time to work through all the complex details.
"Copenhagen will not be the final word." Instead a "politically binding" agreement must be
reached, he said, with strong consensus on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, helping nations
adapt to a warmer world and finance and technology funds. Ban joins the UN's top climate
official, Yvo de Boer, Merkel and the UK government in conceding that a legally enforceable
treaty is now unreachable at Copenhagen.
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But he said: "We don't have a plan B and we are not lowering the bar. We still [retain] the
highest possible targets."
The Guardian | John Vidal | November 3, 2009
Global warming could create 150 million 'climate
refugees' by 2050
Environmental Justice Foundation report says 10% of the global population is at risk of forced
displacement due to climate change
Global warming will force up to 150 million "climate refugees" to move to other countries in the
next 40 years, a new report from the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) warns.
In 2008 alone, more than 20 million people were displaced by climate-related natural disasters,
including 800,000 people by cyclone Nargis in Asia, and almost 80,000 by heavy floods and
rains in Brazil, the NGO said.
President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, who presented testimony to the EJF, said people
in his country did not want to "trade a paradise for a climate refugee camp". He warned rich
countries taking part in UN climate talks this week in Barcelona "not to be stupid" in negotiating
a climate treaty in Copenhagen this December.
Nasheed urged governments to find ways to keep temperature rises caused by warming under
2C. "We won't be around for anything after 2C," he said. "We are just 1.5m over sea level and
anything over that, any rise in sea level – anything even near that – would wipe off the Maldives.
People are having to move their homes because of erosion. We've already this year had problems
with two islands and we are having to move them to other islands. We have a right to live."
Last month, the president held a cabinet meeting underwater to draw attention to the plight of his
country.
The EJF claimed 500 million to 600 million people – nearly 10% of the world's population – are
at risk from displacement by climate change. Around 26 million have already had to move, a
figure that the EJF predicts could grow to 150 million by 2050. "The majority of these people are
likely to be internally displaced, migrating only within a short radius from their homes.
Relatively few will migrate internationally to permanently resettle in other countries," said the
report's authors.
In the longer term, the report said, changes to weather patterns will lead to various problems,
including desertification and sea-level rises that threaten to inundate low-lying areas and small
island developing states. An expert at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International
Relations in Paris recently said global warming could create "ghost states" with citizens living in
"virtual states" due to land lost to rising seas.
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts sea-level rise in the range
of 18-59cm during the 21st century. Nearly one-third of coastal countries have more than 10% of
their national land within 5 metres of sea level. Countries liable to lose all or a significant part of
their land in the next 50 years, said the EJF report, include Tuvalu, Fiji, the Solomon islands, the
Marshall islands, the Maldives and some of the Lesser Antilles.
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Many other countries, including Bangladesh, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Somalia, Yemen,
Ethiopia, Chad and Rwanda, could see large movements of people. Bangladesh has had 70
climate-related natural disasters in the past 10 years.
"Climate change impacts on homes and infrastructure, food and water and human health. It will
bring about a forced migration on an unprecedented scale," said the EJF director, Steve Trent.
"We must take immediate steps to reduce our impact on global climate, and we must also
recognise the need to protect those already suffering along with those most at risk."
He called for a new international agreement to address the scale and human cost of climate
change. "The formal legal definition of refugees needs to be extended to include those affected
by climate change and also internally displaced persons," he said.
Philly.com | Sandy Bauers - Inquirer Staff Writer| November 3, 2009
A primer on climate change by Al Gore
Al Gore admits it won't be easy.
His critics are loud. And painful as it is, he has to contemplate that we might not "find the moral
courage" to solve global warming, which he calls the foremost planetary crisis before us.
But because he's optimistic, he's giving us a road map for how to address it. Due in bookstores
today, it's called Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis.
Gore wants to retrofit not just our buildings and our political policies, but also our very culture,
changing the way we avoid thinking about climate change because it seems too abstract.
Rather than a checklist, it's an all-of-the-above primer on everything from renewable energy to
forest conservation to building a smarter grid. Not to mention the need to develop the political
will.
"We need changes in laws and policies in order to accelerate reduction in global-warming
pollution," he said in a recent interview with The Inquirer.
On Friday, Gore will be at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, speaking at a national conference on
critical security issues in the 21st century sponsored by the World Affairs Council.
His critics have long called some of his ideas impractical and said they would hurt the economy.
Gore takes his critics on, even picturing some of them in the book and attributing their views to
"political bias."
The 416-page paperback from Rodale Books, of Emmaus, Pa., is a sequel to An Inconvenient
Truth.
It resembles a cross between a textbook and a coffee-table book, a Ken-Burns-meets-globalwarming, with vivid diagrams of how technologies work and lavish color photos. It lists at
$26.99.
Gore cites environmental exhortations from the Bible, the Quran, and the Torah and lambastes
corporate carbon polluters for "lavishly financed" campaigns of "intentional deception" that he
says have "poisoned" the integrity of the nation's democracy.
The book comes just a month before the world's leaders meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, to
establish a climate agreement.
Gore, who recently met unofficially with climate-policy leaders in China, South Africa, and
Egypt, plans to be in Copenhagen for the talks, an aide said. Gore is registered through his
nonprofit, the Alliance for Climate Protection, which gives him "observer" status. (The proceeds
from his book are being donated to the organization.)
"The airwaves will be jammed leading up to Copenhagen, and he'll have the biggest
microphone," said Timothy E. Wirth, president of the nonprofit United Nations Foundation and a
former Democratic senator from Colorado.
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From China to Europe, climate change "is all people talk about," Wirth said. "Here, it's like
people whistling past the graveyard."
Andrew Light, an analyst with the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, also
believes Gore will be a major presence in Copenhagen.
Two years ago, Gore all but single-handedly saved climate talks in Indonesia from collapsing
when he flew to Bali and persuaded some delegates not to walk out of the meeting in protest over
the position the Bush administration was taking, Light said.
Even some who disagree with Gore's recommendations respect his voice.
"The bottom line is, Al Gore is a large and present voice in this debate, and he will continue to
be that," said Frank Maisano, energy specialist at Bracewell & Giuliani L.L.P., an international
law firm that represents utilities, refiners, and wind developers.
"In fact, he's a larger figure in the debate now than he ever would have been as the president. He
has the ability to say what he thinks, rather than having constituencies to go back to."
However, Maisano said Gore's support for both a carbon tax and a cap-and-trade program which he has testified about and reiterates in the book - will go nowhere.
"It's a double hit on the economy," Maisano said. It might reduce atmospheric concentrations to
where they need to be, he said, "but the political reality of doing that is probably zero."
The book has a first printing of 400,000 copies. It is, of course, carbon-neutral and printed on
100 percent recycled paper. But that's not all. Gore uses nearly an entire page to describe the
other eco-choices made in producing the book.
The book is launching the former vice president on a blitz of appearances.
On television alone, he was on the CBS Evening News last night and is scheduled for Good
Morning America and the Late Show With David Letterman today. Then it's on to Jon Stewart
tomorrow and Larry King next week.
A common thread
Our Choice stems, in part, from more than 30 "Solutions Summits" Gore hosted, involving
experts in various fields.
A common thread is that the world has to put an appropriate price on carbon. He says the world's
inability to recognize carbon's true cost is a brewing crisis that resembles subprime mortgages.
The book has a companion Web site, www.ourchoicethebook.com, that includes an evolving
"Solutions Wiki," where both experts and everyday citizens can weigh in.
Among an onslaught of other pre-Copenhagen books, Gore's stands out for its readability, said
Joseph Romm, who blogs on climate matters for the Center for American Progress Action Fund,
and who got an advance peek.
"It is a very broad-based primer on the solutions," Romm said. "I don't know of a comparable
book out there."
He praised Gore for tackling complex issues like nuclear power, concentrated thermal power,
and even biochar - a carbon-capturing soil additive that is a new buzzword in environmental
circles.
"Things in this book that aren't well-known, over the next 10 to 15 years they are going to be
things any educated person is going to need to be knowledgeable about and have an opinion
about."
The book is not without some bite.
Senate action
On the first page of the chapter titled "Political Obstacles" is a photo of Saudi King Abdullah
embracing George W. Bush.
Gore humorously refers to himself as "a recovering politician," but in a recent interview he said
he'd always been forthright. "What has changed is the science," he said. It is now more clear than
ever, he said, that action needs to be taken.
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If the Senate can pass meaningful climate and energy legislation before Copenhagen, he said,
"President Obama will be able to negotiate on behalf of our country with the authority he needs
to help get a meaningful treaty."
Gore writes in the last chapter that, at its most basic, the nation has two choices: Solve the
problem or not.
He envisions two letters to future generations. One, an apology, answers the question, "Did you
not care?"
The other: "How did you find the moral courage to rise up and solve a crisis so many said was
impossible?"
"The choice is awesome and potentially eternal," he writes. "It is in the hands of the present
generation: a decision we cannot escape, and a choice to be mourned or celebrated through all
the generations that follow."
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/health_science/daily/20091103_A_primer_on_climate_change_b
y_Al_Gore.html
Reuters | Ayesha Rascoe | November 3, 2009
Global carbon markets to continue to grow - IETA
head
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Global emissions markets will continue to grow regardless of the
outcome of international climate negotiations this December, the head of the International
Emissions Trading Association said on Monday.
"I see no reason to believe that carbon markets will not increase in size in the very rapid way that
they've been increasing over the past few years, and that's almost irrespective of what happens at
Copenhagen," IETA President Henry Derwent told Reuters TV.
International leaders will meet in Copenhagen next month to hash out an agreement to lower the
world's greenhouse gas emissions, which are blamed for global warming.
Based on the actions of some individual countries, Derwent said demand for carbon markets will
rise even if no major climate deal is reached at the December meeting.
The strength of the emission reduction targets adopted will impact how quickly carbon markets
grow, however, he said.
The global carbon market doubled in value last year to $126 billion, according to the World
Bank.
Climate legislation pending in the U.S. Congress would force companies to purchase permits for
the carbon emissions they release into the atmosphere. Utilities and factories that don't use all
their permits could trade, or sell them, to companies that need more.
(Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idINIndia-43624520091102
PICS- Univ. Victoria| November 3, 2009
New Research Gives Green Light To Electrifying BC’s
Vehicle Fleet
British Columbia has sufficient underutilized generation capacity in its electrical grid to support
the introduction of more than two million plug-in electrified vehicles, enough to eventually
replace nearly every registered vehicle in the province, provided that recharging occurs in offpeak demand periods, according to new research from the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions
(PICS).
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The “Electrifying the BC Vehicle Fleet: Opportunities and Challenges for Plug-in Hybrid,
Extended Range & Pure Electric Vehicles” report is the latest in a series of PICS independent
research white papers to government. PICS is a collaboration of BC’s four research-intensive
universities hosted and led by the University of Victoria (UVic).
The report examines the possible benefits and obstacles related to widespread adoption of plugin hybrid electric vehicles, extended range electric vehicles, and fully electric vehicles in British
Columbia. These vehicles—collectively referred to as plug-in electrified vehicles (PEVs)—have
the potential to significantly impact BC’s electricity and transportation sectors.
“The transportation sector currently contributes 36 per cent of the province’s total greenhouse
gas emissions,” says the report’s co-author and spokesperson, UVic engineering professor
Curran Crawford. “If BC is to meet its 2020 emission reduction targets, incentives and
regulations for alternative technologies need to be put into place.”
The report notes that BC’s electrical generators have the capacity to charge nearly 2.5 million
lightduty vehicles—almost the same number of registered gasoline-powered vehicles on BC
roads right now—even during winter when there is heavy grid demand.
In summer, the generators could theoretically support more than 8.8 million vehicles. However,
such high volumes could be detrimental to the grid and force up electricity prices if charging
occurred during day and early evening peak-demand periods. Also, some distribution lines in the
grid would likely have to be upgraded.
“Passenger and heavy-duty vehicles account for 23 per cent of BC’s greenhouse gas emissions
and PEVs offer an excellent opportunity to significantly reduce that load. PEVs also suit BC
drivers’ habits, given that 79 per cent of commuters use vehicles to make one-way trips of 6.5
km, which can be made on electric power alone.
“However, large-scale introduction would require external controls and/or consumer incentives
to ensure overnight recharging.“
While PEVs don’t present insurmountable technical problems for the BC system, says Crawford,
they could lead to a loss of revenue for BC Hydro if less electricity is available to be traded with
BC’s neighbours. Also, electrified transportation is absent in the current mandates of both BC
Hydro and the BC Utilities Commission.
“This results in a disjointed energy planning approach which could present a major barrier to
embracing PEVs and the benefits they will bring in lowering GHG emissions in the province as a
whole,” says the report.
The report also suggests a vehicle odometer tax be created to offset the loss of gasoline tax
revenue (currently used for road maintenance) caused by people switching to PEVs.
Other issues covered include PEVs’ potential as a storage facility for intermittent clean energy
from wind and solar, and for selling energy back to the grid during peak demand periods; the
need for government investment in socially equitable public recharging infrastructure and battery
recycling/disposal schemes; and BC business opportunities offered by PEVs.
The full report can be read at www.pics.uvic.ca.
http://www.pics.uvic.ca/assets/pdf/MR_PHEV%20White%20Paper.pdf
November 4, 2009
environmentalresearchweb | Kate Ravilious - Sustainable Futures | November 4, 2009
Balancing REDD politics and effectiveness
Chopping down and burning trees is a major source of greenhouse gases, accounting for around
one-fifth of global carbon dioxide emissions. What's more, tropical forests account for around
half of the carbon absorbed by land-based sinks. Reducing and stabilizing deforestation is
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essential if we are to achieve IPCC targets and combat climate change. But what is the fairest
and most effective way of managing deforestation?
Jonah Busch, from Conservation International, and his colleagues, have compared six different
schemes that have been proposed for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
Degradation (REDD). For each REDD scheme they model the likely reduction in emissions and
the economic cost.
At one end of the spectrum lies a scheme where countries are given credits and incentives to
reduce deforestation, based on historical reference levels of deforestation. At the other end of the
scale is a "cap and trade" style scheme where credits are given for reduction in deforestation and
penalties are issued for increases in deforestation. The schemes in between use varying reference
levels for deforestation and apply different weightings to the credits for reducing deforestation
and for maintaining standing forest stock.
In principle a REDD scheme could cut out all deforestation emissions and reduce global
greenhouse emissions by one-fifth, if it were able to stop deforestation entirely. In practice the
model results produced by Busch and his colleagues suggest that the most effective REDD
scheme is capable of cutting deforestation emissions by around 83%.
The findings, published in Environmental Research Letters, show that all REDD schemes
have potential to mitigate climate change, but the degree of mitigation will vary, according to
which scheme is adopted.
Busch and his colleagues showed that the least effective REDD scheme was the one based on
historical reference levels of deforestation, with no penalties for increasing deforestation levels.
"This scheme provides incentives only for reducing deforestation, but not for maintaining
standing forests," Busch told environmentalresearchweb.
Their model showed that this REDD scheme tends to shift deforestation to other countries, in
response to higher prices for agricultural and timber commodities – a phenomenon known as
"international leakage". By contrast, all of the other designs have features in place to minimise
such leakage, by providing incentives to countries with low deforestation rates to stabilize and
maintain low rates of deforestation.
Nonetheless, the REDD scheme based on historical deforestation levels still has the potential to
almost quarter the emissions from deforestation compared with a "business-as-usual scenario",
their model shows.
The cap-and-trade-based REDD scheme produced the greatest reduction in emissions. "It is the
only design that uses sticks in addition to carrots," said Busch. "A country that emits less than its
cap would receive payment; a country that emits more than its cap would be penalized." Such a
scheme would reduce emissions to around one-sixth of the "business-as-usual scenario", their
model showed. What's more, a cap and trade system is the most cost effective, in terms of
emissions reduced per dollar spent.
But there's a snag. Unfortunately the cap and trade style scheme is also likely to be the least
palatable politically. "Developing countries are reluctant to take on caps in the near term,"
explained Busch. Meanwhile, a REDD scheme based on historical deforestation levels, and
without penalties, is simple to implement and requires the least political negotiation. "The other
four schemes represent a compromise between effectiveness and political viability, and I think
we'll see one of these four designs chosen," said Busch.
About the author
Kate Ravilious is a contributing editor to environmentalresearchweb.
http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/futures/40872
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environmentalresearchweb | Research Highlights | November 4, 2009
Salt-starved termites increase carbon storage
While animals need sodium to thrive, plants do not. Now, researchers from the US and Panama
have found that a shortage of sodium in inland tropical rainforests such as the Amazon may slow
down the carbon cycle by limiting the decomposition and consumption of plant matter by
animals.
"Sodium intrigued us because plants by in large don't need it, while consumers do, and sodium
has a geography – its availability typically drops the farther you are from the ocean," Mike
Kaspari of the University of Oklahoma told environmentalresearchweb. "This suggested a
disconnect between plant production and its subsequent consumption that is driven by the
availability of sodium."
Amazon research
According to Kaspari, where an adequate supply of sodium is available, consumers should be
able to "keep up" with photosynthesis, releasing the carbon as fast as it is fixed as plant tissue.
But where sodium is in short supply, consumers should "cramp up" and slow down, while plants
keep fixing carbon. "It sounded like an interesting hypothesis, and, frankly, we were surprised to
find it hold up," he said.
Sodium tends to be readily available in terrestrial ecosystems near the coast because it's exported
from the oceans in the form of oceanic aerosols that are deposited inland. "Any increase in the
export, say due to the increased frequency of hurricanes, could, theoretically, decrease inland
carbon stores by enhancing the activity of inland consumers," said Kaspari. So climate change
could lead to a hitherto unexpected effect on tropical carbon storage.
Kaspari and colleagues from the University of Oklahoma, US, the Smithsonian Tropical
Research Institute in Panama, the University of Arkansas, US, and the University of California
Berkeley found that introducing sodium chloride solution to the leaf litter in an inland Amazon
forest near Iquitos, Peru, enhanced mass loss by 41% and boosted decomposition of pure
cellulose by up to 50%. Numbers of termites – a common decomposer – increased seven-fold,
while ant numbers doubled. Ants are predators in the brown food web, a system of microbes and
invertebrates that feed on detritus.
"The teeming Amazon jungles may teem a bit less than they otherwise would."
Because around 80% of global landmass lies more than 100 km inland, the researchers believe
that carbon stocks and consumer activity may frequently be regulated by sodium limitation.
While this study focused on tropical rainforest, they reckon that there could be a similar effect
for inland boreal forests and fire-maintained grasslands. The use of road salt in cold climates in
winter may also affect carbon storage.
"[Our work] suggests a major, previously unappreciated player in the action of the global carbon
cycle," said Kaspari. "In the vast inland terrestrial ecosystems, sodium shortage should slow the
activity of decomposers like termites and microbes, promoting the accumulation of carbon. For
82
us, the notion that the activity of consumers in ecosystems may map onto a simple aspect of
geography like distance inland, is simply intriguing. The teeming Amazon jungles may teem a
bit less than they otherwise would."
Now the researchers have received funding for a pilot project that will fertilize large plots in
Amazonian Ecuador with sodium solutions mimicking the concentrations found falling on
coastal tropical forests. "If termite populations and decomposition rates of litter increase on these
plots simply due to tweaking the sodium concentration, we will be more confident that our
conclusions 'scale up'," said Kaspari.
The researchers reported their work in PNAS.
http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/research/40871
Canwest News Service | Mike De Souza | November 4, 2009
Africans urge Canada to be tougher at climate talks
OTTAWA — The Harper government acknowledged Wednesday that its negotiators will be
tough at international climate change talks as frustration mounted against Canada and other
developed nations for delaying progress at meetings in Barcelona, Spain.
With many pointing fingers at the U.S. government for not agreeing to set binding targets in an
international treaty to reduce emissions that cause global warming, some at the Barcelona
conference suggested Canada should do more to break a negotiating stalemate.
"I find Canada to be particularly silent," Mama Konate, a negotiator from the west-African
nation of Mali, told Canwest News Service on Wednesday. "Particularly regarding problems
with reducing emissions, I find it is not sufficiently active. These are my impressions."
African nations staged a one-day protest at the Barcelona talks this week, criticizing rich nations
for not offering to make deep cuts in their emissions by 2020 that are based on recommendations
by scientists. The talks represent the final round of formal meetings leading up to a major climate
summit next month in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Konate, who is also the director of Mali's National Meteorological Service, acknowledged that a
recent decision by U.S. politicians to delay approval until next year of its own legislation setting
caps on pollution could also set back progress toward an international agreement.
"That will certainly affect the negotiations," said Konate.
In the House of Commons, Environment Minister Jim Prentice defended Canada's international
policies, explaining that these were the toughest international environmental negotiations in
which the country had ever been involved.
"To protect Canada's interests, we have engaged negotiators who are able, who are tough at the
table, who are very capable," Prentice said in response to a question from Bloc Quebecois
environment critic Bernard Bigras. "We will not negotiate from a position of weakness the way
the Liberals did (in government). We will not be the boy scouts at the table."
Canada has set a target of reducing its emissions roughly to 1990 levels by 2020, while
developing countries have called on developed countries to slash emissions by up to 40 per cent
below 1990 levels by 2020. But the Harper government has repeatedly delayed introducing
regulations for its plan.
In an address to the U.S. Congress earlier this week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel
suggested that those who delayed international action on climate change were erecting the
equivalent of a second Berlin Wall — one of "short-sighted self-interest" that divides the present
from the future.
Steven Guilbeault, the co-founder of Equiterre, a Quebec environmental organization, said he
believes Canada's strategy is geared toward producing an empty agreement in Copenhagen
without binding requirements. But he warned that negotiators from around the world faced
similar resistance in the mid-1990s but still managed to sign an agreement in Kyoto, Japan,
83
which set binding targets for greenhouse gas emissions from industrialized countries for the first
time.
A new international climate change agreement could restructure the global economy, causing a
shift toward clean energy and sustainable development and a transfer of wealth and new
technologies to the developing nations.
mdesouza@canwest.com
http://news.globaltv.com/money/fp/Africans+urge+Canada+tougher+climate+talks/2184974/stor
y.html
guardian.co.uk | Suzanne Goldenberg and John Vidal | November 4, 2009
US scales down hopes of global climate change treaty
in Copenhagen
• Binding agreement not expected in Copenhagen
• Administration working towards treaty next year
America refuses to rush into reaching a climate change deal in Denmark. Photograph: David
McNew/Getty Images
The US has given up hope of reaching a global climate change treaty at Copenhagen and is
working towards a deal late next year, the Obama administration said today. The decision ends
hopes of a legally binding deal being sealed next month.
"We have to be honest in the process and deal with the realities that we don't have time in these
four weeks to put the language together and flesh out every crossed t and dotted i of a treaty,"
said John Kerry, who chairs the Senate foreign relations committee.
Todd Stern, the state department climate change envoy, agreed. "It doesn't look like it's on the
cards for December," he said. "We should make progress towards a political agreement that hits
each of the main elements."
The scaling back of US ambitions follows a growing international consensus that a binding legal
agreement on global warming could not be reached at Copenhagen – now just 32 days away. The
84
US shift resets expectations for what will be accomplished at Copenhagen, once billed by the UN
as a last chance to avoid catastrophic global warming.
Stern, in comments to the house foreign relations committee today, said his comments playing
down prospects for a binding treaty at Copenhagen reflected the views of senior US politicians
including Ed Markey, the author of a climate change bill passed in June. Stern insisted that
negotiators were intent on producing a blueprint in Copenhagen that would lead to a binding
legal agreement "perhaps next year or as soon as possible".
He said: "We want something beyond certainly a declaration that we are going to keep working
on this. We want a real agreement." However, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said
today that a delay of a year before a legally binding treaty was signed would be too long, given
the threat posed by greenhouse gas emissions.
Kerry, speaking at a National Journal seminar, said he was looking for countries to begin to put
in place firm commitments at Copenhagen that would then be enshrined in international law by
the end of 2010. "What I am looking for is a binding and real political agreement where the
world comes together in Copenhagen with an agreement for fixed reductions that are measurable,
verifiable and reportable Then you set either a June or July date or the Mexico date in December
next year and work on the language in that year."
However, Kerry acknowledged even that scaled back notion of success hinged on the US
Congress passing a climate change law, which seems unlikely because of strong Republican
opposition to the possible costs of emissions cuts.
As chair of the foreign relations committee, Kerry will play a pivotal role in getting any treaty
ratified by the Senate. He said he was working with a Republican senator, Lindsey Graham, and
the one-time Democrat Joe Lieberman to build support for the bill among Republicans and
conservative Democrats. The three were meeting later today with the White House, the energy
secretary, Stephen Chu, and the interior secretary, Ken Salazar, to craft a bill that would pass in
the Senate — and have the support of the Obama administration.
Kerry said the reduced role for Copenhagen could work out to the world's advantage — allowing
extra time for America, China, and the international community to co-ordinate their efforts. "The
president can go China next week, sit with the Chinese and make clear what he is prepared to do,
make clear what the Senate is prepared do. What the house has done has been made clear. so you
are in a range, and the Chinese and everyone else enter into a political agreement which does not
have the force of law till a year later," he said.
"We in effect have sealed a deal," he said. "It works out be a fairly logicial step by step
incremental process"
In Barcelona, at the last negotiating meeting before Copenhagen, rich countries piled pressure on
Africa not to derail the climate talks after the poorest countries in the world shocked the UN by
walking out of the official talks, demanding that their concerns be met.
The chair of the Africa group of nations, Kamel Djemouai, was recalled from Barcelona by the
Algerian government and other African delegations reportedly received "strong" phone calls
from their capitals urging them not to imperil the last negotiations before Copenhagen. Algeria
admitted that its negotiator had been recalled but it was denied that this was related to Africa's
stand.
The African bloc complained that rich nations' carbon cuts were far too small to avoid
catastrophic climate change, and refused to participate until more was done. The move forced the
UN to abandon several sessions and reschedule others to give rich countries more time to debate
emissions cuts. Countries have agreed to devote 60% of the remaining time to those discussions.
France has been supportive of Africa's position ahead of the climate change talks in Copenhagen.
But French negotiators are known to have been angered and dismayed by the African move.
"They are shooting themselves in the foot," said one French diplomat.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/04/us-climate-change-copenhagen-treaty
85
Reuters | Sarah Hills | November 4, 2009
Insurance sector can't cope with climate change:
trade group
LONDON (Reuters) - The general insurance industry may not be able to cope with the increased
frequency and severity of floods and typhoons brought about by climate change, the Association
of British Insurers (ABI) said on Wednesday.
ABI research, commissioned from Britain's Met Office and catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR
Worldwide, examined the implications of 2 Celsius, 4C and 6C increases in global mean
temperature on inland flooding and windstorms in Great Britain, and typhoons in China.
The ABI says a 2C is rise inevitable and this will increase average annual insured losses in
Britain from inland flooding by eight percent, or by 47 million pounds ($77 million), to 600
million pounds. This would indicate a 16 percent theoretical impact on insurance pricing (with
an annual GDP growth of 2.25 percent assumed).
Nick Starling, the ABI's Director of General Insurance and Health, told the Climate Change
conference in London that the continued widespread availability of property insurance in the
future depends on taking action now to manage the threats of climate change.
"The clear message to world leaders meeting at the UN's Copenhagen Climate Change Summit
in December is that they must reach agreement on ambitious emission reduction targets.
"And, closer to home, the UK Government needs to push ahead with the Flood and Water
Management Bill, and ensure long-term investment in flood management as a priority, so that the
long-term flood risk is better managed," he said.
The impact of losses from weather hazards can also mean increases in insurance capital
requirements, to ensure that insurers hold sufficient capital to cover the additional risks. With a
2C temperature increase, the ABI reckons additional insurance capital of 1.65 billion pounds
would be required for a 200-year flood.
If insurers do not hold sufficient capital, this is likely to result in reduced availability of
insurance, the ABI said.
Cyclone tracks are excepted to shift as a result of an increase in global temperatures and this
could increase the frequency of storm passage over the UK.
The ABI said that even a modest systematic change in storm tracks could increase average
annual insured losses from windstorms by 25 percent.
The impact of temperature change on typhoons in China was shown to be greatest in terms of
associated rain. Rain associated with a typhoon is likely to increase by 13 percent, 26 percent and
30 percent under the 2C, 4C and 6C temperature increases respectively.
Professor Julia Slingo, Chief Scientist at the Met Office warned that a further temperature rise to
4C would make some parts of the world uninhabitable.
"We have committed to a different world than the one we are used to," she said at the ABI's
Climate Change conference today.
"A compelling case to reduce commissions is because a 2 C increase in temperatures may be
livable, but any higher would be life changing for certain parts of the world -- that is why the
negotiations at Copenhagen in December are vital."
The ABI called on global governments to ensure they prepare now for "the inevitable
consequences of climate change" and invest wisely in mitigation and adaptation measures.
(Editing by Andy Bruce)
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-BusinessofGreen/idUSTRE5A34BC20091104
86
www.cec.org | Montreal | November 4, 2009
New study to provide roadmap for sustainable freight
transportation
The Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has embarked on a
new study to evaluate opportunities for making freight transportation more sustainable in North
America.
The transportation sector contributes about 26 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in North
America. At least a quarter of that share is related to transporting freight.
Billions of tons of goods are moved every year in complex industrial and commercial supply
chains that span the continent. Two-thirds of these goods are moved by truck and most of the rest
by rail, giving the freight sector a significant environmental footprint.
“Although freight transportation doesn’t receive as much attention as cars and public
transportation, it represents, along with building-related energy improvements, one of North
America’s biggest opportunities for environmental progress,” according to Evan Lloyd, CEC’s
Acting Executive Director. “While people often associate NAFTA freight with border issues, this
study will take a more systemic perspective, identifying broader regional action to support
sustainable freight transportation throughout the region.”
To assist the Secretariat in producing the Sustainable Freight Transportation in North America
report, an advisory group of representatives from transportation industries, nongovernmental
organizations, and government agencies will evaluate scenarios for improving the environmental
performance of freight transportation by 2030 and recommend policy pathways to achieve those
goals. Lloyd Axworthy, President and Vice Chancellor at the University of Winnipeg and a
former Canadian Minister of Transportation will chair the advisory group.
“Freight transportation is inextricably linked with trade in North America,” said Axworthy.
“Making our modes of transportation and the infrastructure that support them cleaner and more
efficient would have a dramatic impact on North America’s competitiveness internationally
while helping meet environmental commitments.”
The Home Depot, Wal-Mart, FedEx, Pollution Probe, the American Trucking Association, the
Railway Association of Canada and the Mexican Institute of Transport will be among the
companies and organizations represented on the advisory group.
To develop the scenarios and recommendations to the national governments of Canada, Mexico
and the United States, the study will profile the current status of freight transportation in North
America and look at opportunities for improving its environmental sustainability, including
appropriate infrastructure development along trade corridors.
As with other reports initiated by the CEC Secretariat under the North American Agreement on
Environmental Cooperation’s Article 13, the freight transportation study will consider input from
interested members of the public, as well as from the three NAFTA governments. The final
report is expected by mid-2010.
More information and supporting documents can be found at: www.cec.org/freight
PlanetArk.org | Gina Keating | November 4, 2009
Disney To Give $7 Million To Reforestation Projects
LOS ANGELES, US - The Walt Disney Co said on Tuesday it will invest $7 million in forest
conservation projects in the Amazon, Congo and United States as part of its effort to reduce
emissions, waste and energy use as a corporation.
87
Disney pledged earlier this year to cut its carbon emissions from fuels by half by 2012, and
ultimately to achieve net zero direct greenhouse gas emissions at its office and retail complexes,
theme parks and cruise lines.
In addition to cutting consumption and replacing high-carbon fuels with low-carbon alternatives,
the company said it would use "high-quality offsets" -- such as conservation projects -- to get to
zero net direct emissions.
The donation, made in partnership with several conservation groups, is one of the largest by a
single corporation and will help combat climate change and improve local conditions for people
and wildlife, Peter Seligmann, chief executive and chairman of Conservation International said
in a statement.
Disney's move comes as U.S. lawmakers face pressure to cut greenhouse gas emissions ahead of
an international summit on global warming convenes in Copenhagen in December.
The Disney funds benefit the Tayna and Kisimba-Ikobo Community Reserves in eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo and the Alta Mayo conservation project in Peru, as well as
reforestation in the U.S. Lower Mississippi Delta and forest management efforts in North
California.
Partners include the Conservation International, the Nature Conservancy and the Conservation
Fund.
(Editing by Lincoln Feast)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55316
PlanetArk.org | Laura Isensee - Analysis | November 4, 2009
Solar Companies Focus On Nuts And Bolts To Cut
Costs
A view of solar panels, set up on what will be the biggest integrated solar panel roof of the
world, in a farm in Weinbourg, Eastern France February 12, 2009.
Photo: Vincent Kessler
88
LOS ANGELES, US - Even as solar companies cook up high tech ways to cut costs, the next
push to make the renewable energy source more economical could come from workers who bolt
panels onto rooftops and mount them across empty fields.
So far, panels -- a system's most expensive piece -- account for the biggest drop in the total cost,
falling more than 50 percent from about $4.20 a watt in 2008.
Most U.S. and European makers are now selling panels near $2 per watt, while some low-cost
Chinese players sell panels at about $1.85, said J.P. Morgan research analyst Christopher
Blansett, while thin film maker First Solar Inc is the cost leader at about $1.50 or $1.55 per watt.
That decline has put a spotlight on installation, which now makes up a greater share of the total
cost, and has prompted installers, developers and even panel makers to look for low-tech tricks,
like quick fasteners and predrilled holes.
"There's no rocket science. It's literally doing things better and more efficiently," Blansett said.
After the shiny blue and black solar panels leave the factory, technicians have to bolt the panels
into steel or aluminum frames, mount them to rooftops or across fields, connect them to inverters
and string the wiring to feed electricity to homes, businesses or a power grid.
The big challenge for installers is that "there is no single item that moves the needle," said
Lyndon Rive, chief executive at SolarCity. The privately held company designs, installs and
finances systems for homes and businesses in California, Arizona and Oregon.
"It's doing one thousand little things better," Rive said, such as managing inventory so crews
don't make extra trips to a hardware store.
INSTALL COSTS TO DROP
The U.S. solar market is on track to grow 35 to 45 percent in 2009 and reach about 460 to 500
megawatts, said Alfonso Velosa, a research director at Gartner.
Residential systems are expected to remain about a third of the total U.S. market this year,
Velosa added.
While companies like SunPower Corp and Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd are working on
cutting-edge technology to make more efficient solar cells, Velosa said they are "starting to hit
the limits of what the materials can do."
The solar sector leans on government incentives to compete with traditional power sources, but
industry experts believe it will be economically viable in the near future.
Toward that goal, installation costs could drop 5 to 15 percent next year, executives from
Suntech, Solon and other companies said at the Solar Power International conference last week
in Anaheim, California.
Akeena Solar Inc sees even more promise, with its roadmap to cut installation costs by more than
half in 2010.
Akeena's new Andalay branded panels have built-in micro-inverters to convert the direct current
electricity produced by solar panels into alternating current rather than requiring a separate unit,
as most systems do.
Heavyweight panel makers have also gone back to the drawing board to design products so more
work that used to happen at the construction site is done in the factory.
Solon and Suntech both recently launched new systems for the U.S. utility market that the
companies say shave time and money off the installation costs.
U.S. based SunPower Corp and Energy Conversion Devices have also introduced new products
to make rooftop work easier.
"If you have to have to weld something or construct something (in the field), it's quite
expensive," said Olaf Koester, chief executive at Solon's U.S. unit.
Koester cited Solon's new Velocity system, which uses built-in rails instead of a frame, as an
example of a design that streamlines the installation work.
Companies that install solar systems are also moving to more standard systems instead of
customizing each site, which takes time and money and can create new problems every time.
89
"We almost used to pride ourselves on all the custom work we did. But it's too expensive. We
need to be able to compete with the retail price of electricity," said Mike Hall, chief executive at
privately held Borrego Solar Systems Inc.
(Editing by Gary Hill)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55318
PlanetArk.org | Noah Barkin and Susan Cornwell | November 4, 2009
Angela Merkel Presses U.S. On Climate In Speech To
Congress
German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses a joint session of Congress as U.S. Vice President
Joe Biden (L) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi listen on Capitol Hill in Washington, November
3, 2009.
Photo: BPA/Handout
WASHINGTON, US - German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged the United States Tuesday to
agree to binding climate goals, telling U.S. lawmakers in a speech to Congress there was "no
time to lose" in the fight against global warming.
Speaking to a joint session of Congress days before the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin
Wall on November 9, Merkel said it was time for the United States and Europe to unite to
confront new barriers, from the economic crisis, to security and the environment.
"We have no time to lose," Merkel said, referring to a U.N. climate conference next month in
Copenhagen, where countries will be trying to forge a successor to the Kyoto Protocol which
expires in 2012.
"We need an agreement on one objective -- global warming must not exceed two degrees
Celsius," she said. "To achieve this, we need the readiness of all countries to accept
internationally binding obligations."
90
U.S. climate legislation narrowly passed in the House of Representatives in June, but opposition
largely from Republicans has held up a separate bill in the Senate and chances of a breakthrough
before the end of the year are slim.
This is likely to prevent the Obama administration, which has taken a strong public stance on the
climate issue, from agreeing concrete targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the
December 7-18 Copenhagen summit.
Merkel, who began her second term in office last week, met with President Barack Obama at the
White House before giving the first address to the U.S. Congress by a German leader since
Konrad Adenauer in 1957.
Speaking to reporters during a picture-taking session in the Oval Office, Obama praised Merkel's
leadership on climate change and warned of a "potential catastrophe" if countries allowed global
warming to continue unabated.
In addition to the climate issue, the two leaders discussed Afghanistan, non-proliferation and the
global economic crisis, according to U.S. and German officials.
CHILDHOOD BEHIND IRON CURTAIN
Merkel, the first German leader to have grown up in communist East Germany, touched on her
childhood behind the Iron Curtain and said she would have never dared to dream back then she
would get the opportunity to speak to Congress.
She thanked the United States for standing up against communism during the Cold War, drawing
stand-up applause when she mentioned former President Ronald Reagan's famous "tear down
this wall" speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in 1987.
"I know, we Germans know how much we owe to you, our American friends. And we shall
never, I personally shall never, ever forget this," she said.
She acknowledged that the allies have had differences, saying Americans sometimes viewed
Europeans as "hesitant and fearful," while Europeans saw Americans as overly "headstrong and
pushy."
But she said the West must work together to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb and to
stabilize Afghanistan so that security responsibilities could be handed over to the government in
Kabul.
Merkel also touched on the economic crisis, saying a new "global order" of rules and financial
supervision was necessary.
"In a way, this is a second wall that needs to fall," she said of resistance to global financial
regulations.
The invitation to address Congress, which was made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has cooled
speculation about a lack of rapport between the low-key Merkel and the charismatic U.S.
president.
U.S. and German officials say the two have developed a solid working relationship after getting
off to a rocky start last year when Merkel refused to let Obama speak at the Brandenburg Gate
when he was a presidential candidate.
(Editing by Vicki Allen)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55320
PlanetArk.org | Richard Cowan | November 4, 2009
Q+A: How Will U.S. Climate Negotiators Approach
Copenhagen?
91
Environmental activists from Europe and Africa hold a banner urging the EU leaders to pay the
European Union's "climate debt" during a protest outside an EU summit in Brussels October 29,
2009.
Photo: Yves Herman
WASHINGTON, US - When U.S. negotiators show up in Copenhagen next month to work on a
deal to tackle global warming, they probably won't have in their pockets what they most wanted:
a law enacted by Washington committing the country to carbon pollution reductions.
With legislation hung up in the Senate, developed and developing countries alike might be
skeptical of the United States' commitment to addressing climate change problems.
Here are some of the questions facing U.S. negotiators as they approach Copenhagen and attempt
to allay those concerns:
* CAN THE U.S. PUT ON A BRAVE FACE?
The world's second biggest polluter of carbon dioxide will be in the difficult position of trying to
cajole China, India and other major polluters to promise to cut their emissions. Nevertheless, the
United States will likely try to downplay its own shortcomings and accentuate the positive.
After eight years of relatively few accomplishments on the climate front during the Bush
administration, President Barack Obama's negotiators can argue there's been a major shift.
In less than a year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a climate bill; a similar one is
pending in the Senate and the Environmental Protection Agency is requiring domestic
automakers to significantly reduce tailpipe carbon emissions.
Furthermore, the EPA has taken steps toward regulating smokestack emissions of carbon for the
first time.
* WHAT ELSE CAN THE U.S. PROMISE?
Even if Congress can't pass legislation next year, U.S. negotiators can tell Copenhagen the EPA
is waiting in the wings. By March or so, the agency could produce initial regulations for limiting
carbon emissions.
The regulatory route is not Obama's desired path; he wants more comprehensive legislation. But
the EPA has made clear it would proceed without Congress if need be.
Negotiators also could stress that there's still hope for Congress to pass a comprehensive bill. If
"cap and trade" won't work for U.S. lawmakers, they might try an alternative.
92
They also could point out that the United States has a long history of approving major
environmental laws in an election year, which 2010 is.
* CAN THE U.S. BUY ITS WAY OUT OF TROUBLE?
Experts think Washington could go a long way toward building confidence for a global deal if
the United States put forth a specific proposal on how much money it would throw into an
international pot.
The funds would be dedicated to helping poor countries develop alternative energies and deal
with the fallout from global warming. Tens of billions of dollars could be required annually.
A problem: In tough economic times and with astounding domestic budget deficits, many
members of the U.S. Congress would be nervous about promising money for others.
* IS THERE A FALLBACK OPTION?
The head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, said on Tuesday a full-fledged
climate deal would not be reached at Copenhagen but it was still possible to develop a
framework agreement.
Many U.S. environmental group agree, and are already asking their government's negotiators to
push for a substantive interim deal.
Last July, major economic powers, including the United States, agreed to work toward limiting
global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, and this could
provide a useful backdrop to an interim deal.
Experts say the best that can realistically be hoped for from the meeting is an agreement that has
the 190 nations accepting the 2 degree goal, a new specific date for wrapping up a final deal and
progress on how a new global carbon-reduction scheme would be enforced.
* WHAT IS THE WORST CASE SCENARIO?
The Pew Center on Climate Change sees the worst case scenario coming out of Copenhagen as
one in which countries blame any summit failure entirely on the United States.
If the talks fall into disarray, a "blame the U.S." plot line would likely deepen opposition in the
U.S. Congress to comprehensive climate control legislation and deliver an additional setback to
international talks -- one that some fear could take a decade or so to recover from.
Todd Stern, the lead U.S. negotiator, would have to employ all his diplomatic skills if he sees the
world ganging up on Washington.
(Editing by Simon Denyer and Vicki Allen)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55322
PlanetArk.org | Josie Garthwaite - Earth2Tech | November 4, 2009
RecycleBank Adds $28M, Joins Up With Kashless
US - RecycleBank, which partners with cities to provide incentives for residential recycling, has
just put another $28.25 million in the bank, according to a filing with the SEC. Separately this
morning, the company announced a new partnership with Kashless.org, the re-commerce
company founded by former Imperium Renewables CEO and serial entrepreneur Martin Tobias.
In the five years since its founding, Philadelphia-based RecycleBank (a subsidiary of Recycle
Rewards, which filed the regulatory form about the equity raise last week) has raised more than
$73 million, with investors including RRE Ventures, Sigma Partners, Kleiner Perkins and the
Westly Group. The idea is to revitalize municipal recycling by awarding points that residents can
redeem for discounts or gift cards at thousands of retailers, or donate to charities and other
groups, based on the amount of materials they recycle.
Today's deal with Kashless marks the launch of a new program called Kashless Rewards, which
will allow Kashless users to earn points when they post items for reuse on the online marketplace
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(essentially a Craigslist for free stuff, with many more Web 2.0-style features), and redeem them
through RecycleBank's program.
So Kashless, which has also been funded by RRE Ventures, is making use of the deals that
RecycleBank has struck with retailers over the years. The companies have not disclosed the
financial terms of today's agreement.
In RecycleBank's system, a municipality has to sign up for the program, and then pays
RecycleBank a portion of of the savings generated by diverting waste from landfills. Residential
customers get a special bin with a built-in RFID tag. The recycling trucks can then identify each
container, weigh the contents and credit the household.
While Kleiner Perkins partner John Doerr has said he sees the startup as an example of how
applying the right business model to existing technology can be good business for the planet, the
fact that RecycleBank's program creates a disincentive for conservation - the more plastic water
bottles you use, for example, the more points you get - has always struck me as an environmental
pitfall. But the startup has said it's working to fix that. Back in February, the company told us
that it planned to start offering rewards based on recycling as a percentage of the total waste
stream. The partnership with Kashless, by promoting reuse, represents another step in a greener
direction.
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55328
PlanetArk.org | Doug Palmer | November 4, 2009
Full Climate Deal Unlikely By Copenhagen: Barroso
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso holds a news conference at the end of a
two-day European Union leaders summit in Brussels October 30, 2009.
Photo: Yves Herman
WASHINGTON, US - A full-fledged international climate deal to fight global warming will not
be reached next month in Copenhagen but a framework pact is still possible, the head of the
European Commission said Tuesday.
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"Of course, we are not going to have a full-fledged binding treaty - Kyoto type - by
Copenhagen," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters before
meeting with President Barack Obama. "There is no time for that."
But Barroso said he believed it was still possible to develop a framework agreement with clear
commitments from developed and developing countries.
Such a framework would include firm timetables for lower emissions from richer countries and
an agreement on what actions developing countries will take, Barroso said.
Developed countries like the United States and EU members need to put "numbers on the table"
for emission cuts and funding to help developing countries," he said.
The EU has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 and to
go as high as 30 percent depending on what others do, Barroso said.
But a month before the Copenhagen meeting, work in the U.S. Senate on legislation to address
climate change has barely begun and is not expected to finish this year.
The Senate plan, which already faces stiff opposition, calls for a 20-percent cut in U.S. emissions
from 2005 levels.
BETTER MOOD
Barroso credited Obama with improving the international mood surrounding climate negotiations
by placing much more importance on the issue than his predecessor, George W. Bush.
"We really welcome his efforts, but let's see what the United States is ready to present at
Copenhagen," he said.
The European Commission estimates that developing countries will need about $150 billion in
public and private funding annually by 2020 to adapt to climate change and reduce greenhouse
gas emissions.
EU members states agreed last week to provide a "fair share" of that funding, Barroso said,
saying he planned to raise the issue with Obama.
He said such financing would be linked to developing countries implementing national plans to
cut emissions.
Officials from around the world will be meeting on December 7 to hash out an global agreement
to lower the greenhouse gas emissions that are blamed for global warming.
Currently rich and poor nations are deadlocked about how to share the burden of curbing
emissions and aid to fund a deal.
"It's quite obvious Copenhagen will not be the end of the road -- but it can be a very, very
important moment to signal at the highest level this kind of global agreement," Barroso said.
(Editing by Alan Elsner)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55325
PlanetArk.org | Stacy Feldman | November 4, 2009
Forest Protection Hinges On 10-Word Phrase
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An aerial view of a sawmill that processes logs from the Amazon rainforest that is being
inspected by Para state policemen and environmental inspectors in Tailandia, 180 km (112 miles)
south of Belem at the mouth of the Amazon River, February 13, 2008.
Photo: Paulo Santos
BARCELONA, SPAIN - Developing nations could end up being paid billions of dollars to raze
rainforests and build palm oil plantations in their place if the current text of the Copenhagen
climate treaty sticks, a group of advocates warned at the United Nations climate talks on
Tuesday.
It's not set in stone. Negotiators could still reinsert a 10-word phrase that was sliced from the
treaty language, but that would have to happen by Friday, the last day of the U.N. talks in
Barcelona.
Barcelona is the last stop for global warming delegates before the Copenhagen summit starts on
December 7. After that, negotiators must whittle down the bloated text, not add to it, as
instructed by the U.N. Secretariat.
"There is enormous pressure to reduce down," Andrea Johnson of the non-governmental
Environmental Investigation Agency told SolveClimate. "And safeguards have been discussed
already more than anything else since August."
The 10-word provision - "safeguards against the conversion of natural forests to forest
plantations" - was part of the proposal on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and
Degradation, known as REDD. The words were enclosed in brackets. Meaning, they were still up
for negotiation.
The phrase vanished completely on the last day of UN climate talks in Bangkok in October.
The cut came from the European Union, with support from the Democratic Republic of the
Congo and several other Congo Basin countries.
Afterwards, the European Commission's chief negotiator called the word change "an unfortunate
mishap." Twenty countries are said to be in favor of restoring the phrase. Two days into talks in
Barcelona, however, that hasn't happened.
Many developing nations, including the United States, have remained silent on the issue.
"The protection of intact natural forests should be a core element of REDD, but so far it is still
not in any text proposals," said Peg Putt of The Wilderness Society. "Barcelona may be the last
chance for forests, and we need Parties to step up and say so."
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Hope remains. Before Barcelona, reports surfaced that the UK would push to undo the so-called
Bangkok mistake. Brazil's climate negotiator Thelma Krug told SolveClimate, "I am 100 percent
confident it is going to be there" by Friday.
If it isn't, the implications could be huge.
Forests are carbon sinks, sucking up carbon from the atmosphere and using it to grow.
Deforestation has the opposite effect, releasing CO2 back into the atmosphere.
Today, more than 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation.
A study by the World Agroforestry Center, in collaboration with the Indonesian Palm Oil
Commission, found that palm oil plantations store an average of 40 tons of carbon per hectare.
That compares with untouched "temperate moist forests," which store an average of 377 tons of
carbon per hectare, according to a study published in July in Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences. Tropical rainforests store 171 tons of carbon per hectare.
REDD is seen as a relatively cheap way to stop the practice and cut CO2 emissions quickly. Its
underlying premise is to reward developing countries with billions of dollars in "carbon credits"
for conserving their tropical forests. But for REDD to be successful, primary forests must be
protected over vested palm oil interests.
"Maintaining primary forests must be REDD's top priority, as these forests store the most carbon
and improve permanence through greater resiliency than degraded forests," a new report by
British-based Global Witness explains.
Palm oil plantations have very little carbon-storage capacity and bring severe biodiversity loss.
Without the safeguard provision, REDD would create a perverse economic incentive to clear
forests to plant a polluting cash crop, environmentalists warn.
In recent years, there's been a palm oil explosion. The growth stems from increasing demand in
cooking oil, but an increasing chunk of new plantations are being used to meet biofuel mandates
in wealthy nations.
Indonesia and Malaysia have the most existing plantations. Large swathes of forests in both
countries have been cleared to fuel the boom. Newer markets in Latin America are beginning to
balloon, with signs of massive growth on the horizon.
With out the safeguards in the Copenhagen text, REDD dollars could end up funding the
expansion.
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55323
PlanetArk.org | Chris Buckley | November 4, 2009
China's Wen Tells EU To Stick To Current Climate
Pact
BEIJING, CHINA - China will insist key global climate change negotiations next month build
on current treaties that limit the obligations of poor countries in controlling greenhouse gas
emissions, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said.
In a phone call with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Monday, Wen
said the December meeting in Copenhagen to forge a new pact on global warming should stick to
the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, the official
People's daily reported on Tuesday.
The Kyoto Protocol is the treaty formed under the Convention that governs nations' efforts to
fight climate change up to the end of 2012, and the talks in Copenhagen are about creating a
successor.
The European Union says it wants to widen Kyoto, which does not bind emerging economies
such as China, the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, and
would rather craft a new pact than extend and add to Kyoto.
97
But Wen said Beijing will not agree to a new pact that erases the distinction Kyoto makes
between rich countries, which must accept binding emissions caps, and developing ones, which
must take action on emissions but do not take on binding targets.
"The key to whether the (Copenhagen) meeting can achieve success is adhering to the (UN)
Convention and the Protocol, holding to the principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities," Wen told Barroso.
Negotiators should "prevent the relevant negotiations from deviating from the principles and
stipulations of the Convention and Protocol," Wen added.
The Chinese premier's remarks were an amplification of his government's established position
[ID:nSP379681]. But with the Copenhagen meeting just over a month off, they underscored the
divisions that could hinder agreement.
Later this month, China and the EU are also to hold a summit also likely to focus on climate
change.
The 27-country EU has pledged to cut its own emissions to 20 percent below 1990 levels by
2020, and to increase cuts to 30 percent if other rich regions take similar action.
Chinese President Hu Jintao has said his country will cut its carbon dioxide emissions for every
unit of economic output by a "notable margin" by 2020 compared to 2005.
(Editing by Ron Popeski)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55314
PlanetArk.org | Katrina Manson | November 4, 2009
Kilimanjaro's Ice May Disappear By 2033
DAR ES SALAAM, AFRICA - The ice on Africa's highest mountain could vanish in 13 to 24
years, a fate also awaiting the continent's other glaciers, a study said Monday.
U.S.-based researchers Lonnie Thompson and colleagues said glaciers on Kilimanjaro,
Tanzania's snow-capped volcano which attracts 40,000 visitors a year, could disappear.
"There is a strong likelihood that the ice fields will disappear within a decade or two if current
conditions persist," said the study, published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences (PNAS) journal.
The research blames warmer temperatures due to climate change and drier, less cloudy
conditions than in the past.
"The climatological conditions currently driving the loss of Kilimanjaro's ice fields are clearly
unique within an 11,700-year perspective," said the study, adding that the mountain lost 26
percent of its ice cover between 2000 and 2007.
At 5,896 meters high, Mount Kilimanjaro is one of the east African country's top tourism draws,
offering tourists a taste of the tropical and the glacial within a five-day climb.
It brings in an estimated $50 million a year. Tourism is the leading foreign exchange earner in
the poor country, earning $1.22 billion in 2008.
"The loss of the ice fields will have a negative impact on tourism in tropical east Africa," said
Thompson in an email to Reuters.
Home to elephant, leopard and buffalo, as well as expansive views of the Rift Valley, the
mountain known as "the roof of Africa" was first scaled by a European, Hans Meyer, 120 years
ago. While its Kibo peak rises above the clouds, it can be reached with little more than a walking
stick and some puff.
"The loss of the glaciers is an indicator of climate change under way in this region which impacts
not only the glaciers on the summit but the weather patterns that bring rainfall to the lower
slopes," said Thompson.
(Editing by David Clarke)
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© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55317
Telegraph-Journal | Gwynne Dyer | November 4, 2009
Pressure mounts to shift off fossil fuels
The news is bad, and it's coming in fast. Turn tens of thousands of scientists loose on a problem
for two decades, and the results will seem pathetic for the first few years, because it takes time to
gather the data - even to build the equipment with which you gather the data. But slowly the flow
of data will grow, and at the end of 20 years you can expect major new insights every month or
so.
That's where we are now with climate change. September's unwelcome news, from the Hadley
Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Britain, was that if fossil fuel use continues on the
present trend line, the planet will be an average of 4 degrees C warmer by the 2060s. This
contrasts with the prediction of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in
2007, that we might see 4 degrees C, at the most, by 2100.
This month's bad news came from the drilling ship JOIDES Resolution (Joint Oceanographic
Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling), which brought up cores from the ocean bottom containing
sediments dating back 20 million years. The news was that when the carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere was last at 450 parts per million, the average global temperature was 3-6 degrees C
hotter than now, and the sea level was 25-40 metres higher.
That is bad news because 450 parts per million is where we are hoping to halt the rise in CO2 in
the atmosphere this time around. (We are currently at 390 ppm.) All the world's major
governments have agreed in principle that the warming must never be allowed to exceed 2
degrees C, because beyond that we risk runaway warming - and it was thought that 450 ppm
would let us stop at that point.
Suspicions that the 450 ppm target is much too high have been growing for some time. Late in
2007 James Hansen, the director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York,
made a public appeal at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union to move to a 350 ppm
target.
Hansen's study of ancient climates had led him to the conclusion that the first time permanent ice
appeared on the planet, after a complete absence for tens of millions of years, was when the
amount of carbon dioxide fell to 425 ppm some 35 million years ago. His calculations had a
possible error of plus or minus 75 ppm.
Hansen even thought that 350 ppm might still be too high, because the "normal" level of CO2
during the 10,000 years of human civilization, before we began burning fossil fuels, was only
280 ppm. Now JOIDES has given us a more accurate measure of ancient climate, from closer to
the present.
By 20 million years ago, almost all the ice on the planet had been lost again, due to a prolonged
period of volcanic activity in the Columbia River basin of North America. The carbon dioxide
emitted by that activity had raised the average global temperature to 3-6 degrees C above the
current level, and all the melted ice had raised the seal level by 25-40 metres. But the actual level
of CO2 that caused all that was only 400 ppm.
We will be there in five years, but we must not stay there for very long or history will repeat
itself. In reality, we are going to go to at least 450 ppm, and more likely 500 ppm, before we get
our emissions under control, and then we will have to commence the long and arduous task of
getting the CO2 in the atmosphere down to a level that will preserve our present climate over the
long term. That may have to be as low as 300 ppm.
99
And all through that time, we must prevent the warming from exceeding 2 degrees C, which
means that a resort to various methods of geo-engineering to keep the heat down is almost
unavoidable. That is what these numbers are telling us, and we would be wise to listen.
Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist. His column appears each Wednesday.
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/846021
Reuters.com | Alister Doyle and Gerard Wynn | November 4, 2009
Poor urge deep climate cuts
BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Developing countries said on Wednesday they risked "total
destruction" unless the rich stepped up the fight against climate change to a level that even the
United Nations says is out of reach.
The top U.S. climate diplomat Todd Stern blamed a "17-year divide" between rich and poor
nations for slow progress at the U.N. talks meant to agree a global climate deal in Copenhagen in
December, and slammed "debating society" pranks.
Keeping up pressure in Barcelona, the final preparatory session for the December meeting, the
poor said that even the most ambitious offers by the European Union, tougher than most nations,
were far too weak for a new U.N. climate pact.
"The result of that is to condemn developing countries to a total destruction of their livelihoods,
their economies. Their land, their forests will all be destroyed. And for what purpose?" said
Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping of Sudan, chair of the Group of 77 and China, representing poor
nations.
"Anything south of 40 (percent) means that Africa's population, Africa's land mass is offered
destruction," he told a news conference.
Developing countries at the Barcelona talks insisted that rich nations should cut greenhouse gas
emissions by at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 -- far more than on offer.
But even the United Nations said that would involve too wrenching a shift. African nations
resumed negotiations in Barcelona on Tuesday after a one-day partial boycott following
agreement on more focus on cuts by the rich.
"I think to get to minus 40 is too heavy a lift," Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change
Secretariat, told Reuters. Such a shift would require "going back to the drawing board" and
would economically "come at a huge cost," he said.
DIVIDE
In Washington, the top U.S. diplomat on climate change, Todd Stern, criticized entrenched
positions in talks since the world agreed the U.N. climate convention in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro.
"The divide between developed and developing countries that has run down the center of climate
change discussions for the past 17 years is still alive and well," he told a panel in the U.S. House
of Representatives.
"We are not engaged right now in a debating society," he said of the international talks.
So far, developed nations are planning cuts averaging between 11 and 15 percent by 2020 from
1990 levels to slow climate change that could lead to more droughts, floods, rising sea levels,
more powerful cyclones and a spread of disease.
Sudan's Di-Aping said "in real and absolute terms (the effort) is minimal." He said rich nations
spent billions of dollars on solving the financial crisis or on defense.
Cuts of 40 percent as demanded by African nations "would be extremely difficult," said Anders
Turesson, head of the Swedish delegation which holds the European Union's rotating
presidency.
The United States is the only nation outside the existing Kyoto Protocol for curbing
industrialized nations' emissions to 2012 and the Senate is debating a bill that would cut
emissions by about 7 percent below 1990 levels.
100
A panel of U.N. climate scientists said in 2007 that emissions by developed nations would have
to be cut by between 25 and 40 percent by 2020 to avoid the worst of global warming.
European Union lawmakers gave final approval to hand polluting industries including
steelmakers free carbon emissions permits for up to a decade, to safeguard them from unfair
competition with countries which faced no carbon limits.
About 100 activists blocked the exit of the U.N. climate summit building in Barcelona for an
hour to demand urgent, ambitious carbon reductions by 2020, chanting "no way out."
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE5A11Q720091104
GreenBiz.com | GreenerComputing Staff | November 4, 2009
ICT's Carbon Impacts Must Figure into Copenhagen
Talks, Analysts Say
BARCELONA, Spain — At the U.N. Climate Change talks in Barcelona this week, industry
experts are calling on policymakers to find ways to spur investments in information technologies
that can help cut companies' and countries' greenhouse gas emissions.
The talks in Barcelona run through November 6, and are the last official meetings before the
Copenhagen climate summit in December. At those talks, a delegation from the International
Telecommunications Union is calling on policymakers to recognize IT's unique role in the
climate challenge.
Not only does the world's computer infrastructure currently generate roughly 2 percent of global
greenhouse gas emissions, but technology can help companies and organizations that "look at
tackling the wider 98 percent" of emissions, according to a panel convened one year ago on
reducing the IT industry's impacts.
One member of the ITU's team in Barcelona, David Eurin, the head of energy consulting at
Analysys Mason, stressed the importance of including IT's impacts on that remaining 98 percent
in achieving climate goals.
"The only way developed and developing countries will manage to balance long-term economic
growth and sustainability is to invest a significant portion of today’s public- and private-sector
budgets in advanced technologies and, in particular, ICT systems," Eurin said in a statement.
The case of the United Kingdom's government IT practices offers a recent example of both sides
of IT's impacts: this summer, the government announced that it was struggling to meet its
emissions-reductions targets in part because increased IT usage was driving up emissions from
energy generation. But in a report on the "Greening of Government ICT" published the following
month, the government reported that simple projects had saved millions in energy costs, and cut
associated emissions by as much as 20 percent per year.
101
Reuters | Emma Graham - Harrison | November 4, 2009
China pushes CO2 capture, storage questions loom
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is pushing to complete its first commercial-scale power plant that can
capture and store emissions, but must do more research on how and where to lock away carbon
dioxide if the technology is to get wide roll-out.
Pressure is building on the world's top emitter of greenhouse gas to curb the growth of its carbon
dioxide (CO2) output. China itself is also worried about the impact of rising world temperatures
on its climate and food output.
But coal is China's most plentiful domestic source of energy, and Beijing hopes for several more
decades of rapid economic growth to lift millions from poverty.
That means capturing and storing carbon dioxide -- the main greenhouse gas blamed for global
warming -- in underground reservoirs is likely to be crucial to containing emissions.
But officials worry about the expense and the environmental impact of the process.
"There are still a number of outstanding issues in relation to this technology," said Ma Yanhe,
Director-General of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. "Apart from reducing
greenhouse gas emissions, it is not making very significant contributions to sustainable
development.
"The technology itself is also energy intensive and the significant energy consumption is quite
worrisome. Finally, there is no reliable assessment methodology for the long-term environmental
impact of this technology."
Among the considerable obstacles facing scientists is uncertainty about how best to store CO2.
If there were problems with storage and large amounts of gas were released at once, perhaps in
an earthquake, it could kill people at the surface, while leaks would void the expected
contribution to fighting climate change.
Work has already begun on the first stage of the power project, a high-tech plant near the port
city of Tianjin that will eventually strip CO2 out of gasified coal before combustion, but will run
first for several years as a cleaner power station.
"We plan to start construction in 2014 and complete the works and start operations in 2016," Su
Wenbin, head of China Huaneng Group's Greengen zero-emissions project, told a recent CCS
conference.
Greengen also has a demonstration plant in Beijing where some of the gas stripped out is used to
carbonate soft drinks.
CHINA'S OPTIONS
China's storage needs will be vast if it decides to push sequestration as a key part of efforts to
curb emissions.
102
A 1 gigawatt (GW) power plant with a 40-year life span will generate about 200 million tonnes
of carbon dioxide, according to a recent study by the China-Britain Near-Zero Emissions Coal
initiative (NZEC), which is exploring China's CCS options. China's installed generating capacity
was already 793 GW in 2008, and is forecast to hit 1,600 GW by 2020.
Some geological forecasts are optimistic. There is potential to store 3,066 gigatonnes of gas
underground or under the seabed, equivalent to more than 400 years of current emissions, the
U.S. National Resource Defense Council said in a report.
More than 90 percent of the country's major CO2 producing centers are no more than 160
kilometers (100 miles) from a potential large underground storage site, the report added.
But 99 percent of this potential capacity is in saline aquifers, a storage option that has not been
fully researched.
Although PetroChina this year started a trial project in the northeast to pump CO2 into depleted
oil and gas fields to extract more fuel, using a proven technology, this is an option for only a
small portion of the country's CO2 output.
There are worries that leakage could be a major problem at the major, older fields, which have
been punctured by numerous wells during their exploitation.
Offshore storage has been suggested as an alternative, but this increases cost and technological
challenges.
WHERE TO PUT YOUR MONEY?
The cost of most carbon transport and storage in China should be the equivalent of $2 to $8 per
tonne, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory said in a report.
But the separation of carbon emissions can be hugely expensive, whether retrofitting plants or
building new ones.
There is also a question mark over who will pay for seismic and other studies rarely included in
costings for CCS plants -- but if companies themselves are hunting for storage sites or paying
others to do so, it could push up costs.
"Data access will be an important issue because much data held by oil and gas companies is
commercially sensitive," said Graham White, at the British Department of Energy and Climate
Change.
Further down the line, carbon capture projects might be covered by the Clean Development
Mechanism, an international scheme to tackle global warming that allows rich nation polluters to
pay for output cuts in poor nations.
For now, however, it is not eligible as opponents say the system is meant to fund verifiable
reductions, not technological innovation, and CCS is as yet unproven. They also worry that it
could divert investment from renewables and efficiency.
103
Time | Simon Shuster | November 4, 2009
Russia Still Dragging Its Feet on Climate Change
Russia doesn't seem to care two bits about global warming, and it's not hard to see why. Most
Russians would probably be happy if the country was a little warmer. Officials even joke that
once climate change has run its course, people may start pouring in to Siberia instead of trying to
escape it. If the polar icecaps melt any further, Russia would also be able to drill for oil and gas
in the Arctic Ocean, where it's believed to have huge fossil fuel reserves. For the rest of the
planet, however, the picture is not so cheerful.
To say that Russia is hesitant about tackling climate change is putting it mildly. The last time the
world tried to get the country's cooperation on the issue was in 1997 during the negotiations on
the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty on limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Because
Russia is the world's third-largest source of emissions after the U.S. and China, the accord would
have failed without it. So the treaty was written in a way that would allow Russia to keep
polluting as much as it wanted and grant the country billions of dollars in emission allowances to
sell to other countries that needed to meet their Kyoto commitments.
As one U.N. official who participated in the talks put it: "Russia got the sweetest deal: free
money, no restrictions." But apparently even that wasn't enough. It took another seven years of
painstaking negotiations — and promises from the West to help Russia join the World Trade
Organization —to get the country to ratify the deal.
How the world will persuade Russia to take an active part in the upcoming climate change
summit in Copenhagen on Dec. 2 remains to be seen. Scientists say this is the last real chance
that global leaders have to deal with global warming before its effects become irreversible, and
this time around there are few obvious carrots with which to bait the Kremlin. (Russia has since
abandoned plans to join the WTO.) And Russia has already indicated it is not putting a high
priority on these talks. In June, President Dmitri Medvedev announced the country's emissions
targets, which would effectively see Russia spew 30% more greenhouse gases into the
atmosphere by 2020 than it does today. "We will not cut our development potential," Medvedev
said at the time.
Then, at a preliminary round of climate talks in Copenhagen in late October, Russia sent an even
more disappointing message. The head of the country's delegation, Mikhail Zelikhanov, a
parliamentary deputy for Putin's United Russia party, questioned the basic premise of the fight
against climate change. "Scientific circles in Russia and elsewhere still do not have a united
opinion on the causes of global warming," Zelikhanov told the group of lawmakers from 16
countries in the hall of the Danish parliament. He suggested that an international panel be created
to study whether or not global warming is the result of human actions and can be stopped by
cutting pollution.
Zelikhanov is part of a growing chorus of global-warming skeptics in Russia. At a climate
conference in St. Petersburg in 2007, Sergei Mironov, the speaker of the upper house of
parliament, told experts that a process of "global cooling" was in fact taking place. As evidence,
he cited the paintings of the 16th century Dutch masters, whose warmly colored landscapes, he
said, showed that temperatures were indeed higher back then. And last month, the state-run
Channel One television station aired a documentary called The History of a Deception: Global
Warming, which claimed that a media conspiracy had invented the idea that pollution is to blame
for climate change.
104
None of this bodes especially well for the success of the December summit. "It will not be
possible to finalize an agreement without the participation of Russia," says Danish Prime
Minister Lars Rasmussen, who is spearheading the negotiations. "We will need to engage Russia
in this dialogue." This might be possible through concessions, though. Last month, Denmark put
itself on Moscow's good side when it became the first country to approve the construction of
Russia's Nord Stream gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea. On Monday, Rasmussen received a
sign of support from Putin on climate change, albeit a slightly vague one. "Are we ready to
support Danish efforts to promote the ideas of the post-Kyoto period? Yes, we are," Putin said at
a joint press conference with Rasmussen.
One European official involved in the negotiations says that Russia's fear of isolation may also
compel it to cooperate. With the U.S. and China now taking the lead in the climate change
summit and Brazil and India playing an active role, Russia would be the largest polluter and the
only major power not helping to solve the crisis. "They won't want to be the bad guy," says the
official, who spoke last month in Copenhagen on condition of anonymity.
But another member of the Russian delegation at the October talks left little room for optimism.
Elena Chistyakova, chief adviser to the parliament's foreign affairs committee, says Russia may
sign the treaty —and that's it. "[Russia] will drag out the ratification as long as they can. And if
they ratify it, then they'll drag out the implementation," she says. "There's just no political will."
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1934219,00.html#ixzz0VuC5yG9a
mondaq | Danielle Waldman | November 4, 2009
Canada: OPA Launches Ontario’s Feed-In Tariff
Program - A First In North America
On September 30, 2009, the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) (re)released the official feed-intariff (FIT) rules and contract. The FIT program is intended to encourage and promote greater
use of renewable energy sources including wind, waterpower, renewable biomass, bio-gas,
landfill gas and solar for electricity generating projects. The FIT program is designed for
generating facilities with a maximum capacity of 10 MW for solar (PV) projects, 50 MW for
waterpower projects and unlimited capacity for projects using other renewable fuels.
Under the FIT program, the OPA will have no responsibility to assess the viability of a project.
To be eligible to participate in the FIT program, a proposed generating facility must:
be a renewable generating facility of the types mentioned previously;
be located in the Province of Ontario;
meet the contract capacity requirements discussed above;
in the case of solar (PV) projects that are not rooftop facilities and have a contract capacity
greater than 100 kW, not be located on certain agricultural classes of land;
not be an existing generating facility (although some limited exceptions apply for upgrades and
expansions); and
connect to a distribution system, and (vii) not have had a power purchase agreement in respect of
the facility.
The OPA began accepting applications as of October 1, 2009. Applications will be accepted for
the initial launch phase of the FIT program until November 30, 2009. The OPA's target for
processing applications is 60 days following delivery of notice to the applicant that its
application is complete.
Applicants that have entered into a connection cost agreement in respect of the project must
terminate any such agreement prior to applying for the FIT program, unless physical construction
105
of the connection asset relating to the impact assessment had commenced as of September 24,
2009.
Highlights of the FIT program include:
Upon acceptance of an application, the OPA will determine whether the transmission system has
sufficient connection resources to accommodate the connection of the project. If there are
insufficient resources, the application will be subject to an economic connection test. If there are
sufficient resources, a FIT contract will be awarded;
The OPA will then determine whether the applicable distribution system has, or will have,
sufficient connection resources to accommodate the connection. Where an application does not
specify a connection point, it will be deemed not to pass the distribution availability test. If there
are, or will be prior to the milestone date for commercial operation, sufficient distribution system
resources to accommodate the connection, a FIT contract will be awarded. If there are approved
plans to accommodate the connection of the project, but such resources will not be in service
prior to the milestone date for commercial operation, the applicant will be added to the
production line. If there are no such distribution resources, actual or planned, the applicant will
be subject to an economic connection test;
An economic connection test will be run at least every six months for each region of the province
to ensure that costs of connecting a project that will ultimately be borne by rate-payers are
reasonable. The test will assess the economics related to the investments necessary to connect
proposed new generation, to the extent that such investments will be allocated to transmitters and
ultimately passed on to rate-payers. The transmission and distribution tests discussed above will
be conducted on all projects in the production line to determine whether the project should be
awarded a FIT contract, remain in or moved to the production line, moved to the FIT reserve or
withdrawn from the program;
Projects in the production line are intended to provide input into the transmission and distribution
planning processes, as the cost of connecting these projects is within economic thresholds, and
similarly, the FIT reserve is intended to support the production line until such time as the cost of
connecting these projects is within economic thresholds;
The Supplier, as defined in the FIT contract, is required to own or lease the generating facility
for the term and to design, build, operate and maintain the facility in compliance with all
applicable laws and policies;
The FIT contract term is for a period of 20 years, or for facilities using waterpower, for a period
of 40 years.
The FIT contract will require that facilities utilizing windpower with a contract capacity greater
than 10 kW or utilizing solar (PV), achieve a minimum percentage of domestic content. There
are as follows:
Wind Projects over 10 kW
Minimum Domestic Content Level
Year of Commercial Operation
25%
2009 - 2011
50%
2012 and later
Solar PV Projects over 10 kW and less than or equal to 10,000 kW
Minimum Domestic Content Level
Year of Commercial Operation
50%
2009 - 2010
60%
2011 and later
106
•
•
•
Projects may qualify for the ecoENERGY for Renewable Power Program, and if so, must
transfer half of all payments received to the OPA;
Projects may not be divided into smaller projects for the purpose of obtaining a higher
contract price or any other benefit under the FIT program. If the OPA determines that a
project has been divided into smaller projects, it may reject all applications, apply the
contract price that would have been applied had all projects been the subject of a single
application, or such other action as it may determine; and
Projects for which 10% or more of the applicant or Supplier is held by an aboriginal
community, will have an amount added to the price payable by the OPA pursuant to the
terms of the FIT contract. Similarly, projects for which 10% or more of the applicant or
Supplier is held by either individuals resident in Ontario, a registered charity with its
head office in Ontario, a not-for-profit organization with its head office in Ontario or a
co-operative corporation whose members are resident in Ontario, will have an amount
added to the price payable by the OPA pursuant to the terms of the FIT contract. Where a
project may have combined aboriginal and community participation, both price additions
shall apply, provided that the total shall be subject to the greater maximum price adder.
Where the project is (i) exempt from the new renewable energy approval process set out in the
Green Energy Act, (ii) an applicant, or any person who controls or is controlled by the applicant,
who own or have executed a fixed or guaranteed maximum price contract with an equipment
supplier, or (iii) where the applicant has taken delivery and registered and beneficial title has
passed from the equipment supplier; the supplier may have an advantage. Similarly, applicants,
or any three full time employees of the applicant or its control group who have successful
experience with planning and developing a similar facility as either prime contractor or as
design/builder, and applicants who have a tangible net worth of CAD$500 or more per kW of
proposed contract capacity at the end of the most recent fiscal year, may also have an advantage.
There are no residency requirements for applicants other than in respect of aboriginal and
community projects as discussed above. Applicants may not assign an application, other than to a
related person, without the prior written consent of the OPA. An applicant may not permit or
allow a change of control without the prior written consent of the OPA. An applicant will not be
permitted to assign an application or permit or allow a change of control of the applicant until
one year following the submission of the application.
The OPA will accept applications in respect of a generating facility that is the subject of a
standard offer contract which has not achieved commercial operation (as defined in the
applicable standard offer contract). The applicant will be required to repudiate and terminate the
standard offer contract, impact assessment and connection cost agreements associated with the
facility. If a Certificate of Approval (Noise Emissions) has been issued by the Ministry of
Environment (Ontario), the party to such standard offer contract may request, no later than 30
days after the program launch, an amendment to the standard offer contract, which will result in
(i) the substitution of the contract price, (ii) relief from the requirement to share with the OPA
payments made under the ecoENERGY, (iii) a requirement to maintain the completion and
performance security and (iv) a requirement that the facility achieve commercial operation no
later than December 31, 2010.
The FIT program pricing is intended to cover development costs plus a reasonable rate of return
for projects meeting certain assumptions relating to cost and efficiency. For certain renewable
fuels, the price shall be escalated annually on the basis of cumulative increases on the CPI
between the base date of the price schedule and the earlier of (i) the milestone date for
commercial operation, and (ii) the commercial operation date. The pricing for each renewable
fuel is set out below:
107
Feed-in-Tariff Prices for Renewable Energy Projects in Ontario
Renewable Fuel
Biomass
Biogas
On-Farm
On-Farm
Biogas
Biogas
Biogas
Waterpower
Base Date: September 30, 2009
Size tranches
Contract Price
≤ 10 MW
> 10 MW
13.8
13.0
≤ 100 kW
> 100 kW ≤ 250 kW
≤ 500 kW
> 500 kW ≤ 10 MW
> 10 MW
19.5
18.5
16.0
14.7
10.4
≤ 10 MW
> 10 MW ≤ 50 MW
13.1
12.2
≤ 10 MW
> 10 MW
11.1
10.3
≤ 10 kW
> 10 ≤ 250 kW
> 250 ≤ 500 kW
> 500 kW
≤ 10 MW
80.2
71.3
63.5
53.9
44.3
any size
any size
13.5
19.0
/kWh
Landfill Gas
Solar PV
Any type
Rooftop
Rooftop
Rooftop
Ground mounted
Wind
Onshore
Offshore
The FIT program and Green Energy Act are intended to promote and facilitate the connection of
renewable generating facilities in an efficient manner. Applicants are cautioned that in certain
areas of the Province, it is not currently economically or technically feasible to connect
additional generating facilities to a distribution system or the IESO-controlled grid, including
projects connected directly to host facilities. Projects in these areas may not be able to obtain a
FIT contract immediately and will be reserved until conditions change.
The FIT program is critical to the Green Energy Act's objectives of increasing conservation and
creating a culture of conservation in the Province of Ontario, creating 50,000 "green" jobs in
three years and developing a smart grid in Ontario. The FIT program will be beneficial to
investors, manufacturers, developers, generators and the residents of Ontario because it will
ensure standard rules, contracts and pricing for electricity, differentiated only by the energy
source and capacity of the facility.
108
The Province is keen to develop "green" industries through new investment and job creation, as
well as to provide incentives for investment in renewable energy technologies. Developers,
manufacturers, operators, investors and various other parties will have a rare opportunity to
become involved in the development of Ontario's generation, transmission and distribution
systems at the ground level.
http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=88218&email_access=on
The Canadian Press | November 4, 2009
N.S. looking to speed up schedule for renewable
energy
The Nova Scotia government is looking to speed up the province's green energy schedule.
The government has asked the provincial regulator to allow Nova Scotia Power to buy renewable
energy well in advance of target dates.
That would give projects more time to be completed.
Currently, spending by Nova Scotia Power to meet targets early may not be approved by the
Utility and Review Board.
The government says that as a result, NS Power is discouraged from buying green energy before
government target dates in 2011, 2013 and 2015.
Energy Minister Bill Estabrooks says NS Power and its independent suppliers need an early start
to meet the deadline of at least 25 per cent renewable electricity by 2015.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/9013922.html
November 5, 2009
PlanetArk.org | Deborah Zabarenko and Richard Cowan | November 5, 2009
U.S. Climate Envoy Takes Aim At Developing Nations
U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern arrives to give a news conference after
attending a private meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate in
109
Cuernavaca, in Mexico's state of Morelo, June 23, 2009.
Photo: Henry Romero
WASHINGTON, US - As a top American diplomat accused developing countries of inaction on
global warming, a coalition of senators on Wednesday stepped up efforts to break a political
deadlock that has choked U.S. steps on climate change.
Todd Stern, President Barack Obama's top climate negotiator and envoy to next month's
international climate summit in Copenhagen, used blunt language in testimony to Congress when
he zeroed in on developing countries' participation in talks.
Some developing countries are "hiding behind a misreading" of language in two key climate
documents, the 1992 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 2007 Bali Action
Plan, which recognize different responsibilities and capabilities for rich and poor countries, Stern
told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
"What is not helpful is the way some developing countries ... focus more on citing chapter and
verse of dubious interpretations ... designed to prove that they don't have any responsibility for
action now, rather than thinking through pragmatic ways to find common ground to start solving
the problem," Stern said.
Rich and poor countries will try to make progress in Copenhagen on a coordinated effort to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In Barcelona, where countries are meeting in a final preparatory session, developing countries
said they risked "total destruction" from environmental disasters unless rich countries promised
much tougher action on global warming.
In the Senate, where efforts to reduce U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases have been delayed for months, a bipartisan group of senators held meetings with Obama
administration officials to begin sketching out a compromise they hope can win broad support
this year or next.
"Our effort is to try to reach out; to broaden the base of support" for a bill, said Democratic
Senator John Kerry, who is leading the effort.
He is working with conservative Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and independent Senator
Joseph Lieberman.
CARBON TRADE, NUCLEAR POWER
Besides looking at creating a market for companies to trade an ever-decreasing number of carbon
pollution permits, the senators are working with the White House on ways to expand the U.S.
nuclear power industry through government incentives.
They are also discussing allowing more offshore oil and natural gas exploration and boosting
research into how to cleanly burn abundant U.S. supplies of coal.
"Part of this initiative is to create a vision for energy independence and marry it up with
responsible ... carbon pollution controls," Graham told reporters.
Asked whether the United States would be able to sign on to a global agreement in Copenhagen,
Stern said progress was "too slow." But he added, "I think we have a fair distance yet to go, but I
actually think there is a deal to be done."
As Stern testified, a bill that would mandate a 20 percent reduction in U.S. smokestack emissions
of carbon dioxide by 2020 was stalled.
Republicans boycotted a session of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on the
climate bill for a second day, saying they needed more detailed analysis of the measure's
economic impact.
That prompted Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse to declare: "The party of 'no' has
devolved to the party of 'no-show.'"
He was referring to Republicans' opposition to most of Obama's major initiatives, including
healthcare reform, economic stimulus and climate change bills.
110
The committee's chairman Senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, hopes for a vote soon to approve
her bill soon to give a boost to the U.S. negotiating position in Copenhagen.
(Editing by Chris Wilson)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55336
PlanetArk.org | Scott Malone | November 5, 2009
How To Boost Fuel Efficiency? Raise Taxes,
Executives Say
A plug is seen coming from the Chevrolet Volt electric car during the North American
International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan January 13, 2009.
Photo: Mark Blinch
DETROIT, US - There's a simple way to get Americans to drive fuel-efficient cars, according to
auto executives, but they are not going to like it -- sharply hike the gas tax.
While politically unpalatable, gasoline that costs at least $4 a gallon would have a far greater
effect on American fuel usage than Washington's $25 billion loan program meant to spark
investment in new technologies, executives told the Reuters Auto Summit in Detroit.
Consumer demand for fuel-efficient cars like Toyota Motor Corp's Prius and Ford Motor Co's
Escape hybrid surged last summer as gasoline prices soared above $4 a gallon.
But with the pressure off -- the average U.S. retail gas price was $2.66 a gallon at the end of
October, according to the benchmark Lundberg survey -- Americans are once again buying fuelhungry sport utility vehicles and other large cars.
"The U.S. allows the price of gasoline to go back and forth across this line where the consumers
don't care about fuel efficiency and where consumers do care about fuel efficiency," Mike
Jackson, chief executive of AutoNation Inc, the No. 1 U.S. auto retailer, told the summit in
Detroit on Wednesday.
Gradually raising gas taxes to the point where fuel costs $4 to $5 at the pump will do more to
stimulate demand in next-generation vehicles like General Motors Co's forthcoming Chevy Volt
111
plug-in hybrid than any other policy initiatives, including raising the national fuel efficiency
standards know as CAFE, Jackson said.
Jerry York, a former GM board member and an adviser to billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian,
agreed.
"Unless gas is $3.50 or $4 a gallon, consumers are not going to want to buy those cars," York
said on Monday.
'AFRAID TO TOUCH' GAS TAX
The obvious impediment to such a move is political.
Higher fuel prices in the midst of a fragile economic recovery would likely be extremely
unpopular even with consumers who favor "green" issues and less dependence on foreign oil.
Consumer sentiment toward car companies may also be at a low that is rivaled only by their
attitudes toward big oil companies, particularly after the federal government pumped more than
$100 billion into GM, Chrysler and other auto industry players to prevent their collapse during
the most brutal economic downturn the United States has faced since the Great Depression.
"In the United States, we're afraid to touch the fuel price," said Tim Leuliette, chief executive of
privately held parts supplier Dura Automotive.
"We've got to continue to raise taxes in the United States so that, by the end of the next decade,
gas is about $8 a gallon in today's terms," he told the summit on Tuesday.
"What you have to do is do it in a manner that is slow enough and predictable enough that
vehicle selection and choices by people over the cycle can be made in a logical way," he said, a
point also emphasized by Jackson of AutoNation.
Such a shift would also help the global auto industry, which today produces an entirely different
lineup of cars and light trucks for the U.S. market than Europe, where fuel tends to cost two to
three times more than in the United States.
"The cars that America wants are typically cars that only work in America because of our fuel
prices," Leuliette said. "What we've created in the United States is an artificial environment."
MANAGEABLE SHIFT
As long as tax rates rose gradually, higher fuel prices would not become an onerous burden on
consumers, the auto executives said. A floating tax rate would also smooth out sharp swings in
the price of gasoline, which tracks the sometimes-volatile oil market.
"If we migrate slowly over years to $4 or $5 a gallon, everybody will adjust, everybody will
manage. It's not a problem," Jackson told reporters.
Jackson said he would like to see the federal government rebate the amount of fuel tax paid to
consumers at the end of the year, which the car retailer argued would allow Americans to buy
more fuel-efficient cars.
York, the investor, suggested that Washington could limit the stress that higher fuel taxes would
impose on the poorest Americans through a subsidy program, similar to one currently in place
for food stamps.
Dura's Leuliette also noted that Americans could offset a gradual rise in the fuel tax by
purchasing more fuel-efficient vehicles and choosing to live closer to their jobs.
German households, he said, on average spend less of their budget on fuel than Americans do,
largely because of their choice to use it more efficiently.
"Energy independence in this country ultimately means that fuel has to be more expensive,"
Dura's Leuliette said.
(Editing by Peter Bohan and Matthew Lewis)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55341
112
PlanetArk.org | Sarah Hills | November 5, 2009
Insurance Sector Can't Cope With Climate Change:
Trade Group
A car sits near the ocean on Big Coppitt Key September 9, 2008.
Photo: Eric Thayer
LONDON, UK - The general insurance industry may not be able to cope with the increased
frequency and severity of floods and typhoons brought about by climate change, the Association
of British Insurers (ABI) said on Wednesday.
ABI research, commissioned from Britain's Met Office and catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR
Worldwide, examined the implications of 2 Celsius, 4C and 6C increases in global mean
temperature on inland flooding and windstorms in Great Britain, and typhoons in China.
The ABI says a 2C is rise inevitable and this will increase average annual insured losses in
Britain from inland flooding by eight percent, or by 47 million pounds ($77 million), to 600
million pounds. This would indicate a 16 percent theoretical impact on insurance pricing (with
an annual GDP growth of 2.25 percent assumed).
Nick Starling, the ABI's Director of General Insurance and Health, told the Climate Change
conference in London that the continued widespread availability of property insurance in the
future depends on taking action now to manage the threats of climate change.
"The clear message to world leaders meeting at the UN's Copenhagen Climate Change Summit
in December is that they must reach agreement on ambitious emission reduction targets.
"And, closer to home, the UK Government needs to push ahead with the Flood and Water
Management Bill, and ensure long-term investment in flood management as a priority, so that the
long-term flood risk is better managed," he said.
The impact of losses from weather hazards can also mean increases in insurance capital
requirements, to ensure that insurers hold sufficient capital to cover the additional risks. With a
2C temperature increase, the ABI reckons additional insurance capital of 1.65 billion pounds
would be required for a 200-year flood.
If insurers do not hold sufficient capital, this is likely to result in reduced availability of
insurance, the ABI said.
113
Cyclone tracks are excepted to shift as a result of an increase in global temperatures and this
could increase the frequency of storm passage over the UK.
The ABI said that even a modest systematic change in storm tracks could increase average
annual insured losses from windstorms by 25 percent.
The impact of temperature change on typhoons in China was shown to be greatest in terms of
associated rain. Rain associated with a typhoon is likely to increase by 13 percent, 26 percent and
30 percent under the 2C, 4C and 6C temperature increases respectively.
Professor Julia Slingo, Chief Scientist at the Met Office warned that a further temperature rise to
4C would make some parts of the world uninhabitable.
"We have committed to a different world than the one we are used to," she said at the ABI's
Climate Change conference today.
"A compelling case to reduce commissions is because a 2 C increase in temperatures may be
livable, but any higher would be life changing for certain parts of the world -- that is why the
negotiations at Copenhagen in December are vital."
The ABI called on global governments to ensure they prepare now for "the inevitable
consequences of climate change" and invest wisely in mitigation and adaptation measures.
(Editing by Andy Bruce)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55342
PlanetArk.org | Daniel Fineren | November 5, 2009
UK Energy Park Gets All Clear
A man walks his dog close to a wind farm at Crosby marina near Liverpool, northern England
January 15, 2009.
Photo: Phil Noble
LONDON, UK - Peterborough Renewable Energy Limited (PREL) has been granted approval to
build a waste recycling and green power plant that could eliminate the need for landfill sites in
the area, the government said on Wednesday.
PREL says its "Energy Park" in Peterborough could revolutionize waste management, by
recycling mixed waste to produce re-usable glass, plastic and metal, while generating cleaner
energy from burning recovered organic matter so nothing is left to waste.
"This plant will provide reliable, low carbon energy for years to come," Energy and Climate
Change Minister David Kidney said on approving the project.
114
"The UK needs to generate 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, and energy
from biomass could contribute as much as a third of that."
PREL hopes its 80-megawatt power plant and recycling project -- which it estimates could keep
600,000 tonnes of climate-warming carbon dioxide per year out of the atmosphere and produce
enough renewable energy to power 60,000 homes -- could be replicated across the country.
"Waste can be a valuable resource and using it in a sustainable way will play an essential role in
making our future more green," the company's managing director, Chris Williams, said.
The facility will group together mechanical recycling, food waste digestion, gasification, and
plasma melting to avoid having to bury any waste.
The company says the plant will be able to turn an old computer into new roof tiles, glass and
materials to make new computers.
(Reporting by Daniel Fineren)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55347
PlanetArk.org | Gerard Wynn | November 5, 2009
Study Finds Vital Peatlands Neglected
Illegally logged timbers float in a river in a peat area in the Mengkatip district of Indonesia's
South Kalimantan April 25, 2009.
Photo: Ferry Latif
BARCELONA, SPAIN - Draining and burning of the world's peat bogs accounts for about 5.5
percent of global carbon emissions but are currently excluded from governments' climate targets
and U.N. talks, a study found on Wednesday.
Peat stores around twice as much carbon as all the world's trees, but compared with the wellpublicized issues of fossil fuels and forests, the sector was the "Cinderella" of climate change
policies, said Hans Joosten at Germany's Greifswald University, co-author of the report.
115
"We call for mandatory accounting of emissions from peatlands," said Susanna Tol of the
environment group Wetlands International, presenting the findings on the sidelines of November
2-6 U.N. climate talks in Barcelona. Reporting was only voluntary now, she said.
"So far these emissions have not been addressed" in U.N. talks meant to agree a global climate
deal in Copenhagen in December, Tol added. The 175-nation meeting in Barcelona is the final
session of preparatory talks before Copenhagen.
Layers of peat up to 20 meters (about 65 ft) thick accumulate as plants rot in wetland areas. As
the vegetation is water-logged, it doesn't decay and release the stored carbon dioxide into the air,
a major cause of global warming.
But landowners and farmers are draining peatlands, notably in South East Asia, to plant oil palm
plantations to meet rapidly growing demand from the food and biofuel industries.
Tol said peatland emissions must be included in far higher profile U.N. talks to design a
framework for cutting emissions from the destruction of rainforests, often in peatland areas. The
study echoed the findings of an article published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Geoscience,
which found that draining peatland in South East Asia alone produced carbon emissions equal to
a quarter of those from global deforestation.
That study put CO2 emissions from deforestation at 12 percent of the global total, not 20 percent
as widely thought.
HOTSPOT
Curbing carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels has received the lion's share of governments'
climate change attention so far, for example under cap and trade schemes to penalize industry or
steps to promote renewable energy.
A palm oil boom in Indonesia has meant that in 2008 its carbon emissions from peat were one
and a half times greater than burning fossil fuels, Wednesday's study said. The country is the top
peatland emitter, followed by Russia and China.
The study estimated that last year global carbon dioxide emissions from draining and burning
peat amounted to 2 billion tonnes annually, or about 5.5 percent of the global total. Since 1990
those emissions have grown by 25 percent.
Continued draining or burning of peat is not an option, given that it stores about 446 billion
tonnes of carbon, or twice as much as the world's forests, Greifswald University's Joosten said.
The world could limit peatland emissions both by limiting deforestation and peat drainage, and
boosting wet farmland, for example harvesting of mosses, he added.
(Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://planetark.org/wen/55337
PlanetArk.org | Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent | November 5, 2009
Climate History Forces Action -- After Decades
116
A large iceberg is seen on the edge of a morning fog over Frobisher Bay, Nunavut in the
Canadian Arctic August 21, 2009.
Photo: Andy Clark
BARCELONA, SPAIN - President Lyndon Johnson and British Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher made stark warnings about global warming decades ago, but convincing evidence for
action only amassed in recent years, experts say.
A 190-nation U.N. conference in Copenhagen in December is due to agree a new U.N. pact to
curb greenhouse gas emissions to slow a rise in temperatures to prevent floods, droughts,
wildfires or rising sea levels.
Scientists have known for a century that greenhouse gases, for instance from burning coal, can
warm the planet. But most experts say the evidence was thin until about the past decade.
"I don't think it (the world reaction) was too slow -- I think we have a very solid foundation for
action now," said Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat. "The skeptics are
no longer derailing the process."
He noted it was only in 1995 that the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change blamed
mankind for global warming, saying cautiously that the "balance of evidence suggests a
discernible human influence on global climate."
"In recent years we've managed to move light years beyond that" level of certainty, he told
Reuters during talks on the new U.N. treaty in Barcelona. The panel says it is at least 90 percent
certain that global warming is man-made.
Still, warnings were around long ago.
President Johnson said in a message to the U.S. Congress in 1965 that "This generation has
altered the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale through...a steady increase in carbon
dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels."
Thatcher told the United Nations in 1988: "The problem of global climate change is one that
affects us all and action will only be effective if it is taken at the international level."
Naomi Oreskes, Professor of History and Science Studies at the University of California, San
Diego, said that it was inevitably hard to accept that humans were to blame.
117
"It's not surprising that people have been resistant to the scientific conclusion, given that it means
we have to change the energy source that is the basis of essentially all our economic activity,"
she told Reuters.
Mike Hulme, founding director of the Tyndall Center in England, wrote in a 2009 book that the
history of climate change "is not a simple one of science progressing purposefully in a straight
line from blissful ignorance to a state of confident knowledge."
And he said that arguing over the human element in climate change was in some ways a
distraction from a longer-term need for a stronger fight against poverty. Rich nations have failed
to keep repeated promises of more aid to help the poor.
More aid would have built trust and helped "strengthen the capacity of developing nations to
minimize some of the risks posed by natural climate (not climate change): drought, flood,
hurricane," he told Reuters.
"To this extent, arguments about whether or not human influence on global climate has been
detected have been a distraction from what could and should be done," he said.
(Editing by Dominic Evans)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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PlanetArk.org | Alister Doyle and Gerard Wynn | November 5, 2009
Poor Urge Deep Climate Cuts
BARCELONA, SPAIN - Developing countries said on Wednesday they risked "total
destruction" unless the rich stepped up the fight against climate change to a level that even the
United Nations says is out of reach.
The top U.S. climate diplomat Todd Stern blamed a "17-year divide" between rich and poor
nations for slow progress at the U.N. talks meant to agree a global climate deal in Copenhagen in
December, and slammed "debating society" pranks.
Keeping up pressure in Barcelona, the final preparatory session for the December meeting, the
poor said that even the most ambitious offers by the European Union, tougher than most nations,
were far too weak for a new U.N. climate pact.
"The result of that is to condemn developing countries to a total destruction of their livelihoods,
their economies. Their land, their forests will all be destroyed. And for what purpose?" said
Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping of Sudan, chair of the Group of 77 and China, representing poor
nations.
"Anything south of 40 (percent) means that Africa's population, Africa's land mass is offered
destruction," he told a news conference.
Developing countries at the Barcelona talks insisted that rich nations should cut greenhouse gas
emissions by at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 -- far more than on offer.
But even the United Nations said that would involve too wrenching a shift. African nations
resumed negotiations in Barcelona on Tuesday after a one-day partial boycott following
agreement on more focus on cuts by the rich.
"I think to get to minus 40 is too heavy a lift," Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change
Secretariat, told Reuters. Such a shift would require "going back to the drawing board" and
would economically "come at a huge cost," he said.
DIVIDE
In Washington, the top U.S. diplomat on climate change, Todd Stern, criticized entrenched
positions in talks since the world agreed the U.N. climate convention in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro.
"The divide between developed and developing countries that has run down the center of climate
change discussions for the past 17 years is still alive and well," he told a panel in the U.S. House
of Representatives.
118
"We are not engaged right now in a debating society," he said of the international talks.
So far, developed nations are planning cuts averaging between 11 and 15 percent by 2020 from
1990 levels to slow climate change that could lead to more droughts, floods, rising sea levels,
more powerful cyclones and a spread of disease.
Sudan's Di-Aping said "in real and absolute terms (the effort) is minimal." He said rich nations
spent billions of dollars on solving the financial crisis or on defense.
Cuts of 40 percent as demanded by African nations "would be extremely difficult," said Anders
Turesson, head of the Swedish delegation which holds the European Union's rotating presidency.
The United States is the only nation outside the existing Kyoto Protocol for curbing
industrialized nations' emissions to 2012 and the Senate is debating a bill that would cut
emissions by about 7 percent below 1990 levels.
A panel of U.N. climate scientists said in 2007 that emissions by developed nations would have
to be cut by between 25 and 40 percent by 2020 to avoid the worst of global warming.
European Union lawmakers gave final approval to hand polluting industries including
steelmakers free carbon emissions permits for up to a decade, to safeguard them from unfair
competition with countries which faced no carbon limits.
About 100 activists blocked the exit of the U.N. climate summit building in Barcelona for an
hour to demand urgent, ambitious carbon reductions by 2020, chanting "no way out."
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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PlanetArk.org | David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, Asia - Analysis |
November 5, 2009
Investors Warm To Scaled-Up U.N. Offset Scheme
Photo: Juan Carlos Ulate
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - A U.N. scheme initially shunned by investors as too risky is now
pulling them in to help achieve dramatic cuts in carbon emissions in developing countries and
improve the livelihoods of millions of people.
The scheme is designed to spread simple technologies such as solar latterns, more efficient
cooking stoves and solar water heaters across villages, towns and districts, cutting emissions.
119
Investors say a "program of activities," or PoA in the language of the United Nations, is the way
of the future because it allows almost limitless scaling up of the existing Clean Development
Mechanism, which favors big single investments such as wind farms that often fail to reach the
grassroots.
"It is very clear that the project-by-project standard way of CDM is not going be allowed in
many countries," said Chandra Shekhar Sinha, head of Environmental Markets in Asia for J.P.
Morgan.
"If you want to be active in the normal markets, China and India and so on, you have to move
toward these approaches which move toward sectoral approaches," he told Reuters.
The CDM allows investors to build clean-energy projects in developing countries and earn U.N.
carbon offsets for every tonne of emissions they save from being emitted.
The European Union favors broadening the CDM to drive emissions reductions across industrial
sectors in poorer nations.
It wants the CDM's project-based approach to be phased out for advanced developing countries,
such as India and China, to help least developed nations get a bigger slice of the CDM pie, worth
$6.5 billion last year.
China and India have captured the bulk of CDM's investment, but the EU has cast doubt on the
environmental integrity of giving carbon credits to large hydro and wind power projects.
The shift to PoA, though, has been slow. Confusion over rules and fears by U.N.-approved
project auditors that they could face huge bills for mistakes has curbed appetite for the scheme
until this year when the U.N. panel that approves CDM projects stepped in to clear up some of
the concerns.
"DEMANDING"
"CDM is not easy. It's time-consuming, it's demanding. But once you understand the system, it
can be done very well and the PoA has to go through the same learning curve," said Lex de
Jonge, chair of the CDM Executive Board.
U.N. data shows that, globally, one PoA project is already formally registered and 15 more are
being examined by auditors. Dozens more are being developed or evaluated by investors.
"We see programmatic CDM as a growth area but we're being relatively cautious in the
development of these projects because our experience has shown that the rules in CDM are
continuously evolving," said Paul Soffe, business development manager for Ecosecurities.
The project developer and advisory firm is helping develop two PoAs in Tunisia and Mexico and
is looking at others.
In Tunisia, the project involves installing about 150,000 solar water heaters in households and is
expected to yield about 600,000 U.N. carbon offsets called certified emissions reductions (CERs)
over 10 years.
Emergent Ventures India is evaluating a number of PoAs, including upgrading low-voltage
power lines to more efficient high-voltage lines in India as well as upgrading transformers to
reduce distribution losses of up to 35 percent.
"I have seen that people who were waiting for some kind of clarity six months back, now they
are becoming more active," said Emergent Ventures CEO Ashutosh Pandey. He expected a rapid
increase in PoA projects in India.
COSTS
All developers, though, point to high auditing costs.
Pandey said validation costs for each PoA project were between $50,000 and $70,000 and the
cost of adding linked schemes, called CDM program activities or CPA, might be higher than
thought.
"The reason why it not be so low is that the validator has a risk involved -- the risk increases
because he on his own is responsible for approving those projects."
Under U.N. rules, the auditor could eventually became liable for all the carbon credits issued for
what is termed a wrongful inclusion of a CPA into the parent program of activities.
120
That has made some auditors wary of PoAs but those Reuters spoke to said they now embraced
the scheme.
"It is often said auditors don't like PoAs because we will be liable. This is complete nonsense,"
said Stephan Hild, head of international sales at TUV SUD.
A key issue is proving over time that the estimated emissions reductions actually take place,
since many programs involve installing cookers, solar panels and heaters as well as compact
fluorescent bulbs in people's homes.
Hild said it was unfair to be held liable "for any situation where the content of one piece of paper
we use is deviating from the situation of the ground. This is not acceptable," he told a carbon
conference in Singapore last week.
Flavio Gomes, global product manager for climate change at auditor Bureau Veritas said while
liability worries were valid, costs were perhaps a bigger problem. "The PoA validation is
becoming more expensive than the traditional CDM. It is not supposed to be the case," he told
Reuters.
"It's learning by doing, but someone has to pay the bill."
(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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PlanetArk.org | Ari Rabinovitch | November 5, 2009
Israeli Firms Aim To Plug World's Water Leaks
Leviathan's COO Gadi Hareli sits next to an in-pipe hydroelectric turbine during an interview
with Reuters in Neve Shalom, near Jerusalem October 22, 2009.
Photo: Gil Cohen Magen/Files
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - Outside a small town near Tel Aviv, a pilotless drone aircraft with a
three-foot (1-meter) wingspan collects data from hundreds of gauges.
A single technician with a laptop monitors the flight from the ground and receives an instant
picture of the town's system, including, he says, a house with a leaky toilet.
121
That may seem petty, but the plane that reads water meters -- as well as a tiny turbine that can
generate electricity from within water pipes -- are among technologies Israeli companies are
developing to help save billions of dollars in water lost from leaky pipes.
The systems are part of a drive for export orders as rising populations and massive urbanization
boost demand for fresh water, and experts say pipe leakage is one of the biggest problems facing
the world today.
A World Bank study in 2006 showed water lost in the system before it reaches the customer -known as "non-revenue water" -- costs utilities at least $14 billion worldwide every year, largely
from leaky pipes and poor maintenance.
Most of the loss is in developing countries: 12 billion gallons (45 million cubic meters) of water
are lost daily, enough to serve nearly 200 million people, the study said.
The problem is also endemic in industrialized countries. For example, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) estimates losses from the U.S. water distribution system cost the
country $2.6 billion a year.
"Israel is one of the leading countries in initiative ideas to reduce non-revenue water and losses,"
said Stuart Hamilton, a task force member of the International Water Association (IWA). His
group measures performance at the world's utilities.
Israel is two-thirds desert, and water concerns affect decision-making at the highest levels. For
decades, companies here have developed water technologies more for domestic use than for
foreign markets.
But seeing an opportunity to penetrate markets abroad, it set a goal of exporting $2.5 billion
annually in water technology by 2011, said the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
FLY-BY SYSTEM
Several firms globally offer complete leak detection services, from telephone hotlines to teams
that walk the street at night with acoustic leakage detection devices, said Philippe Marin, the
World Bank's senior water and sanitation specialist.
Companies such as France's Suez Environnement and Veolia Environnement run through such
routines when taking over utilities.
Companies do not always need to replace large tracts of piping if they can pinpoint leaks, said
Dewi Rogers, who runs Italian water-loss management consultancy firm DEWI Srl.
One key to detecting and then plugging leaks is getting real-time data from water meters in the
field. For years, monitoring was done by a person stopping by each meter and jotting down the
information. This can take months.
Many meters are now equipped with transmitters, and a car driving in the vicinity can receive the
data. But hours pass between the readings, so the information is not accurate.
The fly-by system that spotted the leaky toilet near Tel Aviv was developed by Israel's Arad
Group: a listed company majority-owned by two Kibbutzim -- Israeli agricultural communes,
with an interest in water conservation for crops.
Its drone weighs about 2 lb (1 kg) and flies on auto-pilot 900 feet above ground, receiving
signals from up to a mile away.
The company has market capitalization of 300 million shekel ($80 million), sold more than $100
million in water meters last year and just contracted to supply meters to the city of Mumbai by
2012.
It competes in the automatic meter-reading market with U.S.-based Badger Meter Inc, Itron Inc
and Neptune, a business of Roper Industries Inc.
The fly-by system including three drones and software costs about $100,000 and first ships to
Mansfield, Texas later this month, said Dan Winter, CEO of Arad Technologies, a subsidiary of
Arad Group.
HYDROELECTRIC PIPING
122
The in-pipe hydroelectric turbine -- developed by Leviathan Energy, a three-year old Israeli startup with some $2 million in private equity funding -- works like a tiny water wheel to generate
power and reduce leakage by regulating water pressure within pipes.
Israel's national water company, Mekorot, installed a test system at a station in a forest outside
Jerusalem.
Far from the energy grid, the station controlling the water tower that supplies the village of Neve
Shalom was until recently powered by solar panels. Now, the water that flows through the 4-inch
(10-cm) pipes drives the turbine to provide the 1 kilowatt of electricity needed to maintain
operations.
The IWA's Hamilton said such in-pipe turbines would be "absolutely beneficial to the water
industries" and Gideon Alkan, an engineer at Mekorot, said the turbine could power off-grid
locations as well as selling electricity to the grid.
But Hamilton said the turbines had yet to be introduced to the market because companies in the
past were unable to successly store the electricity generated, and Alkan said Mekorot has not yet
decided whether to install the Leviathan turbine in other stations.
Leviathan has yet to mass-manufacture its turbine, but company COO Gadi Hareli said it had
received its first order for a few units to be installed in Africa through an unnamed European
company, with a letter of intent to buy 200 more.
The system, which varies in size depending on the pipes and customer needs, costs about $2,000
per kilowatt of installed power, Hareli said. He added that it could also be used in large factories
with vast piping.
Mini-hydro on existing pond or weirs costs may be in the region of $6,500 per kW installed up to
about 10kW, according to data from the British government.
(Editing by Sara Ledwith)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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PlanetArk.org | Niluksi Koswanage | November 5, 2009
Indonesia Defends Converting Peatlands To Palm
Estates
123
Photo: Hardi Baktiantoro
KUALA LUMPUR, INDONESIA - Indonesia will stick to a controversial plan to open peatlands
for oil palm estates as it seeks to develop the economy despite protests from green groups that
this type of land conversion speeds up climate change.
The Southeast Asian country wants to maintain its position as the world's top palm oil producer
as it looks to hand over degraded land including peatlands to planters, a top Indonesian
government official said on Wednesday.
Peat is the accumulation of partially decayed vegetation in very wet places and burning peatland
forests in Indonesia pumps large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere and fans choking smoke
across the region during the dry season.
But the world's No.3 CO2 emitter has set aside 8 percent of its 25 million hectares of peatlands
this year that prove to have low carbon stores in a bid to control land conversions, said
Rosediana Suharto, head of the Indonesian Palm Oil Commission.
"We have not issued any licenses so far because of the strict criteria like maintaining water tables
and we do have a zero-burning tolerance for these lands," Suharto told Reuters at the sidelines of
a palm oil conference in the Malaysian capital.
"Some companies are interested in peatlands and we are working with those who want to
safeguard the environment and ensure our country's prosperity."
Indonesia has planted palm estates of 7.1 million hectares. Palm oil generated exports revenue of
$10.7 billion, or about 10 percent of the country's non-oil and gas exports in 2008.
PEATLANDS VS PALM ESTATES
A willingness to transform peatland forests into farmland sidelines 36 out the 150 planters like
London Sumatra and Musim Mas who belong to an industry initiative that commits to produce
palm oil without expanding into forests, Suharto said.
And that is further complicated by an ongoing tussle between planters and green groups in
Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) on whether further land expansion should be limited
based on greenhouse gas calculations.
"If the peatland we have set aside has low carbon reserves and given oil palm estates ability to
act as net carbon sink, then expansion in these areas should go on," Suharto said.
"We have not been wantonly cutting down forests the way the green groups accuse us of doing."
About 2 million hectares are suitable for oil palm estates and since the 1970s, a little less than
half have been taken up by planters, Suharto said.
124
The rest of the peatland forests hold the world's largest carbon reserves, holding around 37.8
billion tonnes, according to environment group Greenpeace.
Indonesia's government has said the country has released 2.3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in
2005 -- or 10 tonnes per Indonesian and forecast it would jump to 2.8 billion due to the farm and
forestry sector expansion.
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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PlanetArk.org | Emma Graham-Harrison - Analysis | November 5, 2009
China Pushes CO2 Capture, Storage Questions Loom
Labourers work at a coking factory in Changzhi, Shanxi province September 23, 2009.
Photo: Reuters
BEIJING, CHINA - China is pushing to complete its first commercial-scale power plant that can
capture and store emissions, but must do more research on how and where to lock away carbon
dioxide if the technology is to get wide roll-out.
Pressure is building on the world's top emitter of greenhouse gas to curb the growth of its carbon
dioxide (CO2) output. China itself is also worried about the impact of rising world temperatures
on its climate and food output.
But coal is China's most plentiful domestic source of energy, and Beijing hopes for several more
decades of rapid economic growth to lift millions from poverty.
That means capturing and storing carbon dioxide -- the main greenhouse gas blamed for global
warming -- in underground reservoirs is likely to be crucial to containing emissions.
But officials worry about the expense and the environmental impact of the process.
"There are still a number of outstanding issues in relation to this technology," said Ma Yanhe,
Director-General of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. "Apart from reducing
greenhouse gas emissions, it is not making very significant contributions to sustainable
development.
125
"The technology itself is also energy intensive and the significant energy consumption is quite
worrisome. Finally, there is no reliable assessment methodology for the long-term environmental
impact of this technology."
Among the considerable obstacles facing scientists is uncertainty about how best to store CO2.
If there were problems with storage and large amounts of gas were released at once, perhaps in
an earthquake, it could kill people at the surface, while leaks would void the expected
contribution to fighting climate change.
Work has already begun on the first stage of the power project, a high-tech plant near the port
city of Tianjin that will eventually strip CO2 out of gasified coal before combustion, but will run
first for several years as a cleaner power station.
"We plan to start construction in 2014 and complete the works and start operations in 2016," Su
Wenbin, head of China Huaneng Group's Greengen zero-emissions project, told a recent CCS
conference.
Greengen also has a demonstration plant in Beijing where some of the gas stripped out is used to
carbonate soft drinks.
CHINA'S OPTIONS
China's storage needs will be vast if it decides to push sequestration as a key part of efforts to
curb emissions.
A 1 gigawatt (GW) power plant with a 40-year life span will generate about 200 million tonnes
of carbon dioxide, according to a recent study by the China-Britain Near-Zero Emissions Coal
initiative (NZEC), which is exploring China's CCS options.
China's installed generating capacity was already 793 GW in 2008, and is forecast to hit 1,600
GW by 2020.
Some geological forecasts are optimistic. There is potential to store 3,066 gigatonnes of gas
underground or under the seabed, equivalent to more than 400 years of current emissions, the
U.S. National Resource Defense Council said in a report.
More than 90 percent of the country's major CO2 producing centers are no more than 160
kilometers (100 miles) from a potential large underground storage site, the report added.
But 99 percent of this potential capacity is in saline aquifers, a storage option that has not been
fully researched.
Although PetroChina this year started a trial project in the northeast to pump CO2 into depleted
oil and gas fields to extract more fuel, using a proven technology, this is an option for only a
small portion of the country's CO2 output.
There are worries that leakage could be a major problem at the major, older fields, which have
been punctured by numerous wells during their exploitation.
Offshore storage has been suggested as an alternative, but this increases cost and technological
challenges.
WHERE TO PUT YOUR MONEY?
The cost of most carbon transport and storage in China should be the equivalent of $2 to $8 per
tonne, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory said in a report.
But the separation of carbon emissions can be hugely expensive, whether retrofitting plants or
building new ones.
There is also a question mark over who will pay for seismic and other studies rarely included in
costings for CCS plants -- but if companies themselves are hunting for storage sites or paying
others to do so, it could push up costs.
"Data access will be an important issue because much data held by oil and gas companies is
commercially sensitive," said Graham White, at the British Department of Energy and Climate
Change.
Further down the line, carbon capture projects might be covered by the Clean Development
Mechanism, an international scheme to tackle global warming that allows rich nation polluters to
pay for output cuts in poor nations.
126
For now, however, it is not eligible as opponents say the system is meant to fund verifiable
reductions, not technological innovation, and CCS is as yet unproven. They also worry that it
could divert investment from renewables and efficiency.
(Editing by David Fogarty)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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ST. PAUL | PRNewswire-USNewswire | Nov 5, 2009
U.S. Chamber Blasted for Weak-Kneed Response to
Climate Change Legislation
-- On Tuesday, November 3, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a press release in which it
said it supports strong federal climate change legislation. In a letter to Senators Boxer and
Inhofe, the Chamber called for a fresh approach that strikes the right balance between new and
conventional sources of energy to smoothly transition to a low-carbon future.
Several prominent companies, including Apple Inc. and PG&E Corp., have recently left the
Chamber in protest of its opposition to the climate bills in Congress. Tuesday's statement
appeared to be a softening of the Chamber's position in response to pressure it has received from
some members.
Proponents of climate change legislation were quick to capitalize on the Chamber's statement.
Senator Boxer immediately issued a press release citing the letter from the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce in trying to break a Republican boycott that could prevent her committee from voting
on a cap-and-trade.
Other organizations were disappointed by the Chamber's apparent change in position. "It appears
the Chamber is willing to trade away the interests of American business and citizens in exchange
for the appearance of being politically correct," said Jeff Davis, president of Minnesota Majority
and member of the No Cap-and-Trade Coalition.
Climate change legislation is projected to have severe consequences for
American businesses and jobs. Heritage Foundation has estimated that
cap-and-trade legislation could result in the loss of over 2 million American jobs and a loss of
over $160 billion in GDP by 2020. Heritage says that Americans will get almost nothing in
exchange and that the legislation will provide nothing for future generations except more debt
and less economic opportunity.
"It's ironic that at a time when the science is now discrediting the theory of man-made global
warming that the Chamber would choose to buckle to pressure of the green extortionists," said
Davis. "It seems to me that American businesses would be better served to find another
organization to represent their interests."
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS203465+05-Nov-2009+PRN20091105
Christian Post | Aaron J. Leichman | November 5, 2009
'Green Patriarch' Meets with Obama to Discuss
Climate Change
127
The spiritual leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians met with President Obama on
Tuesday and raised the issue of climate change, following up on a conversation they had
engaged in during the president’s visit to Turkey.
“The President with his kindness and openness received me and my delegation with love and
honor,” said Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the press as he was exiting the White House.
During the more than half an hour meeting, Bartholomew talked about climate change and
commended the president for his initiatives, urging him for an even more intensive campaign on
behalf of ecological responsibility.
Obama, in return, thanked the Orthodox leader for his moral and ethical leadership for all the
world’s faith communities in responding to environmental concerns.
Bartholomew, known to many as the “green patriarch,” has gained a reputation as a prominent
environmentalist, putting the support of the patriarchate behind various international
environmental causes.
In a speech delivered later that day at Georgetown University, Bartholomew said each "crime
against the natural world" is a sin and that people must ask God to forgive them for causing harm
to His creation.
“For humans to cause species to become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God’s
creation… for humans to degrade the integrity of Earth by causing changes in its climate, by
stripping the Earth of its natural forests, or destroying its wetlands… for humans to injure other
humans with disease… for humans to contaminate the Earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life,
with poisonous substances… these are sins,” he stated.
Near the close of Bartholomew's meeting with the president, Obama reportedly stressed his
appreciation for the unique role of the Ecumenical Patriarch as the leader of the Orthodox
Christian world, and the unique character of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as an institution.
Bartholomew, in closing, assured Obama of his prayers for his health care initiatives for the sake
of the poor and needy.
On Thursday, Bartholomew was expected to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and
attend a dinner in his honor later that evening at the State Department.
Bartholomew’s visit to the United States concludes in Washington on Nov. 6. Prior to
Washington, Bartholomew stopped by New York, Atlanta, and New Orleans.
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20091105/-green-patriarch-meets-with-obama-to-discussclimate-change/
VOA News | Joe De Capua | November 5, 2009
Agriculture Both Climate Change Victim and Contributor
128
There's been a lot of talk about boosting agriculture to ensure food security in the coming years.
But Thursday, at the Barcelona climate conference, a new report linked agriculture and climate
change.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says while agriculture has been hurt by climate
change for many areas, it also contributes 14 percent of global greenhouse gases. The report
looks at ways of reducing those emissions while benefitting food production.
Leslie Lipper, FAO senior environmental economist, presented the new report in Barcelona.
"One of the main findings," she says, "is that agriculture is really at the center of two global
crises – the food security and the climate change challenges. Because agriculture will be affected
by climate change and will need to adapt, but also agriculture has the capacity to provide
significant mitigation benefits and reduce climate change."
What to do about soil emissions?
"You can actually make improvements in agricultural production systems that reduce emissions
that are consistent with agricultural development," she says.
Improving the management of soil is the biggest factor in reducing greenhouse gases from
agriculture.
"What it means is that you need to protect the soil. You keep it covered…improve the
amount of organic matter in soil. And organic matter and carbon are very closely related. It's
like you're pulling back emissions into the soil," she says.
That, she says, has known agricultural benefits "in terms of fertility, in terms of water-holding
capacity…and in a reduction of emissions." Severe drought is one of the expected consequence in Africa
of climate change
To do this, many farmers would need to change the way they do business.
"This could be anything from keeping it (soil) covered, soil conservation, water conservation,
better management of tillage, using improved rotation systems -- these kind of things," she says.
Covering soil to reduce emissions includes mulching, composting and planting crops.
"One of the big things is moving from bare fallow to a cover crop," she says.
Holistic agriculture
"Holistic way is very important," she says, "Although I think it's really important to say that food
security is clearly a key priority, especially in developing countries. What we're looking at is
ways that mitigation (of emissions) can also be supportive of food security strategies," she says.
The report recommends financial programs that support both emission control and food security.
The FAO report says, "Despite its significant potential, agricultural mitigation has remained
relatively marginal within the climate change negotiations."
129
It's unclear whether the issue will receive serious consideration at COP 15, the major climate
change conference scheduled for Copenhagen in December.
http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-11-05-voa35.cfm
Kansas City Star | Yael T. Abouhalkah | November 5, 2009
Democrats steamroll GOP boycott on climate change
bill
Now that's more like it. Hanging together, Democrats on Thursday steamrolled GOP opposition
to a climate change bill in a U.S. Senate committee.
For all the talk about dithering Democrats in Washington, at least they were able to pass a key
measure despite a Republican boycott.
The bill approved 11-1 in the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee would establish
mandatory limits on heat-trapping gases. None of the seven GOP senators attended the meeting.
So much for representing their constituents -- or even coming forward with decent reasons to
oppose the bill.
The one Democrat who voted against the bill, Max Baucus of Montana, supports attacking
global warming. He just wants to go a little slower in trying to control harmful emissions.
Baucus will get his chance to amend the bill in the full Senate.
We'll see if the Republicans have the courage to show up and oppose the bill at that time.
http://voices.kansascity.com/node/6472
Sfgate.com | David R. Baker – Chronicle Staff Writer | November 5, 2009
New business group backs climate-change bill
A new group of businesses - including retail giant Gap Inc. and several large utility companies joined the lobbying fray over climate change on Wednesday, arguing that Congress must pass
legislation to limit greenhouse gases as soon as possible.
American Businesses for Clean Energy will push for passage at the same time that other business
groups, most notably the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, try to block or change global warming
bills wending their way through Congress.
"We're way behind in taking action, and we need to go now," said Tom King, president of
National Grid U.S., a utility serving parts of New England and New York.
"We know that leveraging each others' strengths will only help to drive this important work
forward more quickly," said Kindley Walsh Lawlor, senior director of global responsibility at
Gap, which is based in San Francisco.
Other business organizations, such as the United States Climate Action Partnership, have spent
years urging Washington to fight global warming.
Organizers say the new group won't delve into the fine details of legislation the way those other
associations do. Instead, it will focus on a simple message, supporting congressional action to
slash greenhouse gas emissions. It will complement other business organizations pushing for
climate change bills, not compete with them.
"If your house is on fire and someone offers you an extra bucket of water, you accept," said
Auden Schendler, executive director of sustainability for the Aspen Skiing Co. His ski resort
business, which could be devastated by a warming climate, was among the first to join American
Businesses for Clean Energy, which lists 22 members on its Web site.
The group is being formed at a time of intense debate within the business community over global
warming.
Several prominent companies, including Apple Inc. and PG&E Corp., recently left the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce to protest its opposition to the climate bills in Congress.
130
Facing mounting criticism, the chamber on Tuesday sent a letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.,
and Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., saying it would work with Congress to draft climate change
legislation the chamber could accept. The letter, however, warned that the group would continue
to oppose "bad policies that resemble the failed climate proposals of the past."
King and other members of American Businesses for Clean Energy said Wednesday that they
welcome the chamber's new tone, even if it doesn't completely satisfy them.
"It's important to see that followed up with action, because action is what we're supporting,"
King said.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/04/BU0V1AF8FM.DTL#ixzz0VzrnmgUI
The Associated Press | Arthur Max, Katy Daigle | November 5, 2009
Negotiators scale back expectations of reaching full
climate treaty by December deadline
BARCELONA, Spain - Negotiators and diplomats were working Thursday on a scaled-back
version of a global climate change treaty that could be agreed by next month's deadline, without
firm U.S. commitments.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Manu Fernandez
Activists of anti-poverty group Oxfam wearing masks of world leaders fron left to right: British
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, US President Barack Obama,
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spain's Jose Luiz Rodriguez Zapatero and Italian Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi, perform during the Climate Change Talks in Barcelona.
The idea of forging a political agreement, instead of a legally binding treaty, was becoming a
more accepted possibility as negotiators acknowledged some nations, including the United
States, would not be ready in time for the December U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen,
Denmark.
"People are more and more talking about a framework, a framework that you clarify further in
the following months," said Artur Runge-Metzger, chief delegate from the EU Commission.
European officials said they envisioned a political accord emerging from Copenhagen enshrining
plans by developed countries to cut carbon emissions and by emerging economies to trim back
the growth of their emissions. It also would include specific numbers on how much money
wealthy countries would channel to the poor to combat the effects of climate change.
Such a political deal would not be legally binding, but would carry the authority of world leaders
who would come to the Danish capital to sign off on it. Negotiations would continue for several
months and possibly one year until a legally binding treaty was ready, the officials said on
condition of anonymity, due to the sensitivity of the ongoing talks.
131
"We as the EU will certainly push and push and push to get a real legal outcome," RungeMetzger said, adding that the Copenhagen agreement should "definitely ... have a timetable" for
negotiating a full treaty.
Even an interim deal would clear the way to mobilize funds to help poor countries. The EU has
said C5 billion to C7 billion ($7.4 billion to $10.4 billion) will be needed over the next three
years for developing nations to begin planning their first steps toward controlling their emissions
and protecting themselves against the effects of climate change.
Yvo de Boer, the top U.N. climate official who oversees the negotiations, said any decision
emerging from Copenhagen that is accepted by all 192 countries would be "morally binding"
even without formal legal status.
The United States - the only industrialized nation to reject previous climate deals - had pledged
to be a leader in climate change policy after President Barack Obama took office. U.S. climate
legislation was bogged down this week, however, as a group of conservative Republican senators
demanded more cost-analysis of the bill, which calls for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from
power plants and factories by 83 per cent by 2050. On Thursday, Democrats on the panel
approved the legislation with no Republicans present, and it will now be merged with bills being
written by five other Senate panels for a vote by the full Senate. The House has already passed a
climate bill.
"This cannot be an excuse for the world not to get an answer to the climate problem," said
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.
"We need a strong agreement that puts together all the efforts that all the countries - both
developed and developing - are ready to put on the table," Reinfeldt said Thursday while visiting
India. "I hope to see world leaders come to Copenhagen to make the handshake."
Nations had hoped to conclude a new climate treaty at Copenhagen to succeed the 1997 Kyoto
Protocol, which called on 37 industrial countries to reduce emissions of heat-raising gases by an
average 5 per cent below 1990 levels by 2012. The U.S. rejected it because it made no demands
on major developing countries like India and China.
At the U.N. talks in Spain, lobby groups and delegations were showing frustration with the
scaling back of ambitions.
"We are completely dismayed by the shuffling of feet and sliding backward of the developed
countries," said Raman Mehta, program manager in India for global anti-poverty agency
ActionAid.
Negotiators now are considering ways of including the Americans in the Copenhagen pact
without requiring immediate U.S. pledges for emissions reduction targets or for contribution to a
climate aid fund to help developing countries cope with the effects of climate change.
The success of Copenhagen now "depends very much on President Obama himself, on ...
whether he can put numbers on the table or not," said the EU delegation chief, Runge-Metzger.
Alden Meyer, policy director at the Washington-based Union of Concerned Scientists, said the
U.S. would have to make its case at Copenhagen for an extension. "It comes down to trust. How
much can the U.S. be trusted to deliver, particularly given the Kyoto experience," he said.
Scientists say industrial countries should reduce emissions by 25 to 40 per cent from 1990 levels
by 2020, but targets announced so far amount to far less than the minimum.
Legislation working its way through Congress would reduce U.S. emissions by about 4 per cent
below 1990 levels. While the Europeans and developing countries have complained about the
Washington's "low ambitions," most accept it cannot be changed.
Britain's Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said that, despite mounting pessimism, he is still
hopeful of reaching a treaty at the Dec. 7-18 Copenhagen conference. Miliband told UK
lawmakers in London on Thursday that countries "shouldn't be in Plan B territory," but
acknowledged a deal is more likely to be brokered in 2010.
"Achieving a full legal treaty, given the pace of the negotiations, is unlikely," Miliband said,
adding that he is disappointed with the prospect of a watered-down version at the Copenhagen
132
talks. "I think an agreement without numbers is not a great agreement. In fact it's a wholly
inadequate agreement."
The U.N. chief also urged action, calling climate change "the leading geopolitical and economic
issue of this century."
"From the moment I took office as secretary general, I have urged leaders of the world to make
climate change a top priority," Ban Ki-moon said in Athens on Thursday. "There is no doubt that
the Copenhagen negotiations are complex. ... However, our objectives are clear. We must reduce
greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change."
Associated Press Writer Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed to this report.
Reuters | Gerard Wynn and Alister Doyle | November 5, 2009
China should halve CO2 emissions by 2050: U.S
BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - China should roughly halve its greenhouse gas emissions by
2050 to keep the world on a safe climate path, the head of the U.S. delegation at U.N. climate
talks in Barcelona said on Thursday.
Jonathan Pershing also urged China, which has overtaken the United States as the top emitter, to
clarify its goals for curbing its greenhouse gases as part of a new U.N. pact due to be agreed in
December in Copenhagen.
Leading industrialized countries agreed at a summit in Italy in July that the world must halve
greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to avoid the worst effects of climate change, and promised to
cut their own emissions by 80 percent.
China should cut by about 50 percent, which would allow for somewhat lower targets for poorer
countries and give them room to grow their economies, Pershing told Reuters on the sidelines of
the 175-nation talks in Barcelona from November 2-6.
"If you put China in there at a 50 percent reduction, if we're a bit higher, that gives lesser
developed countries a bit lower. If they are in that middle band, plus or minus some percentage,
that seems about right."
China would be on course to meet that goal if it repeated its present energy efficiency five-year
plan into the future, he added.
"They're doing pretty well," he said. Beijing has not set a 2050 goal for its emissions, saying that
it needs to put priority on ending poverty. The United States has not made a formal demand of
China.
Pershing also said that the United States has not ruled out use of border tariffs if Washington
feels that foreign exporters are getting an unfair advantage under a deal in Copenhagen under
which carbon curbs push up U.S. energy costs.
"We cannot rule them out," he said. "The answer is that there is no decision."
The United States was "not opposed" to a legally binding climate treaty, under the U.N. process,
Pershing added.
133
The Earth Times | November 5, 2009
UN: Developed countries need to cut gas emissions
by 25-40 per cent
Athens - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on developed countries to cut greenhouse
gas emissions by 25 to 40 per cent in an address to the Greek parliament Thursday. With just
over a month remaining before a key UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, Ban urged
leading nations to unite on accord that is "comprehensive, equitable, balanced and binding" at the
December 7-18 talks.
Climate change negotiations are currently underway in Barcelona, Spain ahead of the
Copenhagen conference.
At an international conference on immigration in Athens on Wednesday, Ban said a deal is also
needed at the Copenhagen conference in order to curb environmental refugees.
"We are in a critical period...populations will relocate due to more extreme weather including
prolonged droughts, intensive storms and wildfires," Ban said, citing the rising migration
numbers in Africa due to desertification and in Asia because of flooding.
Ban said the threat is already evident in poor countries such as Bangladesh where floods have
temporarily displaced millions, and in Africa where expanding desertification is prompting more
people to leave rural areas.
"We need action and agreement in Copenhagen. We will continue to push for the most ambitious
agreement possible," he said.
World governments are scheduled to meet in the Danish capital to agree on a new protocol
before the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
The EU's 27 member countries last week reached a compromise on how much money to offer
developing countries to fight climate change, a key stumbling block for a global treaty.
The European Commission predicts that rich nations will have to offer developing countries
around 100 billion euros (147 billion dollars) a year by 2020 to adjust to climate change.
During talks at the UN conference in Athens, Ban said the number of people living outside their
country of birth was more than ever before, due to poverty and war.
"Today the number of international migrants is greater than at any other time in history, with 214
million people living outside their country of birth," he said.
134
Bloomberg.com | Alex Morales | November 5, 2009
Germany’s Efficient Offices Called Best G-20 Green
Policy by WWF
Germany’s program to subsidize energy-efficient buildings is the best policy among major
economies for curbing greenhouse gases and creating jobs, the environmental groups E3G and
WWF International reported.
The second ranking also went to Germany, for its guaranteed power prices paid to renewableenergy generators that has spawned development of solar and wind parks, according to the report
that analyzed about 100 policies of industrialized and developing nations in the G-20 group.
The top 10-rated programs were also found in Mexico, the U.S., Brazil, Spain, Japan, India and
the U.K. in the study released today at United Nations climate change talks in Barcelona.
As almost two years of climate-treaty talks have failed to produce a breakthrough on setting
emissions cuts, environmental groups are looking to domestic policies of individual nations to
stem heat-trapping gases scientists blame for climate change.
“There are measures out there that work, that create emissions reductions, that create jobs,” said
Kim Carstensen, leader of the global climate initiative for Gland, Switzerland- based WWF.
“The G-20 is the key international mechanism to discuss a green recovery,” said Kim
Carstensen,
The findings should serve as a spur for G20 finance ministers meeting Nov. 6-7 in St. Andrews,
the U.K., to ensure investment in transport, buildings and energy production is “green,” helping
protect the climate and boost the economy, the environmental groups.
At the bottom of the table were policies including coal subsidies in Spain and Germany,
Canada’s extraction of oil from tar sands and nuclear power efforts in France, Japan and South
Korea.
Mexican Buses
A Mexican bus system was rated third-best policy, followed by the U.S. weatherization program
that helps low-wage earners make their homes more energy-efficient. U.S. tax incentives for
renewable-electricity generation, Brazilian programs to reduce deforestation, Spain’s efforts to
boost solar power, and Japanese vehicle and appliance standards followed.
India came ninth with a program to use natural gas to fuel vehicles, and the 10th ranking went to
a U.K. obligation for power and gas suppliers to increase energy efficiency in homes. They were
rated ahead of the 27-member European Union’s flagship climate protection program, the
emissions trading system. China’s mandatory reduction targets to its one thousand most energyintensive enterprises ranked 12th
135
Bloomberg.com | Catherine Airlie | November 5, 2009
Deforestation as Carbon Culprit Drops Relative to
Fossil Fuel
Deforestation’s relative contribution to global carbon emissions has declined as pollution from
fossil fuels increased, according to a researcher at the faculty of earth and life sciences at VU
University in Amsterdam.
The removal of trees that can absorb carbon dioxide may now account for around 12 percent of
global carbon emissions from human activities, according to a study led by Guido van der Werf
and published in the academic journal Nature Geoscience.
While forest destruction still causes “high emissions,” the “perspective has changed,” van der
Werf said by telephone. “Carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion have increased
substantially” the article in Nature Geoscience said. That makes “the relative contribution from
deforestation and forest degradation even smaller.”
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated in 2007 that deforestation was
responsible for 20 percent of greenhouse gas blamed for global warming. Almost 200 nations
that will meet next month in Copenhagen have yet to agree on what role forests should play in a
climate treaty intended to extend or replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
Van der Werf’s study could potentially allay concerns about an oversupply of forest credits in
carbon markets. The study reflected a lower deforestation rate than the Intergovernmental Panel
due to more detailed satellite imagery showing tree coverage.
His research also said that “notable” CO2 is released by the destruction of peatlands, areas of
partially decaying vegetation that covers around 2 percent of the world’s surface. Peatland
destruction is responsible for 3 percent of human induced CO2 emissions and should be included
in Copenhagen negotiations, the report said.
“Negotiations should strive to be as inclusive as possible,” Van der Werf said. Carbon dioxide
produced by destroying both peatlands and forests may account for around 15 percent of total
carbon emissions, the study concluded.
Environmental News Network | Ben Jervey | November 5, 2009
Washington, Stop Dithering, US Goals on Climate
Urgently Needed
As the last round of "intersessional" climate talks before Copenhagen opened today in Barcelona,
all eyes were looking in the same direction they were when we left Bangkok three weeks earlier:
at the United States. Without American numbers on mitigation (or emissions reductions) and
finance (for developing nations to build their own clean energy economies, and also to adapt to
the impacts of climate change), any real forward progress in the talks is just about impossible.
"We need a clear target from the United States in Copenhagen," urged Yvo de Boer, who’s
charged with steering this UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change) process to some kind of December resolution. "That is an essential component of the
puzzle." The problem is that the U.S. isn’t putting anything out there. At least not yet. Not while
the Kerry-Boxer bill limps through Senate subcommittees back on Capitol Hill.
136
And that’s really where De Boer's comment—and most criticism of the American position—is
directed. Not at the negotiating team here, but towards Washington. In the U.S. delegation's
defense—their hands have been tied pretty tight. The State Department hasn't wanted to write a
check that our domestic politics can't cash. If Kyoto taught us anything, it's that nobody can trust
the U.S. until they see what’s actually written into law. (Quick history lesson—the U.S. signed
the Kyoto Protocol back in 1998; eleven years later, it still hasn't been ratified. At least 185
countries have ratified the Protocol, from Russia to Rwanda to Australia to Iraq. Iraq!) So there’s
a massive trust gap. To be a credible player going into Copenhagen, the U.S. has to show
something concrete coming from the home front. Lead negotiator Jonathan Pershing has not been
at all coy about the fact that he needs to bring home a treaty that will be signed and ratified.
(And, yes, if all this sounds familiar, that's because it is. The story was more or less the same last
month in Bangkok.)
So everyone's waiting on America. Waiting for those crucial U.S. cards to land on the table.
Without them, we're seeing the kickoff of a couple diplomatic games: the guessing game and the
shame game.
November 6, 2009
PlanetArk.org | Nicky Loh | November 6, 2009
Taiwan Recycles Plastic Into Clothing
Photo: Nicky Loh
TAIWAN - Daai Technology Chairman Walter Huang poses with scarves made from recycled
plastic bottles at the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation building after a news conference in
Taipei November 4, 2009.
137
A plastic bottle thrown into a Taipei recycling bin could be reincarnated as a blanket to warm
disaster victims in any of 20 countries, thanks to a unique project by the world's largest Buddhist
charity.
The Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation has been taking plastic bottles from the waste stream
of Taipei, a city of 2.6 million, for three years to convert them into about 244,000 polyester
blankets intended for disaster zones.
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PlanetArk.org | Ikuko Kurahone and Emma Farge | November 6, 2009
Climate Bill To Force Refinery Closures: Petroplus
LONDON, UK - An international pact and U.S. legislation to tackle climate change will hit oil
refiners' profits and may force some to shut some capacity, Thomas O'Malley, chairman of Swiss
refiner Petroplus, said on Thursday.
Leaders from 190 nations will meet in Copenhagen in December to try to hammer out a new pact
to fight global warming.
A key U.S. Senate environment committee approved a Democratic climate change bill on
Thursday that would require ind
A key U.S. Senate environment committee approved a Democratic climate change bill on
Thursday that would require ind ustry to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases 20 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels. [ID:nN05115028]
"Actions on the climate bill and the climate front will lead to further idling of capacity,"
O'Malley said.
"When I worked on the number, I think the Atlantic Basin is going to lose about 2 million barrels
per day of capacity between the beginning of 2009 and the end of 2011. But I think it may
happen well before 2011."
A report from energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said in October that purchasing pollution
credits might cost U.S. oil refiners $100 billion a year.
Such estimates in Europe are not yet available publicly.
O'Malley said some European refiners have already been forced to close some refining capacity
temporarily or permanently as a lack of demand for fuels such as gasoline, diesel and heating oil
batter their profits.
Petroplus itself has idled its Teesside refinery in the UK since March, which is currently
operating as an oil depot. The company reported on Thursday a larger than expected thirdquarter loss.
O'Malley sold his previous venture U.S. refiner Premcor Inc to Valero in 2005 and joined
Petroplus in 2006, when global refining margins were at historic highs, making the company the
largest independent refinery in Europe through acquisition.
(Editing by Sue Thomas)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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PlanetArk.org | Gerard Wynn and Richard Cowan | November 6, 2009
Climate Treaty May Need Extra Year
BARCELONA/WASHINGTON - A U.N. climate treaty may need an extra year beyond a
December deadline to agree details, delegates at U.N. talks said on Thursday even as a U.S.
Senate committee approved a carbon-capping bill.
138
The November 2-6 meeting of 175 nations in Spain, the last session before a U.N. accord is due
in Copenhagen next month, turned gloomy about salvaging a strong deal after two years of
negotiations.
World leaders have also said in recent days that Copenhagen may merely agree a politically
binding deal rather than a full legally binding treaty. In Spain, negotiators suggested extensions
from three months to a year or more.
Toughening a Copenhagen text if it fall short of a binding deal "should be done as early as
possible ... three months, six months," said Artur Runge-Metzger, head of the European
Commission delegation.
A British official said it was likely to take at least six months and "ideally no longer than a year"
to agree details. After Copenhagen, the next meeting of environment ministers is in Mexico in
December 2010.
Talks to agree on a U.N. pact began in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2007 with a two-year
deadline to agree a pact meant to fight a rise in temperatures, more floods, droughts or rising sea
levels.
But recession has hit many nations and carbon-capping legislation in the United States, the
biggest emitter after China, is unlikely to be ready this year despite a vote by a Senate panel on
Thursday in favor of a Democratic climate bill.
John Ashe, chairman of talks to extend the existing Kyoto Protocol, said negotiators should wrap
up at the next meeting of officials in Bonn around May if Copenhagen stalls, as happened when a
previous U.N. meeting was suspended in 2000.
"We did it before, we can do it again," he said.
And a Japanese official said "unless it's agreed within six months after Copenhagen it will
perhaps be the following year because of the U.S. mid-term elections." About a third of the U.S.
Senate is up for re-election in November 2010.
BOGGED DOWN
The Barcelona negotiations have got bogged down with disputes between rich and poor
including a day-long boycott by African nations who accuse the rich of failing to set themselves
deep enough 2020 goals for curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
"It seems that somewhere, someone decided 'let's shift gear, let's make sure we don't move so
much'," said Bruno Sekoli of Lesotho, chair of the group of least developed nations.
Still, he said a delay was better than a "very bad deal."
In Washington, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved a
Democratic bill that would require industry to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 20 percent
by 2020 from 2005 levels.
"I think this is a great signal for Copenhagen that there's a will to do what it takes to advance this
issue," committee Chairman Barbara Boxer told reporters after her panel voted.
But Democrats are likely to fall far short of their goal of passing legislation in the full Senate
before Copenhagen as Boxer's bill lacks enough support for full approval.
Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, has said Copenhagen should at least
set 2020 greenhouse gas emissions goals for rich nations including the United States, agree
actions by the poor to slow their rising emissions, ways to raise billions in funding and
mechanisms to oversee funds.
Also in Barcelona, the World Bank announced $1.1 billion funding for clean energy and
preparation for climate change in Africa, from a total pot of $6.3 billion pledged by donors in
funds for developing nations.
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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139
PlanetArk.org | Reuters | November 6, 2009
Low-Carbon Farms Can Raise Food Output, Food
Agency Says
Workers harvest soybeans at a farm in Tangara da Serra, Mato Grosso state in western Brazil,
March 5, 2009.
Photo: Paulo Whitaker
BARCELONA, SPAIN - Low-carbon farming can both curb climate change and boost food
output in developing nations and so must be rewarded under a global climate deal due in
December, the U.N.'s food agency said on Thursday.
Steps to cut carbon emissions on farms in developing countries could also boost yields where
food is shortest, the Food and Agriculture Organization said in a report published on Thursday.
More than 1 billion people are undernourished now and the world will have to feed an additional
3 billion by 2050, many in areas expected to be worst afflicted by climate change, experts say.
Certain farm practices can tackle both problems, for example conserving over-grazed pastures
and caring for soils, but they involve up-front costs.
"A key part of the problem is a lack of financing," said Leslie Lipper, FAO economist and coauthor of its report "Food Security and Agricultural Mitigation in Developing Countries,"
published on the sidelines of U.N. climate talks in Barcelona.
"If adopted by farmers, many of these practices make them better off, but in the short run they
may face reduced income," Lipper said, using the example of removing cattle to allow grasslands
to recover.
Agriculture has barely been mentioned in the November 2-6 Barcelona talks -- the final
preparatory session before a meeting in Copenhagen in December meant to agree a global
climate deal to replace or extend the Kyoto Protocol.
Farms accounts for 10-12 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions directly, not including
their contribution to deforestation, according to a U.N. panel of climate scientists.
140
An FAO study this year put the extra farm investment needed to boost food yields at $210 billion
between now and 2050.
Some of the funding for low-carbon practices could come from carbon markets, whereby rich
nations pay for cuts in developing countries to offset against their own emissions.
Low-carbon farming in developing nations could raise up to $30 billion annually through such
carbon finance, Thursday's study said.
One difficulty is the challenge of measuring the carbon cuts, such as the extra carbon locked in
the soil as a result of practices such as tilling the soil less and applying more organic fertilizers
such as manure and crop waste.
The cost of soil measurement means carbon markets may only work for the most effective
carbon-cutting systems, and the rest need public finance. Finding adequate funds to cut carbon
emissions in developing countries has been a long-running stumbling block at the two-year U.N.
talks.
(Editing by Tim Pearce)
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PlanetArk.org | Cho Mee-Young | November 6, 2009
South Korea Drops Weakest 2020 Emissions Cut
Target
SEOUL - South Korea, the OECD's fastest-growing carbon polluter, has ditched its weakest
voluntary 2020 emissions target and will choose one of two stricter options ahead of a global
meeting in Copenhagen.
In a statement on Thursday, the government said it had dropped an option for an 8 percent
increase from 2005 emissions levels by 2020. It would finalize the 2020 target on Nov 17 at
between unchanged from and 4 percent below 2005 levels.
The industrial powerhouse is one of Asia's richest nations and among the region's top greenhouse
gas polluters on a per-capita basis.
While not obliged under the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol climate pact to announce binding cuts, South
Korea has come under pressure to put the brakes on the rapid growth of its planet-warming
emissions from industry and transport.
In response, the country took the lead among newly industrialized nations by announcing the
three emissions targets in August.
President Lee Myung-bak said on Thursday a weak target would make it tougher for South
Koreans to understand the need to curb greenhouse gas emissions, local media outlet eDaily
quoted him as telling the presidential green growth committee.
But it needed to be set at just the right level to give powerful business groups enough of an
incentive to cut emissions while not harming economic growth.
The committee said it had narrowed the target options after holding more than 70 public hearings
and discussions in the past few months.
"The second option (of unchanging the level) is relatively less burdensome and the third option
(at below 4 percent) will probably show our definite willingness for green growth," Hyung-kook
Kim, chairman of the presidential committee on green growth, said in the statement.
The country's green investment plans already rank near the top in Asia. The government said
earlier the year it would invest 107 trillion won ($90.9 billion), or 2 percent of its annual GDP, in
environment-related industries over the next five years, pushing stricter fuel efficiency and
emission requirements.
Lee hosts a G20 summit next year, an event that will help him showcase the country's green
policies. The president will also be eyeing emissions cuts pledged by trade rival Japan.
141
Newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has vowed to forge ahead with a tough
25 percent cut in emissions from 1990 levels by 2020, despite growing opposition from industry,
which says the target will hurt the world's No. 2 economy.
(Editing by David Fogarty)
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PlanetArk.org | Leonora Walet, Asia Green Investment Correspondent | November 6, 2009
Philippines Targets $2.5 Billion Geothermal
Development
A view of the National Power Corp.'s Makiling-Banahaw Geothermal plant in Laguna province
south of the capital Manila February 7, 2008.
Photo: Darren Whiteside
HONG KONG - The Philippine government aims to approve contracts to explore and develop
the country's massive geothermal energy resources, which could attract more than $2.5 billion in
private investment, an official said.
The Philippines, the world's second-largest developer of geothermal energy, plans to approve 19
deals in the next five months to allow foreign and domestic companies access to geothermal
projects, the division chief for geothermal energy at the Philippine Energy Department,
Alejandro Oanes, told Reuters.
Philippine power producer Energy Development Corp and Envent, a unit of Geysir Green
Energy, one of Iceland's biggest geothermal energy companies, were among groups vying for
contracts to tap the country's geothermal resources, he said.
"Incentives for renewable projects are giving (the country's) geothermal development a much
needed boost," said Oanes in a telephone interview from Manila.
Tax holidays and tariff exemptions for renewable energy projects are boosting investment in
clean energy in the Philippines, with the government recently awarding 87 contracts to develop
alternative energy sources.
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Geothermal power accounted for 17 percent of the country's total power mix at the end of 2008,
with installed capacity close to 2,000 megawatts, energy department data showed.
The government was issuing tenders for the development of 10 geothermal sites and negotiating
nine more deals directly with various companies, Oanes said. Combined, the deals could harness
more than 620 megawatts of geothermal energy.
Geothermal sites covered in the deals include Mount Isarog, in Camarines Sur province, where
about 70 MW of geothermal power could be developed. The government is also looking at
resources in Mount Labo, Camarines Norte with a potential capacity of 65 MW.
Other provinces identified with geothermal resources include Benguet, Cagayan, Palawan,
Oriental Mindoro, Surigao del Norte and Laguna.
(Editing by Chris Lewis)
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PlanetArk.org | Vera Eckert - Analysis | November 6, 2009
German Nuclear Policy Skirts A Taboo
A sunflower is pictured near to the nuclear power plant at Biblis near Frankfurt July 14, 2009.
Photo: Johannes Eisele
FRANKFURT, GERMANY - Germany's nuclear power policy of keeping old reactors open
longer to bridge the gap to greener energy may also leave the door open to eventually break a
major electoral taboo -- new atomic power plants.
PlanetArk.org | Reuters | November 6, 2009
FACTBOX: Nuclear Power Plans In Europe
EUROPE - Nuclear energy is seen by some countries as an effective way to keep up electricity
supplies while cutting emissions of climate warming gases from burning fossil fuels.
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Lingering concerns over nuclear safety, waste and costs have limited the sector's growth in
western Europe but several central and eastern European countries are keen to build them as a
way of reducing their reliance on imported fuels.
Below are the nuclear plants being built or planned across Europe:
For a factbox on nuclear plant life extensions in Europe click here:
ALBANIA - Government said in 2008 it wanted to develop nuclear power generation and was
ready to invite Italian companies to build plants.
BULGARIA - Plans to build two 1,000-megawatt Russian reactors at Belene, expected to begin
operations in 2014. It faces financing and cost problems which have seen German utility RWE
abandon the project and delay construction.
BRITAIN - Many of Europe's leading utilities have bought land to build new nuclear power
plants in England and Wales.
CZECH REPUBLIC - Czech utility CEZ launched tenders in August to build two reactors at its
Temelin power plant.
FINLAND - Building a fifth nuclear reactor, the 1,600-megawatt Olkiluoto-3 European
Pressurised Reactor (EPR), expected to come online in mid 2012 but which could be delayed
further, Finnish utility TVO said in October.
FRANCE - Building a 1,600 MWe EPR at Flamanville, which is expected to begin operation in
2012. France announced plans in January 2009 to build another one at its Penly power station.
GERMANY - The new center-right government plans to extend the lives of Germany's 17
nuclear plants but is expected to uphold an existing ban on building new nuclear power stations.
HUNGARY - Government agreed in April to allow preparations for building another unit at the
Paks nuclear plant to begin. It could take over 11 years to build. [ID:nLE437132] Paks' existing
four reactors supply about a third of Hungary's electricity.
ITALY - Italy, the only non-nuclear Group of Eight industrialised nation after deciding in 1987
to shut its reactors following the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine, plans to rebuild the sector.
It signed a cooperation deal in September to enlist U.S. companies to build power stations across
Italy, ending a 22-year ban by the Italian government.
LITHUANIA - Gets about three-quarters of its electricity from its Ignalina plant but it must shut
the Soviet-era facility by the end of 2009. Poland, Latvia and Estonia have shown support for a
3,200-3,400 MW plant to replace Ignalina but it is not expected to be ready until 2018-2020.
NETHERLANDS - Dutch utility Delta plans to build a nuclear power plant in the Netherlands
which could be operational by 2019. The government has agreed not to approve any new nuclear
plants during its mandate, which runs until 2011, but Delta expects its proposal to be handled by
the next administration.
POLAND - The government wants one or two nuclear power plants of its own to be built, the
first by 2020, to break its reliance on coal for energy.
ROMANIA - Plans to build two 720 MW reactors at its existing two-reactor power station at
Cernavoda by 2016.
SLOVAKIA - Two 470 MW units being built at Mochovce and expected to operate from 201112 in a project led by Enel unit Slovenske Elektrarne.
Czech utility CEZ and Slovak state energy company JAVYS also plan to build a nuclear plant at
Jaslovske Bohunice.
SLOVENIA - State-owned energy firm Gen Energija expects to build its second nuclear power
plant by 2020. The government could approve the plan next year.
SWITZERLAND - Swiss energy groups Axpo and BKW plan two nuclear power plants for
commissioning after 2020 to replace two existing reactors at Beznau and Muehleberg. Rival Atel
may consider one of its own.
TURKEY - Plans to have three nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 4,500 MW
operating by 2012-15 but higher than expected costs could see Ankara abandon the project.
Sources: World Nuclear Association, Reuters news, International Atomic Energy Agency.
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(Compiled by Daniel Fineren)
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PlanetArk.org | Reuters | November 6, 2009
FACTBOX: European Nuclear Plant Life Extensions
EUROPE - Most nuclear power plants have a nominal design lifetime of up to 40 years but
many have been approved to operate for longer.
The possibility of component replacement and extending the lifetimes of existing plants are very
attractive to utilities, given the high cost of constructing new nuclear plants and lingering public
opposition to them, while some governments see them as a good way to limit carbon emissions.
But economic, regulatory and political considerations have led to the premature closure of some
power reactors.
Below are details of those plants that have been granted life extensions in Europe:
BELGIUM
The Belgian government agreed in October to extend the lifetime of Belgium's three oldest
nuclear power reactors by 10 years to 2025 to guard against energy shortages and help the
budget.
Electrabel, the Belgian arm of GDF Suez, operates the Doel 1 & 2 nuclear reactors and the
Tihange 1 reactor which were due to close in 2014-15.
CZECH REPUBLIC
A 10-year life extension to 40 years is under consideration for the Czech Republic's Dukovany
power station. The four reactors at the plant began producing power from 1985-87.
FINLAND
Fortum's two units at Loviisa, which began commercial operations in 1977 and 1981, were
originally licensed to run for 30 years but were given 20-year license extensions in mid 2007,
which will allow them to run until 2027 and 2030, subject to safety evaluations in 2015 and
2023.
TVO's two 870 MW reactors at Olkiluoto began commercial operations in 1979 and 1982 and
their lifetime has been extended to 60 years, subject to safety evaluations every 10 years, which
means they will close in 2039 and 2042.
FRANCE
All 34 of France's 900 MW reactors, most of which were started in the late 1970s or early 1980s,
had their lifetimes extended by another 10 years on July 7, 2009.
They were also granted 10 year extensions in 2002.
In October 2006 France's regulator cleared all 20 of the country's 1,300 MW reactors to run for
another 10 years, providing some modifications are made during their 20-year outages planned
for 2005-14.
GERMANY
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have agreed with the Free Democrats (FDP)
on extending the life of nuclear plants deemed safe but the timing is unclear, FDP and
conservative politicians said in October.
Government and industry sources have told Reuters that Merkel, who is in coalition talks with
the FDP after her September election win, wants to postpone a decision on the reversing a
planned phase-out of Germany's 17 nuclear plants until after a key state election in May 2010.
The conservatives have said they would reverse a 9-year old deal to shut all the reactors by 2021,
with no extensions to life cycles planned at the moment.
HUNGARY
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In 2005 the Hungarian parliament decided on a 20-year life extension for the Paks nuclear power
plant south of Budapest whose four reactors started up in 1982-87 with a capacity of 440 MW
each.
The reactors which would otherwise have closed after 30 years are now expected to run until
2032-2037.
LITHUANIA
One unit at Lithuania's only nuclear power plant, Ignalina, was closed in December 2004 as a
condition of the country joining the European Union and the second 1,300 MW reactor is due to
close at the end of 2009.
NETHERLANDS
The 452 MW Borssele power plant, connected to the grid in 1973, is the only nuclear reactor in
the Netherlands and is expected to shut in 2034 after a conditional extension of its operating life
in 2006.
SLOVAKIA
An upgrade programme on Bohunice units 3 and 4, which began producing electricity in 1984
and 1985 is under way with a view to extending operational life to 40 years (2025).
SLOVENIA/CROATIA
Slovenia shares a 696 MW nuclear reactor with Croatia which was connected to the network in
1981 and was designed to run for 40 years. A 20-year extension is being sought.
SPAIN
The government has until July 5, 2009 to decide whether the 500 MW Santa Maria de Garona
plant, which will be 40 years old in 2011, can run for another 10 years.
In June 2009 Spain's Nuclear Safety Council recommended that a 10-year extension to the plant's
license, which runs out in 2009, be granted.
Spain's other seven nuclear reactors are licensed to operate until at least 2021.
SWEDEN
Sweden has 10 nuclear reactors at three plants -- Oskarshamn, Ringhals and Forsmark which
came on line between 1972 and 1985.
Earlier plans to shut all Sweden's reactors by 2010, largely in response to the Three Mile Island
accident in the United States, have been shelved as Sweden's biggest political parties warm to
nuclear as climate and security of supply concerns grow.
But no extensions to their 40-year expected operating lives have been granted, so they are due to
close between 2012 and 2025.
UNITED KINGDOM
Britain's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) granted permission to run Oldbury 1 for another
two years in March 2009, after Oldbury 2 was approved to operate for another two years in
December 2008, instead of being closed down at the end of 2008.
Approval to run the 1,000-MW Wylfa nuclear power station in Wales for at least nine months
beyond its planned closure date of March 2010 was granted in June 2009.
British Energy's twin reactor Hartlepool power station, which began operations in 1984-85 and
two Heysham 1 reactors, which opened in 1985-86, have been cleared by the safety regulator to
run for another five years beyond their scheduled closure in 2014.
British Energy's new French owner EDF plans to decide by 2011 whether it wants to run the
plants until 2019.
Sources: World Nuclear Association, Reuters research, International Atomic Energy Agency.
(Updated by Daniel Fineren)
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PlanetArk.org | Marcelo Teixeira - Analysis | November 6, 2009
Greens Call Brazil Oil Finds A Tempting Trap
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - Brazil's huge offshore oil find, though an economic treasure chest,
threatens to undermine the renewable energy industry the country has worked so hard to build.
A possible oversupply of oil products in the local market once expensive exploration, production
and refining initiatives are up and running could make ethanol, biodiesel and hydroelectricity
less competitive.
This possibility is feeding a vigorous debate about the country's relatively "green" energy matrix
falling into a fossil fuel trap.
The government says it won't make the same mistakes that some oil-rich countries have made -such as selling gasoline cheaply at home and neglecting other industrial sectors as oil cash flows
in -- but market fundamentals can undermine the best of intentions.
"I think Brazil has to be very careful to not let the subsalt exploration take its energy matrix
down a dirtier path," said Adriano Pires, director of Brazilian Infrastructure Center, a think tank
and consultancy.
"The country cannot succumb to the populist temptation of subsidizing oil products, as some oilrich countries did in the past," Pires said, echoing many comments in the local press.
Brazil's energy supply in 2008 was 36 percent renewable and 64 percent nonrenewable,
according to statistics from oil producer BP. By comparison, energy supply for the combined 30member OECD group of advanced industrial economies was 5.2 percent renewable and 94.8
percent nonrenewable.
Brazil is still in the early stages of exploring massive oil fields in the so-called subsalt layer off
its coast, but analysts estimate the deposits range from 30 billion to 100 billion barrels of
recoverable oil.
A big rise in oil output is still at least a decade away since the ultra-deep exploration involves
tough technological challenges. But the government is earmarking enormous investments for oil
extraction and refining, worrying proponents of renewable energy sources such as hydro,
biofuels and biomass.
BATTLE LINES DRAWN IN CONGRESS
Ethanol officially passed gasoline as the main fuel for light vehicles in Brazil last year.
Hydroelectric plants such as Itaipu, once the world's largest dam, generate almost 80 percent of
Brazil's electricity.
But the government is making a big effort to pass new oil legislation in Congress that includes a
capitalization plan for Petrobras which would give it enough money to fund subsalt exploration.
"It would be wrong for the country to abandon its efforts in clean energy and concentrate
resources in the new oil frontier," said Luiz Pinguelli Rosa, director of the Rio de Janeiro Federal
University Center for Engineering Programs (Coppe-Rio), an influential group of energy
analysts.
Despite the big push to fund the oil firm, government and Petrobras representatives deny a basic
change in the country's energy strategy.
"Brazil will keep investing resources in alternative sources of energy despite the efforts in
exploration of new oil frontiers," Almir Barbassa, chief financial officer of Petrobras, told energy
analysts last month at a seminar. "There will not be any competition with ethanol."
Brazilian Chief of Staff Dilma Rousseff, who is President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's pick to
succeed him in next year's presidential election, said the country would not abandon its
"vanguard" position in areas such as biofuels.
"Our next goal is second and third generation biofuels. We will preserve our clean energy
matrix," she said.
THE CLIMATE CHANGE FACTOR
Such comments have not quieted the critics.
147
Pinguelli and others say Brazil's role as a world leader in renewable energy is under threat from
oil just as world scrutiny of Brazil and climate change is intensifying.
Environmentalists have already attacked Brazil for allowing more deforestation in the Amazon,
which for ages has acted as a key "sink" to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Pinguelli also said a massive shift in public investment to nonrenewables when Brazil still has
huge untapped potential for hydro power and biomass is shortsighted.
Marcos Jank, president of the Brazilian Cane Industry Association (Unica), said it would be a
setback to divert major funding to oil after decades of success with ethanol in Brazil, where the
cane-based fuel took industrial root.
Jank also pointed to Brazil's nascent biomass energy industry, which uses leftover sugarcane as
fuel for electric generation plants and is only starting to feed into the national power grid.
Brazil, the world's largest sugar producer, generates waste from almost 600 million tons of sugar
cane grown every year.
"We have two Itaipus in the cane fields," he said.
(Editing by Reese Ewing and Jim Marshall)
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