July 28, 2008

Law Suit a Tar Sands Stopper? Win for Alberta Cree band could clog up oil ambitions

Jack Woodward and the Beaver Lake Cree aim to change Canadian law -- and their success likely would throw a huge wrench into Alberta's tar-sands oil production.

The suit pits the Beaver Lake Cree band against the governments of Canada and Alberta, asking the court to rule invalid the government authorization for thousands of petroleum projects on the band's core territory.

Woodward, a Victoria-based Aboriginal-law expert, filed the suit on behalf of his clients this May, and says its intent is to lay the groundwork for a new legal regime governing resource extraction on land reserved for or claimed by Canada's First Nations.

A victory would allow the Beaver Lake Cree to demand much higher levels of accommodation and consultation from government and industry on oil and gas operations on their territory.

Woodward thinks a win could create a precedent that will allow other bands to enforce similar demands across the multi-billion-dollar oil-sands projects in Alberta's north.

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July 24, 2008

California joins big carbon-trade partnership

California, six other Western states and four Canadian provinces launched plans on Wednesday for one of the world's largest carbon-trading systems, a sweeping effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

The North American program, like a similar market-based system in Europe, focuses on heavy polluters such as electric utilities, oil refineries and large industrial and commercial facilities.

Environmental groups immediately questioned whether the plan will be tough enough on polluters, while industry groups said the program lacks details.

California officials said the proposal will be an integral part of the Golden State's ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020, as required by the landmark legislation AB32 that the Legislature approved and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed in 2006.

"We very much believe this supports California's own plan to grow the economy and protect the environment," said Linda Adams, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency.

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July 18, 2008

Gore Calls for Carbon-Free Electric Power

Former Vice President Al Gore said on Thursday that Americans must abandon electricity generated by fossil fuels within a decade and rely on the sun, the winds and other environmentally friendly sources of power, or risk losing their national security as well as their creature comforts.

"The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk," Mr. Gore said in a speech to an energy conference here. "The future of human civilization is at stake."

Mr. Gore called for the kind of concerted national effort that enabled Americans to walk on the moon 39 years ago this month, just eight years after President John F. Kennedy famously embraced that goal. He said the goal of producing all of the nation's electricity from "renewable energy and truly clean, carbon-free sources" within 10 years is not some farfetched vision, although he said it would require fundamental changes in political thinking and personal expectations.

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July 9, 2008

Your city council could save the world

Compared to cutting-edge technologies -- nanotechnology, coal with carbon capture and sequestration, biomimicry -- building codes seem downright stodgy and, dare I say it?, boring. Yet, much to the surprise of many, building codes are fast becoming the Titans in the battle against climate change. Able to fell with a single blow the giants on the other side of the battlefield -- out-of-control greenhouse-gas emissions, thoughtless energy consumption, and gross energy inefficiency -- building codes are beginning to look pretty darn sexy in their own right.

Buildings are responsible for approximately 48 percent of all energy consumption and GHG emissions in the U.S. Forty-eight percent. Let that sink in. The entire transportation sector is only responsible for 27 percent. To win the climate change battle, we must tackle the building sector. 

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July 3, 2008

U.S. Lifts Moratorium on New Solar Projects

Under increasing public pressure over its decision to temporarily halt all new solar development on public land, the Bureau of Land Management said Wednesday that it was lifting the freeze, barely a month after it was put into effect.

The bureau had announced on May 29 that it was no longer processing new applications to build solar power plants on land it oversees in six Western states after federal officials said they needed first to study the environmental effects of solar energy, a process that would take two years.

But amid concerns from the solar power industry, members of Congress and the general public that the freeze would stymie solar development during a particularly critical time for energy policy, the bureau abruptly reconsidered.

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July 1, 2008

Georgia Judge Cites Carbon Dioxide in Denying Coal Plant Permit

A judge in Georgia has thrown out an air pollution permit for a new coal-fired power plant because the permit did not set limits on carbon dioxide emissions.

Both opponents of coal use and the company that wants to build the plant said it was the first time a court decision had linked carbon dioxide to an air pollution permit.

The decision's broader legal impact was not clear, either for the plant, proposed to be built near Blakely, in Early County, Ga., or for others outside Georgia, but it signaled that builders of coal plants would face continued difficulties in the court system as well as with elected officials in many states.

In the ruling released late Monday afternoon, a state judge relied on a decision by the Supreme Court last year that carbon dioxide could be regulated as a pollutant. Carbon dioxide, which is colorless, odorless and not directly harmful to animals or plants, is not now regulated, and the Bush administration has signaled that it would not issue such regulations before the president leaves office.

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June 26, 2008

California air board announces plan for carbon-credit trading

California air regulators today announced a bold plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions that would alter the way utilities generate electricity, automakers build cars and developers construct buildings, and launch the nation's broadest market in carbon-credit trading.

California's blueprint is the first comprehensive effort to combat global warming by any American state, and comes nearly three weeks after the U.S. Senate threw out a national greenhouse gas bill that would have set similar targets.

Virtually every sector of the state's economy would be affected by the air board's plan, including coal-fired power plants and oil refineries, landfills where rotting garbage emits methane gas and forests, which would be cultivated to reduce fires.

But the California Air Resources Board's draft road map for implementing the state's landmark 2006 global warming law faces daunting obstacles, among them resistance from the Bush administration, legislative snarls and some industry opposition.

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June 17, 2008

Climate MATTERS Cap-and-Trade Legislation Introduced

U.S. Representatives Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) today introduced the Climate MATTERS Act (Climate Market Auction Trust and Trade Emissions Reduction System) to institute a strong cap-and-trade system designed to reduce greenhouse gas pollution. This is the first such bill to receive primary referral to the Ways and Means Committee, which is scheduling a hearing on it within a month.

"The Climate MATTERS Act will align public policy in a way that propels American innovation, significantly enhances America's competitiveness in the world, creates millions of new high-skilled, high-wage green collar jobs, and dramatically cleans up our environment," said Congressman Van Hollen.

"My bill to combat global warming gives a green light to green technology, which translates into green dollars and green jobs. America can run the new green energy economy or get run over by it. We can wait and pay dearly to import this technology from abroad, or we can lead with what will become major high tech exports of American products. Let's encourage those high-wage green-collar jobs here at home. Instead of an energy policy which consists of little more than holding hands with Saudi princes and doing nothing as gas prices soar, jobs go overseas, and our planet overheats, we can combat global warming in a way that is right for the environment, right for our economy, right for our health, and right for our national security."

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June 10, 2008

San Francisco Offers Solar Subsidies

The City's Board of Supervisors pushes through the nation's largest municipal solar incentive program.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 on Tuesday afternoon to usher in the largest municipal solar-incentive program in the United States. The move clears the path for a 10-year program intended to provide between $2 million and $5 million of subsidies for solar installations annually.

The program will take effect this year after Mayor Gavin Newsom signs it into law.

The incentive would provide $3,000 to $6,000 for residential solar installations, and up to $10,000 for commercial properties.

While San Francisco enjoys a green reputation, solar isn't necessarily its strong suit. Currently, privately and publicly owned solar systems make up the city's 5-megawatts of installed solar capacity, according to Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting.

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June 6, 2008

Vote on climate bill is blocked in Senate

Senate Republicans on Friday blocked a global warming bill that would have required major reductions in greenhouse gases, after a bitter debate over its economic costs and whether it would substantially raise gasoline and other energy prices.

Democratic leaders fell a dozen votes short of getting the 60 needed to end a Republican filibuster on the measure and bring the bill up for a vote. The 48-36 vote failed to reach even a majority, a disappointment to the bill's supporters.

Majority Leader Harry Reid was expected to pull the legislation, in all likelihood pushing the congressional debate over climate change to next year with a new Congress and a new president.

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June 4, 2008

House approves funds for 'green' schools

The House on Wednesday committed more than $20 billion over the next five years to help states build and renovate schools to make them more energy-efficient and good for the environment.

Democrats said the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act would save school districts billions in energy costs while reducing asthma and other environmentally linked health problems. The White House threatened a veto, saying it was wrong for the federal government to launch a costly new school building program.

The legislation passed 250-164 and now must be considered by the Senate.

The measure approves $6.4 billion for the 2009 budget year and similar sums in consequent years to help school districts modernize facilities to improve the learning climate, promote student and teacher health and make schools more energy efficient.

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June 2, 2008

Of greenhouse gases and greenbacks - Senate debate on a proposal to impose pollution regulations is likely to center on the financial stakes.

A major climate-change measure goes before the Senate this week for the first time since Democrats declared it a priority after taking control of Congress, but the long-awaited debate is ranging beyond the effects of global warming.

It also is focusing on Washington's most primal issue, money.

The bill would impose new pollution regulations on industries while significantly expanding another business, carbon "offsetting." Billions of dollars would potentially be available for farmers who offered polluters a way to make amends for excess emissions -- a provision that could attract crucial support from farm-state lawmakers.

"I definitely think this debate will be primarily about economics, because there are very few voices left who want to argue about whether or not global warming is really a problem," said Dan Lashof, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council climate center, a bill supporter.

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May 27, 2008

World Science Festival debuts in Manhattan tomorrow

When many people think of science, they might have flashbacks to droning teachers in high school physics class.

But for those who think science is dull, Columbia University physicist Brian Greene says: Think again.

At the first World Science Festival, which begins tomorrow in Manhattan, dozens of Nobel laureates, professors, actors and city planners will be on hand to dispense with the notion that science is stodgy.

Greene and his wife, broadcast journalist Tracy Day, created the festival.

"Science is truly everywhere," Greene said. "Quantum physics is why your cell phone works. There are science explanations for why the ground is solid and the sky is blue. ... It's such wondrous, exciting material. And when people feel they can understand it, I've seen new vistas open up for them."

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May 22, 2008

Air quality board to fine Bay Area polluters

Jumping ahead of state and federal regulators, the Bay Area air quality district became the first in the nation on Wednesday to impose fees on businesses that pump some of the highest levels of carbon dioxide into the air each year.

The 15-1 vote by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District sets the stage for 2,500 companies and agencies - from supermarkets to gas stations to power plants - to pay 4.4 cents for every metric ton of carbon dioxide they expel, beginning July 1. The top 10 companies combined would pay more than $820,000. The fee for a large share of businesses would be less than $1.

The district took the historic step as federal and state officials mull how and when to reduce the gases that many scientists blame for pushing up the Earth's temperatures and changing weather patterns. As much as the regulation will create a framework for pursuing the biggest carbon polluters in the region, it also provided a chance for the district to make a statement on the speed with which its counterparts in Sacramento and Washington are tackling the problem.

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May 17, 2008

No Charm for Coal Bill

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius today vetoed the Legislature's third attempt at allowing expansion of a coal-fired power plant in southwest Kansas.

Supporters of the $3.5 billion project had tied this latest bill to economic development projects around the state, including a tax break aimed at bringing a $150 million manufacturing plant to Topeka. Sebelius criticized the bundling of bills in her veto message.

"Rather than working toward a compromise solution, legislative leaders recklessly chose to jeopardize important initiatives for businesses and communities across our state by combining them with energy legislation I have previously vetoed twice," she said.

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May 15, 2008

L.A. prepares massive water-conservation plan

With vital and often-distant water sources shrinking, Los Angeles officials today will revive a controversial proposal to recycle wastewater as part of a plan to curb usage and move the city toward greater water independence.

The aggressive, multiyear proposal could do much to catch the city up to other Southern California communities that have launched advanced recycling programs. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's effort could cost up to $2 billion and affect a wide range of daily activities. For example, residents would be urged to change their clothes; washers, and new restrictions would be placed on how and when they could water lawns and clean cars.

Financial incentives and building code changes would be used to incorporate high-tech conservation equipment in homes and businesses. Builders would be pushed to install waterless urinals, weather-sensitive sprinkler systems and porous parking lot paving that allows rain to percolate into groundwater supplies.

 
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May 4, 2008

A Northeast Movement to Cut Emissions

At a conference at Yale University last month, officials from New Jersey, New York and Connecticut were among leaders from 18 states who signed a declaration urging the federal government to take action on climate change.

But as they grow impatient over the absence of federal restrictions on carbon emissions, officials in several states, especially those in the Northeast, have decided to take matters into their own hands.

New Jersey was among the first three states in the nation to require significant reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are believed to contribute to global warming. Connecticut is about to become the fourth.

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May 2, 2008

Sebelius’ coal veto stands - Lawmakers fall short in override attempt

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' veto of two coal-fired power plants survived a furious charge from legislative leaders on Thursday.

In a dramatic showdown, the Kansas House voted 80-45, falling four votes short of the required two-thirds majority needed in the 125-member chamber to override the veto.

"This is good news for Kansas," Sebelius said.

Sebelius has rejected the two 700-megawatt coal-burning plants in southwest Kansas because of concerns over climate-changing carbon dioxide emissions, the possibility of expensive federal regulations on coal facilities, and the fact that most of the power will be sold to customers in Colorado and Texas.

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