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February 15, 2016
On February 8, the Supreme Court placed a temporary stay on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Power Plan regulations on carbon emissions from existing power plants, precipitating many states to halt their efforts to create plans for cutting emissions from their energy sectors. Image courtesy of aoc.gov.
On February 9, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to place a temporary stay on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Power Plan (CPP), allowing states to stop preparing plans to meet the regulations on carbon emissions from existing power plants until all legal action against it is finished. The stay request was filed by over two dozen states, as well as coal and utility companies and other businesses, which think the CPP is a case of federal overreach. The temporary order will stay in place until all legal action is complete, including any appeals, a process which may suspend the rule until 2017. The Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia Circuit will hear arguments against the CPP on an expedited schedule, beginning this June. This is the first time the Supreme Court has ever placed a stay on a regulation before it has gone through review by a federal appeals court.
For more information see:
The Washington Post, The New York Times, Bloomberg, SCOTUS
On February 10, White House spokesman Eric Shultz stated that the Supreme Court stay on the Clean Power Plan (CPP) will not prevent the United States from fulfilling its international obligations to the Paris climate agreement agreed to last year. Although the Clean Power Plan, which regulates carbon emissions from existing power plants, is a key component of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions reductions, Schultz emphasized that there are many other ways the U.S. government is working to cut emissions, such as federal tax credits for renewable energy which were extended by Congress in late 2015. "The inclusion of those tax credits is going to have more impact over the short term than the Clean Power Plan," Shultz said. He added that litigation against the CPP is expected to conclude before the United States needs to show its compliance with the Paris agreement.
Reuters
On February 9, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to place a stay on the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan (CPP), allowing states the choice of whether to continue preparing compliance plans to the CPP or wait until all litigation is complete. The CPP is a regulation on carbon emissions from existing power plants that requires every state to prepare a plan to meet an individualized emissions reduction goal. Colorado, California, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, New York, Virginia and Washington have all declared they will continue to prepare CPP compliance plans; West Virginia, Montana, Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, North Dakota, Florida and Missouri welcomed the stay and likely will cease their CPP efforts; and Arizona has said it is not yet sure of its course of action.
InsideClimateNews, DenverPost, NPR, StarTribune, Bloomberg, UtilityDIVE
On February 9, President Obama released the final budget request of his presidency, with strong support for climate action and increasing renewable energy and energy efficiency in fiscal year 2017. The budget asks for $4.5 trillion in total, a five percent increase over 2016's funding levels. President Obama is calling for investment in clean energy research and development to double by 2021, starting with a 20 percent increase in funding for clean energy R&D in FY2017, as part of the 20 country public-private collaboration "Mission Innovation," announced last year before the Paris international climate negotiations. The budget also requests a $10.25/barrel tax on crude oil, which would raise $319 billion over ten years to make the transportation sector more sustainable by funding mass transit, urban planning, and research on clean vehicles and vehicle automation. President Obama commented that his budget has "new investments to help the private sector create more jobs faster, lower the cost of clean energy faster, and help clean, renewable power outcompete dirty fuels in every state."
EESI, USA Today, Bloomberg, Guardian
On February 11, a group of 17 House Democrats led by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) introduced the Keep it in the Ground Act. The bill would stop any new leases and end nonproducing leases to extract fossil fuels on federal land and in federally controlled waters, and ban offshore drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic. The House Keep it in the Ground Act is a version of a Senate bill introduced in November 2015 by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Rep. Huffman commented, "There is still much to be done to break our unhealthy dependence on fossil fuels. Our oceans and public lands – including the fossil fuel deposits beneath them – belong to the American people, not to the oil and gas industry, and it's time the law reflects that fact."
Ecowatch, The Hill, Press Release, The Guardian
On February 11, Southern California Gas Company announced that it had temporarily stopped the natural gas leak at its Aliso Canyon natural gas facility, and begun work to permanently seal off the well. "The well is no longer leaking," stated Jimmie Cho, senior vice president of gas operations and systems integrity at SoCal Gas. For the over 4,400 households around the Porter Ranch community that have been displaced since the gas leak was first reported in October, this news means they may soon be able to return to their homes, although many are concerned their homes are now contaminated from the methane and odorants released in the leak. Once state regulators have confirmed the well is sealed off, Aliso Canyon residents staying in hotel rooms paid for by the utility will have eight days to return to their homes. Natural gas consists of mostly methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas 84 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a 20 year period.
Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post
On February 9, Washington state lawmakers discussed Initiative 732, a proposed revenue-neutral carbon tax that would place a price of $25/metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted within Washington state. Over 350,000 Washington have signed petitions in support of Initiative 732, which if enacted would raise the price of regular gasoline by 25 cents per gallon and increase the price of coal power generation by 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour. The tax is estimated to generate $1.7 billion in revenue annually, which would be returned to state taxpayers in the form of different tax cuts. Charles Komanoff, director of the Carbon Tax Center, commented, “If the proposal goes through, it could become a template for other states to defuse concerns that are holding back a carbon tax at the federal level.”
Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB)
On February 10, a report from the Pacific Institute found that the four-year drought in California led to hundreds of reservoirs for hydroelectric generating stations drying up, hindering a significant renewable energy source and costing consumers an additional $2 billion in energy bills. Hydroelectric power accounts for around 18 percent of California’s annual electricity use in an average year, but fell to 10.5 percent since the start of the drought in 2011. The shortfall in hydroelectric power has been predominantly met with the increased use of natural gas, increasing greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 23 million tons over the last four years. “All Californian ratepayers are affected by the drought as they pay for electricity that is both dirtier and more expensive than in non-drought years,” said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute.
Bloomberg, Pacific Institute, Study
On February 5, the Chinese government announced it would scale back coal production capacity by up to 500 million metric tons annually over the next three to five years, in an effort to reduce industrial overcapacity and transition to more clean sources of energy. China – the largest consumer of coal in the world – would eliminate nearly nine percent of the country’s capacity if it achieves this target. China also announced plans to increase financial support and encourage mergers between various extraction companies, as part of a plan to consolidate another 500 million tons per year of coal capacity in fewer mines. The government also said it will stop approving new coal mines for the next three years. Deng Shun, an analyst with ICIS China, commented, "The document does set some aggressive targets, which highlights the determination of the central government to ease oversupply."
Bloomberg, The Chinese Central Government
On February 11, a new study published in Science revealed that while a majority of middle and high school teachers across the United States are teaching climate change, a significant number of them are teaching incorrect facts. Researchers from Penn State, Wright State University and the National Center for Science Education mailed a survey to 1,500 middle and high school teachers of biology, chemistry, physics and earth sciences, and found that 30 percent of respondents said they teach that global warming is "likely due to natural causes," a view unsupported by current science. Lead author Eric Plutzer commented, "We think any amount of legitimization of nonscientific perspectives sends a message to students that this may be a matter of opinion and values, and not one that can be adjudicated by evidence."
Washington Post, The Guardian, Study
On February 8, a new study by Synapse Energy Economics for the Union of Concerned Scientists was released, examining and updating a report which had found that the Eastern United States could realize significant emissions reductions at a low cost. The original collaborative technical report, released in 2011, found that in 39 states ranging from Florida to Montana, economy-wide carbon emissions could be reduced 42 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 and 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2050 – greater reductions than the Clean Power Plan calls for. The new Synapse report updates this older work, showing that considering the current situation (such as the 40-50 percent drop in renewable energy costs since 2011) cutting emissions at this level would cost no more than two percent of a "business as usual" future with no emissions reductions.
Union of Concerned Scientists, UCS Blogs
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Authors: Anthony Rocco, Taotato Luo
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