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February 22, 2016
On February 16-17, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released data revealing that January was the warmest globally on record. NASA found that January had an average temperature of 1.13 degree C (2.03 degrees F) above the 20th century January average, while NOAA, which uses a different calculation, found it was 1.04 degrees C (1.87 degrees F) above average. Image courtesy of climate.gov.
On February 16, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern told reporters that the United States will sign the Paris agreement on climate change this year. Stern said the Supreme Court's stay on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Power Plan, a key component of the U.S. strategy for emissions reductions, will not stop the United States from honoring its Paris commitments. Stern made his comments in Brussels, as part of a four-day Europe trip to reinforce the U.S. commitment to the Paris agreement and discuss follow-up climate actions. Stern said he was confident in the Clean Power Plan’s survival, stating, "It is entirely premature, really premature to assume the Clean Power Plan will be struck down but, even if it were, come what may we are sticking to our plan to sign, to join." When asked about the possibility that a Republican president would withdraw from the deal, Stern said the Paris agreement was "seen as such a landmark, hard-fought, hard-won deal" that it would be a "diplomatic black eye" if the next administration rejected it.
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Reuters, Imperial Valley News, International Business Times
On February 16, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz visited Aliso Canyon in California's San Fernando Valley, the site of a recently-sealed methane leak from a natural gas storage field owned by Southern California Gas Company. Moniz stated that the leak highlighted the need to update aging U.S. infrastructure and reexamine the regulatory treatment of energy storage and infrastructure maintenance. "[Aliso Canyon's issues] tell us about a problem we have to study more generally across the country. . . Frankly, gas storage fields need a fresh look in terms of some of the regulatory requirements," Moniz said. The Aliso Canyon leak was reported October 23, 2015 and stopped February 11, 2016. Thousands of people were forced to relocate due to irritation from odorants used in the methane, a scentless gas. The leak has had a powerful climate impact, as methane warms the atmosphere 84 times more than a comparable amount of carbon dioxide over a 20 year period.
Los Angeles Times
On February 15, legislators in Oregon voted 39-20 to pass House Bill (HB) 4036, which would double the state’s renewable energy mandate and gradually phase out coal-fired power plants. The bill will now go to the state Senate for approval. PacificCorp and Portland General Electric, the largest utilities in Oregon, were strong forces behind HB 4036, along with various environmental groups. The bill will require utilities to source at least 50 percent of energy demand from renewable energy by 2040, up from the state's current goal of 25 percent by 2025. While critics argue the bill will be costly for consumers without significantly reducing carbon emissions, supporters have said the bill will create jobs in renewable energy infrastructure and maintenance. An analysis from PacificCorp shows the bill will cut the state’s carbon emissions by 35 million tons total through 2040, roughly equal to 58 percent of Oregon's total annual greenhouse gas emissions.
Portland Tribune
On February 16, a bipartisan group of governors from 17 states announced the “Governor’s Accord for a New Energy Future,” a new collaborative effort to transition the states to a greener economy across multiple sectors. The agreement commits states to expand the use of energy efficiency and renewable energy, modernize the electric grid, provide incentives to companies producing electric vehicles or alternative fuels, exchange best practices, and work with federal agencies. Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval (R), a signatory of the accord, commented, "This bipartisan accord provides a platform for Nevada to leverage new partnerships, gain and share knowledge and an opportunity to introduce our energy advancements to other states." The governors' senior advisers will meet soon to outline initial steps for achieving the accord's goals.
The Guardian, CNBC, Governors’ Accord for a New Energy Future
On February 16, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative's (RGGI) Regional Greenhouse Allowance (RGA) prices dropped to a 21-month low due in part to uncertainties over the U.S. Supreme Court stay on the Clean Power Plan (CPP) and a resulting wave of selling. RGAs are tradable units of carbon dioxide, equivalent to one short ton (0.907 metric tonnes), which are traded in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic as part of the region's cap-and-trade policy. Since hitting a record-high rate of $8.60/short ton on January 26, RGGI allowance prices have lost up to 45 percent of their value, falling to $4.75/short ton as of February 16. A New York-based RGGI trader quoted in Carbon Pulse cited one trader who "needed to get out," adding that "once that one trader got out, everyone else decided they had to follow." The trader added that "people are worried about the [Supreme Court] stay."
Carbon Pulse
On February 17, Iran’s envoy to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said Iran will not limit its oil production, likely scuttling an agreement to cap crude oil production and boost prices proposed a day earlier by Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela. The agreement would have made headway on efforts to revitalize and stabilize the oil market, said Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi. The proposal revealed major producers’ concern about the oil market, with prices currently 70 percent below the 2014 peak (and with the potential to drop below $20 a barrel). Iran has stated that it plans to sharply increase oil output to regain the market share it lost during years of international sanctions, which were lifted in January after successful agreements on its nuclear development program.
In related news, Paragon Offshore filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on February 15, joining the roughly 60 oil and gas companies that have declared bankruptcy in the last 16 months. Analysts expect another 60 to declare bankruptcy if prices remain low moving forward, adding that up to one third of the U.S. oil and gas industry could consolidate due to the low prices.
USA Today, Bloomberg, Reuters, New York Times, Market Watch, Wall Street Journal
On February 16-17, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released data revealing that January was the warmest globally on record, marking the fourth consecutive month where NASA found the average global temperature was at least one degree C above normal. NASA found that January had an average temperature of 1.13 degree C (2.03 degrees F) above the 20th century January average (the largest margin ever), while NOAA, which uses a different calculation, found it was 1.04 degrees C (1.87 degrees F) above average (the second largest margin ever). The data from NASA also showed average temperatures in some areas of the Arctic were 23 degrees F above normal in January. These abnormally warm temperatures reduced the extent of Arctic sea ice to record-low coverage for this time of year, at 402,000 square miles below normal.
Climate Central, NASA: Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NOAA, AP
On February 12, University of British Columbia researchers presented new findings that approximately 5.5 million people die prematurely each year as a consequence of outdoor and indoor air pollution. That would make air pollution the second-leading cause of fatal diseases, behind smoking. The findings were presented at an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in Washington, DC. The researchers found that around 1.4 million people in India and 1.6 million in China died of air pollution-related health issues in 2013, accounting for 55 percent of global air pollution-related fatalities. According to Michael Brauer, a co-author of the study, “Reducing levels of air pollution is actually an incredibly efficient way to improve the health of a population.”
The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, New Delhi Television Limited, Time
On February 18, a Harvard University study was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters with satellite data showing that U.S. methane emissions had increased by more than 30 percent over the past decade. This could account for 30 to 60 percent of the global increase in anthropogenic emissions of methane since 2002. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 84 times as powerful as carbon dioxide over a 20 year period. Lead author Alex Turner, a Harvard chemical engineering PhD candidate, said the main takeaway was that "there is more we – the United States – could be doing to reduce our methane emissions to combat climate change.” The study did not identify the reason for the methane emissions growth, though it noted that much of the U.S. emissions spike came from the middle of the country. The location and timing of the spike coincides with the shale oil and gas boom of the past decade.
Climate Central, Geophysical Research Letters
On February 17, a new study was published in the journal Nature revealing which regions are particularly sensitive to climate variability. These include the Arctic tundra, some boreal forest belts, tropical rainforests, alpine regions, some steppe and prairie regions and the Caatinga deciduous forest in South America. The study authors measured the resilience of different regions to climate variability – which they defined as monthly temperature changes, rainfall, cloud cover and water availability – to find that certain areas are far more sensitive to changes than others. Lead author Alistair Seddon, a biologist at the University of Bergen, commented, "Understanding how ecosystems are going to respond to climate variability is an important feature that we still don’t have a lot of information on, and so what our study is doing is providing that perspective at a global scale."
Washington Post, Study
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