Climate Change News - February 29, 2016 | Newsletter

Opponents to EPA’s Clean Power Plan File Legal Briefs

On February 19, opponents to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) regulation on carbon emissions from existing power plants – called the Clean Power Plan (CPP) – filed two opening merit briefs with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The briefs were filed by 150 challengers, including 27 states, electric utilities, coal companies, trade associations and business groups. The two briefs focus on different issues with the CPP: the first argues against its legality and permissibility under the Constitution, and the second says EPA made mistakes in its administrative process. “This rule, which exceeds EPA's authority and sidesteps Congress, must be stopped,” said West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R). The court has given the Obama Administration until March 28 to respond to the merit briefs.

For more information:

E&E Publishing, Brief 1, Brief 2

200 Members of Congress File Amicus Brief against EPA Clean Power Plan

On February 23, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel (R-KY) and more than 200 members of Congress (33 senators and 171 representatives) filed an amicus brief to support legal challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Power Plan, a regulation on carbon emissions from existing power plants. The bipartisan brief states, “Because of the Final Rule, States will face unprecedented new regulatory burdens, electricity ratepayers will be subject to billions of dollars in compliance costs, and American workers and their families will experience the hardship of job losses due to power plant shutdowns, higher electricity prices, and overall diminishment of the nation’s global economic competitiveness.”

For more information see:

Your Houston News, Sen. Thune, Amicus Brief

Governor Says Indiana Will Not Comply with Clean Power Plan, Even if it is Upheld

On February 20, Indiana Governor Mike Pence said his state will not draft a compliance strategy for the Clean Power Plan, even if it is later upheld in court. The Clean Power Plan – an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation on carbon emissions from existing power plants – was temporarily blocked by the Supreme Court until all the litigation against it is completed. Until then, it is up to states whether they decide to voluntarily continue developing plans for reducing emissions and adopting more renewable capacity. If the Clean Power Plan is upheld, states will be required to comply with it. EPA would then impose a federal plan on states that do not submit a viable plan. Only one other state, Oklahoma, has said it will not comply with the Clean Power Plan.

For more information see:

The Indianapolis Star

States ask Supreme Court to Place Stay on EPA Mercury and Air Toxics Regulation

On February 23, 20 states filed a stay request with the Supreme Court to stop the enforcement of an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation on emissions of mercury and air toxics (MATS) from existing power plants. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled in Michigan v. EPA that EPA should have done a cost-benefit analysis before beginning the regulatory process on MATS. However, the ruling did not overturn MATS, and the District of Columbia Circuit Court said the EPA could continue enforcing it. In their stay request, the 20 states say the EPA is overreaching its legislative authority, and that the Michigan v. EPA decision is not being followed. The EPA is currently working on a retroactive cost-benefit analysis for the rule, which should be completed by April 16.

For more information see:

The Hill

Maryland Senate Approves New Greenhouse Gas Reduction Target

On February 23, the Maryland Senate approved a new goal for cutting the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. The bill, approved by a bipartisan 38-8 vote, requires Maryland to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 2006 levels by 2030. The new target was proposed by the state’s Climate Change Commission, a governor-appointed group of Maryland lawmakers, private businesses, nonprofits, and state secretaries. The bill amends the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act of 2009, which calls for a 25 percent emissions reduction from 2006 by 2020. Senator Paul Pinksy (D-Prince George's), a sponsor of the bill, said, “The question is: Do we pay the cost [of greenhouse gas emissions] up front – if there is in fact a cost – or do we pay it later on?” The Maryland House of Delegates will soon consider its own version of the bill.

For more information see:

The Baltimore Sun, General Assembly of Maryland, Washington Post

United Nations Climate Chief to Step Down

On February 19, United Nations (UN) executive secretary of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Christiana Figueres announced that she will step down in July 2016. Figueres took leadership of the UNFCCC in 2010, after the Copenhagen climate summit in 2009. She commended governments for their participation in the successful Paris climate agreement last December, and called for the "urgent implementation" of the climate deal. In a letter to governments, she wrote of the continued urgency to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2100 through investments in renewable energy.

In related news, the United Nations Green Climate Fund (GCF) executive director Hela Cheikhrouhou announced on February 19 that she will step down in September 2016 when her term ends, after three years. More than $10 billion has been pledged to the GCF by 43 countries to fund climate adaptation efforts in developing and vulnerable nations. A successor will be discussed at the GCF meeting in March.

For more information see:

Reuters, Climate Home, GCF

Scientists Ask AGU to Drop ExxonMobil as Sponsor of Earth Science Conference

On February 22, more than 100 scientists wrote an open letter to the American Geophysical Union (AGU), a 60,000 member association of earth and climate scientists, asking AGU to remove ExxonMobil as a sponsor of its annual conference – an event that attracts 25,000 scientists. Pointing to ExxonMobil's history of supporting climate change denial, the letter states, “By allowing Exxon to appropriate AGU's institutional social license to help legitimize the company's climate misinformation, AGU is undermining its stated values as well as the work of its own members.” AGU President Margaret Leinen responded by stating that the AGU Board of Directors would consider the scientists' request at its April board meeting. ExxonMobil is currently under criminal investigation in New York and California for perpetuating information misleading investors and the public about the dangers of climate change.

For more information see:

Inside Climate News, The Guardian, EcoWatch, Letter, AGU blogpost

Sea Levels Are Rising at the Fastest Rate in 3,000 Years

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on February 22 finds that anthropogenic climate change has amplified the rate of sea level rise to a rate greater than any in the last 2,800 years. The scientists' models indicated that without global warming, sea level rise in the 20th century would likely have been between a 3 centimeter (cm) decrease and a 7 cm increase; instead, they observed an increase of about 14 cm. The average sea level rise over the last 27 centuries has been about 8 cm. The study states that if greenhouse gas emission levels continue on their current trajectory, sea level rise rates will continue to increase.

For more information see:

Mashable, Study