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July 25, 2016
On July 21, the White House announced that it is releasing up to $4.5 billion in loan guarantees for commercial-scale EV charging stations. Image courtesy of the Oregon Department of Transportation.
On July 19, the Obama Administration launched an initiative to expand access to solar panels for low- and middle-income households. The initiative, Clean Energy Savings for All, aims to produce one gigawatt of solar electricity by 2020 through solar installations in low- and moderate-income communities, which would involve an estimated 250,000 homes. The program will be coordinated by six federal agencies. Program participants would not be responsible for paying for the solar upgrades if their home is sold or foreclosed. Additionally, the Department of Energy will be launching a new Solar Training Network to help create solar jobs in low- and moderate-income areas. California Governor Jerry Brown commented that the initiative is, "another important government effort to accelerate the movement to renewable energy and efficient housing so we're not wasting water, we're not wasting gas and electricity, and we're using the sun as much as we can."
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Associated Press, The White House
On July 21, the White House announced that it was partnering with the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Transportation (DOT), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Airforce and the Army to release a number of actions to promote electric vehicles (EVs) and charging infrastructure. To support this work, the White House is releasing up to $4.5 billion in loan guarantees for commercial-scale EV charging stations. In addition, almost 50 vehicle manufacturers, electric utilities, EV charging companies, states and other organizations signed onto the White House's "Guiding Principles to Promote Electric Vehicles and Charging Infrastructure," a commitment to increase EV charging stations.
Reuters, The White House
On July 18, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a draft report finding that vehicle manufacturers are on track to meet current fuel economy and greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2025. The targets are written as an adaptive formula, based on the current mix of vehicles on the road, so car companies will not be meeting the original target of 54.5 miles per gallon (mpg) but 50-52.6 mpg, as low oil prices have increased the number of larger, less fuel efficient vehicles on the road. The study estimates that the cost to automakers of meeting these standards will be $1,100 per vehicle instead of the $1,070 initially projected, but William Becker of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies said, “The 2022-2025 standards are entirely feasible.” The study's publication opens a 60 day public comment period. The standards will not be finalized until 2018.
Bloomberg, Press Release
On July 15, a special assistant attorney general for North Dakota filed suit in the District of Columbia District Court of Appeals against the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) regulations on methane emissions from new, modified and reconstructed sources in the oil and gas industry. The suit claims that EPA exceeded its authority by posing the regulations, saying the rule is "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with law." Methane is a very strong greenhouse gas, which can warm the atmosphere 84 times more than a similar amount of carbon dioxide over 20 years. EPA published a final rule to cut back on methane emissions from new oil and gas operations in June, 2016.
TheBakken.com, The Hill
On June 19, New York’s Governors Island unveiled “the Hills,” a new green park on the southern tip of the island designed to be resilient to climate change. Dutch architecture firm West 8 led the project, which incorporates four raised landfill hills into the landscape of the southern end of the island. The hills are raised and strategically oriented to shield against sea level rise and correspondingly larger storm surges without the use of seawalls, while simultaneously being aesthetically pleasing for park-goers. The Hills are designed under the assumption that sea levels will rise two feet by 2100. The president of Governors Island, Leslie Kosh, comments, “This is really the first park to be really designed as a resilient landscape. And it’s all integrated with the idea of visitor experience.”
The Guardian
On July 15-23, world climate leaders met in Vienna, Austria, to consider a draft amendment to the Montreal Protocol to phase out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The Montreal Protocol phased out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a class of chemicals commonly used as refrigerants, due to their damage of the ozone layer. However, in place of ozone-damaging CFCs companies began using HFCS, which are powerful greenhouse gases that despite their short lifespan can heat the atmosphere up to 1,300 times more than carbon dioxide over a hundred-year period. Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a climate scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said banning HFCs may prevent a global average temperature increase "as high as half to one degree [Celsius] by the end of the century.” The delegates will probably officially approve the amendment at a meeting in Kigali, Rwanda in October.
The Washington Post, United Nations
On July 18, the Republican Party formally adopted its platform, which states, "Climate change is far from this nation's most pressing national security issue. This is the triumph of extremism over common sense, and Congress must stop it." The platform supports leaving the Paris Agreement on climate change, dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and turning it into a commission, overturning a Supreme Court ruling that the EPA must regulate greenhouse gases, stopping regulations on carbon emissions from the power sector (the Clean Power Plan), and calls for opening up federal waters and lands to greater oil, coal and gas extraction. The platform says that the United States should use "all forms of energy that are marketable in a free economy without subsidies," which it says includes nuclear power, natural gas, hydropower, oil, and coal.
The Washington Post, Republican Platform
On July 18, the International Institute for Global Health of the United Nations University published a report highlighting how higher temperatures related to climate change could shrink global economic output by over $2 trillion by 2030. According to the report, extreme temperature in up to 43 countries will shorten laborers’ workdays due to unsafe working conditions. Tord Kjellstrom, a director at the Health and Environmental International Trust, commented that, “With heat stress, you cannot keep up the same intensity of work, and we’ll see reduced speed of work and more rest in labor-intensive industries.” The report also says certain regions could experience decreases in heat-related productivity in many jobs by over 40 percent by 2050, if climate change continues unabated.
Bloomberg, Independent, United Nations University Report
On July 21, the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said 2016 is on track to have the hottest average temperature globally of any year on record, with the first half of the year 2.4 degrees F above the 19th Century average. The WMO found that June this year was the 14th consecutive month that was record-hot, and noted that carbon dioxide's atmospheric concentrations have passed the milestone of 400 parts per million. WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas commented, "Another month, another record. And another. And another."
Phys.org
Most Republicans Who Care about Climate Change Are Skipping RNC
New Study Finds Global Climate Spending Prioritizes Saving Carbon-Rich Forests
House and Senate Divided on Green Climate Fund
Authors: Caitlin Majewski, Daniel Lopez, and Rebecca Chillrud
Editor: Laura Small
Advancing science-based climate solutions
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