Climate Change News - July 29, 2013

Vice President Biden Pushes for HFC Reduction during India Visit

During a visit to India the week of July 22, Vice President Joe Biden highlighted the potential to reduce hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a potent set of greenhouse gases, under the Montreal Protocol. Following a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Biden gave a speech at the Bombay Stock Exchange on July 24 about the need for both the United States and India to address the problem of climate change. Biden stated, “One thing we can do together right now is address pollutants called hydrofluorocarbons [. . .] HFCs found in air conditioners and other products make an outsized contribution to climate change. I hope that India will join the United States, China and more than 100 other countries to work within the Montreal Protocols to phase down the production and consumption of HFCs.” The United States, Canada and Mexico have introduced an amendment to phase down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol (see April 22 issue). “When India agrees to the HFC amendment, as China's President Xi did in his summit last month with President Obama, the world will be assured of climate mitigation equivalent to 100 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2050 – five to 10 times more that the Kyoto Protocol has done to date,” said Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute of Governance and Sustainable Development. President Obama has made phasing down HFCs a central part of his Climate Action Plan (see July 1 issue).

For additional information see: Speech Transcript , New York Times , The Hill

Gov. O’Malley Outlines Plan to Reduce Maryland GHG Emissions 25 Percent by 2020

On July 25, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley announced a plan to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020. The announcement came at a climate change summit at the Maritime Institute in Linthicum, Maryland. Strategies to reach this goal under the plan include creating initiatives to develop offshore wind; promoting solar energy policy; increasing Maryland’s renewable portfolio standard to 25 percent by 2020; and enhancing the EmPOWER program, which is designed to reduce per capita electricity consumption and peak demand by 15 percent by 2015. In addition, the plan outlines increasing Maryland’s recycling rate, eliminating 85 percent of Maryland’s solid waste by 2030, and managing forests to capture and store carbon. O’Malley stated, “As severe weather events continue to grow in size and impact, and elongated trends of poor air quality continue, the costs of inaction would grow exponentially. In Maryland, we are moving forward and taking action by creating green jobs and protecting our land, water, air and public health.”

For additional information see: Baltimore Sun , Washington Post , Speech , Plan

The Obama Administration Advances Energy Efficiency Targets from Climate Action Plan

The Obama Administration has taken measures through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to advance the energy efficiency provisions outlined in the President’s Climate Action Plan (see July 1 issue). As part of these measures, the EPA has upgraded the online “Portfolio Manager,” a tool from the federal EnergyStar building and appliance efficiency program that is designed to help businesses track energy use to meet the goals of the “Better Buildings Challenge.” At the same time, the FHA is working to integrate energy efficiency in home mortgages. The White House is also making efforts to work on building efficiency internationally through the Major Economies Forum (MEF) on Energy and Climate meeting in Poland. A senior official commented on the efforts, stating, “This is a really aggressive campaign across the federal government and something that is a priority not only for the president, but a number of agencies, and we are looking at opportunities domestically and internationally.”

For additional information see: The Hill

90 Percent of Companies See Climate Change as a Risk

A poll of top global companies found that the almost all see climate change as a risk to business operations. The report, “Weathering the Storm: Building Business Resilience to Climate Change,” released by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), found that 90 percent of companies in the Standard & Poor’s Global 100 Index view extreme weather and climate change as risks. Top concerns of businesses included damage to physical facilities, loss or disruption of water and power supplies, the disruption of supply and distribution chains and rising costs to operate in severe weather. The report also found that despite these concerns, relatively few businesses are working to address climate risks. The C2ES report states, “[T]he research reveals that while the vast majority of companies recognize risks from extreme weather and climate change, and many see these risks in the present or near term, uncertainty about the precise nature, timing and severity of climate impacts often inhibits investment in resilience beyond ‘business as usual.’”

For additional information see: E&E Publishing , The Hill , Report

A Rapid Release of Methane from Arctic Seabed Could Advance Climate Change by 35 Years

A July 25 article published in Nature assesses the economic costs of the release of methane from a melting Arctic. According to University of Cambridge and Erasmus University researchers, the economic gains from the freeing of the vast oil and gas reserves due to climate change do not outweigh the costs of the melting of the Arctic, a region which plays a key role in the regulation of the Earth’s climate. Scientists have estimated that up to 50 billion tonnes of shallow permafrost methane could be released in the Arctic within the next 10 years, raising atmospheric methane concentrations 12-fold. The influx of permafrost methane – a pollutant with 25 times higher Global Warming Potential than carbon dioxide over a 100 year timescale – could hasten the arrival of a two degrees Celsius rise in global average temperatures by 15 to 35 years, as well as add an additional $60 trillion to the estimated costs of climate change. The bulk of the impacts of the increased warming will be felt by developing nations in Africa, Asia, and South America in the forms of crop failure, extreme weather and sea level rise. The report authors assert, “There is a steep global price tag attached to physical changes in the Arctic, notwithstanding the short-term economic gains for Arctic nations and some industries.”

For additional information see: Reuters , New Scientist , Study

Slowdown in Surface Temperature Increase Partially Due to Warming of the Deep Oceans

The Met Office, the United Kingdom’s weather and climate service, announced on July 22 that the amount of heat absorbed by the oceans has increased in recent years. Scientists found that this heat absorption by the deep oceans may explain the slight slowdown in the increase of global surface temperatures since 1990. Despite the slowdown in temperature increase, recent annual temperatures have still been well above historic norms, with years from 2000 to 2012 compromising 12 of the 14 hottest years ever recorded. Peter Stott, head of climate monitoring at the Met Office, stated, “Global surface temperatures remain high. [. . .] [T]he lower troposphere – the atmosphere above the surface – is continuing to warm in recent years, and combined with the cooling in the stratosphere this is a distinctive fingerprint to the effects of greenhouse gases on the climate system.”

For additional information see: Guardian , The Telegraph

Report: Natural Gas Use Must Peak in U.S. by 2030 to Avoid Worst Climate Impacts

A report released July 24 by the Center for American Progress (CAP) concludes that to meet President Obama’s 2030 target of reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions 42 percent from 2005 levels, use of natural gas in the United States must peak in the next seven to 17 years. Increased use of natural gas has been favored by policymakers as a near-term solution to achieving CO2 emission reductions by switching from coal, with natural gas-fired power plants emitting 55 percent less CO2 than coal-fired plants. However, the report authors Darryl Banks, vice president of energy policy at CAP, and Gwynne Taraska, research director of the George Mason University Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, caution that investments in new natural gas fired power plants will inadvertently result in long-term dependence on natural gas, resulting in an inability to meet 2030 reduction targets. Thus, use must peak by 2030. The report states, “It is clear that a long-term heavy reliance on natural gas beyond 2030 is incompatible with the emissions reductions necessary to stave off the worst impacts of climate change.”

For additional information see: Responding to Climate Change , Report

Maryland Assesses Impact of Rising Sea Levels

A report by the Maryland Climate Change Commission coupled with a new web tool from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration helps Maryland residents understand rising sea levels along the coast. The report predicts that climate change will inundate Maryland with up to six feet of seawater over the next century. Climate change will particularly affect Baltimore, Annapolis, St. Michaels, and the lower half of the Delmarva Peninsula, with the lower lying areas of Maryland experiencing drastic flooding and wind damage from extreme weather events. Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, said, “Our estimate is we should prepare for a sea level that’s going to be almost up to my chest, well over my knees. We better prepare for that. We need to be ready to make some difficult and tough decisions about what we’re going to protect.”

For additional information see: Washington Post , Report , Web Tool

200 Christian Climate Scientists Urge Congress to Act on Global Warming

Two hundred evangelical Christian scientists, including climatologists, biologists and chemists, signed a letter urging Congress to pass legislation to reduce carbon emissions and protect the environment. The letter includes scripture quotes, such as, “We as a society risk being counted among ‘those who destroy the earth’ (Revelation 11:18).” Signee Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University, commented on the letter, stating, “Climate change gets turned into a polarizing issue. There are 200 of us, people who specifically have climate science expertise. We wanted to tell our community and nation that not only does science compel us to get involved, but that also faith compels us.”

For additional information see: E&E Publishing

Young Voters Overwhelmingly Support President’s Climate Action Plan

A new bipartisan poll released July 24 and conducted by the Democratic firm Benenson Strategy Group and the Republican firm GS Strategy Group finds that young voters overwhelmingly support President Obama’s climate change policies. The poll, commissioned by the League of Conservation Voters, found that 80 percent of voters under 35 support the President’s Climate Action Plan. Additionally, 79 percent of those polled would be more likely to vote for a candidate that supported the president’s plan, while 73 percent said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate that did not support the plan. The plan also found support with young Republicans, with 52 percent stating that they would not vote for someone who did not support the Climate Action Plan. Based the findings, Greg Strimple, president of GS Strategy Group, called for change in policy from the Republican party, stating, “As a Republican party strategist I believe that Republican candidates [and] Republican elected officials need to find ways to demonstrate tolerance and understanding of what a young generation of voters need to see occurring.”

For additional information see: Guardian , Poll