Advanced Search
June 15, 2015
This image, taken June 7, shows the G7 leaders walking through a field at Schloss Elmau in Bavaria, Germany, on the first day of the G7 meeting. During the meeting, the G7 announced their support for an international deal on climate, and pledged to work to reduce global emissions. Image courtesy of the White House.
On June 9, the House Committee on Appropriations proposed a spending bill for fiscal year 2016 for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Interior Department, and other related agencies, which would stop the EPA from implementing its proposed regulations on greenhouse gas emissions from existing and new power plants. The bill would cut $718 million, or 9 percent, compared to fiscal year 2015 from EPA’s budget, allocating the agency a total of $7.4 billion. The bill also withholds $69 million from regulatory programs and reduces the EPA’s staffing to 15,000 people, its 1989 staffing levels. Policy analyst Lukas Ross from Friends of the Earth said, “This is a draconian proposal . . . Using funding levels as their weapon of choice, the House Republican leadership is launching a frontal assault against our bedrock environmental protections.”
For more information see:
National Journal, Associated Press, The Hill, Bill
On June 9, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) added an anti-climate action amendment to the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) bill, which needed to be passed in order to pass the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) bill. TPA, the so-called “fast-track” bill, would allow President Obama to more rapidly seal a controversial 12-nation trade deal in the Pacific called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Rep. Ryan’s amendment, introduced at the request of Rep. Sensenbrenner (R-WI), would “ensure that trade agreements do not require changes to U.S. law or obligate the United States with respect to global warming or climate change.” The amendment is an attempt to prevent President Obama from circumventing necessary Congressional approval of any binding international climate deal. On June 12, the TAA failed to pass in the House, scuttling the TPA. House Republicans have called for a re-vote by Tuesday next week.
National Journal, The New York Times, Washington Examiner, The New York Times
On June 10, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) unveiled the “American Opportunity Carbon Fee Act,” legislation that would establish a $42 fee for every metric ton of carbon emitted in the United States. The act would return all revenue made from the fee to the American people in the form of payroll tax cuts, social security benefits, and lower corporate tax rates, among other listed options. The Senators chose to announce this legislation at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, with the hopes of drawing support from Republicans for their bill, which they believe aligns with conservative economic principles. Senator Schatz stated, “With this bill we can take control of our economic future. This is one of the most straightforward solutions to climate change, and has growing support across the ideological spectrum,” said Schatz.”
American Enterprise Institute, Senator Whitehouse, The Hill
On June 10, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a finding that greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft endanger human health by contributing to climate change, which will require the agency to adopt new emissions standards for the aviation sector. U.S. aircraft emit 29 percent of all global aviation emissions, and the industry remains the largest unregulated American transportation sector. The EPA will be adopting emissions standards released from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an agency of the United Nations, which has been working to establish an international standard for carbon emissions from new planes since 2009. The ICAO standard will likely be released in 2016, after which the EPA will act. Since the ICAO’s likely standard will only apply to aircraft designed after 2020, it is predicted to affect only five percent of aircraft by 2030.
Reuters, New York Times, EPA
On June 8, the Group of 7 (G-7), a group of seven of the world’s leading economies, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Italy, Germany and Canada, concluded a summit in which the need to address climate change was a primary focus. The G-7 announced a nonbinding pledge to eliminate fossil fuel emissions from all sectors of the economy by the end of this century, and achieve a low-carbon energy sector by 2050. In an official declaration, the G-7 countries stated, “We commit to doing our part to achieve a low-carbon global economy in the long-term, including developing and deploying innovative technologies striving for a transformation of the energy sectors by 2050.” This pledge supports coming United Nations climate negotiations in Paris this December, where many hope to achieve an international agreement on emissions reductions.
Reuters, BBC, The Hindu, Declaration
On June 5, Norway announced it will divest its government pension fund—valued at $890 billion, the largest in the world—from stocks in companies that rely on coal for at least 30 percent of their business, such as power providers or mining companies. An analysis suggests the new policy will trigger the sale of $8 billion in investments, in the largest fossil fuel divestment to date. Norway will debut an adjusted portfolio starting next year. While the statement is hailed as significant progress, many point out that Norway remains a large producer of oil and gas and has made no plans to shift its investments in these industries, which are seen as the source of the fund’s wealth. Furthermore, as fossil fuel divestment announcements keep on making headlines, people on all sides of the issue continue to weigh in on whether the strategy is effective in advancing the environmental cause.
New York Times, The Guardian
On June 8, two research institutes at the London School of Economics together released a study revealing that China’s greenhouse gas emissions will most likely peak in 2025, and could peak even earlier. This date is much earlier than the upper limit peak year of 2030 that President Xi Jinping set in a November 2014 bilateral deal with the United States. The study suggests China’s emissions will hit levels of 12.5 – 14 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2025, after which emissions will decline. In a statement, the research institutes note, “This finding suggests it is increasingly likely that the world will avoid global warming of more than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.” Two degrees Celsius, the equivalent of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, is the United Nation’s uppermost limit before global temperature increases become very dangerous.
The Economic Times, The Guardian, Sky News, South China Morning Post, Press Release
On June 9, the U.S. District Court of Appeals for Washington D.C. dismissed a lawsuit brought by Murray Energy and 14 states against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Clean Power Plan, stating that it was unprecedented for the courts to block an unfinalized regulation. Judge Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the court opinion, “They want us to do something that they candidly acknowledge we have never done before: review the legality of a proposed rule.” The draft regulation, which aims to reduce carbon emissions from existing power plants, is expected to face significant challenges once finalized in August. Murray Energy remarked, “While we were disappointed by the Court’s decision, we will fully litigate the rule once it is formally finalized by the Obama EPA and we will prevail.”
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg BNA
On June 9, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) released a report stating that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan, a proposed regulation on carbon emissions from existing power plants, would result in a net increase of 360,000 new jobs by 2020, with continued slower net job gains amounting to 15,000 jobs by 2030. The EPA has estimated its regulation would create 120,000 jobs and cause 24,000 job losses, but the EPI report says these estimates “undercount both positive and negative influences on employment.” EPI adds that job losses will be likely concentrated in already poor states, increasing the challenge for unemployed workers seeking new jobs. EPI suggests that the federal government should create aid and policies to help these workers.
The Hill, Report
On June 8, North Carolina businessman and noted Republican donor Jay Faison pledged $175 million towards a campaign to shift his party’s stance on climate and clean energy, $165 million of which will augment his ClearPath Foundation, in an effort to communicate progressive energy and climate perspectives through digital advocacy, with another $10 million going to a political advocacy nonprofit. In an interview with National Journal, Faison stated his fear that Republican candidates’ reluctance to prioritize climate and energy issues is losing them votes, especially among the younger demographic, while Democrats capitalize. Still, Faison remains an outsider among conservatives, but says he is getting support from “people that are tired of the old arguments.”
Politico, National Journal
On June 6, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina acknowledged that climate change is occurring during an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” in Boone, Iowa. Graham also expressed his intent to tackle carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in a “business-friendly way” if he wins the GOP presidential nomination. The senator noted that other presidential hopefuls in his party have not released plans for how they would tackle climate change and other environmental issues. According to Graham, “Here’s a question you need to ask everybody running as a Republican: What is the environmental policy of the Republican policy? When I ask that question, I get a blank stare.”
Politico, CNN
=====================
Bonn Meeting Ends With Last-Minute Compromise
The New York Times Editorial Board Calls for Price on Carbon
White House Plans Faith-Climate Summit in Advance of Pope’s Encyclical
Stakeholders Ask EPA for Several Days Notice Before Releasing Clean Power Plan
Study Questions Whether Geoengineering Could Help Destabilized West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Stanford and Cal Study Say US Can Switch to 100% Renewable Energy
Massachusetts Considering Divesting $62 Billion State Pension Fund from Fossil Fuels
Climate Skeptic Sen. Inhofe Tells Conference Climate Change Is About Global Control
18th Annual Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO + Forum
Thursday, July 9 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
Cannon House Office Building - Caucus Room 345 & Room 334 C Street SE & 1st St, SE
The 18th Annual Congressional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO and Policy Forum will bring together up to 50 businesses, trade associations, and government agencies to showcase renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. In every state across the country, these technologies are having a significant impact in business development and job creation in the manufacturing, transmission, power, transportation, and building sectors. The House Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Caucus and the Senate Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Caucusare honorary co-hosts of the Expo.
The Expo is free, open to the public, and no RSVPs are required.
Have efficiency and renewable energy technologies to showcase? Register to exhibit! Visit sustainableenergy.org for more information.
Do you like receiving Climate Change News? If so, please consider taking 2 minutes to say why EESI’s CCN is useful to you! Your review on the Yelp of nonprofits, GreatNonprofits, will help us continue to release this newsletter every week. We just need five more reviews to be named a “2015 Top-Rated Nonprofit!” Review EESI at www.eesi.org/rate.
Authors: Sharmen Hettipola, Ori Gutin, Billy Lee, and Sunny Sowards
Editor: Laura Small
Advancing science-based climate solutions
Top-Rated Climate Nonprofit – 4-Star Charity