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March 23, 2015
This image shows Totten Glacier, a glacier roughly the size of California a March 16 study found is melting at a faster rate than anywhere else in East Antarctica. Totten Glacier holds back a larger volume of ice, that if free to flow into the ocean could lead to over 11 feet of sea level rise. Image courtesy of the Australian Antarctic Division.
On March 19, President Obama signed an Executive Order, directing federal agencies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by a minimum of 40 percent from 2008 levels, and to increase electricity generation from renewable energy 30 percent, by 2025. This order updates a similar order from January 2010, which called for cutting federal agency emissions 28 percent from 2008 levels by 2020. The Federal Government is the largest consumer of energy in the United States, with 360,000 buildings and 650,000 vehicles. President Obama stated, “America once again is going to be leading by example.” Also on March 19, President Obama met with 14 of the largest federal contractors, including IBM, GE, Honeywell, and Northrup Grumman, who all announced or affirmed accompanying commitments to cut GHG emissions.
For more information see:
The New York Times, The Hill, The White House – Fact Sheet, The White House – Press Release
On March 13, category five Cyclone Pam hit the island nation of Vanuatu, destroying roughly 90 percent of buildings and infrastructure in the capital, Port Vila. At least 24 people are confirmed dead, and over 3,300 people have been evacuated from the area. President Baldwin Lonsdale has placed blame on climate change for the cyclone. President Lonsdale stated, “Climate change is contributing to the disasters in Vanuatu. We see the level of sea rise. Change in weather patterns. This year we have heavy rain more than every year.” President Lonsdale has called out to the international community for essential humanitarian aid.
Al-Jazeera, The New York Times, The Guardian
On March 16, in an interview with Vice, President Obama said he believes many Republican politicians will need to begin embracing policies to fight climate change. President Obama said, “I guarantee that the Republican Party will have to change its approach to climate change because voters will insist upon it.” Obama said climate change is a concern for many voters, especially young voters. He added, “There have been times in history where Democrats have been unreasonable, there have been times when Republicans have led the way, but right now, on a lot of the issues that young people care about, it’s not both sides arguing and creating gridlock. You’ve got one side that is denying the facts.”
The Hill, Vice
On March 17, the House GOP released its budget for fiscal year 2016, with $5.5 trillion in cuts over the next nine years. The budget proposal includes cuts to clean energy loan programs and climate change programs in both the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The budget says, “The [DOD] and the [CIA], two of the most important agencies in our national security apparatus, currently spend part of their budget studying climate change . . . there should be room to cut waste, eliminate redundancies and end the abuse or misuse of taxpayer dollars.” Both the CIA and the DOD have stated climate change is a threat to US military readiness, and a “threat multiplier” around the world.
The National Journal, The Hill, The Hill
On March 17, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Clean Power Plan to reduce power plant greenhouse gas emissions under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe testified at the hearing, and told lawmakers the Clean Power Plan is unconstitutional and outside the EPA’s authority, adding, “Burning the Constitution should not become part of our national energy policy.” New York University law professor Richard Revesz testified differently, stating that the EPA’s application of the Clean Air Act is keeping with the last 30 years of its implementation by both Democratic and Republican administrations.
The Washington Post, The Daily Caller, The Daily Climate, Testimony
On March 16, The Guardian launched a campaign asking the world’s two largest charitable foundations, the Welcome Trust and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to divest their endowments from fossil fuels. The campaign, called “Keep it in the Ground,” had 60,000 people join in the first 24 hours. The campaign calls for these two large charitable foundations to divest their stock from the top 200 fossil fuel companies within five years, and immediately put a freeze on any new investments in those 200 companies. “We support divestment as it sends a signal to companies, especially coal companies, that the age of ‘burn what you like, when you like’ cannot continue,” said Nick Nuttall, spokesman for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The Guardian, The Guardian
On March 2, the nation’s largest grid operator, PJM Interconnection, released a new analysis of the economic impacts of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) draft regulation on carbon emissions from existing power plants, called the Clean Power Plan. PJM studied 17 different energy scenarios, with and without the Clean Power Plan, before finding that a regional compliance strategy was generally less costly than when states acted alone, as regions are better able to leverage low-cost options. States acting on their own may also put more of their electricity capacity at risk for retirement. Michael Kormos, executive vice president for operations at PJM, stated that about 6,000 megawatts of mostly coal-fired plants “will most likely retire no matter what.”
Midwest Energy News, E&E News, E&E News, E&E News
On March 16, a study published by Nature Geoscience found that the Totten Glacier is thinning at the fastest rate in East Antarctica. Researchers suggest the glacier is retreating due to warmer ocean water collecting underneath it. The Totten Glacier, which is 90 miles long and 22 miles wide, is losing the “equivalent [of] 100 times the volume of Sydney Harbour [in ice] every year,” according to the Australian Antarctic Division. The Totten Glacier holds back a larger volume of ice, that if free to flow into the ocean could lead to over 11 feet of sea level rise. For the United States, sea level rise from Totten Glacier melting could be 25 percent more than the global average, due to a loss in gravitational pull from Antarctica if sufficient ice melts. Last year, scientists discovered a large part of the West Antarctic ice sheet had begun irreversibly melting (see CCN).
The Washington Post, Study
On March 16, Seattle-based climate change education group More than Scientists launched a video public relations campaign, promoting the personal reasons that motivate scientists to combat climate change. The campaign aims to allow the public to see the personal concerns of climate scientists as parents, citizens, and conservationists. The website features over 200 videos with scientists from all over the world in various climate and atmospheric disciplines. Eric Michelman, the founder of More than Scientists, stated, “We want the public to meet the people behind the science and understand why they care about the world we’re leaving to our kids and grandkids.”
Ecowatch, More Than Scientists.org, Daily Climate
On March 16, London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment released a working paper finding that developed countries need to provide developing countries $400 billion to $2 trillion annually by 2050, if climate change mitigation costs (as a share of GDP) are spread equally across regions. These estimates are higher than developed countries’ current pledge to provide $100 billion annually for climate financing. However, even giving $2 trillion in financing, the costs to the richer developed countries would not exceed 2 percent of their GDP per year. The paper suggests that the gap between current pledges and the recommended new level could be most effectively met by drawing on more private investment.
Blue & Green Tomorrow, The London School of Economics and Political Science
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4. Vice News Feature on Senator Ted Cruz’s Climate Change Denial
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Editor: Laura Small
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