Advanced Search
March 6, 2017
The U.S. Department of Defense is moving ahead with its renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives, despite contrasting priorities in the White House. Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy via wikimedia.org.
Newly appointed EPA administrator Scott Pruitt proposed rolling back EPA regulations “in a very aggressive way” during a February 25th speech at the Conservative Political Action summit. Many of these cutbacks are expected to happen in the near-term, with Pruitt specifically naming the Clean Power Plan, the Waters of the United States Rule, and a rule limiting methane emissions from oil and gas extraction facilities on federal land as targets. An Office of Management and Budget proposal obtained by the press backs up Pruitt's assertions. The proposal would cut EPA's budget by 24 percent and reduce its staff by 20 percent. Longstanding EPA programs covering greenhouse gas emissions, water quality, and environmental justice would potentially be eliminated. Thirty-eight individual programs are slated for elimination altogether, including grants to clean up brownfields, funding for Native American communities, and the agency's environmental justice program. EPA's contributions to the multi-agency U.S. Global Change Research Program would also be shut down, in addition to other climate work.
For more information see:
Reuters, Washington Post, CNN
On February 28, the House Science Committee held a hearing to examine the federal government's social cost of carbon metric (SCC). The hearing was intended to discuss the methodology and validity of the SCC as a climate policy tool. The panel of witnesses included representatives from the conservative Cato Institute and Heritage Foundation, in addition to the Brookings Institution and University of Chicago. The Republican committee members and their invited witnesses focused on common GOP criticisms of the SCC, including the incorporation of global costs rather than just U.S. costs, the level at which discount rates are set, and the accuracy of climate-based assumptions. Michael Greenstone, a University of Chicago economist who helped devise the SCC, pointed out that, "A federal court of appeals rejected a legal challenge to the metric [in 2016]." Prof. Greenstone also noted the Government Accountability Office's assessment that the SCC's methods "reflected key principles that ensured its credibility." However, the proceedings eventually reverted to the questioning of basic climate science, with Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL) asking, “Can anyone on the panel give me a date certain, even a year certain, that there was absolutely no climate change on this planet since the forming of it?”
Washington Post
The Department of Defense (DOD) plans to move forward with its decade-long goal of converting operations to run on renewable energy. DOD's reasoning behind the shift has nothing to do with the political fight over climate change, but rather saving lives. Using renewable sources of power reduces the need for convoys to deliver diesel fuel to the electrical generators at U.S. bases situated in conflict zones. The U.S. Navy is also using gas-electric hybrid battleships to save fuel and allow for fewer stops, making them less vulnerable to attack. The amount of renewable electricity generated by the military almost doubled between 2011 and 2015, providing enough power for 286,000 homes. Meanwhile, the number of DOD renewable energy projects has tripled during that same period, with the intention of insulating facilities from natural disasters, cyber attacks, and other vulnerabilities that threaten the public grid. Col. Brian Magnuson, head of the Marine Corps' expeditionary energy office, said, "These technologies are a way to become more effective in combat. This is about war-fighting capability."
For more information:
Reuters
Citing a lack of action by the maritime shipping industry to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, the European Union (EU) has announced plans to bring maritime emissions into its regulatory framework. The European Parliament voted to approve its environment committee’s recommendation that the industry should be added to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), with an amendment that the proposal would only take effect in 2023 if there has been "no comparative action" by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) at that time. The IMO was directed by the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon dioxide pollution from shipping, which today accounts for 2.5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and is projected to emit up to 250 percent more CO2 by 2050. “This cross-party [European Parliament] proposal will end the anomaly of shipping being the only sector in Europe not contributing to the 2030 emissions reduction targets. The benefits to our climate through less warming and to our industry and economy through lower fuel costs cannot be ignored,” said Bill Hemmings, aviation and shipping policy director at Transport and Environment.
Climate Home
Njeri Kabeberi, a grassroots leader who has received plaudits for her activism over the years, has more recently turned her attention to climate change as executive director of Greenpeace Africa. Looking back on her work fighting for gender equality and democratic freedoms in Kenya, Kabeberi realized, "Even if we did well in the human rights and governance area, but then lost our planet, there would be nobody to fight for." Climate change awareness is reportedly low among Africa's population, although over 75 percent of African nations have signed on to the Paris Climate Agreement. According to the World Bank, many African nations are at risk from sea level rise, drought, severe storms, flooding, and agricultural challenges. Kabeberi cites corruption and the actions of large corporations as additional challenges, since they undercut legislative efforts to address climate change in Africa. However, she hopes to use climate change as a rallying point for women who may have otherwise been denied a voice in governance. Kabeberi said, "The level of organization of women, when they are committed to something, when they have good leadership, is very powerful."
National Observer
While partisan polarization continues to stall climate action at the federal level, the debate in Alaska isn’t over whether climate change is happening, but how to discuss it with the Trump administration. As “ground zero for climate change impacts,” renewable energy has bipartisan support in Alaska, especially given the economic burden the region's reliance on fossil fuels presents. However, Alaskans have varying opinions on how to best frame their pitch to the White House for sustainable energy and climate policies. Larry Hartig, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, said, “You would try to tailor it in a way that you would find common ground. I wouldn't speculate a lot on what caused it. I would focus on: What are we going to do for the communities?" State Rep. Andy Josephson has doubts that the Trump administration can be convinced to act, stating, "We can't afford to wait. It's about us right now and what we can do aside from the federal government and federal intervention."
Alaska Dispatch News
Despite bluster from the Trump administration about repealing climate policies, many companies are holding fast to their sustainability targets. Their resolve stems in part from investor pressures to improve their operational sustainability in a push for profits. Many have also sought to integrate environmental and sustainability initiatives into their brand identities. Meanwhile, multinational companies recognize they will have to continue to comply with emission regulations in countries beyond the United States, with some even setting their own targets in line with the Paris Agreement. Danielle Speigel-Field, executive director of the Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy, and Land Use Law at New York University, said, "Companies don't want multiple standards. They don't want to have to make a car for California and a car for Minnesota. They want to make one car for all markets." Dr. Robert Muir-Wood, chief research officer at Risk Management Solutions, added, “I don’t think anything is going to change in terms of how the insurance market views [climate] risk.”
WNYC
With the hope of protecting the struggling coal industry, three companies are trying to frame coal as a contributor to a clean energy future. Executives at Cloud Peak Energy, Peabody Energy, and Arch Coal are lobbying for a bill that would expand federal subsidies for capturing carbon emissions resulting from coal-fired power plants, with the perspective that fossil fuels will continue to make up a significant part of the country's energy profile despite the rapid rise of renewables. Currently, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is an expensive and unwieldy method for reducing point-source CO2 emissions. The legislation would increase the federal tax credit for CCS from $20 to $50 per ton of CO2, while expanding the available credits for storing CO2 through enhanced oil recovery methods. Richard Reavey, vice president for government and public affairs at Cloud Peak Energy, said, “We have to accept that there are reasonable concerns about carbon dioxide and climate, and something has to be done about it."
New York Times
Twenty-six years ago, Shell Oil Company publicly released an informational video warning that the climate was changing “at a rate faster than at any time since the end of the ice age – change too fast perhaps for life to adapt, without severe dislocation.” The film noted that based on the best science available at the time, there were likely to be dire consequences ahead, and that action needed to happen quickly. An internal company report from 1986 viewed by the press also documented Shell's conclusion that climate change would impact "future living standards and food supplies, and could have major social, economic, and political consequences." Despite its own warnings, Shell continued to invest heavily in emission intensive energy resources, such as tar sands, while lobbying against climate action. More recently, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden has gone on record stating, "Climate change is real and we believe that action will be needed."
Large areas of Arctic permafrost in northwest Canada are beginning to break down, releasing large amounts of carbon-rich mud and silt into waterways. According to researchers with the Northwest Territories Geological Survey, “The permafrost collapse is intensifying and causing landslides into rivers and lakes that can choke off life downstream.” While the researchers did not address the issue of greenhouse gas released from thawing permafrost, their findings could help quantify the global scale of the thawing and improve the accuracy of carbon emission estimates. Permafrost is land that has been frozen for the last 10,000 years, but is now thawing faster than ever before due to the Arctic warming at twice the global rate. Permafrost holds trapped greenhouse gases, which are slowly being released into the atmosphere. Scientists estimate that the world's permafrost may contain twice as much CO2 as the planet's atmosphere. Studies by the National Institute of Health found impacts from melting permafrost is harming human food sources in the region, including trout and caribou stocks.
Inside Climate News
EPA Rescinds Request for Oil and Gas Drilling Companies to Submit Methane Emissions Data
EPA's Center for Corporate Climate Leadership Announces Its 2017 Honorees
Marshall Islands Become the First Nation to Ratify the Montreal Protocol's Kigali Amendment
Exxon's New CEO Renews Industry's Call for a Carbon Tax
With Spring Arriving Up to 20 Days Early in Parts of the United States, What Are the Impacts?
Writers: Emma Dietz, Ben Topiel, and Andrew Wollenberg Editor: Brian La Shier
Advancing science-based climate solutions
Top-Rated Climate Nonprofit – 4-Star Charity