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May 6, 2016
On May 3, officials announced that former Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa has been nominated by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to be the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). She now faces an approval process from an 11-member UN bureau. Image courtesy of Friends of Europe.
On May 2, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied five petitions on its new source rule, which regulates carbon dioxide emissions from new and modified power plants. The five denied petitions were filed by the Utility Air Regulatory Group (UARG), American Electric Power (AEP), Ameren Corp. (Ameren), the State of Wisconsin (WI) and the Energy and Environment Legal Institute (EELI). Many of the denied petitions alleged that carbon capture technology, used in the standards of performance for new and modified power plants, is not adequately demonstrated commercially. Now that the petitions have been denied, they can potentially be used in future legal arguments against the regulation. EPA is still considering a sixth petition on the use of biomass co-firing with fossil fuels.
For more information see:
Politico, EPA
On May 3, officials announced that former Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa has been nominated by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to be the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). If Espinosa’s appointment is approved by an 11-member U.N. bureau, as expected, she will replace Christiana Figueres this July. Espinosa, who currently serves as Mexico’s ambassador to Germany, earned a standing ovation at UNFCCC talks in 2010 for her role in getting negotiations on track following the breakdown at the summit in Copenhagen in 2009. Her work helped contribute to the Paris Climate Agreement recently signed by 175 nations in New York.
For more information:
Reuters
On May 5, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said that building more coal-fired power plants in south and southeast Asia would be a "disaster for the planet," and would sidetrack the climate goals set in the Paris Agreement. Kim said there are hundreds of new coal-fired power plants being planned in parts of Asia for the next 20 years, predominantly in India, China, Indonesia and Vietnam, to bring power to the tens of millions of people without electricity access. "If Vietnam goes forward with 40 GW of coal, if the entire region implements the coal-based plans right now, I think we are finished," Kim said. Kim made his comments during a climate action summit in Washington, DC.
The Guardian, AP
On May 4, Reuters published an article with data analysis by law firm Haynes & Boones, bankruptcydata.com and Reuters, finding that 59 U.S. oil and gas companies have gone bankrupt in the last two years, approaching levels seen in 2002 and 2003 when there were 68 filings from the telecommunications industry. Reuters talked to a restructuring partner at Akin Gump, Charles Gibbs, who said the oil and gas industries have not had half of the bankruptcies they eventually will. The first quarter in 2016 saw 15 companies file for Chapter 11 protection; Gibbs projected the second quarter will see a larger number filing. The energy sector's struggles are due in part to a 60 percent reduction in oil prices, which the Dow Jones U.S. Oil and Gas Index estimates cut $1.02 trillion in value from U.S. energy companies.
On May 5, ExxonMobil announced it was partnering with FuelCell Energy Inc. to pioneer a way to use fuel cells to capture carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. The fuel cells would cleanly and cheaply, generate power to run the carbon capture technology, reducing cost and emissions. FuelCell Energy says it has designed a system to capture power plant exhaust. The exhaust would power a fuel cell, running the process, while capturing carbon dioxide and 70 percent of nitrogen oxides (which cause smog). The carbon dioxide would then be sequestered underground. The two companies estimate the system could cut a third of the cost of current carbon capture and sequestration technology. This is a "potential game-changer for affordably and efficiently" capturing CO2 emissions, said FuelCell Energy CEO Chip Bottone.
IndustryWeek
On May 5, the Carbon Tracker Initiative released a new study that the world's seven largest private oil companies could increase the value of their upstream assets by $100 billion if they pursue a growth model in line with keeping the global average temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius, as internationally set in the Paris Agreement. The analysis found that it would only make sense to continue on a "business as usual" investment plan if oil prices rose to beyond $120/barrel for an extended period. Furthermore, the study found that if producers were to consider the risk of counting on high oil prices in their investments, it would take prices of $180/barrel for "business as usual" plans to make financial sense. OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, estimates oil prices will long-term be around $80/barrel.
InsideClimateNews, CarbonTracker
On May 3, the Stockholm Environment Institute released a study finding that U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions would decrease by 100 million metric tons annually by 2030 if the government denied new mining leases and let existing leases expire on public lands. The report found that in order to meet the Paris Agreement's target to keep the global average temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, the United States must cut fossil fuel production by 40-60 percent from current levels. As a quarter of current U.S. fossil fuel extraction occurs on federal land, this represents a good start. Michael Lazarus, co-author of the report, clarified, “If we are serious about addressing climate change, there’s no silver bullet. We need policies working hand in hand, not policies that work against each other.”
Guardian, SEI, SEI Study
On May 2, the Global Climate 500 Index, run by the Asset Owners Disclosure Project, released an analysis of how well asset owners globally are including climate risks in investment decisions. The Global Climate Index ranks the 500 world's largest asset owners, such as sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurance companies, foundations and endowments, giving them a rating from AAA to D for those that pass, and an X for companies that have done nothing to mitigate climate risks. The number one asset owner was the Environment Agency Pension Fund (EAPF) in the United Kingdom, and the highest ranking U.S. owner was the New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF).
AODProject, DailyCalifornian
On May 4, a new national poll released by the Citizen Cabinet Initiative and the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland showed that seven in ten registered voters in the United States said they had heard "just a little or nothing at all" about the Clean Power Plan. The Clean Power Plan is a recently finalized Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation on carbon emissions from existing power plants, and is the keystone of President Obama's efforts to reign in climate change. However, after the respondents were given a briefing on what the Clean Power Plan is, seven in ten saw its value for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and eight in ten saw its value for helping public health by improving air quality. Notably, the poll found that of respondents with ties to the coal industry (either they are in it, or have family in it), six in ten support the Clean Power Plan.
E&E News, Poll
On May 3, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune posted an open letter to Charles Koch in response to last month’s Wall Street Journal forum, where a Koch Industries spokeswoman said that Koch acknowledges man-made climate change. In the letter, Brune welcomes Koch to the “not-very-exclusive club that includes the strong majority of Americans, 99+ percent of scientists, nearly all Democratic candidates and a growing number of Republicans, who all believe the same thing.” He goes on to ask that Koch stop using his money to contribute to candidates and organizations that deny climate change exists and join efforts to use more sustainable, renewable sources of energy. Michael Brune commented, “We’re looking at this positively . . . It potentially represents a sea change in climate politics.”
Washington Post, Sierra Club, Wall Street Journal
On May 3, the World Bank released a report that says climate change will exacerbate water scarcity even as demand for water increases, potentially leading to negative economic impacts and security challenges. According to the report, "Within the next 3 decades, the global food system will require between 40 to 50 percent more water; municipal and industrial water demand will increase by 50 to 70 percent; the energy sector will see water demand increase by 85 percent; and the environment, already the residual claimant, may receive even less.” Without enough water to meet increased demand, conditions will worsen in in the Middle East and Africa, costing these regions up to six percent of their GDP by 2050. The report suggests that the increase in water scarcity due to climate change can be combatted with policy decisions and investments that emphasize improved resource allocation, incentives that encourage efficiency, and building better infrastructure.
Washington Post, World Bank
The First Climate Refugees in the United States
Birds Adjust to Climate Change by Altering Egg-Laying Time
Colorado Court Strikes Down Local Fracking Bans
Polling Shows that Even in States Suing Over Clean Power Plan, Public Supports It
Coal Use Shrinking in States Suing Over Clean Power Plan
Fort McMurray in Canada Burns
Authors: Ethan Anabel, Laura Small
Editor: Laura Small
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