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November 10, 2014
Beginning November 1, Beyond Extreme Energy organized a protest outside the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to express dissatisfaction with its recent approval of a natural gas export facility at Cove Point. Over 100 people were arrested. Image courtesy of the Popular Resistance Climate Justice Group.
EPA Reaches $100 Million Settlement with Hyundai and Kai over Clean Air Act Violations
On November 3, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced automakers Hyundai and Kia will be paying $100 million in civil penalties for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA). These violations were discovered during a 2012 audit testing conducted by the EPA that proved the companies’ fuel economy figures were overstated by six miles per gallon on average. Hyundai and Kia have sold over 1 million vehicles that together will emit roughly 4.75 million metric tons of greenhouse gases (GHG) above levels the automakers had presented to the EPA. Attorney General Eric Holder said, “Violations like this compromise key safeguards that preserve fair and open competition in the marketplace by putting other carmakers at a competitive disadvantage.” This fine is the largest ever issued under the CAA. In addition to the $100 million fine, the companies must forfeit GHG credits totaling over $200 million. The companies will also be taking preventative measures to ensure a situation like this does not occur again by spending $50 million to update testing procedures and audit findings.
For more information see:
EPA Settlement, CBS News, Washington Post, CNN Money
EPA Approves Texas Greenhouse Gas Permitting Program
On October 31, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its approval of a state implementation plan from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). This replaces previously existing federal measures which required any Texas projects known to increase greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) to obtain an air permit from the EPA. EPA Regional Administrator, Ron Curry commented, “We have always believed that states are best equipped to run the GHG permitting program and have been tireless in our effort to work with them to do so.” Since 2011, the EPA has received 83 GHG permit applications from Texas businesses, and has issued about 50 of those permits, making Texas the top state in the United States for the amount of GHG permits received.
Oil & Gas Journal, Lexology, Big Country Homepage
DOD Sustainability Plan Says Climate Change Directly Affects Military
On October 31, the Department of Defense issued a Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan (SSPP), saying it is “intended to mitigate the effects of climate change on military operations and national security.” The plan offers a framework for actions up to 2020, including increasing resource efficiency and using more renewable energy. John Conger, Acting Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Installations and Environment, commented, “We are trying to do a job here to protect the country, and [climate change] is one of those trends that might affect our ability to do that. We cannot ignore it. We need to be aware of the risks that it poses.” Effects mentioned in the report include ‘coastal erosion and inundation,’ from sea level rise—especially prevalent in Virginia’s Hampton Roads area, which boasts ‘the largest concentration of U.S. military sites in the world.’ Extreme heat and drought conditions could also pose threats to military training, which in turn will affect the troops’ readiness for real time combat. According to Conger, “There are ‘black flag’ days where when it’s over 90 degrees [and] you can’t have the guys running for their training. It [also] affects live-fire training in that if it’s particularly dry, you can’t use live fire because it’s more likely to set off a fire.”
DOD website, Climate and Security, DOD Plan
Military Leaders Underscore Climate Threats to National Security
On October 28, three former military leaders wrote an op-ed comparing delaying preparations for war to delaying action on climate change. General Zinni (U.S. Marine Corps), General Keys (U.S. Air Force) and Admiral Bowman (U.S. Navy) wrote, “Gen. Douglas MacArthur warned that ‘The history of failure in war can almost be summed up in two words: Too late’. . . Today, as we pass another global heat record, we run the risk of being too late on climate change, endlessly debating causes at the expense of sensible actions.” The Op-Ed cites the Department of Defense's recently released Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap, one of several recent reports warning of the dangerous consequences of climate change, concluding that climate change “poses immediate risks to U.S. national security.” The report underscores the international instability climate change will cause, including, “impairing access to food and water, damaging infrastructure, spreading disease, uprooting and displacing large numbers of people, compelling mass migration, interrupting commercial activity or restricting electricity availability.” The former military leaders urged for political action, saying, “The bad news is that while the military refuses to be ‘too late’ on climate change, short-sighted politics have prevented more robust action to reduce serious and costly risks.”
Op-Ed, The Economist
DOJ Says Federal Court Cannot Block EPA Clean Power Plan Yet
On November 3, the Justice Department released a brief saying federal courts do not have the jurisdiction to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) draft regulations on reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. The brief was issued in response to a request by Murray Energy Corporation to the US Court of Appeals for DC Circuit in June to review the EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan rule before it is finalized. The DOJ stated that Murray Energy’s lawsuit does not have standing because, “It’s claimed injury is not concrete or actual, but rather entirely conjectural.” The DOJ also commented that even if Murray Energy had standing and the court had jurisdiction over this issue, “A writ of prohibition should not be issued because there are no truly extraordinary circumstances justifying intervention into an ongoing agency rulemaking.” Two similar cases were previously filed with the US Court of Appeals DC Circuit against the EPA by Murray Energy and West Virgina.
Politico
Australia Concedes to Include Climate Change in G20 Communiqué
Last week, the Australian government agreed to discuss climate change at the G20 summit in Brisbane after having previously refused to touch on the subject at all, according to a draft communiqué. In June, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said it was “important to ensure that these international meetings don't cover all subjects and illuminate none.” The United States and France, as well as findings in the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report combined to put pressure on the Australian government to allow climate change to be mentioned. Climate change will now fall under the heading of energy efficiency, and has a paragraph in the current draft of the official summary of proceedings. The draft does not list any new commitments for the G20 to consider, and it is doubtful any action will be taken, as the G20 operates on a consensus basis and some member countries are resistant to action. However, discussion and progress at meetings like the G20 are important to achieving an international deal at the United Nations (U.N.) climate change conference in Paris in 2015 for cutting carbon emissions after 2020. Leading climate economist Nicholas Stern says, “The G20 is the most effective forum for the discussion of the growth story of the future, the transition to the low-carbon economy.”
The Guardian, SBS, The Sydney Morning Herald
UK Promises “Strong” Donation to Green Climate Fund in November
On November 3, United Kingdom (UK) energy minister Amber Rudd spoke to an audience at Chatham House in London, stating that the UK will make a large donation to the Green Climate Fund this month. The Green Climate Fund, established in 2010, is tasked with disbursing funds to assist poor countries in taking steps to tackle climate change, including emissions reduction and disaster preparation. This September, French President Francois Hollande pledged $1 billion to the fund, and Germany’s Angela Merkel promised €1 billion as well. Although the exact figure the UK will donate has yet to be finalized, Rudd remarked that “the signs are that it will be good,” suggesting the UK will look to reinforce its position as a leading country in the field of climate change. For the UK government, donations committed to climate change have historically been no more than 10 percent of the total amount spent on aid (0.7 percent of UK GDP). Politicians are working to establish an amount that is not so big that it causes issues domestically, but also not so small that developing nations feel neglected.
Responding To Climate Change
Poll Shows Majority of Midterm Election Voters Support Government Action on Climate Change
On November 3, the Huffington Post and YouGov released the results of a survey assessing climate change attitudes among likely voters ahead of Tuesday's election. According to the survey, 44 percent of respondents said human activity is causing climate change and an additional 33 percent said the climate is changing, but not due to human activity. Likely voters were also asked whether the federal government should regulate greenhouse gases, to which 49 percent responded in favor and 35 percent opposed. Voters also place importance on Congress passing legislation concerning climate change within the next year, and 36 percent of likely voters felt that issues relating to the environment as a whole had not received enough attention going into the midterm elections. While climate change has emerged as a key issue in a few states, the economy and national security have received more attention.
Huffington Post, Poll
Beyond Extreme Energy is Picketing FERC for Issuing Fossil Fuel Permits
On November 1, Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE), a nonviolent coalition, began their week-long campaign against recent decisions made by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). During the week-long protest, over 100 people were arrested. Members are concerned with the recent approval of natural gas exports from Chesapeake Bay, and are calling for greater transparency and public input in the approval process. Kelly Canavan, part of Stopping Extraction and Exports Destruction (SEED), is protesting by locking herself to construction equipment in Solomons, part of the export terminal project. She claims that FERC prioritizes Dominion Resources, the owner of the Cove Point facility, over the concerns of residents, and describes her actions as “a peaceful protest to call attention to the carelessness and injustice that have characterized the course of this project from the beginning.” Dominion’s $3.8 billion terminal, approved by FERC on September 29, would transport a billion cubic feet of natural gas daily, originating from fracking sites across the Appalachians which are then liquified and shipped to Asia. BXE is calling for FERC to withdraw this permit, as well as similar permits issued elsewhere, citing threats “to our health, communities, democracy, property values, environment and climate.”
The Bay Net, Beyond Extreme Energy
Climate Change Is Delaying Disease Reduction Efforts in China
On November 2, a study was published in Nature Climate Change suggesting that disease reduction efforts in China will be thwarted by climate change. Study results show that rising temperatures due to climate change will delay China’s attempts to reduce the spread of infectious diseases by eight months to seven years. Even longer delays could result if less progress is made on clean water and sanitation. Under warmer temperature conditions, water-related disease organisms can grow more quickly, proliferating and increasing the likelihood of human infections. Warmer temperatures also increase the incidence of diseases spread by mosquitoes, such as malaria, dengue fever and Japanese encephalitis, because mosquitoes territory grows as areas previously too cold for the mosquitoes warm up. Recent efforts in China cut deaths from diarrheal diseases 94 percent between 1990 and 2010, and halved the number of people without access to safe drinking water. Further progress on providing clean water and sanitation will also be important in combating these diseases. As of 2011, over 400 million people in China lack access to proper sanitation and piped water in their homes.
The Carbon Brief, Study
Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Important for Near-Term Global Warming Mitigation
On November 4, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA reaffirmed that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are the primary driver of long-term temperature, and underlined the importance of immediate and parallel action to address emissions of both CO2 and short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) to effectively combat climate change. The study notes that reducing emissions from fossil fuels can eliminate emissions of both CO2 and some SLCPs, such as black carbon, although not the short-lived climate pollutant hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), a chemical refrigerant which needs to be addressed separately. Professor V. Ramanathan, at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, stated that the authors “argue CO2 measures will accomplish most of the needed reductions in SLCPs, assuming that we can succeed in immediately reducing fossil fuel CO2 emissions. This recommendation requires careful scrutiny. . . A ‘no-regrets’ policy would take advantage of political opportunity to cut SLCPs as soon as possible to save millions of lives that are at stake and hundreds of tons of crops that are damaged each year by SLCPs.”
In related news on November 4, another study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA calculated that air pollution and climate change caused by short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) has a direct negative impact on India’s rice and grain production, reducing yields by nearly 50 percent in some cases. As the first integrated examination of the role of both SLCPs and other greenhouse gases, the paper found that 90 percent of crop losses were due to direct effects of SLCPs. Changes linked to global warming and precipitation levels accounted for the other 10 percent. The researchers studied historical data on crop yields, emissions, and precipitation patterns, to conclude that black carbon commonly emitted by rural cook stoves, and ground level ozone released from exhaust and industrial emissions, were the pollutants most responsible for India’s crop loss. “These studies show that India has already been negatively affected by recent climate trends,” the study said. While the research is exclusive to India, countries with similar pollution levels are at risk for the same effects. “This study serves as a disturbing example of the damages SLCPs are triggering,” said Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development.
Study, The Guardian, IGSD Press Release, Scientific American, Study
Headlines
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1. The Simpsons Takes on Fracking
2. Birth Control Can Help Mitigate Climate Change
3. Company Turns CO2 into Omega-3 Fatty Acids Usually Sourced from Fish Oil
4. Climate Change-Caused Relocation Increasing Spread of Disease in Ethiopia
5. Science Center Exhibits on Climate Change Relatively Rare, Nationwide
6. Climate Change Increasing Pollen Allergies
Authors: Brendan Ingargiola, Carlos Villacis, Emily Jackson and Angelo Bardales
Editor: Laura Small
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