News brief extra

1. Half of U.S. abnormally dry or in drought conditions
As summer approaches, half the nation is unusually dry, with droughts in many states, causing worry about water shortages and wildfires. The Southwest, Southeast and northern Minnesota are especially dry. The Southeast, where drought is unusual, is having its driest spring in recorded history. In the West, California and Nevada just had their driest 12 months since 1924, and 11 other states are severely dry as well. In one area of California, ranchers are either selling their cattle or taking them out-of-state. Water managers are not reacting forcefully enough to the crisis, Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, told USA Today. In the Southeast, crops are withering and lakes are drying up. The Kissimmee River in Florida has been dry for more than 200 days. Drought is one of the extreme weather conditions predicted from Global Warming, as rain patterns shift and higher temperatures cause more evaporation. (Source: USA Today)

2. House Dems split over CAFE bill that pre-empts states regs
As the Senate gets set to vote this week on a corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) increase to 35 mpg by 2020, a battle is brewing in the House over a CAFE bill offered by Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), and supported by Energy Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) and others from the auto state, that would pre-empt states that have stricter emissions standards. There is strong opposition from California and 12 other states that have passed strong tailpipe legislation. The Boucher bill calls for CAFE standards of 36 mpg for passenger cars by 2021, and 30 mpg for non-passenger cars by 2024. The average on passenger cars now is 27.5 mpg. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said he would offer an amendment in committee to kill the pre-emption provision and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she won’t support the bill. Neither will Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), head of the new Global Warming panel; and 15 state attorneys general sent a letter of objection. A recent poll shows nearly 75% of the pubic wants CAFE at 40 mpg, which would cut 14% of tailpipe emissions by 2018, compared with 3% at 35 mpg. (Sources: Greenwire, E&E News PM, Los Angeles Times)

3. China aims to cut energy for production 20% by 2010
Unveiling China’s first climate action plan last week, Ma Kai, Minister of National Development and Reform, said the country would reduce energy for economic production by 20 percent by the end of the decade and have hydropower, wind, solar and biomass supply 16 percent of its energy needs by 2020. He also said China would expand its forests from 18 percent of its land area to 20 percent by 2010 to help absorb carbon dioxide from the air. But he rejected caps on emissions and again blamed industrialized countries for 75% of the CO2 put in atmosphere during the second half of the 20th century. (Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, AP, Environmental Law and Policy Center)

4. Calif., Conn., Vt. do best job on energy-efficiency policies
California, Connecticut and Vermont have the most energy-efficient public policies in the U.S., according to a scorecard released last week by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The scorecard measures such factors as utility spending, building codes, tax incentives and transportation. Others in the top 10 were Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington. North Dakota ranked last. States are spending about three times as much on energy-efficiency programs as the federal government. Although it's important to reducing greenhouse gases, cap-and-trade programs do not give credit for efficiency improvements. (Source: E&E News PM)

5. Developing countries want credit for GHG they didn’t emit
Fast-developing countries, like China, India, Mexico and Brazil, have slowed the rate of potential growth of their GHG emissions as a byproduct of other policies, they say. Cutting other types of pollution has the side benefit of cutting GHG, and China’s one-child policy has held back population growth, and therefore energy demand. As a result of such policies, developing countries have reduced the growth of GHG emissions by about 500 million tons per year during the past three decades, as compared with what would have happened without them, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. These countries now want credit for slowing their GHG growth. They point out that much of Europe’s reductions under the Kyoto Accord also are the result of other factors. Russia‘s 32% drop from 1990-2004 resulted largely from the collapse of its economy, not from mitigation policies, and the same holds true in much of Eastern Europe, including East Germany. (Source: Reuters)

6. Conditions right for big wind farm in downstate Illinois
Construction could begin this year on a 532-turbine wind farm in downstate Knox and Henry counties. It will be one of the largest in the world. Landowners are paid between $4,000 and $8,000 per turbine to lease the land. Some of the energy will be used locally but developers hope most will be sold to utilities in urban centers like Chicago. A couple of companies are looking to put smaller wind farms in downstate Illinois, as well. Open land, enough wind and transmission infrastructure are attracting the business. (Sources: Environmental Law and Policy Center, Galesburg Registered-Mail)

7. Mayan civilization may have been wiped out by climate
Ancient Egyptian and Mayan civilizations may have collapsed because of climate change, according to British researchers. St. Andrews and University of Wales researchers took samples from the sediment under Lake Tana in Ethiopia, which furnishes water to the lower Nile, and found it could have dried up and ruined Egypt’s farm-based economy 4,200 years ago. And in China and Mexico, evidence suggests lack of rainfall may have caused droughts and famine and contributed to the disappearance of civilizations in both countries more than 1,000 years ago, according to German scientists publishing in the journal Nature. (Source: Greenwire)

8. U.S. companies circumvent tariff on Brazilian ethanol
Some U.S. companies are avoiding a 54-cent/gallon tariff to export cheap and plentiful sugar ethanol from Brazil by moving their operations to the Caribbean. To protect corn ethanol here, the government said the tariff will remain in place until at least 2009. Sugar ethanol is more environmentally friendly and less expensive to make than corn ethanol. Under a Reagan-era law, the companies can buy the inexpensive and abundant Brazilian ethanol, dehydrate it in the Caribbean and ship it to U.S. refiners who will add gasoline to make it useable here. (Source: Greenwire)