News extra

1. Senate OKs weakened energy bill; Reid vows to try again
Half a loaf. That’s what we got Thursday night after weeks of wrangling and intense lobbying over renewable energy, tax incentives, auto fuel economy, biofuels and what to do about coal. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said after the vote he plans to revive the parts of the package that didn’t make it. The good news – as you no doubt have heard – is that the Senate, for the first time in 30 years, increased corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards, to 35 mpg by 2020, including light trucks and SUVs. That’s about 10 mpg above the current level. It means each auto company must average that mileage for its new vehicles. To sweeten the deal, the majority gave auto companies financial incentives to improve technology and dropped a requirement for yearly 4% increases in CAFE from 2021-2030. The Senate also approved a biofuels mandate of 26 billion gallons by 2022, 21 billion of which must be “advanced” biofuels like cellulosic ethanol, which is much more environment-friendly than corn. Also in the bill: higher energy efficiency standards for appliances and lighting. The bad news is they couldn’t quite muster the 60 senators needed to vote on a mandate for utility companies to use 15% renewable energy by 2020, even after a compromise allowing 4% of that 15% to be in efficiency. Nor were they able to vote on a plan to cut tax subsidies for oil and gas to finance research and production of renewables like wind and solar, which would have helped the clean energy sources compete. Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said he’ll keep working on the tax bill, and Reid vowed to revive both that and the renewables mandate later in the year. CAFE still faces rough going in the House, where Energy Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) is a friend of the auto industry. (Sources: E&E Daily, E&E News PM, AP)

2. House puts off controversial issues like CAFE and coal until fall
The House is behind the Senate but still hopes to pass an energy package by July 4. Energy Chair Dingell has put off “controversial” issues like CAFE, an alternative fuels mandate and coal-to-liquid fuel until fall. "My own judgment is that we are going to have to adopt a cap-and-trade system and some form of carbon emission fee to achieve the reductions we need," he said. An economy-wide restriction on GHG emissions could take some heat off the auto industry. His committee still intends to mark up for summer passage energy legislation dealing with efficiency standards, a smart electricity grid, incentives for a renewable fuels infrastructure and programs for development of alternative vehicle technology, according to E&E Daily. The House Ways and Means Committee has sent an energy bill to the floor (H.R. 2776), which uses a rollback in oil tax breaks to finance $16 billion in incentives for renewable energy and efficiency. Included are a first-time incentive for wave and tidal energy as well as extension of tax credits for wind and biomass (8 years), solar and fuel cells (4 years), and biodiesel (2 years). It closes the “SUV loophole” that give tax credits to businesses to buy larger vehicles, restricting them to several specific uses, and there’s a new $4,000 credit for plug-in hybrids. A 50-cent-per-gallon credit for cellulosic fuel would be added to the existing 50-cent one for ethanol. In addition, $6 billion in "green" tax credit bonds would be available to local governments for efficiency and alternative energy projects. And the Transportation Committee has OK’d H.R. 2701, which provides $850 million each of the next 2 fiscal years to expand mass transit service, subsidize alternative-fuel equipment, buy cleaner locomotives and improve regional railroads. (Sources: E&E Daily, Greenwire)

3. Earth in ‘imminent peril’ from Global Warming, scientists say
While Congress fiddles, the planet burns. Six leading scientists have published a stark warning that the Earth is in imminent danger from a sea-level rise of several meters (a meter is about 39 inches) by 2100, much higher than predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which didn’t consider feedbacks. Civilization itself, and the infrastructure it built, are threatened by Global Warming, they said in a paper published in the peer-reviewed Philosophic Transactions of the Royal Society A. "Recent greenhouse gas emissions place the Earth perilously close to dramatic climate change that could run out of control, with great dangers for humans and other creatures," they wrote, and only intense efforts to curb man-made GHG emissions can keep climate near the range of the past million years. We have about 10 years to put into effect the draconian measures needed to curb CO2 emissions quickly enough to avert a dangerous rise in global temperature, according to lead author James Hansen, of NASA. The scientists concluded that “planetary rescue almost surely requires a means of extracting [GHG] from the air." (Source: The Independent UK)

4. LiveEarth concerts July 7 will launch worldwide campaign
The 24-hour LiveEarth event, on 7 continents with more than 100 top musicians, is much more than entertainment. It is the start of a global campaign by the Alliance for Climate Protection, the Climate Group, corporations, governments and others to take on Global Warming. The concerts will be broadcast on NBC, with Internet coverage at www.liveearth.MSN.com. Al Gore, chairman of the Alliance, is asking people to host house parties and will furnish a short video to those who sign up, at www.joinliveearth.org/gore. When it’s over you can upload pictures of your party. But more important, everyone will be encouraged to get involved and take action against climate change. The concerts will be in New York, London, Johannesburg, Rio de Janiero, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, Hamburg, Istanbul and Antarctica. Artists for the New York concert include The Police, Smashing Pumpkins, Dave Matthews Band, Bon Jovi, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Melissa Etheridge and many others. For more information, go to www.liveearth.org. (Sources: algore.com, liveearth.org.)

5. Sacred Ganges River at risk as Himalayan glaciers shrink
The rapid retreat of the glacier feeding the Ganges River in India may be the first example of Global Warming interfering with religion. The Ganges (or Ganga, as it’s called there) attracts millions of pilgrims and is known as a place for prayer rituals. Many believe cremation beside the Ganga helps Hindus reach a state of nirvana. Yet the river could just about dry up in another generation, as the Gangotri glacier, which feeds it in dry summer months, retreats 40 yards a year, twice as fast as 20 years ago. Scientists say the Himalayan glaciers could be gone by 2030. If they are, it would threaten much of Asia’s water supply, as well. Environmentalists in India are calling for strict reductions in greenhouse gases, but the government has taken the position that the U.S. and other industrialized countries should act first. (Source: Washington Post)

6. Worldwide investment in renewable energy is booming
$70.9 billion was invested in renewable energy last year, a U.N. report said last week. This is a 43% increase from 2006. And first-quarter growth in 2007 confirms the trend is continuing. The report, “Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2007,” says the renewables boom has already surpassed the dot.com boom in duration and investment, “and shows no sign of abating.” Other findings:
* While renewables are getting 18% of the investment in energy production, they are still is just 2% of the market.
* European energy companies like BP and Shell are investing more than U.S. firms.
* 60% more venture capital and private equity were invested first quarter this year than the same period last year.
* Investment in wind power leads with 38% of the total, followed by biofuels (26%) and solar (16%).
* While the strongest markets are in the U.S. and Europe, there is also increased investment in Brazil, China and India. Biofuels lead in Brazil, while wind is first in India, and solar in China. (Source: Greenwire)

7. California must wait until year’s end for EPA decision on autos
The EPA said last week California will have to wait a few months longer – like maybe till the end of the year – to learn if it can enforce its strict tailpipe emissions law. Administrator Stephen Johnson said he needs time to weigh public comments and scientific information. Five years ago, California passed the law to cut auto GHG emissions 20% by 2012 and 30% by 2016. Since then 11 other states have followed suit. But California has been blocked from enforcing its law, first by auto industry lawsuits, and then while the Supreme Court weighed whether the EPA had authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. After the Court’s ruling earlier this year, that the EPA did indeed have that authority, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) immediately asked for a waiver so he could finally begin enforcing California’s law. Other states are watching intently to see what happens. A spokeswoman for the increasingly impatient governor said he had not reversed an earlier plan to sue EPA if he didn’t get an answer by Oct. 22. (Source: E&E Daily)