House Dems back down on offshore drilling

(Photo of drilling platform off Santa Barbara that caused big spill in 1969 from Flickr and photographer Doc Searls)

Washington Report: Facing the threat that the ban on offshore drilling will be allowed to expire Sept. 30, House Democrats are expanding the drilling provision in their new energy package to include drilling 100 miles offshore and as close as 50 miles off the east and west coasts if states want it. Their ace in the hole is that they haven’t included royalties for the states, which makes it less likely states will opt in. The plan maintains a ban within 125 miles of Florida’s gulf coast until 2022. Also, in an effort to bring coal-state reps onboard, the plan now would spend $10 billion over 10 years on carbon capture and storage technology. A third new item is more vehicles using natural gas as fuel. The package also includes:
• A renewable electricity standard (RES) of 15% by 2020, one-fourth of which can be met with efficiency
• Extension of tax credits for renewable energy and efficiency
• Pressure on oil companies to drill where they have existing leases, such as Alaska
• Repeal of Big Oil tax breaks and royalty subsidies
• Release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
• More money for public transit

The package is expected to go to the Rules Committee Monday and be voted on as early as Tuesday. The GOP has its own bill – The American Energy Bill – which calls for much wider offshore drilling, drilling in ANWR, and more use of oil shale and nuclear plants, as well as expanded renewables and efficiency.

In the Senate, the “Gang of 10” bill picked up 4 more sponsors this week: Susan Collins (R-Me.), Amy Kobluchar (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) and Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), doubling the original 10. That bill is also expected to come up next week, along with two alternatives. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he'd like to vote first on the tax credit extensions before bringing up broader bills. For more on the “Gang of 10” and background on the House bill, see EarthlingAngst’s Sept. 5 post. There is an urgency to pass something before the end of the month, when the offshore moratorium expires, allowing drilling within 3 miles of shore. With elections at hand and public sentiment buying the argument that drilling is the answer, it’s clear that science is not winning out this time. (Source: E&E Daily)


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Hawaii, West Coast metro areas have lowest per capita residential carbon footprints -- why?

(Photo of Honolulu from Flickr and photographer Christopher Dale.)

News Update 1: If you want to reduce your personal carbon footprint, it might be a good idea to move to the West Coast, or possibly Hawaii. In a study of the 100 largest metro areas in the U.S., measuring highway driving and residential energy use, Honolulu came in first. California, Oregon and Washington all did well – in part because of the mild climate and use of hydropower, but also because of aggressive policies on energy pricing, efficiency, and availability of mass transit. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana was second, Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton third and New York City-Long Island-Northern New Jersey 4th. In California, 8 of the 10 largest metro areas were in the top 25. Washington, D.C. ranked last and had a per capita footprint 10 times that of Seattle, which was sixth. Also low on the list were Lexington, Ky., Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Toledo. Among the study’s recommendations for the federal government:
• Set a price on carbon emissions
• Pass a renewable electricity standard
• Invest more in research and development
• Help states reform electricity regulations to reward efficiency
• Give more support to mass transit
For more on the carbon footprint of the 100 metro areas see the Brookings site. (Sources: ClimateWire, New York Times)

Etc.: Warming oceans, wind power, rental cars and other recent global warming news

(Photo of ocean from Flickr and Ibrahim Adeeb)

Warming in one-third of the nation’s oceans is 2-4 times greater than projected in last year’s IPCC report. Climate change, overfishing and pollution are endangering marine animals and fisheries, according to the UN. (PlanetArk)

Global wind power is up 27% from last year. Germany still leads, with 25% of the total, but the U.S. came in second, showing a 5,244 MW increase. Experts attribute the jump in U.S. wind power to federal tax credits and renewable electricity standards in half the states, which require a percent of electricity to be generated from renewable sources. Iowa leads among the states, with 5.5% of its power coming from wind. (Greenwire)

Enterprise Rent-A-Car opened 4 “green” branches in Atlanta because of consumer demand, with 60% of the cars being hybrids, the company said. The nation’s largest rental car agency will have 4,000 hybrids out of a total fleet of 1.1 million. Hertz says it will soon have 3,500 hybrids; Avis 2,500. (Greenwire)

Clean technology investment slumped the first quarter of this year for North America, Europe and Israel. Total investment of $1.25 billion was up 42% over the same quarter last year, but down for the second quarter in a row. The peak was $1.74 billion last summer. (Greenwire)

Ask your rep to support global warming bills

(Photo of Capitol Building from Flickr and photographer Wally Gobetz)

Three global warming bills in the House of Representatives need your help. While your congressman is home on break (until March 30), call and ask him/her to co-sponsor these important bills:
• The Safe Climate Act (HR1590), Rep. Henry Waxman’s (D-Calif.) overall bill calling for 80% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050 (or 2% a year), and telling the EPA to set up vehicle emissions regulations, a renewable electricity standard (RES) and market-based system to cap emissions. This bill is stronger than the Lieberman-Warner bill currently on the floor of the Senate.
• A renewable electricity standard of 20% by 2020 (HR969). This bill from Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Todd Platts (R-Pa.) is similar to their 15% one passed by the House last year but then stripped from the Energy Bill by the Senate.
• The Right to Clean Vehicles Act (HR5560) introduced by Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), which overturns the EPA’s waiver denial to California, which is keeping 13 states from enforcing their own tailpipe emissions standards. A companion bill in the Senate was introduced by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). (Sierra Club)
Find your rep at The House Web site.

Cars come in 'clean' and 'dirty'

(Photo of traffic on Lake Cook Road in Buffalo Grove, Ill., from Flickr and photographer Isipeoria)

Weekly Angst: It’s outrageous. Did you know auto manufacturers make two versions of each model. Some spew more smog-causing hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide, more carbon monoxide and particulates than others. It all depends on what state you live in and whether it has adopted California’s clean-car regulations. If it hasn’t, you get the dirty kind.

Conn., Maine, Md., Mass., N.J., N.Y., Ore., Pa. R.I., Vt., and Wash. have all adopted the California law. They’ve seen a change in air quality. Ariz., Colo., Fla., Ill., Iowa, Minn., N.M. and Utah have it under consideration. And environmental groups are pushing those states to pass the law, even though the U.S. EPA has blocked the latest change, reducing CO2. (Another outrage.)

Many believe the EPA will be overruled by the courts, or a new administration, or the bill introduced by Senate Environment Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), and states that adopt California’s law may soon be able to regulate greenhouse gases too, more stringently than the federal CAFE law allows.

The California standards cut greenhouse-gas tailpipe emissions 30% by 2016, though the EPA-forced lag may change that because it was supposed to start with the 2009 model.

The Sierra Club and other environmental groups are asking for e-mails or calls to your state reps to co-sponsor and support a clean car bill. In Illinois you can do that through the Environmental Law and Policy Center's action network.

Clean cars for Illinois
Illinois is No. 6 in emitting greenhouse gases in the U.S.A. Not a record you want to have. Education maybe, or employment, but not No. 6 in GHG. And transportation contributes about 28% of the global warming pollution in the state.

When Illinois passes a clean car bill, it might cause a tipping point, advocates say, benefiting the entire country. A populous state, with 9 million cars on the road, a victory here could lead to manufacturers deciding it no longer pays to make two versions and all their cars could become cleaner.

The bill in Illinois (H.B 3424) has passed out of committee with House Speaker Michael Madigan (D) as a co-sponsor. It requires 2011 models to meet the stricter emissions standards, which would reduce GHG an estimated 18% by 2020 and 27% by 2030.

Global Warming Solutions Act
The clean car bill is also part of a larger package called the Illinois Global Warming Solutions Act (S.B. 2220). A shell bill, with the details not yet revealed, the Solutions Act also will deal with power plants, efficiency and cap-and-trade. It contains major recommendations from the Illinois Climate Change Advisory Group, appointed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), and helps meet goals of the Midwest Governors Conference. (Stay tuned for more on this package.)

RES already law
If you’re wondering about a renewable electricity standard for Illinois, one was already passed last year. Advocates took advantage of the electric utilities’ request for a rate hike and added in an RES that increases the proportion of renewable energy 2% a year until 2015 and then 1.5% until it reaches 25% in 2025. One caveat though – the changes have to stay within the rate cap set for the utility. Many other states have passed their own RES, which is good because while the U.S. House passed one mandating 15% by 2020, the Senate has rejected it. (Sources: Environment Illinois, Sierra Club, Environmental Law & Policy Center)

Renewable tax credits in Senate stimulus bill

Congressional Round-up: A Senate version of the economic stimulus package, with the addition of green jobs and renewable tax credits, was approved 14-7 by the Finance Committee yesterday. It could go to the floor for a vote any time now, so call your Senators right way at (202)224-3121 and tell them to vote for it. The short-term extension of renewable tax credits is sorely needed because they are due to expire the end of this year. While about 30 Senators are pushing for multi-year extension of the tax credits, to assure investment continues to grow, Energy Chair Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said this is a good start. Clean energy bonds are part of the bill, as well. The House version does not include renewable incentives. (E&E News PM, Sierra Club)

Boxer introduces bill to override EPA on California
Senate Environment Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) introduced a bill Wednesday to overturn the EPA’s refusal to grant California a waiver to enforce its tailpipe-emissions law. S. 2555 directs the EPA to grant the state’s request. Co-sponsors include Democratic Presidential Candidates Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama, as well as Sens. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), Susan Collins (R-Me.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R-R.I.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Me.) If your senators aren’t both on this list, call them right away at (202)224-3121 and urge them to sign on. So far, 17 states have either passed or are in the process of adopting it the California law, so they too are blocked by the EPA decision. (Sierra Club)

Big Coal runs ads in key primary campaign states
Elections: As state regulators and environmental groups object to new coal plants, an organization backed by the coal industry and electric utilities is responding by running a $3.5 million campaign in key primary and caucus states. Americans for Balanced Energy Choices spent $1.3 million in advertising in Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina to put coal in a more favorable light. The message is that coal can be clean, it is needed to meet the country's energy needs, and more plants should be built. The ads talk about low-sulfur coal, carbon sequestration and better environmental controls and sometimes are vague about carbon emissions versus other pollutants. (Washington Post, Greenwire)

Enviro groups give guidance on how to vote Super Tuesday
Who ya gonna vote for for state rep? It could make a big difference as we depend more heavily on state legislatures to push ahead on renewable electricity standards, clean car bills and carbon emissions targets, filling the void left by the feds. Get some guidance on them and congressional candidates from your local chapter of the League of Conservation Voters or Sierra Club, both of which endorse candidates. In Illinois, where many of my readers live, a journalism grad student at Northwestern’s Medill School, Josephine Lee, has written a story about the endorsements here, including a list of those who received both groups’ approval. Also you may want to check back to my post in early January to see presidential candidates' views. (see archives at right, click on last item on January list).

Next president's views on climate change

Weekly angst: Global Warming is not the hot topic it should be at campaign appearances and televised debates (blame the moderators for that). But many of the candidates have clearly stated their positions. Let’s look at the key issues and see where the 4 most viable candidates in each party stand.

CAP-AND-TRADE:
Hillary Clinton: 80% cut by 2050 (from 1990 level), with allowances sold at auction
Barak Obama: 80% cut by 2050 (from 1990 level), with allowances sold at auction
John Edwards: 80% cut by 2050 (from 1990 level), with allowances sold at auction
Bill Richardson: 90% cut by 2050 (from 2006 level), with allowances sold at auction
John McCain: supports mandatory cap-and-trade, was lead author of a bill asking 65% by 2050, no comment on auction vs. free credits.
Mike Huckabee: supports mandatory cap-and-trade (no specifics), no comment on auction vs. free
Rudy Giuliani: opposes mandatory cap-and-trade
Mitt Romney: would consider only if global

RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD (RES):
Clinton: 25% by 2025
Obama: 25% by 2025
Edwards: 25% by 2025
Richardson: 30% by 2020, 50% by 2040
McCain: opposed 10% RES in 2005, opposed cloture on 2007 bill
Huckabee: 15% by 2020, but include nuclear power and clean coal
Giuliani: opposes
Romney: no position

FUEL ECONOMY STANDARD
Clinton: 40 mpg 2020, 55 mpg 2030
Obama: 56 mpg 2026
Edwards: 40 mpg 2016
Richardson: 50 mpg 2020
McCain: supports, but no specifics
Huckabee: 35 mpg 2020
Giuliani: opposes standards
Romney: opposes as stand-alone

NEW COAL PLANTS
Clinton: phased-in requirement that new plants capture carbon
Obama: would consider moratorium if mandatory cap doesn’t slow construction
Edwards: moratorium for plants that don’t capture and store carbon
Richardson: New plants can't emit more carbon than advanced natural gas plants
McCain: supports use of conventional coal
Huckabee: supports conventional coal
Giuliani: supports conventional coal
Romney: supports conventional coal

LIQUID COAL
Clinton: supports if can cut carbon pollution 20% below gasoline
Obama: supports if carbon pollution 20% below gasoline
Edwards: opposes investment
Richardson: opposes investment
McCain: no position
Huckabee: supports
Giuliani: supports
Romney: supports

NUCLEAR ENERGY
Clinton: focus on renewables, but don’t rule out
Obama: focus on renewables, might pursue if waste and safety problems resolved
Edwards: no more nuclear plants
Richardson: should be part of the mix
McCain: should be part of mix
Huckabee: safety concerns mostly unfounded
Giuliani: convinced, based on consulting, that plants can be secure
Romney: develop more aggressively, re-process spent fuel like French

ENERGY CONSUMPTION
Clinton: Reduce 20% from projected levels by 2020
Obama: Reduce intensity 50% by 2030
Edwards: Reduce electricity consumption 15% by 2018
Richardson: 20% increase in productivity by 2020
McCain: supports – no target
Huckabee: supports – no target
Giuliani: opposes mandatory standards
Romney: supports – no target

Global Warming and specific solutions need to be a greater part of the campaign. It’s up to us to ask questions of the candidates to let them know how important this is to us as voters – and to ask for a change of position when we think a candidate’s stance is too soft. For more on the candidates’ views, go to http://www.lcv.org/voterguide.
(Sources: League of Conservation Voters, candidates’ Web sites, New York Times, Los Angeles Times)

Taking stock of where we are

2007 year of acknowledging Global Warming: top stories

* The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releases 4 reports that clearly establish there IS Global Warming and it’s already doing damage.
* Arctic summer ice is less than half what it was in 2006, Greenland loses 19 billion tons more than its previous record and West Antarctica shows large-scale melt, leading top NASA scientist James Hansen to predict we may have passed a “tipping point.”
* Extreme weather hits many parts of the world, including the U.S. where record droughts cause water shortages in the West and Southeast. Wildfires ravage California, and floods swamp Texas, as well as Britain and much of Asia. Australia has the drought of the century and parts of Europe suffer a searing heat wave. In August, 100 all-time heat records are broken around the world. 2007 is the warmest year ever in the Northern Hemisphere.
* China becomes the 800-pound gorilla, likely passing up the U.S. at top emitter of greenhouse gases and building 1-2 new coal plants a week. Demand for oil helps raise prices to near $100 a barrel.
* New Australian prime minister signs the Kyoto Protocol, leaving the U.S. the only industrialized country not to commit to reducing GHG by 2012.
* The U.S. Supreme Court rules that GHG are pollutants under the Clean Air Act and can be regulated by the EPA. But the EPA denies California a waiver to regulate tailpipe emissions, effectively blocking 16 other states.
* The Bush Administration prevents the international conference in Bali from setting specific goals for worldwide carbon cuts.
* Congress passes corporate average fuel ecomony (CAFE) standards of 35 mpg by 2020 and a 5-fold increase in biofuels by 2022, but fails to get enough Senate votes for renewable electricity standards (RES) and tax credit shifts from oil to renewables.
* Cities and states take matters into their own hands, as New York City announces a bold climate plan to reduce GHG 30% by 2030, including a proposal for fees on cars driving into traffic-strangled Manhattan. Chicago awaits unveiling of its massive Climate Action Plan, which will focus heavily on retrofitting buildings to conserve energy. Various states set their own goals, join regional cap-and-trade agreements, and pass RES laws. The Northeast and West lead.
* A worldwide explosion in demand for corn ethanol and other biofuels leads to more deforestation and rising food prices.
* The Energy Independence Act of 2007, a bi-partisan bill by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.) passes out of committee, a milestone because it advocates specific GHG cuts and a cap-and-trade system.
* The Nobel Peace Prize rewards IPCC and Al Gore for their work on Global Warming.

2008 watch: What the U.S. needs to do now to make a difference

*Elect a president who not only cares about Global Warming but will take strong action and lead – both the country and the world.
*Elect a Congress that will act on Global Warming on behalf of the people and planet – not on behalf of Big Oil, Big Coal and other fossil fuel interests. We need 60 votes in the Senate.
*Extend incentives for alternative energy sources, like wind and solar, so they will grow far beyond the puny 2 or 3% of our power they are now. Commit to research on innovative sources of clean energy. Pass an RES bill to force electric power companies to begin using renewable resources.
*Test carbon capture and get it into commercial production as soon as possible. So far, it’s the best way to have “clean coal” and coal is likely to be with us awhile. Stop building new coal plants until they can be clean.
*Work with the rest of the world to quickly set targets for cutting greenhouse gases after 2012, transfer clean-energy technology to developing countries to stop the fossil-fueled boom, stop deforestation, and be much less wasteful.
*Force the EPA to protect, not prostitute, the environment.

News in brief

States sue EPA for denying their right to cut tailpipe emissions
16 states sued the EPA Jan. 2 for refusing California a waiver to restrict CO2 emissions from cars and trucks. The action affected other states as well, because under the Clean Air Act they can adopt either federal or California pollution standards, and many had passed and were waiting to enforce the California tailpipe rules. The EPA’s rationale was that the new federal Energy Bill, mandating 35 mpg fuel economy by 2020, trumps any state tailpipe laws. The California restrictions are stricter than those in the Energy Bill. EPA staff reportedly said California would likely win a lawsuit to reverse the EPA administrator’s decision, but that an auto industry suit would have lost if EPA had granted the waiver. California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown called the decision “shocking in its incoherence and utter failure to provide legal justification.” Joining California in the suit were Ariz., Conn., Del., Ill., Mass., Maine, Md., N.J., N.M., N.Y., Ore., Pa., R.I., Vt. and Wash. The timing of the decision (Dec. 19), right after President Bush signed the Energy Bill, raised suspicion a deal was cut with the auto companies to give them the lesser of two evils. (PlanetArk, Los Angeles Times)

Huge Global Warming teach-in will focus nation on climate
After nearly two years of preparation, Focus the Nation will sponsor a nationwide teach-in at more than 1,000 colleges, high schools and other institutions Jan. 31, to get young people more involved in solving the climate change problem. More than 10,000 volunteers will participate in what the group calls “the biggest teach-in in history.” They’re still looking for teachers, principals and students to take part. Lesson plans are available at http://wwwclimaechangeeducation.org. To get involved or learn more, go to http://www.focusthenation.org. (Source: Focus the Nation)

Low-emission locomotives introduced last month in Texas
Union Pacific put 98 low-emission locomotives into service in December with a $75 million grant from the state of Texas. Multiple diesel engines are turned on and off depending on the load, with an estimated 30% saving in fuel, according to the railroad. Also, nitrogen oxide (a GHG) and particulate matter would be reduced as much as 63%. (Source: Greenwire)

Xtreme weather watch

2008 will be slightly cooler than last year but still in the top 10 warmest years since 1850, British researchers forecast last week. The cooling off is due in large part to a very strong La Niña, England’s Met Office and experts from the University of East Anglia said. A warming trend remains and once La Niña subsides, temperatures should sharply increase, they said. (PlanetArk)

A ferocious Arctic storm pounded California over the weekend, with another storm expected Tuesday. Heavy rain and hurricane-force winds caused power to go out for 1.3 million people in Northern California, as well as some in Oregon and Washington. Thousands in Southern California were told to evacuate canyons where mudslides could be a problem after last year’s fires. The Sierra Nevada mountains were expected to get up to 10 feet of show. Winds gusted up to 70 mph on the Golden Gate bridge and a levee broke in Nevada flooding hundreds of homes. (Associated Press, SFGate, LA Times)

China is suffering its worst drought in a decade, leaving millions short of drinking water and destroying crops. Authorities had to release water from the huge 3 Gorges Dam to help cargo ships stranded in the Yangtze. Worst hit is the usually humid south. China is often plagued by floods and droughts, but meteorologists blame global climate change for increasingly extreme weather. (PlanetArk)

Erratic rain has damaged Brazil's coffee crop. Premature rains, followed by an unusual dry period and then a delayed rainy season has cut the 2008-09 coffee crop 15%, the Costa Rican Coffee Institute said. If the drought had lasted a week longer, the damage would have been even greater, they said. (PlanetArk)

Postscript
Kudos to Rick Telander, sports columnist in the Chicago Sun-Times, who used his whole column Friday to write about Global Warming. He reached a new audience that isn’t usually paying attention. The sports tie-in was that it affects activities like fishing, hunting and skiing. But clearly he’s alarmed by what’s happening and wanted to help spread the word.

Global Warming win short-lived

Weekly angst: The victory in Congress didn’t last very long. A comprehensive energy bill to curb Global Warming passed the House on a 235-181 vote Thursday afternoon. But by Friday morning, opponents had defeated a cloture motion in the Senate, and negotiations were under way to strip the bill of some of its main provisions in order to get the 60 votes needed for passage and have a prayer of getting the president’s signature.

Likely to survive are the 35 mpg corporate fuel economy (CAFE) standards and the biofuels section (though that may be changed). Most likely to go are the requirement for private power plants to get 15% (actually just 11%) of their power from renewable sources like wind, solar and biomass by 2022 and the shift of $21 billion in tax breaks from oil and gas to renewable energy development and efficiency.

But without those provisions, how the devil will we make the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy quickly enough to prevent catastrophic warming? Big oil, coal and power plants won this round and we lost. The fossil fuel economy is barely dented.

The cloture vote, which showed the votes aren't there to prevent a filibuster, put most Democrats on the right side of the issue and most Republicans on the side of fossil fuels. There were some exceptions. GOP Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins (Maine), Norm Coleman (Minn.), Arlen Spector (Pa.), Gordon Smith (Ore.) and John Thune (S.D.) voted with the good guys. (Collins, Coleman and Smith have tough re-election campaigns against Democrats next year). And Dems Evan Bayh (Ind.), Mary Landrieu (La.) and Richard Byrd (W.Va.) voted with the bad guys. If you live in any of their states, let them hear from you.

What was in the House bill
In addition to the 35 mpg CAFE standard for cars and light trucks combined in 2020, and the 15% RES for large investor-owned electric power plants (4 percentage points of which could come from buying offsets) the same year, the bill included:
• A nearly 5-fold increase in biofuels, to 36 billion gallons in 2022, with 21 billion from “advanced” (mostly cellulosic) fuels that cut GHG 50-60% (as opposed to corn, which cuts very little).
• A $21 billion tax package with $13 in new taxes (or eliminated tax breaks) for oil and gas, and incentives for energy efficiency in buildings, appliances, furnaces and lighting, renewable energy sources and plug-in hybrid cars.
• Increased testing of carbon capture and sequestration, the main hope for “clean” coal.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was credited with tough negotiations (mainly with fellow Democrats) to get such a strong bill approved.

The importance of CAFE
The 35 mpg CAFE standard would cut oil consumption by 1.1 million barrels a day in 2020, or the equivalent of taking 28 million cars off the road. This is the first move to raise mileage standards since the oil crisis of the 1970s. In fact, by 1988, with the crisis behind us, the auto companies were building larger cars again and were allowed to meet a 27.5 mpg standard, not the scheduled 28.5. That, of course, didn’t include SUVs, which are classified as light trucks and have a 22 mpg standard. Why is CAFE politically acceptable this year? We can probably thank the lofty price of oil. People are ready to save money at the pump. And the auto industry and UAW were won over by concessions granted to their champion, House Energy Chair John Dingell (D -Mich.), in the form of flex-fuel credits and money to retool.

Efforts to salvage renewables and taxes
Sen. Energy Chair Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said Friday they would negotiate through the weekend in an effort to find some middle ground and salvage the RES and tax portions of the bill – at least partially. They need an additional 7 votes. While 20 states already have their own renewable electricity standards, the Southeast and some Midwest states are concerned they don’t have enough wind to meet the standard. One GOP Senator suggested a much smaller tax package might be OK’d. A chief opponent, the retiring and ill Sen. Pete Domenici (N.M.), ranking member of the Energy Committee, wants nuclear loan guarantees in the bill and reportedly prevailed on fellow Republicans to oppose the bill passed by the House.

Bush veto threat
A final concern, of course, is a presidential veto. Bush doesn’t like the $13 billion in oil and gas taxes or the renewable fuels provision. He wants to include coal-based transportation fuels (which release more CO2 than gasoline) and to pre-empt state laws on alternative fuels. Many in Congress would like to see CAFE standards and energy efficiency, at least, signed into law.

Next step
The aim is to come up with a bill that can pass the Senate with at least 60 votes, and has some chance of getting the president’s signature. Once passed by the Senate, it will have to go back to the House for a vote. Leadership wants to accomplish this before the planned Congressional recess on Dec. 22.
(Sources: PlanetArk, Greenwire, E&E News PM, The End of Nature by Bill McKibben)

Congressional round-up

Lieberman-Warner bill passed out of Boxer's committee
In another milestone this week, the Senate passed its first mandatory cap-and-trade bill out of Sen. Barbara Boxer’s (D-Calif.) Environment and Public Works Committee by an 11-8 vote. The compromise bill, which most environmentalists think is too weak, and opponents think is too strong, will now go to the floor for what promises to be a lively debate, though no one is saying when. The bill covers 80% of the economy, mandating 70% in GHG cuts by 2050. The vast majority of allowances would be given to industries that will be affected, with only a small portion auctioned. Fee credits will be phased out by 2031.

News in brief

Green economy will result in more jobs, studies say
The move from a fossil-fuel to a “green” economy will have a net worldwide job gain, according to a new UN report. In addition to “green collar” jobs, there will be construction, transportation, engineering, manufacturing and sustainable agriculture and forestry jobs, the report said. In Brazil, the ethanol business has created a half-million jobs, and in China 150,000 are employed in solar heating. The jobs will more than make up for layoffs in old fossil-fuel industries, showing a small net gain, the report said. A second study, by the American Solar Energy Society, estimates that in the U.S., policies favoring renewable energy sources and energy efficiency could produce 40 million new jobs and $4.5 trillion in new revenue by 2030. Most of the jobs, 32 million, would be in efficiency measures such as retrofitting buildings, while 8 million would be in the renewables sector, with solar, wind, ethanol and hydrogen cells seeing the most growth. (Source: Greenwire)

Tropical zones expanding as the Earth gets warmer
Tropical regions are pushing north and south toward the poles at a rate much faster than expected. In the past 25 years, they have moved 2.5 degrees latitude, or 140-330 miles, according to a study in the journal Nature Geoscience last week. Climate models had predicted it would take 100 years to move just 2 degrees. The expansion brings with it a shift in high-altitude wind and rain patterns, and affects agricultural zones and water availability. (Source: Greenwire)

Skiers, marchers, bikers protest against climate change
Protestors called attention to Global Warming Sunday in 50 cities around the world. In Berlin, a sculptor carved a polar bear in ice at the Brandenburg Gate. In Auckland, 350 formed “Climate SOS” by lying in the grass at a park. In Taipei, 1,500 marched with signs saying “No carbon dioxide.” In Manila, hundreds rallied with windmills on their heads. In Helsinki, 50 skied on asphalt streets saying, “Give us our snowy winters back.” And here in the U.S., 50 took a polar bear plunge into Walden Pond. (Source: Associated Press)

News from Bali

Climate scientists lose patience, plead for radical action
More than 215 leading climate scientists, some of whom have taken no stance up to now, petitioned the delegates at the Bali UN climate conference to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The petitioners come from more than 2 dozen countries. “The science community is basically fed up,” one signer from Canada told the Associated Press.

Other headlines this first week of the Dec. 3-14 190-nation conference:
* Saving rainforests is a high priority but one about which there is disagreement. The conference is likely to launch pilot projects trying two approaches – trading on the carbon market and using a fund to compensate countries for stopping slash-and-born. Deforestation was not in the Kyoto Protocol but causes 20% of GHG worldwide. Many want it in the next international treaty.
* Carbon capture is not on the Bali agenda. The technology is still unproven and would cost about $1 billion per plant, though ultimately it may be the answer to low- or no-carbon use of coal. Perhaps carbon capture and storage will be part of future talks, Yvo de Boer, top UN climate official, told Reuters.
* The U.S. delegation continues to oppose mandatory cuts of GHG, and made light of the passage of the first cap-and-trade bill from committee onto the Senate floor last week. The National Environmental Trust blasted U.S. greed and waste, saying the country is responsible for 27.8% of cumulative Global Warming.
* Host country Indonesia planted millions of trees to offset the estimated 47,000 tons of carbon dioxide caused by the 12-day conference. The estimate includes air transport to and from Bali. Hosts also eliminated cars from the conference site and provided 200 bicycles for ministers to use if they didn’t want to walk. (Sources: PlanetArk, AP, India Times)

Xtreme weather watch

Rainfall and snowstorms are now more severe. Since 1948, the number of intense storms has increased between 22-26% in the U.S., a new report from Environment America shows. New England and the mid-Atlantic states have been hit the worst. Mass., R.I., Vt., N.Y. and La. have all seen an increase of more than 50%. Climate scientists say this is consistent with Global Warming because warm air holds more moisture. For more, see http://environmentAmerica.org. (New York Times)

Did a cyclone just hit the Northwest? Heavy rain and hurricane-force winds of up to 129 mph hit Oregon and Washington in back-to-back storms last Sunday and Monday. In Bremerton, Wash., rainfall was recorded at 11.78 inches. The storms, which washed out roads, caused mudslides, and resulted in at least 5 deaths, were among the worst in memory. More than 100,000 people were without electricity. One Portland resident noted, “This was really a hurricane – or cyclone – and we never get those here.” (AP)

The cyclone that swamped low-lying Bangladesh last month left a huge humanitarian crisis, the UN said last week. Some 2 million residents need immediate help to save their lives. They need food, shelter, drinking water and sanitation. A total of 8.5 million were affected, more than a half-million homes were completely destroyed and 1.5 million livestock were wiped out. Cyclone Sidr hit with 155 mph winds and a 5-foot storm surge Nov. 15. International aid so far tops $143 million. (PlanetArk)

Take Action

In this season of packages and bags and wrapping paper, think green. Carry one or more canvas or reusable bags with you to put your purchases in. Tell store clerks to keep their paper and plastic bags. Use recycled wrapping paper. And when possible re-use packaging that comes to you from online or catalog items.

Make a year-end donation to environmental groups that do research and fight the good fight for all of us – in Congress, statehouses, elections and courts. They include the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, League of Conservation Voters, Environmental Defense, World Wildlife Federation and Union of Concerned Scientists. And that doesn’t exhaust the list, if you have another favorite. Without them, there would be little, if any, progress.