Saturday, March 21, 2015

CLIMATE CHANGE NEWS FOR MARCH 2015

CC NEWS FOR MARCH 2015

Delaware’s Senator Chris Coons gave an excellent 16.9-minute talk on climate change, published on June 11, 2014.  It’s well worth listening to, and is on the web at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0XIhenchLo

David Roberts has an interesting article in the Feb. 13 issue of Grist titled, The fight over Obama’s Clean Power Plan heats up in the states.  In it he analyzes what is likely to happen in each of the states in dealing with the EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) for reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuel-burning power plants.  The rule is to be finalized this summer; it will require each state to develop a State Implementation Plan (SIP).  If a state doesn’t develop one, EPA will develop one for it.   Roberts concludes that 14 states are very likely to cooperate as they have already signed a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy voicing strong support for the CPP.  Ten have Democratic governors - California, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Four have Republican governors, but are heavily blue: Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Maine. Among the 14 are all nine states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), and the three states on the West Coast - California, Oregon and Washington.  Twelve states — Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming — have already signed on to a lawsuit against EPA, which they are likely to lose, but which allows them to score political points from their Republican base.  The other 34 states that have been more quiet are described by Rogers as ‘bet hedgers’.  At: http://grist.org/climate-energy/the-fight-over-obamas-clean-power-plan-heats-up-in-the-states/

The NY Times for Feb. 22 has an article by Justin Gillis and John Schwartz titled, Deeper Ties to Corporate Cash for Doubtful Climate Researcher.  They write, “For years, politicians wanting to block legislation on climate change have bolstered their arguments by pointing to the work of a handful of scientists who claim that greenhouse gases pose little risk to humanity.
One of the names they invoke most often is Wei-Hock Soon, known as Willie, a scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who claims that variations in the sun’s energy can largely explain recent global warming. He has often appeared on conservative news programs, testified before Congress and in state capitals, and starred at conferences of people who deny the risks of global warming.
But newly released documents show the extent to which Dr. Soon’s work has been tied to funding he received from corporate interests.
He has accepted more than $1.2 million in money from the fossil-fuel industry over the last decade while failing to disclose that conflict of interest in most of his scientific papers. At least 11 papers he has published since 2008 omitted such a disclosure, and in at least eight of those cases, he appears to have violated ethical guidelines of the journals that published his work.”
“The documents show that Dr. Soon, in correspondence with his corporate funders, described many of his scientific papers as “deliverables” that he completed in exchange for their money. He used the same term to describe testimony he prepared for Congress.
Though Dr. Soon did not respond to questions about the documents, he has long stated that his corporate funding has not influenced his scientific findings.
The documents were obtained by Greenpeace, the environmental group, under the Freedom of Information Act. Greenpeace and an allied group, the Climate Investigations Center, shared them with several news organizations last week.
The documents shed light on the role of scientists like Dr. Soon in fostering public debate over whether human activity is causing global warming. The vast majority of experts have concluded that it is, and that greenhouse emissions pose long-term risks to civilization.
Historians and sociologists of science say that since the tobacco wars of the 1960s, corporations trying to block legislation that hurts their interests have employed a strategy of creating the appearance of scientific doubt, usually with the help of ostensibly independent researchers who accept industry funding.
Fossil-fuel interests have followed this approach for years, but the mechanics of their activities remained largely hidden.
“The whole doubt-mongering strategy relies on creating the impression of scientific debate,” said Naomi Oreskes, a historian of science at Harvard University and the co-author of “Merchants of Doubt,” a book about such campaigns. “Willie Soon is playing a role in a certain kind of political theater.””  At: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/us/ties-to-corporate-cash-for-climate-change-researcher-Wei-Hock-Soon.html?emc=edit_th_20150222&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=60890102&_r=1
NOTE1: The first link in this piece (climate change) will take you to an extensive list of resources selected by researchers and editors at the New York Times.
NOTE2: Willie Soon and David Legates, neither of whom is a climate scientist, were the keynote speakers at a March 18, 2013 “Truth about Climate Change” dinner in southern Delaware sponsored by the Positive Growth Alliance and the Caesar Rodney Institute, titled, The Truth about Climate Change: Sea Level Rise and Delaware.  You can see their slides at http://www.caesarrodney.org/pdfs/Soon-Legates_Slide_show2.pdf.  A 29.6-minute video of Legates talk can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-rolAapS60,
and a 34.4-minute video of Soon’s talk is at 

On Feb. 23 the World Resources Institute posted a blog by Manish Bapna titled, What do Apple, Citi and Shell Have in Common?, previously published for Forbes.  He wrote, “Everywhere you look, renewable energy is in the news this year. Corporate leaders like Apple, Google and GM are making significant new investments – blink and you may miss the latest deal. While I included falling clean energy prices as one of 2014’s biggest stories, it’s becoming clear this is a longer-term trend.
Surprisingly, players like Shell and BP are signaling the shift to low-carbon energy is a serious proposition. Both have endorsed shareholder resolutions demanding the companies test whether their business models are compatible with limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.
But the swelling ranks of corporate entities, including fossil fuel companies, aren’t just doing this for the good of the earth; it’s smart business, too. As renewable energy comes to scale, early movers will have an advantage.”
“Apple’s $848 million investment in First Solar’s California Flats project grabbed headlines for good reason. Apple’s California operations will now run on solar energy, following similar investments to supply their Arizona data centers with 100 percent renewables.
But Apple is far from alone:
Google signed long-term contracts for 43 megawatts (MW) of wind energy to help power its California headquarters with 100 percent clean energy, adding to the $1.5 billion already invested in renewables.
  • Citigroup just unveiled a $100 billion, 10-year commitment to finance renewables and energy efficiency, cut greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change impacts.
  • Kaiser Permanente agreed to buy more than 150 MW of wind and solar power, and to install 70 MW of solar arrays at its California facilities through NRG Energy.
  • Amazon announced it would invest in a new 150 MW wind farm to power its data centers in Indiana.
  • General Motors will build a 34 MW wind farm to power Mexico manufacturing facilities, and when completed, will derive more than 12 percent of total North American energy supply from renewables.”
“Shifting energy supply from volatile-priced fossil fuels makes sense for large electricity consumers, but it’s a pleasant surprise to see growing acceptance for the importance of low-carbon power from some of the world’s biggest traditional energy firms.”
“This shift comes against the backdrop of plummeting oil prices. The dramatic decline in oil prices makes this an opportune time to reduce fossil fuel subsidies and even establish a carbon tax. (emphasis added)  A revenue-neutral carbon tax could help improve the quality of growth in many countries worldwide.”  
On Feb. 27 AP The Big Story posted an article by Luis Andres Hanao and Seth Borenstein titled,  The big melt: Antarctica's retreating ice may re-shape Earth.  It says that warmer water is eating away at the Antarctic ice from below, taking off 130 billion tons during the past decade, and the rate of ice loss is accelerating. In the worst case scenario Antarctica could raise global sea levels by 10 feet (3 m) within a century or two.  The ice is going most rapidly on the Antarctic peninsula, where the land sticks out into the warmer water.  Air temperatures there have increased by 5.4 degrees F (3 degrees C) during the past half century - much more than the global average.  What’s happening there should act as a red flag.  The authors wrote, “What's happening is simple physics. Warm water eats away at the ice from underneath. Then more ice is exposed to the water, and it too melts. Finally, the ice above the water collapses into the water and melts.”

On March 2 Herald Online posted an article titled, Block Island Wind Farm Now Fully Financed.  Financing for the more than $290 million project will be provided by Societe Generale of Paris, France, and KeyBank National Association of Cleveland, Ohio.  It will consist of five 6 MW capacity wind turbines, capable of supplying all of the electricity for 6000 homes when operated at full capacity.  It will be the first offshore wind project in the United States, with plans to have steel in the water this year.
NOTE: There is an abundant offshore wind resource  off the East Coast of the U.S., located near several major cities, and with relatively shallow water on the Continental Shelf suitable for mounting the turbines on the sealfloor.  In Delaware we thought we were very close to getting the first U.S. offshore wind farm off the coast in 2008, but the financing could not be arranged.  At an international offshore wind conference in Baltimore a few years ago, I asked why THe U.S. had no offshore wind farms  even though they have been in operations for decades in Europe.  The answer was that the U.S. has no coherent renewable energy policy - with federal Production and Investment Tax Credits sometimes available and sometimes not - so that investors went elsewhere.  We’ve had regular fossil fuel subsidies for a long time.  See Energy Subsidies in Wikipedia.

Scientific American for March 5 had an article by David Biello titled, CO2 Levels for February Eclipsed Prehistoric Highs.  He wrote, “February is one of the first months since before months had names to boast carbon dioxide concentrations at 400 parts per million.* Such CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have likely not been seen since at least the end of the Oligocene 23 million years ago, an 11-million-year-long epoch of gradual climate cooling that most likely saw CO2 concentrations drop from more than 1,000 ppm.”  ( ppm  is an abbrevation for parts per million (by volume).)
“Homo sapiens sapiens—that’s us—has subsisted for at least 200,000 years on a planet that has oscillated between 170 and 280 ppm, according to records preserved in air bubbles trapped in ice. Now our species has burned enough fossil fuels and cut down enough trees to push CO2 to 400 ppm—and soon beyond. Concentrations rise by more than two ppm per year now. Raising atmospheric concentrations of CO2 to 0.04 percent may not seem like much but it has been enough to raise the world's annual average temperature by a total of 0.8 degree Celsius so far. More warming is in store, thanks to the lag between CO2 emissions and the extra heat each molecule will trap over time, an ever-thickening blanket wrapped around the planet in effect. Partially as a result of this atmospheric change, scientists have proposed that the world has entered a new geologic epoch, dubbed the Anthropocene …”
NOTE: With the seasonal sawtooth CO2 concentration measured at Mauna Loa the months of April, May and June in 2014 saw monthly average concentrations above 400 ppm.  The concentration in the northern hemisphere drops after May as the weather warms and photosynthesis kicks in,  then increases again in the fall as photosynthesis slows.  This year is thought to be the first time in 23 million years that the average February CO2 concentration exceeded 400 ppm.

On March 6 Davie Biello had another article in Scientific American titled, How to Win Friends and Bamboozle People about Climate Change.  in discussing the new documentary film, Merchants of Doubt, he wrote, “What is the difference between a magician and a man who obscures the truth about global warming for the fossil-fuel industry?”  He answers that magicians “… use expertise in the art of deception and misdirection to entertain. Shills for the fossil fuel-industry, such as Steve Milloy, Marc Morano and others examined and accused in this film, use their expertise to fool people about matters of life and death.”
“The film (and the book before it) lays out how the fossil-fuel industry funds talking heads to sow confusion about climate change in a deliberate imitation of the successful doubt-sowing tactics of the tobacco industry. That industry famously employed experts in public relations, starting with venerable PR firm Hill+Knowlton, to cast doubt on the idea that smoking causes lung cancer or that nicotine was addictive, tactics that delayed regulation of the tobacco industry for decades.
 Sowing these doubts ensured at least 50 years worth of profits on tobacco and condemned millions of smokers to a premature death in the U.S. The success of that effort has led a host of industries with environmental or health problems—asbestos, chemicals, coal and pharmaceuticals, among others—to adopt this playbook to protect their profits.”

The Sabine Center for Climate Change Law at the Columbia Law School has developed a website called Climate Change Laws of the World to keep people informed on the rapidly changing body of laws and treaties around the world dealing with energy and climate.  For the United states one can see the relevant laws for individual states.  It is a wonderful resource.  At: http://web.law.columbia.edu/climate-change/resources/climate-change-laws-world

The March 15 issue of Grist has an article by Craig Morris and Arne Jungjohann titled, How does climate activism differ in the U.S. and Germany?  Germany seems to be way ahead of the U.S. in phasing out coal and nuclear power and in promoting renewable energy sources, particularly solar PV.  Why are they so different?  The authors surveyed leading climate activists in both the U.S. and Germany to find out their priorities.  The top American priorities were: growing the climate movement, fighting fossil fuels and enforcing existing climate policies.  Top German priorities were: accelerating the phaseout of coal, making the UN climate negotiations in Paris a success, and expanding the energy transition beyond electrical power to include heating, cooling and transportation.  The thing that struck me about the analysis of the discussions is that the U.S. is still home to very powerful and wealthy oil, gas and coal companies and money is much more influential in U.S. politics than it is in German.  The Germans are also much more interested in international climate efforts than the Americans are, while Americans are more concerned about energy and climate effects on racial and social justice.  
NOTE: While not mentioned in the article, I’ll bet that a much smaller percentage of Germans think that climate change is a hoax or that dealing with it will seriously damage the economy; but then they they haven’t had the very effective and well financed campaign of disinformation and climate science denial, funded by fossil fuel interests, that we have had in the United States.

On March 19 the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) released a 2.9-minute YouTube video called, Climate Change in Delaware, describing impacts of climate change and sea level rise on the state, and what it is doing as a result of the Governor Markell’s Executive Order 41, which came out of the work of the Delaware League of Women Voters, an interfaith group that became part of Delaware Interfaith Power and Light, the University of Delaware’s Students for the Environment, the Sierra Club, and several other groups.  The video says that 79% of Delaware residents are convinced the climate change is happening and 76% say we should act on climate change now, with 65% saying they can take personal actions.  At the end of December the state issued a document of recommendations for climate change mitigation and adaptation titled, The Climate Framework for Delaware.


The following items are from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), Carol Werner, Executive Director. Past issues of its newsletter are posted on its website under "publications"
 at http://www.eesi.org/publications/Newsletters/CCNews/ccnews.htm 
EESI’s newsletter is intended for all interested parties, particularly the policymaker community. 


Citigroup Pledges to Double Funds to Mitigate Climate Change Effects
Citigroup Inc. announced on February 18 that it will facilitate, invest and lend $100 billion total over the next ten years to support climate change mitigation and sustainability programs. The investments will finance projects such as greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions and helping communities adapt to climate change. “Simply put, it is a $100 billion investment in sustainable growth,” said Citi CEO Michael Corbat. “These efforts do not constitute philanthropy, nor do they represent costs. In fact, they reduce costs.” Environmental finance programs are one part of Citi’s five-year sustainability and social responsibility plan. By 2020, Citi plans to reduce its GHG emissions by 35 percent, energy and water use by 30 percent, and waste by 60 percent.
For more information see:


Sea Level Could Rise Six Feet in NYC, According to Report
On February 17, the New York City Panel on Climate Change released their 2015 report, which found that New York City can expect more extreme precipitation, more frequent heat waves, and more sea level rise. Local temperatures are expected to rise 4.1-5.7 degrees Fahrenheit by mid-century and 5.3-8.8 degrees F by 2080. The report projects sea levels in New York will rise 11-21 inches by 2050, 18-39 inches by 2080, and up to six feet by 2100. The report recommends the city both reduce harmful greenhouse gases and use innovative engineering and existing ecosystems to adapt to climate change. “Adapting the city for the risks of climate change is one of the great challenges of our time,” Daniel Zarrilli, director of the mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency, said in a press release. “That’s why we are moving forward on projects across the city in partnership with a wide array of community partners and other stakeholders.”
For more information see:
The Huffington Post, Inside Climate News, Observer, Report


Climate Change Could Be Responsible for Increased Infectious Disease Outbreak
An article published February 15 in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B linked climate change to an increased risk of localized epidemics. Two zoologists, one in the tropics and another in the Arctic, independently found that natural habitats altered by climate change will force humans, plant life, and wildlife to relocate and become exposed to new pathogens. “There are going to be a lot of localized outbreaks putting pressure on medical and veterinary health systems. It will be the death of a thousand cuts,” said Daniel Brooks, lead author of one of the studies, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Researchers recommended that medical and veterinary health systems will need to adapt to this changing landscape in order to better respond to future epidemics.
For more information see:


Maryland Rep. Van Hollen Introduces Cap-and-Trade Bill
On February 24, Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) proposed HR 5721, the Healthy Climate and Family Security Act of 2015. The bill would create a ‘carbon cap and dividend’ system, meaning 100 percent of the funds generated from auctioning off carbon permits would be passed on equally to every US resident with a social security number. This bill treats the skies above the United States as a public commons, requiring companies that emit carbon to the atmosphere pay to use it. The bill aims to gradually reduce carbon dioxide emissions 80 percent from 2005 levels by the year 2050. Congressman Van Hollen estimates individuals could receive a dividend of as much as $1,000, and families of four up to $4,000, every year.
For more information see:


MEPs Vote to Change European Carbon Markets
On February 25, Ministers of the European Parliament (MEP) voted on reforms to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Current carbon allowance prices in the ETS are seven euros per metric ton, too low to encourage a shift from coal to cleaner electricity generation. The low prices have been caused by free allowance allocations, the economic recession, and overshooting compliance with clean energy targets, leading to a two billion surplus of carbon allowances. The new compromise will withdraw 1.6 billion carbon allowances, beginning in 2018. This should allow the carbon allowance prices to rebound towards 30 euros, which is roughly the price needed for an energy market shift. Some have called for the reforms to take effect even earlier to provide increased market confidence.
For more information see:


European Union Releases Draft Compliance Plan for the Paris Accord
On February 26, the European Union released a draft Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) for upcoming global climate negotiations in Paris in November/December this year. The 28 nations in Europe will all follow this plan, which commits them to cut greenhouse gases a minimum of 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. This goal is identical to an October 2014 EU commitment, although the INDC has updated the commitment by including firmer numbers and a reporting regime which includes guidance from December’s UN summit in Lima, Peru. This is the first INDC draft released, and will be finalized at the scheduled EU council meeting on March 6 before being submitted to the UNFCCC.
In related news on February 26, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) released the official negotiating text for the Paris climate summit, based on a draft document produced at the recent Geneva meeting.
For more information see:


Famous Climate Change-Denying Scientist Caught Violating Ethical Science Guidelines
On February 23, Greenpeace and the Climate Investigations Center released documents showing that prominent Harvard-Smithsonian scientist Wei-Hock “Willie” Soon received $1.25 million over the past 14 years from fossil fuel interests, such as Southern Company, Exxon Mobil, and the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation. Mr. Soon is one of a few scientists vocally skeptical of anthropogenic climate change science. He says climate change is a result of the sun’s energy output, not human activities. These donations funded at least 11 papers in several journals since 2008 without appropriate reporting of conflicts of interest. In response to this revelation, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) has said he will launch an investigation into fossil fuel funding of scientific climate research. The Smithsonian’s inspector general is also investigating the charges.
For more information see:

NOTE: Here in Delaware, Willie soon and David Legates, another climate science denier, from the University of Delaware, spoke at a meeting sponsored by the Caesar Rodney Institute and the Positive Growth Alliance - two organizations that do all they can to deny that sea level rise is accelerating or that the government should encourage reducing carbon emissions.  Guess where their funding comes from.


Investors Ask Five Largest U.S. Oil Companies to Disclose Climate Risks
On February 26, investors and nonprofits sent a letter to the five largest U.S. oil companies (Valero, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Marathon Petroleum and Phillips 66) asking them to disclose climate change vulnerabilities in their infrastructure. The letter is in response to a report released by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) on February 25, which found that coastal refineries of each of the companies are at risk from rising sea levels and associated increased storm surges. Investors included Calvert Investments, Pax World Management, and Walden Asset Management. “Refineries have low profit margins and are situated on vulnerable coastal locations. Any disruptions in refining operations could have material impact on companies’ cash flows,” said Gretchen Goldman at UCS.
For more information see:


Majority of Americans Think Fighting Climate Change Is a Moral Issue
On February 27, Reuters and IPSOS released a new poll of 2,827 Americans, finding two-thirds of respondents say world leaders are “morally obligated” to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Another 72 percent of respondents said they are “personally morally obligated” to reduce CO2 emissions in their own lives. The poll was conducted to examine the impact of recent comments from Pope Francis and others on the moral imperative of action on climate change. “The climate debate can be very intellectual at times,” commented Eric Sapp, executive director of the American Values Network. “This makes it about us, our neighbors, and about doing the right thing.”
For more information see:


Majority of Citizens in Delaware Think Climate Change Is Happening
On February 23, the University of Delaware’s Sea Grant and Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment released the results of a 2014 telephone survey. The poll shows 79 percent of Delawareans believe climate change is happening, and 70 percent of respondents say sea level rise is ocurring. Three out of four respondents say action is needed to reduce the impacts of climate change and sea level rise. “This survey confirms that a strong majority of Delawareans believe climate change is occurring, and we are committed to taking key actions to reduce its impact,” said Delaware Governor Jack Markell.
For more information see:


Ocean Acidification Threatens Coastal Economies
On February 23, a study published in Nature assessed the effects of ocean acidification on shellfish populations. The study found that high ocean water acidity levels, caused by the ocean’s absorption of increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, could severely diminish shellfish populations in the United States – threatening economies in 15 out of 23 coastal states. “In the US, our economic impact so far has been primarily in the Pacific Northwest,” said Lisa Suatoni, an author of the study and senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Our vulnerability assessment says that the impacts are going to be much broader geographically and more hard hitting than people really thought.”
For more information see:


Sea Levels in Northeast US Have Risen Two Inches in Last Two Years
On February 24, a study published in the journal Nature Communications found that sea levels from New York to Newfoundland rose about four inches in 2009 and 2010 due to changing ocean circulation. The University of Arizona and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-led team of scientists are the first to report a link between sea level rise and the slowdown in a major current in the North Atlantic Ocean called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC (due in part to a reversal of the North Atlantic Oscillation, an atmospheric climate pattern that regularly reverses). Most climate change models predict AMOC will continue to weaken, potentially leading to more sea level rise.
For more information see:


Senator Flake Introduces Bill to Limit Funding for EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Regulations
On March 3, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced a bill (S. 639) in the Senate to require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide funding offsets from the EPA to any other agency which sees an increase in costs from any proposed EPA regulation on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The bill, which was referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works, has seven cosponsors, including Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Sen. Daniel Coats (R-IN), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), and Sen. John Thune (R-SD). Flake has called the bill the “Agency PAYGO for Greenhouse Gases Act,” and says it is similar to the Senate pay-as-you-go rule, and would require the EPA to cut its own budget to match any increases a GHG regulation caused in another agency’s budget.
For more information see:


Switzerland Is First Country to Submit Climate Plan to UN
On February 27, Switzerland became the first country to submit its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the United Nations (UN) for cementing an international climate change deal at talks this November/December in Paris. Switzerland’s INDC commits it to cut greenhouse gases (GHG) 50 percent from 1990 levels by 2030, and the country is considering additional reductions of up to 70-85 percent by 2050. Swiss officials say 30 percent of the GHG emissions cuts will come from within the country, with the remaining 20 percent coming from offsets abroad. “This objective . . . reflects Switzerland’s responsibility for climate warming and the potential cost of emissions reduction measures in Switzerland and abroad over the 2020-2030 period,” says a Swiss communication. All major global economies have been requested to propose their INDCs by October 1 this year.
For more information see:


VICE Premiers Documentary Series on HBO with Episode on Rising Seas
On March 6, VICE premiered the third season of its documentary series on HBO with an episode, “Our Rising Oceans,” which focused on climate change-exacerbated sea level rise. The episode featured Vice President Joe Biden, who stated that denying climate change is “almost like denying gravity now.” Biden added, “It gets to the point where you can’t look anyone in the eye seriously and say, well, it’s nothing to do with manmade.” The episode will examine the United Nations climate conferences, the New York People’s Climate March, climate change science denial, sea level rise in Bangladesh and the melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet.
For more information see:


Report Says EU Needs to Take More Action on Climate Change
The European Environment Agency (EEA) published a five-year report on March 3 assessing the effectiveness of European Union (EU) environmental policy. The report found that the EU has much more to accomplish to meet its 2050 goal of cutting emissions by 80 to 95 percent below a 1990 baseline. Despite Europe’s strict environmental legislation, the EEA found that EU policy is still insufficient to meet its objective of “living well, within the limits of our planet.” Hans Bruyninckx, head of the EEA, commented, “This is not a threat to well-being . . . For Europe this is a major opportunity.” The European Commission has said the EU will need to invest an extra 270 billion Euros ($303 billion) per year in low-carbon initiatives to meet its objectives.
For more information see:


New Study Links War in Syria to Climate Change
On March 2, 2015, a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found climate change contributed to sparking the Syrian civil war in 2011. A serious drought from 2007 to 2010 caused over 1.5 million farmers to abandon their lands and move to urban city centers, which were already stressed by the influx of over 1 million refugees from neighboring Iraq. These issues, along with others, catalyzed the civil war in Syria. The study found that climate change has made serious droughts, such as the 2007-2010 drought, two to three times more likely in the region.
For more information see:


Study Shows Insects Consume More Leaves Under High Carbon Emissions Scenario
On March 2, a University of Wisconsin Madison-led study published by Nature Plants found that under raised carbon dioxide (CO2) conditions, leaf-eating insects consumed more than double the amount of leaves – restricting how efficiently trees absorb and store carbon. The study utilized a Free-Air Carbon Dioxide (FACE) facility to replicate projected 2050 CO2 levels of 560 parts per million (ppm), finding that with higher carbon emissions insects consumed 88 percent more leaf matter. The increased insect consumption reduced trees’ CO2 absorption by 35 percent. “It's kind of a double whammy: not only is the leaf area removed, but the potential growth that the removed area could have produced is not realized,” explains Dr. John Couture, a biologist at the University.
For more information see:

NOTE: The above projected CO2 concentration in 2050 of 560 ppm is twice the 280 ppm prior to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1750.  With a moderate climate sensitivity to CO2 concentration, doubling CO2 would be expected to raise the global average surface temperature by 3 degrees C.  It is likely, however, that the concentration in 2050 will be more than double what it was in 1750. since going from the present 400 ppm in 2015 to 560 ppm in 2050 would require an annual increase in global emissions of only 1% per year - much less than the 2.4% per year average increase during the 7-year period of 2006-2013 - reaching 36.7 billion metric tons of CO2 in 2013 from fossil fuels, cement production and deforestation. 


Senate Republicans Write Letter Questioning Social Cost of Carbon
On March 9, 11 Republican Senators led by Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK), addressed a letter to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to express concern over the White House estimated social cost of carbon emissions. Currently valued at $37 per ton (emphasis added), the administration uses the social cost of carbon when calculating the cost-benefit analysis of regulations that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The OIRA did not have a public comment period on the carbon accounting methodology, but in November of 2013 decided to allow input. The Senators said, “While we continue to have significant concerns over the process establishing and the substance underlying the [social cost of carbon], public information on the estimates is paramount given its increasing application to federal—and state—programs;” they asked OIRA to respond to their concerns by March 30, 2015.
For more information see:


Arkansas Joins Suit Against Proposed EPA Climate Regulations
On March 9, Arkansas State Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced that Arkansas would join a coalition of states opposed to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan. The proposed regulations would require Arkansas to reduce its emissions 45 percent by 2030, due to the state’s heavy reliance on coal-fired power plants. “This rule goes beyond the EPA’s authority granted by Congress,” said Rutledge, “and seeks to impose a national energy policy that will harm Arkansas’ economy.” Arkansas joins 12 other states fighting the rule, including Alabama, Alaska, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming.
For more information see:


Craft Beer Breweries Sign Climate Declaration
On March 10, 24 craft beer breweries signed onto a climate declaration letter organized by nonprofit Ceres. These breweries recognize man-made climate change impacts their businesses. In 2012, beer companies generated $246.5 billion in economic output and directly and indirectly employed over two million Americans. Climate change impacts such as changing weather patterns, droughts and rising temperatures are affecting hops production and water availability in the Pacific Northwest, where most hops are grown. “We believe that a strong economy and a stable climate go hand in hand,” said Jenn Vervier at New Belgium Brewery. Many breweries have already invested in renewable energy and implemented energy, water, and waste reduction technologies at their breweries across the country.
For more information see:


Study Says Global Warming May Accelerate Rapidly, Soon
On March 9, Nature Climate Change published an article on the rate of global temperature change, finding that Earth’s temperatures, which increased by 0.4 degrees F per decade over the last 40 years, are going to accelerate to a rate of 0.7 degrees F/decade by 2020, a rate unseen in at least 1,000 years. Lead scientist of the study, Dr. Steven Smith of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, said, “Essentially the world is entering a new regime where what is normal is going to continue to change, and it’s changing at a rate that natural processes might not be able to keep up with.” Researchers measured rates of change over 40-year periods of time to show that temperatures will not only increase in our lifetimes, but also continue to accelerate over time.
For more information see:


Teenagers Visit Capitol Hill for Climate Change
On March 10, nonprofit advocacy group Avaaz brought six teenagers from states affected most by climate change to Capitol Hill to meet with their Congressional representatives. The teens from Nebraska, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina hoped to visit a dozen offices and meet with Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Rand Paul (R-KY), among several others. The students said they wanted to test the Senators knowledge on climate change, using a quiz originally developed for teenage students.
In related news, a recent poll commissioned by Avaaz and conducted by Ipsos found that nearly 90 percent of 1,002 participating eighth graders thought climate change was real and caused by humans. Avaaz also helped organize the 2014 people’s climate march in New York, which attracted over 300,000 people.
For more information see:


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Thanks,
Chad A. Tolman

ctolman141@gmail.com
New Castle County Congregations of Delaware Interfaith Power and Light

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Friday, February 20, 2015

CLIMATE CHANGE NEWS FOR FEBRUARY 2015

CC NEWS FOR FEB. 2015

An item posted by Dan Krotz at the Berkeley National Laboratory News Center 0n Nov. 3 recently came to my attention.  Titled, Berkeley Lab Scientists ID New Driver Behind Arctic Warming, the article reports that Berkeley scientists have found a new mechanism that helps explain why the Arctic is warming about twice as fast as the global average.  Far infrared radiation is a part of the infrared (IR) section electromagnetic spectrum that we can’t see with our eyes, but it accounts for about half of the IR radiation leaving earth and going into space.  It is the balance between incoming solar radiation absorbed - mostly in the visible part of the spectrum - and the outgoing radiation - mostly in the longer wavelength IR - that determines whether the earth is gaining energy and warming or losing energy and cooling.  The scientists have found that ice is much more effective in emitting far IR radiation than is open ocean.  As sea ice melts, the Arctic  becomes more efficient in absorbing solar radiation during the summer when it illuminated and less efficient at emitting far IR during the dark winter, when it is in earth’s shadow.
NOTE: This is an example of positive feedback; the farther the ice loss goes, the faster it goes.

On Jan. 21 Eric Holthaus posted an article in Slate titled, Senate Votes 98-1 That Climate Change Is Real but Splits on That Pesky Cause.  That vote came on the nonbinding amendment, “climate change is real and not a hoax.”  The only holdout was Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi; Even Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma voted for the amendment, citing the Bible for support.  A second nonbiding amendmnt said in part, “human activity significantly contributes to climate change.”   On that one the Senate split 50-49 - not enough to pass because 60 Yes votes were required.

The Jan. 17-24 issue of The Economist has a special 10-page Energy and Technology report titled, Let there be Light.  The report also has an 11.7-minute audio recording of the report author, David Lucas, that is well worth listening to.

The Guardian for Jan. 30 has an article by Suzanne Golderberg and Stephanie Kirchgaessner titled, Washington's memo to the Vatican: the pope and Obama are in sync on climate change.  The article reported that Gina McCarthy, the head of the EPA, recently visited the Vatican with a message to Pope Francis that the president shares his view that fighting climate change is a moral obligation.  McCarthy said, “I think the most important thing that we can do, working with the pope, is to try to remind ourselves that this is really about protecting natural resources that human beings rely on, and that those folks that are most vulnerable – that the church has always been focused on, those in poverty and low income – are the first that are going to be hit and impacted by a changing climate,”

The Harvard Business Review for Jan. 30 has an interesting article by Andrew Winston titled, Why the Keystone Pipeline Is the Wrong U.S. Energy Debate.  He writes, “Putting aside the divisive politics, let’s consider the pipeline on its merits, as an investment choice for the United States. In the short run, with oil at $50 per barrel, Keystone will connect refineries to oil that may be unprofitable to extract. In the long run, as the world turns away from fossil fuels aggressively, the pipeline will be moot — a relic of the past.”  He points out that unconventional sources of oil like Alberta tar sands require a lot of water and energy to produce and face the growing challenge of the damage of climate change and the falling prices for renewable energy.  He ends with, “ ..why would we invest in yesterday’s energy technologies when we have smarter options? Our investment choices should make our country more resilient, healthy, and prosperous. By that logic, the pipeline is a bad investment choice. That’s just simple arithmetic and economics. Given the challenging future facing unconventional, expensive fossil fuels, the Keystone XL is literally a pipeline to nowhere.”

The Feb.1 NY Times had an article by Burt Helm titled, Climate Change’s Bottom Line.  In it he describes the work of a group calling itself The Risky Business Project, led by billionaire Tom Steyer, former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg; its 10 members include a former Senator, five former White House Cabinet members, two former mayors and two billionaires.  It’s first commissioned report, Risky Business - The Economic Risks of Climate Change in the United States - was published last June.  The Executive Summary of the 56-page report quotes Co-Chair Michael Bloomberg saying, “Damages from storms, flooding, and heat waves are already costing local economies billions of dollars—we saw that firsthand in New York City with Hurricane Sandy. With the oceans rising and the climate changing, the Risky Business report details the cost of inaction in ways that are easy to understand in dollars and cents—and impossible to ignore.”  The Summary goes on to say, “Our findings show that, if we continue on our current path, many regions of the U.S. face the prospect of serious economic effects from climate change. However, if we choose a different path—if we act aggressively to both adapt to the changing climate and to mitigate future impacts by reducing carbon emissions—we can significantly reduce our exposure to the worst economic risks from climate change, and also demonstrate global leadership on climate.”

On Jan. 23, the Risky Business Project released its second report, Heat in the Heartland, focused on the economic effects of climate change on the Midwest. The next report will be on California.
NOTE: This involvement of recognized business and political leaders in assessing the economic risks posed by climate change in the U.S. and getting the word out to a broad audience is a very important - even critical - development.  As a scientist and person of faith, I say, “Thank God.”

Katherine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech University, has a 1.5-minute elevator pitch on climate change.  At: http://youtu.be/PGmk-4bpIVs

The February issue of Scientific American has a thought provoking article by Michael E. Webber, the Deputy Director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, titled, Our Future Rises on Our Ability to Integrate Energy + Water + Food: A Puzzle for the Planet.  He writes, “Energy, water and food are the world’s three most critical resources.  Although this fact is widely acknowledged in policy circles, the interdependence of these resources on one another is significantly underappreciated.  Strains on any one can cripple the others.  This situation  has made our society more fragile than we imagine, and we are not prepared for the potential disaster that is waiting for us.”  He cites the example of California, where reduced snowpack, record drought and ongoing development have reduced the availabllity of Central Valley river water by a third.  The shortage of surface water led farmers in 2014 to double pumping for irrigation water over what it was the year before.  More water pumped from greater depths requires more electricity, but Southern California Edison had to shut down two large nuclear reactors for lack of adequate cooling water.  Large amounts of water are needed for food production (about 80% of the water we use), and California produces half of U.S. nuts, fruits and vegetables and nearly a quarter of its milk. Webber emphasizes the interdependence of energy, water and food, pointing out that though they are often addressed separately, they need to be addressed together.  By doing so we can make society sustainable; failing to do so is asking for big trouble.  Copies are available for purchase or subscription at: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/energy-water-and-food-must-be-solved-together/

The February issue of National Geographic has an article written by by Laura Parker with photographs by George Steinmetz tilted, Treading Water on the impacts especially economic - of climate change on Florida - including sea level rise and stronger coastal storms.  She writes, 
“The most profound disruption will occur along the state’s 1,350 miles of coastline. Three-quarters of Florida’s 18 million people live in coastal counties, which generate four-fifths of the economy. Coastal development, including buildings, roads, and bridges, was valued in 2010 at two trillion dollars. Already more than half the state’s 825 miles of sandy beaches are eroding.”
“The oceans could rise two feet by 2060, according to the National Climate Assessment, as their waters warm and expand and as the Greenland and polar ice sheets melt. By 2100 seas could rise as much as 6.6 feet. That would put much of Miami-Dade underwater. For every foot the seas rise, the shoreline would move inland 500 to 2,000 feet.
A two-foot rise would be enough to strand the Miami-Dade County sewage-treatment plant on Virginia Key and the nuclear power plant at Turkey Point, both on Biscayne Bay.”  
Pages 126 and 127 show a map of the world with the top 10 coastal urban areas in terms of the cost of climate change in 2050; Miami heads the list.  The accompanying text says, “Higher seas mean greater financial exposure for coastal cities, where populations are growing and the value of buildings and infrastructure is increasing.  More frequent flooding would likely disrupt insurance underwriting and with it the financing that drives development in cities such as Miami.  If sea level rose just 16 inches by 2050, the flood damage in port cities could cost a trillion dollars a year.”
On Feb. 9 Elizabeth Cooney in the Harvard Medical School News reported the development of a ‘bionic leaf’ that can convert 1% of the incident solar energy into a liquid fuel - isopropanol.  The work was done by Pamela Silver, a professor of biology, and Daniel Nocera, a professor of energy.  The bionic leaf has a solar PV cell that generate electricity used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, and the hydrogen is fed to bacteria that use it to reduce carbon dioxide into isopropanol (C3H8O).  The 1% efficiency is very similar to what most green plants achieve in photosynthesis - a process developed through 2.6 billion years of evolution. Silver and Nocera have a target of 5%.  At: 
NOTE: The best that has been done in splitting water into H2 and O2 with solar PV is about 10% energy efficient (solar energy to chemical energy).  The efficiency of PV cells can exceed 40%, but the current market average is 12-18%; however, the electricity must be used immediately or stored - usually in rather expensive batteries.  See Scientific American, Plants versus Photovoltaics: Which Are Better to Capture Solar Energy?  at 

On Feb. 10 ClickGreen posted an article titled, NASA finds 19,500 square miles of polar ice now melts into the oceans each year  Claire Parkinson, a climate scientist at the Goddard Space Flight center has been looking at satellite measurements from Nov. 1979 through Dec.. 2013 of the areas of Northern and Southern polar sea sea ice and found the combined loss of ice area more than doubled from 8,300 sq miles per year from the average of the first half of the 34-year period to an average of 19,500 sq miles/yr during the second half.  Antarctica has been gaining some sea ice, but the Arctic has been loosing enough to more than make up for it.  While the melting of floating ice doesn’t add to sea level (Archimedes Principle), it decreases earth’s albedo by replacing shiny white ice by deep blue sea - accelerating the rate of heat absorbtion.
NOTE: Warming in the Arctic is about twice as fast as the global average.

On Feb. 11 Stephanie McClellan, Director of the University of Delaware's Special Initiative on Offshore Wind, posted a blog on The Hill titled, Lessons for the US in Germany’s energy transition.  She wrote, “Renewables now supply fully a quarter of Germany's energy needs — a dramatic transition that is the result of deliberate, courageous choices by its leaders. The country's ambitious energy goals were ridiculed by critics, who predicted dire economic consequences.”  “Today, Germany is having the last laugh as its economy reaps substantial benefits from this thrust into renewables. Germany’s GDP has grown steadily over the period of reducing emissions, with the clean energy sector adding more than 1.5 million jobs — all the while creating cleaner skies and stabilizing users' electricity prices.”   Germany “doubled its wind energy capacity from 2011 to 2014 and is expected to install more offshore wind this year than will any other nation.”  It’s time for the U.S. to get into the game; so far we don’t have a single offshore wind turbine in the water, yet we have a vast and untapped renewable energy resource just off our Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to Maine - not far from major population centers.

Katherine Bagley of Inside Climate News posted and article on Feb. 12 titled, 
Droughts Will Hammer U.S. West as 21st Century Unfolds.  She reported on the results of a recent study by scientists from NASA, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Cornell University, who reported that American Southwest and Central Plains are likely to experience longer droughts later this century than at any time during the last 1000 years.  Paleoclimatologist Eugene Wahl of NOAA called the results ‘stunning’, and said, "It is clear that they are seeing drought, especially in the Southwest, as being greater than any time in the past.  It is also clear that it is the higher temperatures in the future that are driving it."  Bagkey wrote that last month was the driest January on record in California, and that the snowpack is at historic lows.

The Feb. 12 issue of the NY TImes had an article by Justin Gillis titled, What to Call a Doubter of Climate Change?
He wrote, “If not “skeptic,” what should the opponents of climate science be called?  As a first step, it helps to understand why they so vigorously denounce the science. The opposition is coming from a certain faction of the political right. Many of these conservatives understand that since greenhouse emissions are caused by virtually every economic activity of modern society, they are likely to be reduced only by extensive government intervention in the market.  So casting doubt on the science is a way to ward off such regulation. This movement is mainly rooted in ideology, but much of the money to disseminate its writings comes from companies that profit from fossil fuels.” (emphasis added)
NOTE: A group of scientists called Fellows of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry is supporting a petition to be sent to media outlets asking that they stop using the term “climate skeptic” and change to something like “climate science denier”.  The group is  circulating a petition and are looking for 25,000 signatories.  I have signed.  You can too at  http://act.forecastthefacts.org/sign/skeptics/?sp_ref=101007545.170.11117.e.0.2&referring_akid=.209226.DK6fuI&source=email    


The following items are from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), Carol Werner, Executive Director. Past issues of its newsletter are posted on its website under "publications"
 at http://www.eesi.org/publications/Newsletters/CCNews/ccnews.htm 
EESI’s newsletter is intended for all interested parties, particularly the policymaker community.


Senate Votes that Climate Change Is Real, Less Sure It’s Human-Caused
On January 22, the Senate voted on three amendments to the Keystone XL Pipeline bill regarding climate change. One of the amendments passed, two failed. The passing amendment (S. Amd. 29), authored by Sen. Whitehouse (D-RI), states, “It is the sense of the Senate that climate change is real and not a hoax.” This amendment passed 98-1, with Sen. Reid (D-NM) not voting for health reasons, and Sen. Wicker (R-MS) casting the only ‘no’ vote. The remaining two climate amendments failed due to contention over humanity’s contribution to climate change. Sen. Hoeven’s (R-ND) amendment (S. Amd. 87), which stated that “human activity contributes to climate change,” fell one vote shy of the 60 votes needed to pass, with all Democrats and 15 Republicans voting for it. Sen. Schatz’s (D-HI) amendment (S. Amd. 58), which said “human activity significantly contributes to climate change,” failed 50-49, with the support of five Republicans.
In related news on January 21, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) introduced a separate amendment to the Keystone XL bill (S.Amd. 79) stating the bilateral agreement on climate reached in November 2014 between President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping has “no force and effect” in the United States. This amendment, like the ones mentioned above, is nonbinding and meant to express the “Sense of the Senate.” On January 22 the amendment failed, 51-46.
For more information see:


Poll Shows Climate Change Is One of America’s Top Policy Priorities
On January 15, Pew Research Center released a poll which found that 38 percent of Americans think climate change should be a top policy priority for President Obama and Congress. An additional 51 percent said the environment should be a top priority. The importance of climate change to the American people has increased 10 percent since last year. By political party, 66 percent of Democrats and 35 percent of Republicans think protecting the environment is important, while 54 percent of Democrats and 15 percent of Republicans think addressing global warming should be a top priority.
For more information see:


Poll Finds Most Americans Support Clean Power Plan
On January 19, the University of Michigan and Muhlenberg College released a poll finding that a majority of Americans support the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed regulation to lower carbon emissions from existing power plants, called the Clean Power Plan. Sixty-seven percent of voters said they supported the Clean Power Plan, and 73 percent said they supported requiring reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants as well. Seventy-nine percent of respondents said they supported alternative and renewable energy mandates, and 84 percent supported higher energy efficiency standards for new homes and appliances. However, close to 60 percent of poll respondents opposed a carbon tax. The poll was conducted over a random telephone survey of 942 American adults from October to November in 2014, with a margin of error of 3.5 percent.
For more information see:


Bloomberg Donating $48 Million to Help States Comply with Clean Power Plan
On January 21, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s charity, in partnership with the Heising-Simons family, announced a new plan to donate $48 million over the next three years to help states use clean energy to comply with a coming regulation on carbon emissions. The proposed regulation from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will require states to submit plans outlining how they will reduce carbon emissions from operating power plants in their territories. The Bloomberg and Heising-Simons plan, called the Clean Energy Initiative, will not award grants directly to state governments. It will instead finance local and national groups to help states, by providing technical assistance such as analyzing grid optimization for clean energy and doing economic forecasting. Michael Bloomberg stated, “These grants will help states meet new federal clean power requirements in ways that save money and lives.”
For more information see:


Climate Change Influencing the Increase of Animal Mass Die-Offs
On January 12, a Yale, UC San Diego, and UC Berkley study published in Proceedings of the National Academy Sciences found the rate and magnitude of massive mortality events (MME) of animal species are increasing worldwide. The study defined an MME as a large population die-off of over 1 billion animals, the death of 90 percent of a population, or 700 million tons of dead mass. Over the last 70 years, MMEs have increased on average at a rate of one extra every year. Climate-influenced events, such as extreme weather, caused 25 percent of the die-offs. Co-author of the study and assistant professor of biology at the University of San Diego Adam Siepielski stated, “The study provides yet another example of the challenges to life that organisms are confronted with on a planet increasingly dominated by the influence of humans in the environment.”
For more information see:


United Nations Says Food Diversity Important to Prepare for Climate Change
On January 19, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a policy paper calling for more action to be taken to protect the genetic diversity of the world’s food against climate change. According to the FAO, 16-22 percent of wild crops -- including 61 percent of peanut species, 12 percent of potato species, and 8 percent of cowpea species -- are in danger of extinction within the next 50 years. These varieties may harbor important traits farmers can capitalize on as weather and pestilence patterns alter under climate change. The paper recommended expanding seed banks, better farming and breeding practices, and researching the effects of climate change impacts on food crops. “In a warmer world with harsher, more variable weather, plants and animals raised for food will need to have the biological capacity to adapt more quickly than ever before,” according to Maria Helena Semedo, FAO’s Deputy Director-General.
For more information see:


Wyoming Repeals Ban on Teaching Climate Change in Science Class
On January 26, the Wyoming House of Representatives voted 30-21 to reverse previous legislation that blocked the State Board of Education from adopting new science standards that would educate students on climate change as a human-related trend. The bill, sponsored by Republican Rep. John Patton, repeals the original ban, which had been attached as a footnote to a state budget in March of last year. The ban was passed after Rep. Matt Teeters (R) had argued teaching anthropogenic climate change would shed a negative light on Wyoming’s coal energy-based economy. Rep. Patton commented, “[Climate science is] not against the economy,” adding, “Working for knowledge . . . is progressive, that is what we are in the state of Wyoming. This state is very, very proud of its educational system. It’s not broken.”
For more information see:

NOTE: It’s a sad day in the U.S. when legislators can block the teaching of climate science because the state mines a lot of coal.  Fortunately the Wyoming House of Representatives now sees the light.


Business Leaders at World Economic Forum Urge Action on Climate
On January 24, the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland ended, after four days of debate among 2,500 world leaders in business, government, academia and civil society that included many conversations on climate change. The French government had specifically requested that climate change be high on the WEF agenda, in advance of the United Nations Conference of the Parties meeting in Paris this year where it is anticipated that countries will seal an ambitious global deal on climate. On January 23, Christine Lagare, managing director of the International Monetary Fund; Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank; and Ban Ki-Moon, secretary general of the United Nations, held a public discussion on climate change, “Tackling Climate, Development and Growth.” The panel discussed the risks associated with rising global temperatures, the potential for a price on carbon, and the need for urgent action.
For more information see:


UK Releases Tool to Calculate Impact of Different Options to Reduce Global Climate Change
On January 28, the United Kingdom Department of Energy and Climate Change released a new online tool, the Global Calculator, which allows users to test the outcomes of different policies to address climate change. The tool showcases thousands of options, which users can control by manipulating 40 “levers,” each of which represents a policy for mitigating climate change – such as using more nuclear energy, or changing people’s diets. The levers are divided into four categories: lifestyle, technology and fuels, land and food, and demographics and long term emissions trajectories. The Department concurrently released a report with key findings from the Global Calculator, concluding that it is, “physically possible to achieve both our economic development and climate change goals by 2050.”
For more information see:


Poll Shows Americans in Five Key States Support President Obama’s Climate Actions
On January 22, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a poll which found a majority of likely voters in 2016 elections in five states – Colorado, Florida, Maine, New Hampshire, and Virginia – favored the president’s Climate Action Plan. Over 75 percent of respondents in each state thought environmental regulations were just right or too lenient. Majorities in each state also supported the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan, including a majority of Republican respondents. Franz Matzner, associate director of government affairs at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), stated, “The bottom line is Americans don’t want dirty energy; instead, they’re calling for clean energy, health safeguards, and steady resolve to protect our future from dangerous climate change.”
For more information see:


Latest Risky Business Report Finds Climate Change Threatens Midwestern Economies
On January 23, the Risky Business Project, an organization headed by Michael Bloomberg, Henry Paulson, and Tom Steyer, released a report examining climate change-related risks in the Midwest on transportation, energy, labor productivity and agriculture. The report said “dangerous levels” of heat across the Southern Midwest will happen more often, and by the end of the century wheat and corn will decline 11 to 69 percent across the Midwest.  The report found that among Midwestern states, Iowa’s economy would be the most affected by climate change, due to reduced yields of corn. Iowa’s almost $10 billion corn industry, the largest in the United States, faces an 18 to 77 percent decline in yields. The crop decline will also harm associated manufacturing, insurance, and other industries throughout the Midwest. Greg Page, a business leader on the Risky Business advisory committee, said, “If we stand still, and fail to be thoughtful in building resilience, we could see a weather scenario that would produce an outcome that’s dire.”
For more information see:


President Obama’s Budget Request Funds Climate Work
On February 2, the White House released its budget for Fiscal Year 2016 (FY16), with funding for a broad range of programs to promote clean energy and increase preparedness to climate change impacts. The budget requests $7.4 billion in funding for clean energy technology, the repeal of $4 billion in annual tax subsidies for fossil fuel producers, and $4 billion in funding to create a Clean Power State Incentive Fund to help states comply with EPA’s coming regulation on carbon emissions from existing power plants. The budget also permanently extends the production tax credit (PTC), upon which the wind industry heavily relies; the investment tax credit (ITC), which primarily supports solar power; and creates a new tax credit for carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects. The budget includes a $500 million initial investment (of a $3 billion total commitment) to the United Nation’s Green Climate Fund.
For more information see:

NOTE: The provision for repealing the $4 billion in subsidies for fossil fuel producers is especially noteworthy.  Subsidizing fossil fuels is like shooting yourself in the foot, and is foolhardy, so say the least.


President Obama Issues Executive Order on Sea Level Rise
On January 30, President Obama signed an Executive Order establishing the ‘Federal Flood Risk Management Standard’ which will require buildings constructed with Federal funds to take climate change and sea level rise into account. The order states, “It is the policy of the United States to improve the resilience of communities and Federal assets against the impacts of flooding. These impacts are anticipated to increase over time due to the effects of climate change and other threats.” This order requires buildings to either add two feet of elevation to base flood elevation levels (a 100-year floodplain) or use data from “best-available, actionable . . . climate science” in building planning. Critical infrastructure such as hospitals and evacuation centers is required to build three feet above base flood elevation levels (equivalent to a 500-year floodplain).
For more information see:


U.S. Scholars Rank Climate Change as Number One Foreign Policy Concern
On February 4, Foreign Policy Magazine published a survey, produced in partnership with the Teaching, Research, and International Policy (TRIP) project at William and Mary, which surveyed prominent international relations professionals about key foreign policy issues for the United States. The survey found 40.96 percent of the International Relations professionals believe that global climate change is the number one foreign policy issue for the United States today, and 45.9 percent believe it will continue to be the most important issue over the next ten years. Global climate change beat other important issues such as armed conflict in the Middle-East, failing or failed states, and China’s growing military power, by at least a 14 percent margin.
For more information see:


New Poll Finds Majority of Americans Support Government Action on Climate Change
On January 29, The New York Times, Stanford University, and environmental research group Resources for the Future released a nation-wide poll showing that a majority of Americans, including over half of Republicans, support government action to mitigate climate change. The poll found that 66 percent of respondents and 48 percent of Republican respondents reported they are more likely to vote for a candidate running on a campaign to fight climate change. Jon A. Krosnick, an author of the survey and professor at Stanford University, said the Republican support for a candidate who wants to fight climate change was, “the most powerful finding” of the poll. Eighty-one percent of respondents said they thought climate change was happening “at least in part” due to human activities.
For more information see:


NRDC Releases State Fact Sheets on Health Impacts of Clean Power Plan
On February 4, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released fact sheets for seven states on the health risks associated with effects of climate change. The fact sheets express NRDC’s strong support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed Clean Power Plan to reduce carbon emissions from existing power plants, especially in light of their findings of many negative health impacts due to climate change. The fact sheets for Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia cover a variety of public health concerns from climate impacts such as extreme heat, worsening air quality, extreme storms and flooding, increased exposure to diseases, with disproportionate risk to young, elderly and low-income populations.
For more information see:


White House Says Climate Change Major National Security Threat
On February 6, the White House released its National Security Strategy for 2015, in which it lists climate change as a significant risk to Americans at home and abroad, along with terrorism and a nuclear Iran. The report stated, “Increased sea levels and storm surges threaten coastal regions, infrastructure, and property. In turn, the global economy suffers, compounding the growing costs of preparing and restoring infrastructure.” The report says the United States will continue to take the lead on climate domestically and abroad, and engage strategic partners on these pressing issues. Last year, the United States and China made a historic climate deal, with both committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years.
In related news on February 10, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest stated climate change is a greater threat to Americans than terrorism. “There are many more people on an annual basis who have to confront the direct impact on their lives of climate change, or on the spread of a disease, than on terrorism,” Earnest said.
For more information see:


California Legislators Introduce Suite of Climate Bills
On February 10, California Senate Democrats released a package addressing climate change. The package focuses on expanding renewable energy power generation, reducing reliance on petroleum in the transportation sector, and divesting the state’s pension funds from coal. The legislation is intended to enact clean energy and climate objectives Governor Jerry Brown outlined in his inaugural speech last month (see EESI article). Brown said he and state Senate leader Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), “share a strong commitment to dealing with climate change in an aggressive and imaginative way.”
For more information see:


New Carbon Credit Reforestation Project Launched
On February 10, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Code REDD, a California-based advocacy group, announced the launch of an online market for carbon offsets, which will fund 12 forest conservation projects in Africa, Asia, and South America. While the carbon credit market has previously focused on companies, the Stand for Trees campaign is an online market that allows anyone to purchase for $10 the prevention of one metric ton of carbon dioxide from deforestation. The campaign’s goal is to raise $1 million within the first year – a help, but far from the $20 billion in estimated annual cost to reduce deforestation by half . . . the hope is that we’re starting something that over time will generate momentum,” said Peter Natiello, USAID’s mission director in Colombia.
For more information see:


NRC Report Advises Against Large Scale Geoengineering
On February 10, a National Research Council committee released two reports recommending holding off on two geoengineering strategies to offset global warming from greenhouse gases (GHG): albedo modifications to help cool the earth and carbon dioxide removal and sequestration techniques. The scientists found that albedo modification (reflecting the earth’s sunlight), which offers the chance to rapidly offset warming, is far too risky economically and environmentally to use. They also found that carbon removal and storage, which has less environmental risks, is not yet economical. Report authors said, “There is no substitute for dramatic reductions in the emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases to mitigate the negative consequences of climate change.”
For more information see:



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Thanks,
Chad A. Tolman

ctolman141@gmail.com
New Castle County Congregations of Delaware Interfaith Power and Light

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