classicBacsik

Bush Adminstration End Around to Tie California's Hands on Tailpipe Emissions

I've written about the ongoing saga regarding California's right to enact its own tailpipe emissions standards and the Clean Air Act waiver denial from the EPA.  This time, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed its new federal fuel economy standards (required under the December 2007, Energy Independence and Security Act) and tried to shut the door on California.

California Attorney General, Jerry Brown, promised to fight to remove the language (found on page 374 of the 417 page NHTSA document) from the proposal, and to sue in court if the document is finalized.  There is now a 60-day public comment period before finalization.  The NHTSA stated that limiting greenhouse gas emissions is tantamount to setting fuel economy standards which is something only the federal government.

Behind the fuss, the new proposed standards were widely applauded by environmentalists and industry leaders alike.  The first step on the path to 35 mpg by 2020 will be that standards:

• will rise for passenger vehicles from 27.5 mpg to 35.7 mpg by 2015,
• while light trucks will go from 23.5 mpg to 28.6 mpg.

The NHTSA claims the new interim standards:

• will save 55 billion gallons of gasoline and
• reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 521 million metric tons.
• drivers will save $100 billion in fuel costs over the lifetime of vehicles that fall under the rule.

If this smells like an end around on the California (and 18 other states) waiver, then you're right - it is!  Fortunately, this is an issue that AG Brown is passionate about, so we know he'll fight for our right to clean up our emissions at an accelerated pace.  If California (and the other 14 states are allowed to set their own standards) the passenger vehicle standard would be 42.5 mpg by 2015!

Kyoto's Next Step - Indonesia

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (the group responsible for the Kyoto Protocols) held an Ad Hoc Working Group gathering in Bangkok last week. It was the first session following the December 2007 meetings in Bali (see our January 5, 2008 post for details).

As a followup to the Bali Action Plan from December 2007, at the session this week developing countries, led by China and India, requested the developed world (mainly the US and Europe) pay the bulk of the costs of curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The argument goes: in the process of developing, western countries have contributed the bulk of carbon dioxide emissions to date. Representatives from the developed world balked and talks will resume in June in Bonn. As a side note, China brings another coal-fired power plant online each week!

In a related story, indigenous peoples from Latin America, Congo, and Indonesia, dubbed Forest Peoples, met in Amazonas State, Brazil to demand a seat at the table when the UN discusses greenhouse gas emissions and to discuss compensation (see a New York Times article).

This was also a followup to the Bali conference in December 2007.They want to be compensated for incentive to keep the forests intact. In Brazil, forest people own 12% of the country's land. In Bali it was agreed that deforestation accounts for 20% of carbon dioxide emissions in the world. The cost would be around $530 million a year by the tenth year of the agreement for developing countries. If this ever comes to pass, keeping the money out of the government's hands will also be a neat trick.

Carbon Tax, and Don't Spend

During the next president's term, we will most assuredly have a carbon tax or cap and spend system in the US.  In a recent editorial, Monica Prasad from Northwestern Univ., gives us an excellent example of how to set the system up.  There are several European countries with taxes, but Denmark is exceptional in that they've reduced emissions (other countries have no change or actually increase their emissions because they accept the status quo of emissions limits).

It is a lesson about giving most of the tax revenue back to industries with mandates for environmental innovation.  Denmark also has spent significant money on renewable energy.  Industries thus moved from coal to cleaner technology rather easily, and partly because with the revenue return it became economically feasible.

So, give money back to industry for environmental innovation and keep the tax revenue away from the politicians.  Let's hope the US doesn't just tax without actually reducing emissions because a program is imminent.  Push your representatives!

Black Carbon is Speeding Global Warming

What can we do about black carbon? Stop burning wood in your fireplace, reduce the use of diesel, and petition your local utility to reduce, limit, or abandon coal-fired power plants. 

Why do we care about these items and black carbon? Well, it turns out that a recent study re-evaluated the effects of black carbon (soot produced by burning wood, coal, cow dung, and diesel fuel) on global warming.  The study found that black carbon contributes 3 to 4 times more than carbon dioxide to global warming.  The only saving grace to this finding is that black carbon dissipates, even in large clouds, in only weeks whereas carbon dioxide can take centuries!

However, don't be fooled by the speed of dissipation, scientists concluded that black carbon particles are contributing greatly to the retreat of the Himalayan glaciers (25% to 35% of black carbon comes from South and East Asia; this is mainly due to their reliance of coal) because the particles land on snow and absorb more solar radiation and increase ice melting.

Because of more efficient coal combustion in the last 30 years, the US and Western Europe have reduced black carbon pollution by 300%.  With additional effort on our part, we can continue to reduce this pollution problem in years to come.

The study was funded by the California Energy Commission, the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NASA.

Shrinking of Arctic Ice opens Shipping Lanes

United Nations data shows that temperatures in the arctic circle have increased twice as fast as the rest of the globe; that has led to shrinking ice sheet, i.e., 22% less in summer 2006 than in summer 2005.   Large oil and mineral companies are preparing to benefit by the opening of sea channels near arctic circle; these companies are investing in the necessary reinforced vessels to take advantage of these openings.

These new sea channels will mean increased efficiency in delivering goods around the globe and therefore reduce the cost of some goods.  A 11,000 mile trip will be reduced to 7,000 miles and will save over $800,000 in fuel and labor costs.  Investment in reinforced vessels, needed to make these arctic journeys, continues to increase each year.  The number of Canadian arctic journeys increased from 78 in 2005 to 132 in 2006.

The dearth of resources for cleanup will undoubtedly contribute to ecological damage when the inevitable disaster ensues.  Our oil, wheat, and mineral costs may come down, but at what price?

Southland Fireplace Restrictions

The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD)  which manages LA; Orange; and Riverside Counties was faced with pressure from federal and state laws to pursue every pollution source and ruled that wood burning fireplaces in resident's homes may not be used on certain high pollution days in the winter.  They join a dozen other districts in this regulation. 

The 1.4 million southland homes with wood burning fireplaces emit 6 tons of particulate soot; 106 tons of particulate soot hit the southland air each day.  Restaurants using these fireplaces for ovens are not affected.

The ban will apply on about two dozen winter days when federal limits for fine particulates are expected to be exceeded.

No new wood burning fireplaces may be built in new or remodeled homes. 

Flat Earthers Meet in NY to Dispute Global Warming has a Human Cause

Hundreds of people - scientists among them - gathered in NYC to present arguments against global warming as caused or severely affected by human activity.  The conference was sponsored by the conservative Heartland Institute.

Their report, prepared by 24 authors, entitled, 'Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change' and its main conclusion was: 'Our findings, if sustained, point to natural causes and a moderate warming trend with beneficial effects for humanity and wildlife.'     

Following the presentation of the report, all scientists in the packed hall were asked to pose for a picture at the stage - 19 did so!

EPA Boss Justifies Clean Air Act Waiver Denial, and Off to Court We Go!

EPA administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, finally issued his justification for denying California's Clean Air Act waiver (the denial is discussed in a 1/24/08 post). The denial was issued last December after California requested permission to pass tailpipe emissions standards stricter than federal guidelines.

Mr. Johnson, against the recommendations of his staff scientists, denied the request and stated that the new federal fuel efficiency standards, passed in December, were sufficient to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and that there shouldn't be a patchwork of state's emissions standards.

EPA issued its long delayed 47-page report in the Federal Register, and that clears the way for California and 18 other state to proceed with a lawsuit in federal court to fight the denial.

Administrator Johnson wrote: "While I find that the conditions related to global climate change in California are substantial, they are not sufficiently different from conditions in the nation as a whole to justify separate state standards."

California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown dismissed Johnson's arguments as "obfuscating, sabotaging . . . specious, ill-founded. . . . We're going to fight him until he's sent packing by the next president." State regulators argue that by 2020 California's law would achieve twice the reduction as the federal fuel standards.

A document was released Tuesday by Senator Barbara Boxer who wants the denial reversed. She said the draft (written in conjunction with former administrator William K. Reilly), as well as internal agency e-mail messages she released, demonstrated that the E.P.A. was “in crisis.” Mr. Johnson’s decisions, she said, “went against the professional scientists and the professional legal experts.”

EPA Chief says 'no' to California on tougher emissions rules

On December 19, 2007 EPA administrator, Stephen Johnson, denied California a waiver from the Clean Air Act (CAA) that would have allowed the state (and others that wanted to follow) to enact stricter tailpipe emission standards than the federal government. In December, President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act which mandated higher fuel efficiency standards for the first time in three decades.

The EPA denied the waiver based on these new federal standards, thereby saying that California has no 'compelling and extraordinary' needs above that of the rest of the country. California and 15 other states will sue the federal government to overturn the waiver denial. The EPA has granted over 50 CAA waivers in three decades.

EPA staff filed an endangerment finding at the White House today stating that greenhouse gases pose a threat to the nation's welfare. EPA staff concluded that the effects of climate change could hit California particularly hard, including by harming coastal communities and wildlife, increasing ozone levels, contributing to more wildfires, and reducing water supplies.

Approval of the finding by the White House would clear the way for states to enact their own stricter laws; but 16 states are suing to override, and a bill to override will be introduced in Congress.

Administrator Johnson made his ruling despite this finding by his staff. He testified today in front of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committees, chaired by Senator Boxer, that his decision was not politically influenced.

Kyoto Protocol Milestone

In a January 5, 2008 post we discussed the most recent step in the United Nation's Conference of the Parties (COP) on climate change in Bali (COP13) and the incremental progress that was made toward replacing the Kyoto Protocol (COP3). (read about an interesting ending to the Bali conference!). The UN's goal is to have stringent emissions reduction targets in place by 2012.

In the interim, the 100 millionth certified emission reduction (CER) credit under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has been issued, marking an important environmental, development, and carbon market milestone on the road to a low-carbon future. The Kyoto Protocol began on February 16, 2005 (The US has never ratified the Protocol).

"The CDM has been up and running just two years, but in that short time it has shown its ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stimulate green investment in developing countries," said Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations.

There are currently more than 860 registered CDM projects in 49 developing countries, and about another 2000 projects in the project registration pipeline. The CDM is expected to generate more than 2.6 billion CERs by the time the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012, each equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide.

Environmentally and economically sustainable future?

While the consumption rate of at least 1 billion of us (industrialized world) is 32, the rate for the rest of the world is quite low. Per Jared Diamond's article in the New York Times on consumption rates, assuming that our rate remains the same and the rest of the developing world reaches our rate by mid-century, consumption rates would be equivalent to a total population of 72 million people!! Crazy you say? Well, China and India are the largest of these developing countries and their consumption rates are still 11 times lower than ours, and if they both catch up to us the world's consumption rate 'triples'!

Consumption and pollution are inextricably linked, and the US is the largest contributer. To help mitigate our environmental damage, 190 countries met at the United Nations conference on climate change and global warming in Bali last month (the conference was the first international effort to replace the Kyoto Protocols that expire in 2012. Talks will continue until a followup conference scheduled for 2009).

The resulting Bali Action Plan contains no binding commitments but states that “deep cuts in global emissions will be required” and provides a timetable for two years of talks. Paula Dobriansky, the head of the American delegation in Bali, said that she was committed to obtaining an “environmentally effective and economically sustainable” agreement by 2009.

The United States cannot dictate behavior to the rest of the world, but we can lead by example.

Thinking about and reducing consumption everyday is a great first step.