Weekly Climate Change Policy Update - August 4, 2008

To receive the Weekly Update via email, visit our Sign Up/Subscribe page.  

Commentary

This week’s most significant news involves a study by a marine advocacy group naming global shipping as the 6^th largest source of global GHG emissions ranking just behind  the United States, China, India, Russia and Japan . . . And, in Japan, a planned investment of $30 billion over the next 5 years to develop carbon capture and sequestration technologies appears to kick off a high stakes technology race that could bring commercial success to the future winners . . . Keeping the US in the clean coal technology contest, Senator Rockefeller added a new proposal to provide tax benefits to offset high capture and sequestration costs . . . States as diverse as Nevada, Massachusetts and Wisconsin are providing details about their future climate strategies.

 Congress

• Sen. Rockefeller Offers Bill to Speed Deployment of Carbon Capture, Coal-to-Liquid Technologies.  Sen. John D. Rockefeller (D-WV) has introduced the Future Fuels Act (S. 3345), which would provide incentives for deployment of carbon capture and storage technologies.  Additionally, S. 3345 offers a low-cost loan program for coal-to-liquid fuel production plants, which could only be used should world oil prices drop below a certain figure established in the statute.  Sen. Rockefeller’s bill provides $10.3 billion for tax incentives toward clean coal efforts, including a $2 billion clean energy bond program for electricity providers to offset deployment costs of carbon capture and sequestration.  The Future Fuels Act would also provide mining companies with financial incentives to capture and sequester methane.   
• Sen. Boxer Calls on EPA Administrator Johnson to Resign.  Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has called on EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to resign, stating she has “lost all confidence in Stephen Johnson’s ability to carry out EPA’s mission in accordance with the law.”  Additionally, Sen. Boxer has been joined by Sens. Whitehouse (D-RI) and Klobuchar (D-MN) in sending a letter to Attorney General Mukasey seeking an investigation of Administrator Johnson.  Sen. Boxer alleges that Mr. Johnson falsely testified before the Environment and Public Works Committee, and objects as well to Mr. Johnson’s decision to deny California a Clean Air Act waiver to implement its own vehicle emissions standards.

Administration

• EPA Formally Issues ANOPR on Regulating GHG Emissions Under the Clean Air Act.  The official Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANOPR) on regulating CO₂ and other GHG emissions under the Clean Air Act (CAA) was published in the Federal Register on July 30, marking the beginning of the comment period on EPA’s first step in responding to the Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA.  The document includes a number of letters from other federal agencies opposing the use of the CAA to regulate GHG emissions, as well as a discussion of the various options for regulating CO₂ under EPA’s existing statutory authority.  Comments are due by November 27.  
• EPA Reports Population Growth Could Frustrate Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Efforts.  An EPA report finds that population growth, particularly in the fast growing southern and western regions of the U.S., could adversely affect efforts to reduce GHG emissions. The current U.S. population of roughly 304.7 million is expected to grow substantially in the next century, though projections vary.  However, even with modest projected increases, land-use patterns in the faster-growing regions still will be most affected.  Increasing urban sprawl is expected to reduce carbon sinks, such as forests and wetlands, resulting in higher carbon emissions.  Additionally, the lack of consistent growth projections “has impeded progress of integrated assessments of climate and land-use change on endpoints of concern, such as water quality, aquatic ecosystems, air quality, and human health.”  The EPA report is at: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=153506. 

States and Cities   

• WCI Sets September Deadline for Design Recommendations.  At its third stakeholder meeting in San Diego, the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) set a September 22 deadline for the release of the final draft of design recommendations for the regional cap-and-trade program.  WCI released a preliminary design draft in late July but a number of issues remain to be addressed in the final draft including the specific regional allowance cap, method of allowance distribution, implementation timeline, and reporting requirements.  The final recommendations will set the regional caps and member allowance budgets through 2020.  The WCI is a regional cap-and-trade program whose members include Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.   
• Massachusetts Adopts Low-Carbon Fuel Standard.  A bill signed by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) will require the state to develop a low-carbon fuel standard.  The standard established under the Clean Energy Biofuels Act (H. 4951) aims to reduce the state’s GHG emissions from the transportation sector by 10 percent.  The bill, which is based on recommendations from the state’s Advanced Biofuels Task Force, will also require the state to seek to implement the standard on a regional basis under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).  Massachusetts joins California as the only states with a low-carbon fuel standard.
• Nevada Climate Change Advisory Committee Issues Recommendations.  The Climate Change Advisory Committee (Committee) established by Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons (R) issued a set of 28 climate recommendations to the Governor.  According to the Committee, the highest priority for the state is development a state climate action plan (Plan) to assess, plan, and implement strategies for reducing the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.  The Plan would include establishment of a department within the state’s Division of Environmental Protection authorized to set realistic annual GHG intensity targets.  Other high priority recommendations were to impose siting restrictions under the state’s Utility Environmental Protection Act; to develop an analytical process for making decisions related to expanding energy transmission corridors; amending the current renewable portfolio standard that requires 20 percent of electricity to be obtained from renewable sources by 2015; and creating streamlined permitting and review processes.
• Wisconsin Task Force Sends Recommendations to Governor.  The Wisconsin Global Warming Task Force (Task Force) issued a set of recommendations for reducing the state’s GHG emissions.  The recommendations sent to Gov. Jim Doyle (D) call for the state to reduce GHG emissions to 2005 levels by 2014, to 22 percent below 2005 levels by 2022, and to 75 percent below 2005 levels by 2050.  The reductions would be achieved through a combination of measures, including an emissions trading program, increased investment in energy efficiency, a renewable portfolio standard, and a clean-car standard.

Studies and Reports

• U.S. Climate Change Science Program Finds Computer Models Have Been an Accurate and Effective Tool in Analyzing Climate Trends.  The study, Climate Models: An Assessment of Strengths and Limitations, compared computer model forecasts to actual weather conditions in the 20th century and found the predictions to be accurate.  The study also found that temperature changes could not be explained without taking into consideration human-caused GHG emissions and associated warming.  Overall, the authors of the study concluded that while computer modeling is a useful forecasting tool, accurate modeling may become increasingly difficult because of the complexities involved in modeling some elements, such as oceans, ice masses, and sunspot cycles.  A copy of the report is available at: http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/sap3-1/final-report/default.htm.   
• Environmental Group Report Urges EPA to Regulate GHG Emissions from Shipping.  Oceana, a marine advocacy group, issued a report on GHG emissions associated with maritime shipping, concluding that “if global shipping were a country it would be the sixth largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions,” with only the U.S., China, Russia, India, and Japan emitting more than the shipping industry as a whole.  The group called for a 10 percent reduction in ship speed by 2010 to reduce emissions by 23.3 percent; a switch to cleaner fuels; and improved ship fuel efficiency through design changes such as hull shape.  In addition, the environmental group noted that black carbon emitted by oceangoing vessels magnifies the effects of climate change.  Oceana suggested that near-term reductions in black carbon emissions could slow climate change, allowing the industry more time to reduce GHG emission.  Click here to view this report
• Japanese Cabinet Adopts Climate Plan, Sets October Date for Cap-and-Trade.  The Cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda adopted a climate change plan that includes a cap-and-trade program and technology funding.  The cap-and-trade program, first proposed by the Prime Minister earlier this summer, will begin on a trial basis in October.  The clean technology funding will provide $30 billion over the next five years to support the development of clean coal, solar, and fuel cell technologies.  Much of the funding will focus on the development of low-cost carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology.  The plan also calls for Japan to establish a nationwide emission reduction target by 2009.
• South Africa Announces Climate Plan.  Under a climate plan announced this week, South Africa will seek to stop the growth of its GHG emissions by 2020-2025 and begin to reduce its emissions in subsequent years.  The plan will reduce emissions through mandatory energy efficiency targets, new fuel efficiency standards for the transportation sector, an escalating CO₂ tax, and a long-term goal of a net zero-carbon electricity sector.