January 30, 2012 The State of the Union: Growing Warmer Framed by the State of the Union speech, signs of hope and signs of challenge emerged throughout the week for climate activists, from the closing of six dirty coal plants in Ohio to the release of a new zone map for gardeners. In the annual State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday, President Obama made one reference to climate change, saying, “The differences in this chamber may be too deep right now to pass a comprehensive plan to fight climate change,” as he segued from a promotion of more aggressive development of U.S. oil and gas resources to a ringing call for clean energy. While calling for an “all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy,” he made no mention of coal or nuclear energy, although background documents touch on those energy sources as well. Different interpretations of the President’s speech abound, with some climate activists disappointed by the lack of ambition to take on climate change directly—even as the need to act becomes ever more pressing—and the promotion of carbon-emitting petroleum fuels. Others took heart from the President’s willingness even to mention climate change, seeing it as a signal he has not lost interest in the issue, and his defiant defense of clean energy in the face of opposition attacks on the Administration for providing federal loans to the now-bankrupt solar company Solyndra. The ongoing Republican presidential primary race provided a bizarre political backdrop, with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich dashing from their clash in South Carolina to Florida, which stands to lose much of its current land mass to sea level rise due to climate change. On the Florida airwaves, supporters of Romney—who as governor recognized the need to reduce carbon emissions—attacked Gingrich for appearing with Speaker Pelosi in 2008 in a TV spot calling for federal action on climate change. Meanwhile, in Ohio, climate and clean energy activists won a tremendous victory when First Energy announced the closing of six coal-fired power plants. Of course, the company blamed new clean air rules reducing pollution from mercury and other air toxics, rather than acknowledging that the plants were old, dirty, inefficient, and under tremendous pressure from the Beyond Coal campaign to close. Kudos to the Sierra Club and its Ohio and national allies for this impressive achievement. This week, with little fanfare, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a new plant hardiness zone map, used by gardeners to select plantings that will be compatible with temperatures in their area. The climate change deniers in the Bush Administration pulled a similar map from circulation in 2003 because of the clear northward trend of planting zones. USDA insists that this is not a climate change map, but when compared to the previous map, issued in 1990, the warming trend is hard to miss. The states of the union are growing warmer. Lara Levison, Domestic Policy Director Urgent: Tell Key Agencies to Move America Forward with Strong Fuel-Efficiency Standards With the support of 13 major automakers and millions of Americans, the Obama administration proposed new fuel efficiency and global warming pollution standards for light trucks and cars in November. If enacted, vehicles for model years 2017-2025 will be required to meet the equivalent of a 54.5mpg standard by 2025. According to an analysis conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Natural Resources Defense Council, a fleet-wide 54.5 mpg standard in 2025 would reduce America’s annual oil diet by 23 billion gallons and help cut global warming pollution by roughly 280 million metric tons. This is great news for American pocketbooks and the planet—but as you can imagine, Big Oil and other special interests aren’t too happy. The Obama Administration needs to hear loud and clear support for these new standards.Just as a reminder, the deadline for comment collection has been extended until February 13th, 2011. See sample action alerts supporting strong fuel-efficiency and global warming pollution standards on USCAN’s Clean Vehicles web page. For more information and/or for full action alert template please email llevison@climatenetwork.org. Carol Werner, Executive Director January 30, 2012 News Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Cuts 67 Million Carbon Allowances U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions Decline USDA Updates Plant Hardiness Map for a Warmer Climate Hawaii Bill Plans For Sea Level Rise Rio Earth Summit to Focus on Sustainable Development, Not Climate Change Britain Releases Report on Climate Change Threats Drought Results in Increasing Arsenic in Mexico’s Water Supply Climate Change Affects the Global Dinner Plate Climate Change Acidifies Oceans Beyond Marine Organisms’ Limits Climate Change Altering Disaster Aid Strategies Geoengineering to Mitigate Climate Change Has Mixed Results Study: Barley Adapts to Climate Change Fresh Water in Arctic Could Significantly Alter Gulf Stream in Northern Atlantic Other Headlines Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Cuts 67 Million Carbon Allowances   The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative plans to eliminate an oversupply of 67 million unsold carbon allowances. The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast-based cap and trade system requires electric power providers to pay for emissions by purchasing carbon allowances equal to one ton of carbon dioxide emissions. Unused allowances can be sold by the companies to other emitters of pollution. The move to remove unused allowances will increase prices and lead to a decrease in CO2 emissions. According to Ashley Lawson, a senior analyst with Thomson Reuters Point Carbon, while the program has proved itself successful, the oversupply of allowances created a lower price for them, easing the pressure on electricity providers to emit less. While the prices have been lower than expected, almost $1 billion in revenue has been generated for the 10 original states, most of which has gone to energy efficiency programs. For additional information see: New York Times   U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions Decline   The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently released its Annual Energy Outlook 2012 report, citing that the United States consumed less coal and imported oil in 2011 than it did in 2005. While current emission levels are not on target to reduce U.S. carbon emissions by 17 percent by the year 2020, EIA’s forecast shows that new fuel-economy standards are helping Americans reduce their daily oil consumption. The report states, “Over the next 25 years, the projected coal share of overall electricity generation falls to 39 percent, well below the 49 percent share seen as recently as 2007, because of slow growth in electricity demand, continued competition from natural gas and renewable plants, and the need to comply with new environmental regulations.” For additional information see: Reuters, Report   USDA Updates Plant Hardiness Map for a Warmer Climate   The US Department of Agriculture has updated the Plant Hardiness Zone Map to reflect climate change. The map is used by gardeners to determine which plants will grow in each location based on the average annual minimum temperature. Plants are able to thrive farther north because the coldest days of the year are now warmer and spring is arriving earlier. “People who grow plants are well aware of the fact that temperatures have gotten more mild throughout the year, particularly in the winter time,” according to Boston University biology professor Richard Primack. “There’s a lot of things you can grow now that you couldn’t grow before.” The new map is based on temperature data from 1976 to 2005 and reflects a two-thirds of a degree increase in average temperatures from the previous map. For additional information see: ABC, AP, Plant Map   Hawaii Bill Plans For Sea Level Rise   Hawaii State Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R, 50th District: Kailua, Kaneohe Bay) introduced H.B. No. 2330 to require planning agencies in each county to address sea level increases when reviewing development plans. Projected higher sea levels will threaten Hawaii’s infrastructure, tourism and overall economy. Thielen stated, “If Hawaii’s Legislators and other governmental officials do not take steps to adapt to anticipated sea level rise, scientists predict increased sea levels will inundate our islands negatively impacting their infrastructures.” According to the Center For Island Climate Adaptation and Policy sea levels will increase one foot by 2050. For additional information see: KITV   Rio Earth Summit to Focus on Sustainable Development, Not Climate Change   The UN’s Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June will have sustainable development as its major focus, not climate change. According to Ambassador Andre Correa do Lago, Brazil’s chief negotiator, the shift to sustainability is deliberate because, “Climate change is an (issue) that has very strong resistance from sectors that are going to be substantially altered, like the oil industry.” The conference will attempt to address policies that allow growth and development in a sustainable manner, not just environmentally but economically and socially as well. For additional information see: Reuters, NPR   Britain Releases Report on Climate Change Threats   The British Environment Agency released a report highlighting 700 threats to the United Kingdom by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced. The Climate Change Risk Assessment addresses the economic impacts of flooding, disruption of international supply chains, droughts, species impacts, soil erosion, deforestation and refugees from climate-related conflicts. “If I had to pick one particular issue, I think the flooding issue is the most dominant,” said Sir Bob Watson, chief scientific adviser at the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs. Between 1.7 million and 3.6 million people are expected to be at risk of flooding by 2050 and up to £10bn a year in damage by 2080. “Without an effective plan to prepare for the risks from climate change the country may sleepwalk into disaster,” said Lord John Krebs, chairman of the adaptation committee of the independent advisory group, Committee on Climate Change. In related news, river flows in England and Wales may be reduced up to 80 percent by 2050, according to the British Environment Agency. A warming climate is expected to bring dryer summers, reducing water supplies, while increasing population growth will increase demand for water. “The problem is not just that average summer temperatures could rise by two or three degrees in Britain over the coming decades,” said Trevor Bishop, the head of water resources at the Environment Agency. “It is also forecast that the population of England and Wales is likely to rise by more than 9 million. That will only add to the burden that we are placing on our water supplies.” The report forecasts a loss in important habitats for fish species that depend on fresh water supplies such as Atlantic salmon and brown trout, which will then affect other species such as otters and eagles. For additional information see: AP, Business Green, The Guardian, The Guardian, Report   Drought Results in Increasing Arsenic in Mexico’s Water Supply   Droughts caused by climate change are increasing the amount of arsenic found in the Laguna Region’s dwindling water levels. “From 1992 to 1999 [in the Laguna Region] we suffered intense droughts and 2010 was the driest (year) in 100 years,” explained Francisco Valdes Perezgasga, researcher at La Laguna Technological Institute. Less rain means the region’s aquifers are not replenished with fresh water, and the Laguna region’s 1.5 million residents are drawing on distant aquifers contaminated with heavy metals and arsenic, increasing the chance of lung, kidney and liver cancer. “We have confirmed an increase in the incidence of certain types of cancer, such as skin and gallbladder, and cases of genetic damage due to arsenic,” said Gonzalo Garcia Vargas, a professor at Juarez. For additional information see: AlterNet   Climate Change Affects the Global Dinner Plate   On January 20 in Science, researchers published a report urging policymakers to include agriculture in global actions against climate change. Led by John Beddington, Britain’s chief science adviser, the paper states, “Global agriculture must produce more food to feed a growing population, yet scientific assessments point to climate change as a growing threat to agricultural yields and food security.” Climate change-related weather events wipe out large crops of available food worldwide, and raise the overall price of remaining supplies. Farmers and scientists have begun to work together to find solutions to the food shortage. In Israel researchers have developed a way to use satellite images to assist farmers with harvests, relaying climate data to farmers that tell them when to plant seeds, when to harvest crops and which crops work best for each square kilometer of land. In Africa, farmers are using agroforestry to mix crops and livestock with shrubbery and trees in order to reduce deforestation and use available animal manure to fertilize the crops. For additional information see: CNBC, NPR, Reuters, Time, Report       Climate Change Acidifies Oceans Beyond Marine Organisms’ Limits   On January 22, in Nature Climate Change scientists report that over the last 200 years, carbon dioxide emissions have raised the acidity of the world’s oceans to the highest levels in history. “In some regions, the man-made rate of change in ocean acidity since the Industrial Revolution is 100 times greater than the natural rate of change between the Last Glacial Maximum and pre-industrial times,” explains lead author Dr. Tobias Friedrich, of the University of Hawaii. The acidic environment is pushing coral reefs, shellfish, and many marine species beyond their natural survival limits. The scientists discovered that greenhouse gas emissions, when reacting with saltwater, significantly reduced the calcification rate of corals and mollusks. Decreased calcification rates impact the reproduction speed of the marine animal’s skeletal system and weaken the organisms by about 15 per cent, with some species reaching a 40 percent drop in calcification rates. “Our results suggest that severe reductions are likely to occur in coral reef diversity, structural complexity and resilience by the middle of this century,” says co-author Axel Timmermann. In related news, the United Nations Environment Program reports countries could greatly reduce the amount of marine pollution by strengthening fertilizer regulation and introducing incentives to encourage the recycling of nutrients. Less polluted beaches and oceans would increase the tourism industry and increase the areas’ overall value. Countries could also further reduce marine pollution by replacing traditional non-renewable energy sources with wind, wave and tidal power, and greatly reduce the levels of greenhouse gas emissions acidifying the ocean. For additional information see: Daily Mail, USA Today, Science Daily, Monga Bay, Reuters   Climate Change Altering Disaster Aid Strategies   A recent poll from AlertNet found climate change and urbanization are shaping organizations’ response to disasters. The survey polled global aid organizations, including Oxfam, Save the Children, CARE, and Red Cross, about predictions of future humanitarian needs and challenges when delivering aid. AlertNet found non-profits and aid organizations are investing more time and money in disaster prevention and are spending more money when coming to the aid of people affected by climate change-related floods, storms, and droughts. “The rising trend in the number of disasters over the past five years shows no sign of slowing down. Year on year, we are responding more frequently and on a larger scale to increasing numbers of disasters,” said Gareth Owen, of Save the Children UK. The majority of the agencies polled said spending more resources on disaster risk reduction would greatly increase individuals’ ability to survive natural disasters, yet the organizations are having trouble raising the necessary funds. “Funding for disaster risk reduction and disaster preparedness is not very ‘sexy’ for donors—global, domestic and private,” said Jouni Hemberg, of FinnChurchAid. For additional information see: Report, Poll Results   Geoengineering to Mitigate Climate Change Has Mixed Results   In the journal Nature Climate Change, two recently released reports highlighted both the positive and the negative effects of geoengineering. In the first study, led by Julia Pongrantz of the Carnegie Institution for Science, scientists used computer models to test the results of deflecting solar rays by scattering sulfur compounds into the atmosphere. Pongrantz found that altering the sun’s rays to deflect the majority of incoming light would increase global crop production, while having limited effect on overall global rainfall. Conversely, a second study, led by Peter J. Irvine at the University of Bristol in Britain, found that only a rapid and aggressive decrease of global air temperature would have a positive effect on sea-level rise, and plants and organisms would not have the time needed to adjust to the rapid cooling temperature. Both groups of researchers concluded that the best way to limit global warming is to immediately and drastically reduce the world’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. For additional information see: New York Times, Science Daily, Crops and Geoengineering Report, Sea Temperatures and Geoengineering Report, Press Release   Study: Barley Adapts to Climate Change   Barley appears to be able to adapt to increased carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and drought, according to Anabel Robredo, a biologist at the University of the Basque Country. In her thesis, “Physiological Response Mechanisms of Barley to the Impact of Drought and Elevated CO2: Adaptation to Climate Change,” Robredo analyzed drought-exposed barley grown in a CO2 concentration equal to current levels and in twice current levels. While barley plants exposed to elevated CO2 concentrations and drought are harmed by using water more slowly, the plant is able to grow over a longer time period. Robredo cautioned against extrapolating these results to other species, “You have to be very careful because plant species often respond very differently, even displaying the opposite [response]. But, what we can say is that most plant species tend to use water more efficiently in conditions of elevated CO2 and drought, and that they grow more.” For additional information see: Science Daily   Fresh Water in Arctic Could Significantly Alter Gulf Stream in Northern Atlantic   In a recent study, British scientists discovered that the volume of fresh water in the western Arctic sea has increased by at least 10 percent since 2002. Using satellite data to measure the height of the sea surface, researchers found that surrounding ground snow and glacier ice are melting at a faster pace than usual, raising the sea surface of the Arctic by roughly 6 inches. If current wind patterns shift over the Arctic, the pool of fresh water could infiltrate the Atlantic Ocean, slowing down the Gulf Stream and significantly cooling Europe. For additional information see: Reuters     Other Headlines State of the Union Address Highlights National Clean Energy Plan Study Concludes Weaker Sun Will Not Reduce Climate Change “Green” Cement Lowers Greenhouse Gas Emissions Climate Change May Increase Intelligence of Reptiles Saskatoon Researches How Climate Change Impacts Storm and Sewer Systems     Writers: Alison Alford and Justin Jones Please distribute Climate Change News to your colleagues. Permission for reproduction of this newsletter is granted provided that the Environmental and Energy Study Institute is properly acknowledged as the source. Past issues are available here. Free email subscriptions are available here. We welcome your suggestions, comments, and questions.   The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) is a non-profit organization founded in 1984 by a bipartisan Congressional caucus dedicated to finding innovative environmental and energy solutions. EESI works to protect the climate and ensure a healthy, secure, and sustainable future for America through policymaker education, coalition building, and policy development in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy, agriculture, forestry, transportation, buildings, and urban planning. EESI’s work, including this free newsletter, is made possible by financial support from people like you. Please help us continue to make it available by making a secure, online donation today by clicking here or mailing a check to Environmental and Energy Study Institute; 1112 16th St NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036. Please contact Susan Williams at (202) 662-1887  or see www.eesi.org/donate to find out more. Thank you for your support! Climate Action Hotline is the new weekly update by the US Climate Action Network. Let us know what you think. Peter Bahouth, Executive Director State of the Union Address: A Nation “Built to Last” on Clean Energy NY Solar Jobs Bill Will Improve Air Quality and Health Referees Call “Foul” on House Speaker John Boehner, Say He’s a Shill for Big Oil Tr-Ash Talk: The Proof is in the Water SEC to Investigate TransCanada’s Lies on Keystone XL Job Claims One Dollar In, Fifty-Nine Out Charge and Deliver: Boulder Company That Makes Electric Vans Hopes Sector Will Spark Boehner: House Will Likely Attach Keystone Approval to New Jobs Bill Reaping a Bonus From Cap-and-Trade U.S. Wind-Turbine Installations Rose 31% in 2011, AWEA Says Extreme Heat Hurts Wheat Yields as World Warms: Study Renewable Energy Deals Buck Uncertainty to Rise 40%, PWC Says Microsoft, Coke, Nestle Detail Climate Adaptation Plans First Report on UK Climate Impact “I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy… We don’t have to choose between the environment and our economy.” –President Obama, 2012 State of the Union Address

Related posts:

1. Study Shows: Yes, It’s Getting Warmer
2. Protesters Tell Penn State to Stop Using Coal
3. Business Organization Supporting Clean Energy Growing Rapidly

October 17, 2011 The Case for Clean Energy and Clean Air Last week the World Resources Institute released a new brief, Climate Science 2009-2010: Major New Discoveries, a periodic review of the state of play climate change science. The brief highlights several key findings including: the decade from 2000 to 2009 was the warmest on record since 1880; observations show that multi-year winter sea ice area decreased by 42 percent between 2005 and 2008; and new science is confirming the potential global implications of an ocean that is already 30 percent more acidic than about 100 years ago. Once mainly a concern for impacts on coral reefs it is now recognized that ocean acidification has implications for the entire ocean food web. Kelly Levin, co-author of the report and a senior associate at WRI stated, “Climate change impacts are not distant phenomena; they are happening now, and they are real.” Given the urgency of climate science Environment America released a timely report titled The Way Forward on Global Warming which indicates that by adopting a suite of clean energy policies at the local, state and federal levels, the United States could curb emissions of carbon dioxide from energy use by as much as 20 percent by 2020 and 34 percent by 2030. The report highlights policies including new standards for building and vehicle efficiency, the promotion of lower-carbon fuels and technology for electric generation, and urban planning to reduce miles driven. Meanwhile the fight continues in Washington around the EPA standards to reduce life-threatening mercury and other air toxics from industrial sources and power plants. Last Monday 25 Attorney Generals filed an amicus brief asking a federal court to force the EPA to delay for a year before finalizing new toxic emissions limits for coal-fired power plants. The Mercury and Air Toxics standard is scheduled to be finalized in mid-November after two decades in the making. But the group of governors and attorney generals say the EPA should keep waiting because the standards could cause electricity rates to rise by 10 or 20 percent in some areas of the country. The motion (insert link) filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asks for an extension of the November 16 deadline for a final rule that was set in response to a lawsuit from the American Nurses Association. Meanwhile the House of Representatives continues to vote on Representative Cantor’s Pollution Agenda and furthered their assault on clean air by voting to undo standards to clean up toxic emissions from cement kilns, industrial boilers and toxic coal ash. In this Saturday’s editorial the New York Times declared ‘As of Friday, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives had voted 168 times this year to undercut clean air and water laws while blocking efforts to limit global warming, protect public lands and guard against future oil spills…The Republicans, predictably, claim that regulations cost jobs and that all they are trying to do is help the working man. What they are really doing by destroying years of environmental law is putting the interests of corporations above all others and threatening public health.’ A recent poll released on Wednesday showed how out of step these decision-makers are with the American public. The nationwide poll, commissioned by Ceres, shows that, by a wide margin, voters of both political parties and in all regions of the U.S. disagree with Congress’ anti-EPA agenda and support new standards to limit air pollution from coal-fired power plants. Two-thirds of the respondents – 67 percent – oppose Congress delaying implementation of the air pollution rules, according to the national survey of 1,400 voters conducted by Hart Research Associates and GS Strategy Group. Positive movement towards a clean energy future again came from outside the beltway when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced last week at the American Wind Energy Association conference that the government could issue its second-ever offshore wind lease within weeks. If approved, the proposal from NRG Bluewater Wind Delaware to lease waters about 11 miles east of Dewey Beach in Delaware would be the first allowed under a new Interior Department initiative to accelerate wind development off the east coast. The lease would be contingent on Interior finding no significant environmental impacts of a plan; a draft environmental assessment of the plan was issued in July. Kate Smolski, Domestic Policy Director Help Amplify Story About Medical & Military Statement on Climate Change At a global summit in London today, an unusual alliance of leading doctors, scientists and security experts are coming together to discuss the health and security implications of climate change. Although this conference is borne of an unlikely alliance, these leaders share the same views on climate change and see it as much more than just an environmental challenge: for them, it is the greatest current threat to public health and also the greatest future threat to security. In order to amplify this important story and the statement resulting from the conference, the Global Campaign for Climate Action has put together an Action Pack with some background, sample tweets, Facebook posts, a sample blog posts and the full conference statement. Please use the materials and help make some noise and sign on to the conference statement in your personal capacity or on behalf of your organization, click here. For more information and/or for full action alert template please email mdixon@climatenetwork.org. October 17, 2011 Show Your Support for EESI! Do you depend on EESI’s Climate Change News to bring you timely summaries of the latest climate change science, impacts, policy, and business news? Help keep this newsletter coming your way with a secure, online gift to EESI today. Don’t delay! A generous donor has offered up to $3,000 to match gifts received by October 31st. EESI works hard all year round to keep all our readers–from Congressional offices to media to the concerned public–informed about climate change impacts, promising technologies, and more. Policymakers–and all of us–need sound, timely information about climate change to make good decisions on how to address this important and highly complex issue. Today, please make a gift of $100, $250, or whatever works for you, to help us keep this newsletter going–and double your gift’s impact through this matching gift opportunity! As a nonprofit organization, we depend on your support to keep this great service coming. And with your donation, EESI will continue to bring you a great roundup of the week’s important climate change policy, science, and technology news every Monday morning. Thank you for contributing by October 31st to help us meet this $3,000 matching gift challenge! With Many Thanks, Carol Werner Executive Director, Environmental and Energy Study Institute Climate Action Hotline is the new weekly update by the US Climate Action Network. Let us know what you think.

Peter Bahouth, Executive Director Turn Words Into Action; Turn Action Into Results Climate Change and Food Security: Out of the Mouths of Babes Monarch Butterflies: New Victims of Climate Change New Wave in Oil Cleanup Technology Spurred By Competition California Has 1 in 4 U.S. Solar Energy Jobs, Study Says Animals ‘Shrinking’ Due to Climate Change Occupy Movements Across the Country Look to Diversify Their Efforts as the Movement Grows Central America Floods and Landslides ‘Leave 80 Dead’ Starbucks Concerned World Coffee Supply is Threatened by Climate Change UN Chief Pushes Trust, Green Themes with Lawmakers

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1. Deep Drill Moratorium Lifted, Clean Energy Progresses, No Change at Top of IPCC, Climate Action Hotline 10.19.10
2. Climate Action Hotline, 3.21.11
3. Dirty Decision Makers Ignoring Clean Solutions, Climate Action Hotline 5.9.11

Member Reports:

Water Works: Green for All, in partnership with the Economic Policy Institute, Pacific Institute and American Rivers, published a new report this month estimating the economic impact and job creating potential of major new investment in US water infrastructure. Water Works: Rebuilding Infrastructure, Creating Jobs, Greening the Environment found that “an investment of $188.4 billion spread equally over the next five years would generate $265.6 billion in economic activity and create close to 1.9 million jobs.” The report posits that investment in green infrastructure that mimics natural solutions, would result in substantial workforce opportunities and analyzes a representative set of occupations in water infrastructure-related industries. Green for All’s research found that annual “sewer overflows contaminate U.S. waters with 860 billion gallons of untreated sewage, an amount that could fill 1.3 million Olympic-size swimming pools or cover the entire state of Pennsylvania with one inch of sewage.”

Danger in the Air: Environment America released a report last month ranking the nation’s smoggiest metropolitan areas. Danger in the Air: Unhealthy Air Days in 2010 and 2011 found that “because the national health standard for smog pollution set in 2008 was set at a level that scientists agree is not protective of public health, people across the country have been exposed to days of poor air quality each summer without even knowing it.” Of large metropolitan areas, Riverside-San Bernardino, California endured the worst smog pollution in 2010, followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA; Baltimore, MD; Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, PA. The report makes several policy recommendations based on its findings, including that the EPA “set a National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ground-level ozone within the range of 60 to 70 parts per billion averaged over eight hours,” and that Congress eliminate subsidies that keep our nation dependent on fossil fuels.

Growing Meat Consumption: A Worldwatch Institute report, published in the nonprofit’s Vital Signs Online research service as part of its “Nourishing the Planet” project, found that global meat production “increased by 2.6 percent in 2010 to 290.6 million tons, an increase from the 0.8 percent growth rate of 2009.” The increases in global meat production and consumption found in the report are putting numerous strains on the climate since raising livestock accounts for about “23 percent of all global water use in agriculture” and livestock themselves account for roughly “18 percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, producing 40 percent of the world’s methane and 65 percent of the world’s nitrous oxide.” A summary of the Worldwatch report can be found here. Subscription to Vital Signs Online is required to view the entire publication.

Department of Defense Clean Energy Investments: The Pew Project on National Security, Energy, and Climate released a report on the Department of Defense’s (DOD) work on clean-energy innovation. From Barracks to the Battlefield: Clean Energy Innovation and America’s Armed Forces finds that the DoD’s clean energy investments increased 200 percent between 2006 and 2009, from $400 million to $1.2 billion, and that they are projected to move beyond $10 billion annually by 2030. Director of the Pew Clean Energy Program, Phyllis Cuttino, explained that the “DoD’s efforts to harness clean energy will save lives, save money and enhance the nation’s energy and economic future. Its work is also helping to spur industry growth and demonstrate technological feasibility.”

Non-Member Reports:

A Strong EPA Protects Our Health: On October 6, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), released the EPW Committee Majority Staff Report. A Strong EPA Protects Our Health and Promotes Economic Growth focuses on the invaluable protections provided by the EPA and major environmental laws which have not only protected public health but also promoted economic growth. Based on the benefits of legislation like the Clean Air Act, the annual benefits of which are expected to prevent 230,000 premature deaths by 2020 and provide about $2 trillion per year with continued enforcement, the report concludes that the EPA’s major “environmental laws are critical to a stronger, healthier, and more productive workforce – they are integral to our quality of life and support a strong economy.”

Support for Solar Industry Grant Program: The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and EuPD Research released a report this week analyzing the economic impact of extending the Treasury Grant Program (TGP), originally created to address the “shortage of tax equity to renewable energy projects” due to the financial collapse. Economic Impact of Extending the Section 1603 Treasury Program found that extending the TGP would significantly accelerate the growth of the U.S. solar market, with a one-year extension through 2012 poised to have the “greatest impact on economic activity in 2012 and 2013, as well as enable growth through 2016 as projects complete construction and come online.” The report concluded that this one-year continuation would result in an additional 37,000 jobs…a 12 percent increase over baseline.”

Coal Ash Safeguards and Employment: In response to the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group (USWAG) claim that the EPA’s potential coal ash disposal safeguards could lead to the loss of over 300,000 jobs, economist Frank Ackerman of the Stockholm Environmental Institute conducted a new analysis of the regulation’s potential effects on employment. Employment Effects of Coal Ash Regulation, released this month, found that the industry study provides “no explanation for more than 50,000 of the supposedly lost jobs; they result either from unreported assumptions or from errors in calculation.” Ackerman’s analysis reevaluated the job-impact analysis of coal ash regulation, comparing the employment costs to employment benefits, to show that “the effect of the new spending required by strict regulation of coal ash…would be a net gain of 28,000 jobs.”

Pipe Dreams: A report released last month by the Cornell University Global Labor Institute, in association with the ILR School and Global Labor Institute, found that the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline could destroy more American jobs than it creates. Pipe Dreams? Jobs Gained, Jobs Lost by the Construction of Keystone XL, examines claims made by TransCanada Corporation and the American Petroleum Institute regarding the job-creating potential of the new pipeline. New economic analysis cited in the report found that the oil industry’s U.S. jobs claims are “linked to a $7 billion [budget for the project]” and yet the pipeline’s budget “that will have bearing on US jobs figures is dramatically lower—only around $3 to $4 billion,” meaning fewer jobs. The research also concluded that the industry’s claim Keystone XL will create 119,000 total jobs “is based on a flawed and poorly documented study commissioned by TransCanada.”

Long-Term Global CO2 Trends: A 2011 report by the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and JRC European Commission, Long-Term Trend in Global CO2 Emissions found that growth in global CO2 emissions is continuing a long-term trend. Despite a 1 percent decline in emissions in 2009, carbon dioxide emissions across the globe increased more than 5 percent in 2010, an unprecedented increase in the “last two decades, but similar to the increase in 1976 when the global economy was recovering from the first oil crisis and subsequent stock market crash.” The report stressed the need for a large, joint effort for mitigating climate change, as it found that the main reasons for a 5.8 percent increase in 2010 global CO2 emission were continued growth in developing nations and economic recovery in the industrialized countries.

Rainforest Drought and CO2 Emissions: A recent study by NASA researchers and published in the latest issue of Environmental Research Letters found that the 2010 drought in the Amazon rainforest caused an 1.8 billion extra metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, a total nearly equaling the annual CO2 emissions from deforestation and forest fires combined. The scientists behind the findings input satellite data showing a dramatic decline in forest health into a computer model to estimate monthly changes in CO2 output, concluding that “the amount of CO2 absorbed from the atmosphere by vegetation declined by an average of 7 percent in 2010 compared to 2008…” equating to the significant increase in CO2 emissions.

Wetland Losses Linked to Climate Change: A new report released last week by the Department of Interior, in collaboration with the Fish and Wildlife Service, found that there has been an overall loss of wetland habitat since 2004, a loss which experts say is associated with climate change. Status and Trends of Wetlands in the Conterminous United States 2004 to 2009 found that despite a 17 percent increase in the rate of wetland reestablishment and creation, “the estimated wetland loss rate increased 140 percent during the same time period and, as a consequence, national wetland losses have outdistanced gains.”

BP Spill’s Impact on Gulf Ecosystem: A study published late last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examined the effect of the BP oil spill on killifish, also known as bull minnows, in the Gulf. Genomic and Physiological Footprint of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Resident Marsh Fishes chose to research the killifish because of its critical role in the Gulf’s food chain and its sensitivity to the effects of toxic pollution. The research found that the killifish’s cellular function “coincides with contaminating oil and is consistent with genome responses…indicative of physiological and reproductive impairment” and concluded that crude oil from the BP spill “imparts significant biological impacts in sensitive Louisiana marshes, some of which remain for over 2 [months] following initial exposures.

Hunger Index: The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), in conjunction with the German nonprofit Welthungerhilfe and Ireland’s Concern Worldwide, published its Hunger Index Report this month which concluded the use of biofuels, price speculation, and climate change are the top three causes of food price fluctuations and hunger in the developing world. The Challenge of Hunger: Taming Price Spikes and Excessive Food Price Volatility did show a decline in global hunger since 1990, but not a major one as global hunger remains at a “serious” level. The report stressed that addressing food price volatility and price increases will require “revising biofuel policies, regulating financial activity on food markets, and adapting to and mitigating climate change.”

Clean Energy Cons: ThinkProgress released a report this month revealing that dozens of Republicans did, at one point, support clean energy projects in their districts before beginning the current all-out assault on clean energy and green jobs. The special report shows that a total of 62 Republicans from the House and Senate were once proponents of clean energy investments, and sent letters asking for clean energy-related loan guarantees and grants for their districts. Copies of these letters can be accessed in the report.

Polls:

Voter Disapproval of Clean Air Attacks: A new national poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling and released this week by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the League of Women Voters (LWV), and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) found disapproval of President Obama’s decision to block stronger smog protections among Americans, including Latino and suburban women. Responses indicate that roughly 79 percent of women and 71 percent of Latino women nationwide disapproved of the President’s decision on ozone. The polling also found that 69 percent of Americans “agree with health experts who support reducing toxic air pollution from industrial sources” and 69 percent are “in favor of the EPA limiting the amount of carbon pollution that power plants and industrial facilities can release.”

EPA Pollution Rule Support: A new nationwide poll, conducted by Hart Research Associates and GS Strategy Group and released by Ceres this week found that voters “overwhelmingly support” the EPA’s new rules that would limit dangerous air pollution from coal-fired power plants and “strongly disagree” with Congressional attempts to prevent the regulations from going into effect. Responses from 1,400 voters surveyed found 67 percent in support of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), which would require major reductions in emissions from electric power plants, and 77 percent in support of the proposed Mercury and Air Toxics Rule, which would require power plants to significantly reduce their mercury, lead, arsenic, and toxic gas emissions. The poll also found that 75 percent of voters believe that the EPA, not Congress, “should determine whether stricter limits are needed on air pollution from electric power plants,” a view supported across the political spectrum.

Small Business Concerns: A new U.S. Chamber poll released this month shows that Regulation is not a top concern for small business owners. The Small Business Outlook Survey found that the majority, 52 percent, of small businesses’ top concern is the general economic climate over recent legislation and over-regulation. The survey also found strong support for greenhouse gas regulations among small businesses, with 76 percent responding in favor of regulations to reduce carbon emissions. This support also remained strong among business owners in large manufacturing states such as Ohio.

Voters on Federal Regulation: The latest United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll reported this month that while a majority of American voters are concerned about too much government regulation of business hurting the economy, they also remain reluctant to block several of the major rules congressional Republicans want reversed. The poll, conducted just after the nearly unanimous vote by House Republicans in September to block EPA regulations for coal-fired power plants, found that 55 percent of adults believe government regulation of business has been a “major factor” in the “current economic slowdown.” However, when asked whether Congress should block EPA rules meant to “limit emissions of mercury, sulfur dioxide, and other pollutants from power plants,” 47 percent of respondents said Congress should allow the rules to go into effect, while 40 percent said it should block the regulations. When asked about pending EPA regulations meant to “limit emissions of CO2 and other gases that scientists have linked to global climate change,” 52 percent said Congress should allow the rules to take effect while only 39 percent believed that should be blocked.

Support for EPA and Electability: A Bloomberg National Poll conducted last month examined voter sentiment on a variety of national issues and GOP candidate positions, including the matter of climate change and the existence of the EPA. Based on results from 997 respondents, the poll found that 45 percent of respondents said they would be “less likely to vote for someone who questions global warming” versus 25 percent who felt the opposite. 65 percent of respondents said that they would be “less likely to vote for someone who wants to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, versus 19 percent who said the opposite.”

More Americans Believe World is Warming: A Reuters/Ipsos survey released in late September found that, compared to 2010, more Americans believe the world is getting warmer. Americans who believe the Earth is warming rose to 83 percent, an 8 point increase from 75 percent last year when the poll was conducted. Stanford University political science professor and university fellow at the Resources for the Future think tank Jon Krosnick stressed that global warming could be an important issue in the 2012 election “because some 15 percent of voters see it as their primary concern.”

Related posts:

1. The EPA Is Under Siege but Support for Public Health Is Holding Strong, Climate Action Hotline 2.7.11
2. Cues from Our Climate and Other Hot Pubs
3. Cause and Effect and Other Hot Pubs

September 26, 2011 On September 15 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it would delay the release of the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for greenhouse gases for power plants and oil refineries.  Nineteen environmental leaders issued a letter directly to President Obama urging the administration to set a firm timeline to finalize greenhouse gas emissions standards for electric utilities. Signers, including leaders from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club, insisted that the administration “announce and stick to a remedial schedule requiring proposal of these standards without further delay and completion of them as soon as possible in 2012.” Spokesperson for the National Wildlife Federation, Tony Iallonardo, explained that the letter’s signatories want “an explicit response from the president – not just from the EPA, but from the very top of the administration – that they’re going to commit to a schedule and hold to it.” To see full letter and signers, click here. USCAN also directed its response to the delay in a letter to President Obama. Sent last Tuesday, with the signed support of 42 organizations including ActionAid USA, Interfaith Power and Light, Health Care Without Harm, World Wildlife Fund and many state and regional groups,  the letter called on the President to ensure that the EPA swiftly commits to a schedule for proposing meaningful standards for carbon pollution from power plants.  To see the USCAN letter and full list of signers, click here. As explained in Huffington Post Green last week, the controversy over the new standards continues to be the issue of “cost,” as industry leaders stand firmly on the belief that new rules will be economically detrimental. Studies, however, like the one published in February by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst continue to discredit this assumption, asserting that the EPA’s new pollution rule proposals for electric power companies will provide long-term economic benefits across the country, potentially creating 1.46 million jobs by 2015. A National Journal article released last week focused on Washington’s war over the EPA and highlighted the fact that “companies that spend money to install screens and scrubbers will actually be job creators.” A typical power-plant retrofit can employ, at the peak of the work, up to 1,000 engineers, construction workers, and other laborers.”  Further evidence against the claim that regulations are economically harmful came on Wednesday, when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in a statement to Congressional Republicans, said that U.S. power plants are capable of adhering to new environmental rules without raising electricity costs or inhibiting job creation. The Union of Concerned Scientists’ public health expert, Elizabeth Martin Perera, expressed the growing frustration felt by the environmental community as a result of the recent anti-EPA measures. “We’ve just had such an onslaught of attacks in the House…The ozone decision started a very dangerous trend. We need to see Obama stand strong on this and to give the EPA the backing that it needs.” Several Clean Air Act safeguards meant to ensure the quality of the air we breath were pushed back into the Congressional arena this week, and though a broad constituency of concerned groups continue fighting to defend them, the protections still face a barrage of attacks in the House.  On Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee (HECC) passed H.R. 2250 by a vote of 36-14. If signed into law, the bill would rewrite sections of the Clean Air Act in order to allow industrial boilers to incinerate tires, plastics, chemically-treated wood, and other industrial wastes in their on-site plants with no requirements to control, monitor, or report the toxic pollution results. Additionally, the measure would remove current standards for the nation’s largest industrial boilers and indefinitely delay their replacement, allowing for the burning of dangerous wastes in facilities not designed or equipped to do so safely. By a vote of 33-12, the HECC also passed H.R. 2681, which would similarly contribute to harmful pollutants released into our air by eliminating current control requirements for cement plants and encourage the companies to burn the same dangerous wastes as industrial boilers with no control or monitoring. According to a press release by Earthjustice, the elimination of these standards would result in between 3,400 and 9,000 annual premature deaths due to respiratory disease alone. Earthjustice attorney James Pew expressed deep concern over the Committee’s passing of the bills, stating that if H.R. 2250 and H.R. 2681 “are enacted into law, their cost will be borne by Americans across the country, but they will be felt most strongly in the communities that are already overburdened by toxic pollution…communities where childhood cancer and respiratory disease are already far too common.” The first bill in Majority Leader Cantor’s list of attacks on public health safeguards, the TRAIN Act (HR 2401), which would block both the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule,  was passed on Friday by a House vote of 249-169. When first proposed by Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.), the TRAIN Act would have required a redundant economic study of the costs of the pollution rules facing the power sector yet would not look at the benefits of increased health protections. However, in the weeks since it was initially introduced, House Republicans have made additional proposals to have the new committee study, and essentially delay new toxic emissions limits for power plants, as well as block the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule entirely. On Tuesday of last week, the House Rules Committee said it would allow floor debate on Rep. Ed Whitfield’s (R-KY) amendment, which would add minimum delays for the rules beyond what the TRAIN Act already requires.  Prior to the vote, the NRDC estimated that delaying these standards for merely one year would result in up to 25,300 deaths while the bill’s longer minimum periods of delay, 15 and 19 months, would result in up to 33,450 premature deaths. The White House, in response to the proposed amendments, signaled its intentions to veto the legislation early last week and on Wednesday issued a formal “statement of administration policy,” emphasizing its pledge to stand its ground on EPA regulations under attack by Conservatives and industry groups. While the statement affirmed the Administration’s strong support for “careful analysis of the economic effects of regulation,” it asserted that “the approach taken in H.R. 2401 would slow or undermine important public health protections.” Democrats described (subscription required) Friday’s vote as the most brazen attack on environmental safeguards in the history of the Clean Air Act. Despite TRAIN’s passing in the House, the outlook is not entirely without optimism from those most vocally opposed to the measures. Senate Democrats vowed last week that the anti-EPA bill would be dead upon its arrival in the upper chamber. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif), Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman, explained that H.R. 2401 confirms House Republicans are “fighting for polluters and not for the people that they represent…And we’re here to call them out on it.” Environmental, faith-based, development and conservation groups also came to the defense of the International Affairs Account, part of the 2012 fiscal year appropriations bill and which includes investments in international climate change finance. The bill, which underwent markup by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, determines the amount of funding to be invested in international action on global warming. 15 groups, including USCAN, NRDC, ActionAid US, and The Nature Conservancy, signed on to a letter urging the Senate to defend climate change finance investments which are “essential to promote national security and minimize instability, enhance economic opportunities for US businesses and workers, provide major cost savings by reducing disaster relief, protect critical forest areas and biodiversity, and preserve decades of US investments in global development.” Anne-Elyse Wachur, USCAN Affiliate Day of Action to Protect International Climate Finance Appropriations: Background: Right now, funding for International Climate Finance for tropical forest protection, adaptation and clean technology (along with poverty-focused foreign assistance) is in extreme danger. The House State, Foreign Operations Appropriations subcommittee approved their FY2012 spending bill with deep cuts to International Climate Finance accounts that together would seriously gut these programs to support International action on climate change. For more see NRDC’s blog here. We expect greater support for these critical investments in the Senate and as the House and the Senate must agree on a budget for the next fiscal year (FY 2012) before the current Fiscal Year ends on September 30, it is critical that we act now to fight back against these devastating cuts. Join today’s, September 26th National day of action to protect poverty focused (including International Climate Finance) assistance. Join activists from around the U.S. and tell Congress not to cut this vital life-saving assistance! Call the Capitol switchboard (202-224-3121) and ask for your member of Congress. If you aren’t sure who your representative is, click here to search by zip code. For message guidance on State and Foreign Operations Climate Change related funding, which can be used to help crafting letters to and conversations with your members or congress, OpEds, LTEs to your local paper or in outreach to Grasstops and supporters please click here (login required) or email mdixon@climatenetwork.org. Carol Werner, Executive Director September 26, 2011 News Poll: More Americans Acknowledge Climate Change Virginia Appeals Court Sides with Insurance Company in Climate Change Case “24 Hours of Reality” Project Addresses Climate Change Skeptics Number of People Displaced by Climate Change Reaches 30 Million Future of the Kyoto Protocol Remains Uncertain Leaked World Bank Report Calls for Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies to Fulfill Climate Finance Pledges Market Participants Praise Proposal by Australia and Norway for 2015 Climate Deadline Carbon Disclosure Project Praises Entergy for Placement on Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index Climate Change Alters Availability of Fish in Britain Deep Ocean Layers Can Absorb Heat New Model for Allocating Funds Could Mitigate Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity New Technologies Could Reduce Cost of Climate Protection New Satellite Could Improve Climate Models NOAA Analyzes Emissions from Surface Oil Burning After BP Oil Spill Study: “Negative Emissions” Necessary if CO2 Emissions Continue Beyond 2020 Other Headlines Events September 23 – October 2: Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Poll: More Americans Acknowledge Climate Change A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on September 15 revealed that 83 percent of Americans believe in climate change, compared to 75 percent last year. According to the poll, about 72 percent of Republicans achnowledge global warming and 92 percent of Democrats do. Of the participants who believed in global warming, 71 percent are convinced that it is at least partially caused by humans. About 15 percent of voters see global warming as a primary concern. The poll also indicated that, although more Americans recognize climate change, those who are skeptical are increasingly sure of their convictions. Jon Krosnick, a political science professor at Stanford University, has suggested that the tendency of Republican presidential candidates to deny or criticize evidence of climate change has prompted people to reflect on their own views about global warming. For additional information see: Reuters, Scientific American, International Business Times Virginia Appeals Court Sides with Insurance Company in Climate Change Case On September 16, the utility AES emerged as the winner of a decision over whether its insurer, Steadfast, was obligated to defend it in a lawsuit over climate change. AES is a defendent in the court case Kivalina v. Exxon Mobil Corp. et. al., in which the village of Kivalina, Alaska, accused AES and others of negligence because they knowingly emitted greenhouse gases, which contribute to climate change, and subsequent rising sea levels. While the larger Kivalina case is in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, AES sought a decision in Virginia courts on its insurer’s obligation. The decision not to obligate Steadfast hinged on the particular wording of the policy, according to Virginia Supreme Court Justice Bernard Goodwyn. “The relevant policies only require Steadfast to defend AES against claims for damages of bodily injury or property damage caused by an occurrence or accident,” he wrote. Climate change did not meet the “accident” or “occurrence” definition in this instance, according to the ruling. For additional information see: New York Times, Insurance Journal “24 Hours of Reality” Project Addresses Climate Change Skeptics “24 Hours of Reality”, a new project led by former vice president Al Gore, illustrated the effects of climate change in 24 locations around the world through live online videos broadcast in 24 different time zones. The website’s counter indicated the program, which was available in 13 different languages, attracted 8.5 million viewers. The purpose of the videos was to raise awareness about the cause and effects of climate change, directly addressing climate change skeptics and deniers. The videos included an investigation into how climate change skeptics are funded and 200 new slides that outline the connection between climate change and increasingly intense natural disasters. For additional information see: Reuters, NPR, Presentation, New York Times Number of People Displaced by Climate Change Reaches 30 Million Over 30 million people were displaced last year by environmental and weather disasters in Asia, according to a recent Asian Development Bank (ADB) report. This number is expected to rise as disasters intensify due to impacts caused by climate change such as rising sea levels, floods, droughts, and food shortages. Problems associated with the influx of migration are estimated to cost around $60 billion. Areas that face the greatest challenges are low-lying regions such as the Maldives, where populations of entire islands have already been forced to move. The report states that rather than creating a new category of migrant people, climate change will likely influence existing migration factors and patterns, such as reinforcing the strong urbanization trend in the region. The ADB is currently working on a report that will outline potential policies that governments could consider to mitigate the impacts of climate change. For additional information see: The Guardian, Report Future of the Kyoto Protocol Remains Uncertain A new international agreement resulting in the renewal of the Kyoto Protocol seems unlikely, as the United States continues to refuse to take part in discussions, and Norway and Australia call for a delay in a new treaty. Todd Stern, the most prominent U.S. negotiator in international climate change talks, stated that most industrialized nations such as Russia, Japan, and Canada, oppose a second commitment period, and the United States will continue to refuse to participate in a new international treaty unless emerging economies will be obligated to reduce emissions. The Kyoto Protocol is scheduled to expire at the end of 2012, leaving no binding international agreement in its place, and no legal foundation for carbon trading schemes in its place. Developing countries have expressed discontent at the likely abandonment of the Protocol, which they believe to be the foundation of future negotiations on climate change. For additional information see: Business Green, The Guardian Leaked World Bank Report Calls for Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies to Fulfill Climate Finance Pledges Wealthy countries should eliminate $50 billion a year in fossil fuel subsidies, a leaked World Bank report said. The report, which was intended to be presented to the G20 finance ministers in November, also said that countries should spend their pledged climate change funds on financing carbon markets. It is unlikely that the funds which rich countries have pledged—$30 billion for 2010-2012 and $100 billion per year by 2020—will actually be provided. Removing fossil fuel subsidies could be a starting point though, according to the study. The report further supports a carbon tax on the aviation and maritime industries. “A globally implemented carbon charge of $25/ton CO2 on fuel used could raise around $13 billion from international aviation and around $26 billion from international maritime transport in 2020, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions from each industry by around 5 to 10 percent.” Developing countries have become increasingly frustrated by rich nations failing to fulfill their climate finance pledges. “Rich nations cannot try and pass the buck to private companies who will be more interested in delivering high returns than meeting the needs of some of the world’s poorest people,” said Murray Worthy, a policy officer with the World Development Movement. For additional information see: Guardian, World Bank Draft Report (Via Guardian) Market Participants Praise Proposal by Australia and Norway for 2015 Climate Deadline Australia and Norway have submitted a proposal to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat to finalize a new international climate framework by 2015, acknowledging that it likely will not happen in Durban this year. The proposal creates a timetable which begins with the negotiations in Durban and finishes with a legally-binding framework in 2015. Participants have praised the proposal as realistic. “There are a number of parties that would like to have a legally-binding agreement right away,” Jennifer Morgan of the World Resources Institute said. “But it’s good to have a vision on the table.” Russel Mills, global director of energy and climate change for Dow Chemical in Switzerland, and Martijn Wilder, a Sydney-based partner with law firm Baker & McKenzie, have noted that countries such as Australia, China and Korea should have their own emissions trading schemes in place by 2015, which will make international talks easier. “At the end of the day, it’s very important to have a timetable, but you have to have the political will to meet it,” Mr. Wilder said. For additional information see: Environmental Finance, The Proposal Carbon Disclosure Project Praises Entergy for Placement on Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index For the seventh time in eight years, Entergy Corporation has been named to the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI). Compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the CDLI is comprised of 55 companies from the S&P 500 who have been lauded for their disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions, commitments to emissions reductions, and their understanding of the role they play in climate change issues. The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) maintains a database of over 3,000 organizations’ voluntarily disclosed greenhouse gas emissions and water-use information. According to Entergy, “It’s as simple as, despite the best intentions, what’s not measured doesn’t get done. The Carbon Disclosure Project serves a great need to raise our awareness of how much can be, and needs to be, done.”According to Paul Simpson, CEO of the Carbon Disclosure Project, “Companies that make the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index have demonstrated good internal data management practices for understanding greenhouse gas emissions. They have shown a strong awareness of the business issues related to climate change, including climate-related risks and opportunities. Those organizations that give clear consideration to measuring and reporting on climate change issues will be best placed to capitalize on the opportunities from managing them.” Entergy, an integrated electric power company servicing Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, was also named to the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index earlier this month. For additional information see: Sacramento Bee Climate Change Alters Availability of Fish in Britain According to a new study, global warming is changing fish populations in British waters. Cold water fish such as cod and haddock, that are common in British cuisine are growing scarcer as sea temperatures rise. Fish that tend to breed in warmer temperatures, such as hake, dab, and red mullet, are thriving. Analysis of 28 years of data that tracked 50 common species of fish revealed that 30 different species are affected by climate change. If this trend continues, the UK could see a greater diversity of options in fish, as warm water species tend to be more resilient to overfishing because they reproduce and grow faster than cold water species. However, the study also mentioned that the impact of ocean acidification is still unknown, and might negatively impact the availability of fish. The research was funded by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment Research Council, and was published in Current Biology. For additional information see: BBC, Guardian, Science Daily, Study Deep Ocean Layers Can Absorb Heat A recent study revealed that ocean layers deeper than 1,000 feet can absorb heat for up to a decade. This discovery provided insight into why global temperature does not rise consistently. The study was prompted by the realization that even though carbon emissions have climbed steadily in the past decade, the highest global temperatures on record in 1998 were not exceeded until 2010. By using a software tool known as Community Climate System Model to illustrate complex relationships between the atmosphere, land, oceans, and ice, scientists were able to create five simulations of global temperatures. The simulations projected that there would be periods of relatively stable temperatures that could last about a decade, during which heat energy is buried in deep oceanic layers.The study was published in Nature Climate Change. For additional information see: Science Daily, International Business Times, Abstract New Model for Allocating Funds Could Mitigate Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity Scientists have developed a new model for the allocation of conservation funding that could help save more species from climate change. The model uses both ecological and economic information to guide conservation investment, and can be applied to the conservation of a wide range of environments. The goal of the project was to address the loss of biodiversity due to climate change by making sure that the costs of conservation efforts are explicit, and money is not wasted on politicized decisions. The model considers many threats to biodiversity that are caused by climate change, such as wild fires and invasive species, to efficiently manage funds. The model was published in Nature Climate Change. For additional information see: Science Daily, Abstract New Technologies Could Reduce Cost of Climate Protection New research suggests that funding for new technology is one of the most cost effective ways to address climate change. Funding for new energy technologies with a high potential for cost reduction is more financially beneficial than investing in more familiar technologies. The research was conducted at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research using a computer simulation that processed data from the past 100 years. The analysis shows that companies are uncertain about long term profits from new technologies, and consumers have little incentive to pay more for electricity that was produced with new technology, so inferior and ultimately more expensive technology tends to dominate the market. Funding targeted at new technologie, such as solar energy, offshore wind power, and biomass energy, over a 30 year period, have a more positive cost-benefit ratio, compared to financial support for well-established technologies such as nuclear energy and hydroelectric power. The study was published in the journal Resource and Energy Economics. For additional information see: Science Daily, Guardian, Study New Satellite Could Improve Climate Models A new paper, published in The Philospohical Transactions of the Royal Society, finds that more reliable and precise climate models can be formed using Traceable Radiometry Underpinning Terrestrial and Helio Studies (TRUTHS). Currently, the most reliable models depend on many complicated measurements, analysis, and projections. The data required to maintain these models must be taken from space, often over a long period of time. The costs and variability in such data collection methods result in varying climate models. The TRUTHS project would involve a single satellite capable of highly accurate measurements of incoming solar radiation that could track albedo, cloud cover, and solar radiation levels. TRUTHS would be the first satellite with the ability to accurately record and report data about climate while orbiting, and would be capable of measurements ten times more accurate than current satellites. So far, both the European Space Agency and NASA have expressed interest in the project. For additional information see: Science Daily, Abstract NOAA Analyzes Emissions from Surface Oil Burning After BP Oil Spill A study conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) revealed that over one million pounds of black carbon (soot) was released into the atmosphere when the surface oil slicks from the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill were burned. Over nine weeks, the burned oil emitted more black carbon into the atmosphere than the combined emissions of all ships normally traveling through the region during that time. Black carbon is harmful because it not only warms the atmosphere—it is the most light absorbing airborne particle—but also degrades air quality and is harmful to human health. Black carbon has also been associated with accelerated melting of Arctic ice. “Scientists have wanted to know more about how much black carbon pollution comes from controlled burning and the physical and chemical properties of that pollution. Now we know a lot more,” said the study’s lead author Anne Perring. The researchers found that the soot emitted was larger than normal ship emissions, which usually indicates that it will remain in the atmosphere for less time. However, it also reached higher altitudes which could affect where it eventually settles. For additional information see: Science Daily, Abstract Study: “Negative Emissions” Necessary if CO2 Emissions Continue Beyond 2020 Cutting carbon emissions may no longer be sufficient to stay within the 2 degree temperature limit on global warming, a series of studies have predicted in the November issue of the journal Climate Change. According to one study, the atmosphere may be saturated with enough carbon to reach the 2 degree increase within 20 years, after which carbon must be removed to compensate for increased emissions. Such an approach, known as “negative emissions”, is getting more attention as emissions continue to grow and global temperatures rise. The atmosphere has already warmed by .8 degrees since before industrial times. “If we want to stay below 2 degrees Celsius and possibly achieve 1.5 in the 22nd century then we’re not going to get around these negative emissions,” said Malte Meinshausen, lead author of one study. According to Meinshausen’s study, in order to achieve this, we must halt increases in carbon emissions within 5 years, and 3.5 billion tons have to be removed from the atmosphere annually by 2070. If emissions continue to rise after 2020, excess carbon must be removed from the atmosphere at a rate of 18 billion tons annually for about 100 years. For additional information see: Reuters Other Headlines UN Official Urges Governments to Remain Committed to Goal of Low-Carbon Economies Women Lead the Fight Against Climate Change Bangladesh Prime Minister: Displacement Device Need of Hour Australia Releases Updated Carbon Tax Modeling Times Atlas Is ‘Wrong on Greenland Climate Change’ September 23 – October 2: Department of Energy Solar Decathlon The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon is on the National Mall’s West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C. through October 2, 2011. The award-winning program challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency. Open to the public free of charge, visitors can tour the houses, gather ideas to use in their own homes, and learn how energy-saving features can help them save money today. For additional information see: www.solardecathlon.gov Writers: Kate Glass, Joey Gosselar, and Matthew Johnson Please distribute Climate Change News to your colleagues. Permission for reproduction of this newsletter is granted provided that the Environmental and Energy Study Institute is properly acknowledged as the source. Past issues are available here. Free email subscriptions are available here. We welcome your suggestions, comments, and questions. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) is a non-profit organization founded in 1984 by a bipartisan Congressional caucus dedicated to finding innovative environmental and energy solutions. EESI works to protect the climate and ensure a healthy, secure, and sustainable future for America through policymaker education, coalition building, and policy development in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy, agriculture, forestry, transportation, buildings, and urban planning. EESI’s work, including this free newsletter, is made possible by financial support from people like you. Please help us continue to make it available by making a secure, online donation today by clicking here or mailing a check to Environmental and Energy Study Institute; 1112 16th St NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036. Please contact Susan Williams at (202) 662-1887 or see www.eesi.org/donate to find out more. Thank you for your support! Climate Action Hotline is the new weekly update by the US Climate Action Network. Let us know what you think.

Peter Bahouth, Executive Director Bonds Key to Forests and Climate Solar Decathlon Competition Kicks off in D.C. with Five Southeastern Competitors A Global Day of Action to Move the Planet Toward Cleaner Energy Solutions Solyndra Failed, But 119 Other Solar Companies and 100,000 Solar Workers Are Succeeding House Votes for TRAIN Act – and Against Cleaner, Healthier Air You Say You Want a (Clean Energy) Revolution? Strong Public Support for EPA Efforts to Reduce Carbon Emissions ‘Moving Planet’ Rallies Urge Clean Energy D.C., Baltimore Tie for No. 3 Spot in Smoggiest Large Metro Areas EU Gives Airlines 85 Percent Free CO2 Permits in 2012 (Reuters) China to Invest 2 Trillion Yuan in Low-Carbon Economy IMF, World Bank Eye Carbon Tax on Airline, Ship Fuels “The House today showed they have bought the false argument that we need to choose between protecting lives and creating jobs. Now we need the Senate and the President to protect our right to breathe.” – Statement from major environmental & public health groups

Related posts:

1. Climate Action Hotline, 1.24.11
2. Climate Action Hotline, 3.21.11
3. Climate Action Hotline, 4.4.11

Insurer Responses to Climate Risk: This month, Ceres released “Climate Risk Disclosure By Insurers: Evaluating Insurer Responses to the NAIC Climate Disclosure Survey.” The report examines public disclosure filings from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to assess US insurer consideration of climate change as a key risk factor to their business and how that consideration affects their decision making. Based on the NAIC responses, which targeted six states, Ceres’ analysis found that there does exist a “broad consensus among insurers that climate change will have an effect on extreme weather events, [with] more than three-quarters of insurers [citing] perils that may be affected by climate change. Despite this recognition, out of 88 companies surveyed, “only 11 insurers reported having formal climate change policies, and more than 60 percent of the respondents reported having no dedicated management approach for assessing climate risk.” Of 18 property and casualty companies surveyed, none had “formal climate change policies or explicit board or executive oversight of this issue.”

Climate Financing and Gender Equality: Oxfam America, along with Gender Action and the Women’s Environment and Development Organization released a research report this month examining practices that would ensure equal and effective distribution of climate change financing for the world’s most vulnerable populations. “Governing Climate Funds: What Will Work for Women?” urges that if climate funds are to respond effectively, “they must incorporate gender throughout project planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.” The study looks at four funds, two climate and two non-climate funds, to find useful strategies for gender integration in global finance mechanisms. Among several recommendations made in the report, it finds that “climate funds should [not only] allow recipient countries to access finance directly…but should also strengthen mandatory gender project review criteria and gender evaluation requirements [as well as] allow and encourage women’s groups to apply for finance directly when national implementing agencies are not meeting their needs.”

Exposing Keystone XL: This month OilChange International released “Exposing Energy Security: Keystone XL Exposed.” The briefing targets claims made by major industry that the Keystone pipeline is necessary to ensure America’s energy security and will work to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil, scrutinizing the global oil market and the oil companies that stand to profit from the pipeline. Based on facts uncovered in the report, OilChange posits that Keystone XL “will feed the growing trend of exporting refined products out of the United States, thereby doing nothing to enhance energy security or to stabilize oil prices or gasoline prices at the pump.” It uncovers a business model put forth by Valero that “seeks to export products made with imported oil while further importing gasoline from a third country.”

Nonmember Reports:

Extreme Weather: This month Climate Communications released “Current Extreme Weather and Climate Change,” summarizing the latest research on the connection between climate change and extreme weather. The report, reviewed by several leading climatologists, found that extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts, flooding, and hurricanes, are happening more frequently, and that the ties to human-induced climate change are clear. In-depth analyses have demonstrated that natural climate variability cannot solely explain the long-term trends of changing weather extremes, especially in terms of increased heat waves. The research indicates that “the increased in hot weather is a direct result of climate change, and human influence is estimated to have more than doubled the likelihood of the warming trends experienced recently in virtually every region of the globe.”

The Facts on Keystone’s Job Potential: The Cornell Global Labor Institute recently released its analysis of the job impacts expected from construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. It finds that estimations of the pipeline’s job-creating potential made by the American Petroleum Institute are unreliable and “therefore unsuitable for public debate.” Citing previous and potential future oil spills, emissions levels, and air quality, the release states that the Keystone project has “minimal job creation potential, but maximum potential in terms of the environmental damage it could cause.” The findings urge that “the U.S. needs a real jobs program [and] Keystone XL is not it.” Further information about the Cornell findings regarding the pipeline jobs can be found on the USCAN Tar Sands webpage.

GHG Emissions from Natural Gas Extraction: A study released by the Cornell Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology earlier this year examined the GHG emissions released during high-volume hydraulic shale fracturing to obtain natural gas. The research found that methane emissions during this process are “at least 30% more than and perhaps more than twice as great as those from conventional gas.”  The majority of the GHG footprint for shale comes from direct CO2 emissions during consumption, but also from methane emissions that are not collected and piped away during natural gas extraction processes. According to the study, when compared to coal, the “footprint of shale gas is at least 20% greater and perhaps more than twice as great on the 20-year horizon.”

Natural Gas vs. Coal: A study released last month by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, “Coal to Gas: The Influence of Methane Leakage” found that although the burning of natural gas emits significantly less carbon dioxide than coal, a greater reliance on it would not significantly slow down climate change. Research by Tom Wigley, a senior research associate at NCAR found that “when gas replaces coal there is additional warming out to [the year] 2050,” assuming methane leakage during natural gas extraction is kept at 0%, “and out to [the year] 2,140 if the leakage rate is as high as 10%.” The study finds that fracking specifically is associated with an increase in methane leakage compared to other means of gas production, and that “the direct effects on global-mean temperature of differential gas leakage between coal and gas production are very small.”

Surveys and Polls:

Political Party and Climate Belief: The Yale Project on Climate Change Communications and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communications released a report detailing the results from their most recent national survey of the American public. “Politics & Global Warming: Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and the Tea Party” examines responses by members of each political party related to the issue of global warming. The results indicated that 78% of Democrats, 71% of Independents, and 53% of Republicans believe that global warming is happening, compared with only 34% of Tea Party members. 53% of Tea Party members, in fact, responded that they believe global warming is not happening. The majorities of all four parties support expanding offshore drilling for oil and natural gas off the U.S. coast, “with 46% of Republicans and 58% of Tea Party members strongly supportive.”

EPA Sentiments: A September national Bloomberg poll, based on interviews with 997 U.S. adults 18 and older found that sixty-six percent of respondents reported being “less likely to vote for someone who wants to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, versus 19 percent who said the opposite.” For more survey results regarding respondents feelings on the Presidential campaign and current political affairs, view the Bloomberg polling data.

Related posts:

1. Broad Support for a Strong EPA and Other Hot Pubs
2. Cause and Effect and Other Hot Pubs
3. Cleaning Up Our Waters, Spending, and Energy Use Hot Pubs

Toxic Oil Dispersants: This month Toxipedia Consultants and Earthjustice released “The Chaos of Clean-Up: Analysis of Potential Health and Environmental Impacts of Chemicals in Dispersant Products.” The study responds to public concern over the safety of chemicals poured into the Gulf of Mexico to disperse oil after the Deepwater Horizon spill. According to the report, the dispersants lacked consistent toxicity testing, testing for non-acute impacts, and full information on their ingredients prior to their use to combat the spill. The research done on the dispersants found that of their 57 ingredients, 5 chemicals are associated with cancer, 33 with skin irritations, while 8 are suspected to be toxic to aquatic organisms and 5 are suspected to have moderate acute toxicity to fish.

Green Scissors: A Green Scissors 2011 report released this month suggests cuts in environmentally harmful government subsidies that could potentially save taxpayers over $380 billion over the next five years. The report, released by Friends of the Earth, Taxpayers for Common Sense, Public Citizen, and the Heartland Institute, targets spending in the areas of energy, agriculture, transportation, and land and water. Subsidies given to the oil and gas industry are specifically cited as unnecessary. According to the report, “Peabody Energy, the largest private sector coal company, earned record-breaking profits in 2008 and has already posted $461.3 million in profits in 2011, up 36 percent from the first six months of 2010. Consol Energy recorded near-record income of $540 million in 2009, and this year, first quarter profits nearly doubled from 2010 to reach $192 million.”

Clean Energy for the World’s Poor: Earlier this summer, ActionAid International, along with Oil Change International and the Vasudha Foundation in India released “Access to Energy for the Poor: The Clean Energy Option.” The report focuses on the dual benefit of increasing the world’s poorest population’s access to energy services and promoting clean energy sources for both development and the environment. The research highlights international, national, and local initiatives to increase access to clean energy services. It also stresses the role that multilateral development banks could play in funding the transition to a more sustainable energy future. Recommendations for the World Bank made in the report include focusing its energy lending on increasing energy access to the poor through “clean, decentralized energy sources,” clarifying its criteria for “’energy access,’ focusing on the world’s poorest,” and stopping lending for fossil fuels with the exception of “extreme cases where there is clearly no other viable option for increasing energy access to the poor.” The report found that currently only 9 percent of the World Bank Group’s energy portfolio in FY 2009 and 2010 targeted increasing energy access for the world’s poorest populations.

Improving Water Use: The Nature Conservancy, partnered with PepsiCo, released a report, “Striving for Positive Water Impact” this month discussing the launch of five “Positive Water Impact pilot projects focused on understanding the watershed conditions and restoration opportunities for a group of diverse manufacturing plants in different parts of the world.” The research behind the projects worked to identify sub-watersheds for restoration, possible steps for improving water conditions, and the costs and benefits associated with these activities. The report highlights mitigation efforts underway in each of the pilot sites, located in the US, UK, China, India, and Mexico; efforts that include irrigation system upgrades, wastewater re-use, rainfall retention, rainwater harvesting, and rehabilitation of “defunct water infrastructure in local villages.”

Non-Member Reports:

The Western Energy Grid: On August 24, 2011, with support from the Western Clean Energy Advocates (WCEA), the Western Grid Group (WGG) released “Western Grid: 2050: Contrasting Futures, Contrasting Fortunes.” Based on the fact that over $200 billion will be invested in the western electricity sector by 2030, the report considers two opposing routes the electricity grid’s development course could follow through the year 2050, comparing their economic, environmental, security, and public health impacts. The first trajectory, a “Business As-Usual” approach, focuses discretionary investment on “retrofitting, repowering and adding coal generation and on meeting any incremental needs with new gas-fired generation” while the second, a “Clean Energy Vision,” focuses this investment on implementing renewable energy technologies. In comparing the two paths, the report finds that the Clean Energy Vision emits significantly less carbon dioxide and relative to 2010 water use, reduces “water use for electricity generation by 50 percent.”

Coal Capacity at Risk: On August 26, 2011, PJM Interconnection, the main regional transmission organization covering 13 states and the District issued “Coal Capacity at Risk for Retirement in PJM: Potential Impacts of the Finalized EPA Cross State Air Pollution Rule and Proposed National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.” The report focuses on PJM’s estimated impacts of these regulations on the amount of coal-fired generating capacity that may be eliminated. Even with the projection that “as much as 20,000 MW of coal-fired capacity are at risk for retirement in PJM, with as much as 4,400 MW of that capacity located in the Mid-Atlantic region,” there remain announced commitments to replace a portion of that capacity, the potential for new entry from Demand Resources, and unthreatened resource adequacy. The PJM report’s estimates challenge claims by several coal plant operators and some members of Congress that electric system reliability is threatened by coal plant retirements that could occur as a result of EPA’s new pollution rules.

Polls/Surveys:

New Yorker’s Feelings on Fracking: On August 11 Quinnipiac University released the findings of a statewide New York poll evaluating public opinion on drilling in the Marcellus Shale. The results indicate that, by a 47 – 42 percent margin, New York voters support the economic benefits of drilling for natural gas in the Shale more than they fear the possible environmental impacts of the fracking. The independent poll also found that respondents believe 75 – 17 percent that “natural gas drilling will create jobs…with strong support among all groups and in all regions of the state.” Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute says the poll shows New Yorkers want to “drill for the jobs…even though they’re worried about the environmental effects of hydro-fracking.” Results show voters believe 52 – 15 percent that the process will damage the environment, while 33 percent are undecided.

Coloradans Blame Oil Companies for Gas Prices: An August 2011 poll conducted by Keating research and commissioned by the Checks and Balances Project found a large majority of Colorado residents in favor of a reduction in oil price speculation and market manipulation to lower gas prices. The survey, conducting through live telephone polling between May 24-26, 2011, found 77 percent of Colorado voters believe that “reducing oil consumption through efficiency would be an effective way to reduce prices.” The results of the poll were released to the public just as the Americans for Prosperity “Running on Empty” tour, which has been promoting increased oil drilling, began its stops in Colorado. Based on 603 interviews with Colorado voters, the survey found seven out of ten respondents “favor diversification of the sources of energy by creating a national renewable electricity standard that requires 20 percent of electricity” to come from renewable sources.

Cooling Climate Concern: This month Nielsen released the results of its “2011 Global Online Environment and Sustainability Survey” which compiled Internet responses of more than 25,000 people in 51 countries. The updated findings, when compared to the results from 2007 and 2009, found that while 69 percent of respondents say they are concerned about climate change, up from 66 percent in 2009, concern for other environmental issues is of higher and increasing priority. The area of concern growing the fastest among 73 percent of global online consumers is on the “use of pesticides, packaging waste and water shortages, with reported concern increasing 16, 14, and 13 percentage points, respectively.” The results also saw the United States concern about climate change drop 14 percentage points from 2007 to 2011, with less than half (48%) of Americans reporting that they are concerned about the issue.

Related posts:

1. Broad Support for a Strong EPA and Other Hot Pubs
2. Cause and Effect and Other Hot Pubs
3. Cues from Our Climate and Other Hot Pubs

Peter Bahouth, Executive Director Aug. 8, 2011 Image courtesy of: NRDC In the Heat of Summer The horrible July heat wave has spilled over into August, bringing weeks, even entire months, of unusually high temperatures to cities across the US. Nearly 200 million people are said to be affected by the heat wave, with 2,712 record high temperatures recorded in July alone, compared with 1,444 last year, according to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). At least one weather station in all 50 states set or tied a daily high temperature record in the last month. July was so hot “that just by plotting the location of each daily heat record that was broken, a nearly complete image of the contiguous United States is visible,” reports NOAA. According to a new study by Stanford researchers, we need to get used to the heat. “According to our projections, large areas of the globe are likely to warm up so quickly that, by the middle of this century, even the coolest summers will be hotter than the hottest summers of the past 50 years,” said the study’s lead author, Noah Diffenbaugh, fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford. “When scientists talk about global warming causing more heat waves, people often ask if that means that the hottest temperatures will become ‘the new normal,’” Diffenbaugh said. “That got us thinking – at what point can we expect the coolest seasonal temperatures to always be hotter than the historically highest temperatures for that season?” The results of the study will be published later this month in the journal Climatic Change Letters. Notwithstanding these records, the inability to directly pin a single weather event on climate change continues to be a challenge for scientists and weather experts when communicating the impacts of climate change. According to Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, news coverage is how most people learn about climate, so quantity and quality of coverage really matters. Similarly, people’s friends, family, colleagues and social media outlets influence individual beliefs. But perhaps one of the most unexpected factors that influences people’s opinions on climate change is what the weather feels like outside. Recent studies among Americans and Australians found that when it’s hotter outside, people are more likely to be worried about global warming. When it’s cooler, that worry dissipates. However, Leiserowitz also points out that, people tend to cherry-pick information based on their pre-existing beliefs about climate. People who don’t hold strong opinions about global warming tended to be easily swayed by the weather: snow makes them doubt warming and heat encourages them to accept it as a real phenomena. Uncertainty and fickle trust in the experts is also part of the problem, according to Edward Maibach, director of the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University in Virginia. Nearly 6 out of 10 Americans do not know that the 90 percent of climate scientists are convinced that the climate is changing. The myth that there is scientific disagreement on the topic “turns out to be a very important determinative factor in undermining people’s belief that the climate is changing,” Maibach explains. Exacerbating the issue is the fact that besides environmental groups, there is little public education on climate change. Unfortunately, environmental groups are viewed with skepticism and not trusted. Friday, the Natural Resources Defense Council launched a new web tool called “Climate Change Threatens Health.” These pages bring the effects of climate change down to the local level. Users can zoom in on 5 US maps, see how their health is vulnerable to climate change, and learn about what’s needed to protect their families and reduce climate change. For more information see NRDC’s related blog. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) promises quick action on energy legislation when the Senate returns in September after a four-week recess. Clean energy language will be part of a job-creation agenda that Democrats plan to work on after the break. “I’m optimistic and hopeful that the spirit of compromise that has taken root in Washington over the last several days will endure,” Reid said. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, noted that her panel plans to take it up during the first two weeks after recess. Specifics about the clean energy jobs legislation remain unclear. Democrats may present one or several of the bills that the Energy and Natural Resources Committee has already cleared this year, bills dealing with nuclear energy, carbon capture and sequestration and clean energy financing, among others. Or Democrats could try to move something different altogether. Earlier this year, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the chamber’s No. 3 Democrat, promised to push an energy bill that would address “energy conservation and alternative energy solutions.” That legislation never came up, and few details exist about the language. When Congress returns in September, House Republicans say they will pick up efforts to pass legislation to restrict EPA’s air quality rules. Senate Democrats respond that they will have no trouble killing those proposals from the Republican-lead House. “They keep trying to overturn the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act. That’s not going to happen,” according to Senator Boxer. The House has already approved several bills this year to reduce EPA’s authority, including one in April that would prevent the agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources, such as power plants (HR 910). A fiscal 2012 appropriations bill that was pulled from the House floor this week would have placed additional temporary restrictions on EPA rules, including for greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and for hazardous and soot- and smog-forming emissions (HR 2584). Also on the chopping block is EPA’s rules for ozone and hazardous emissions from utilities and from the manufacture of cement when Congress returns in September, something Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), who heads the House Energy and Power Subcommittee, said he wants his panel to take on. Last, but certainly not least, this week saw the smashing all previous public comment records to the EPA, with over 800,000 Americans sending a clear message that the time has come to end harmful mercury and air toxics from entering the air. During the comment period, which started in March, over 200 public health, faith, and conservation groups representing every state and corner of the nation voiced their opinion that the EPA in must use their power to curb dangerous mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants. This impressive number comes at huge credit to USCAN’s member organizations and their allies and partners. A big thank you to all the advocates who helped make this campaign a success! Kellyn Eberhardt, Southeast Regional Coordinator New Team Member! We are very pleased to announce that Susan Tambi Matambo is joining us as our new International Policy Coordinator.  She has been engaged in efforts to curb global warming and other international policy issues throughout her career. Her work on environmental policy issues began ten years ago in Southern Africa as the partnership specialist for Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). In this role she worked with government, civil society and the private sector serving as an outspoken advocate for better environmental policies in Zambia. Susan has a Master’s degree in environmental management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental studies with a concentration in global change science and policy. She focused her Masters research study on the influence global institutions have on domestic environmental policy, including the international policy agreement process. During her time at Yale, she led a delegation of young professionals to a major international conference in Durban, South Africa where she advocated for a more meaningful participation of young people in environmental discussions at the global level. Susan also worked as a program officer and consultant for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Secretariat in Washington DC, for six years. Susan has an extensive research background. Her latest publications include co-authoring two papers on climate change adaptation in Nepal and Namibia for the World Resources Institute. (WRI). We could not be happier to have Susan become the newest member of the USCAN staff. Please join us in welcoming her to our Network. Tar Sands Action – Stop Keystone XL Pipeline: The Department of State is currently considering TransCanada’s application for a Presidential Permit to build and operate the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. This massive pipeline would be the third and largest dedicated tar sands pipeline running between Canada and the US, and would deliver 900,000 barrels a day of this toxic oil from Alberta, Canada to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico. Obama, Clinton, and other members of the executive branch have been reluctant to prohibit it because of industry pressure and high oil prices. In the weeks leading up to the approval deadline, join thousands of Americans, including Bill McKibben, Danny Glover, and NASA’s Dr. James Hansen, in a two-week sit-in at the White House this August 20 – September 3 to pressure the Obama Administration to deny the “presidential permit” necessary for construction on the pipeline to begin. Sign up for the rallies, help spread the word or click here for a sample letter to Secretary Clinton from the Sierra Club.   For more information visit TarSandsAction.org or email mdixon@climatenetwork.org. Carol Werner, Executive Director Aug. 8, 2011 News Insurance Companies Probe Impact of Climate Change on Future Weather Events Follow Up: Arctic Scientist Facing Inquiry Over Management of Contracts, Not Quality of Research, Watchdog Says Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Cuts to be Less than Predicted, Report Finds Carbon Trading Program Cuts Emissions, Gains Support in New Zealand Near-Record Melting of Ice in Arctic Ocean Opens Safe Route for Cargo Hydroelectric Reservoirs Emit Less Greenhouse Gas than Previously Thought, Study Finds Small Increases in Water Temperatures Can Cause Collapse of Ice Shelves, Study Says Climate Change Will Push Out Native Grasses in California, Study Predicts Crops with Deeper Roots Can Lower CO2 Levels, Study Finds Study: Reducing Gases Other than CO2 Holds Promise to Curb Warming Other Headlines Federal Legislative Action S.1426, H.R.2738 Insurance Companies Probe Impact of Climate Change on Future Weather Events Several major insurance companies are taking steps to include the future effects of climate change in their business models. Claims resulting from this year’s floods, droughts, wildfires, and other extreme weather events in the United States are expected to negate any profits for the insurance and reinsurance industry. “Last year in Texas it was all floods and this year it’s drought,” said Andrew Castaldi of Swiss Re America Corp., a reinsurance company. “Is that climate change or just natural variability? We’re investigating whether these phenomena are simply normal variability or normal variability with some climate change influence.” Insurance companies want to price the potential effects of climate change, and set aside appropriate capital reserves to handle future claims. “We don’t see it as a danger in the next 30 years, but if we don’t do something to contain greenhouse gas emissions now, this is definitely a challenge for the insurance business model in the second half of this century,” said Peter Hoppe of Munich Re, another reinsurance company. For additional information see: CNBC, Munich Re News Release Follow Up: Arctic Scientist Facing Inquiry Over Management of Contracts, Not Quality of Research, Watchdog Says A suspended government biologist faces an investigation related to his management of research contracts and not his scientific work on drowned polar bears, a watchdog group reported Aug. 1. Charles Monnett, a biologist with the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, received a memo dated July 29 from the Department of Interior’s Inspector General’s Office that mentioned a research contract with the University of Alberta. Monnett coordinated agency research on Arctic wildlife. “There were no mysteries about how Dr. Monnett handled his responsibilities related to the procurement of this or any other research project in his scientific portfolio,” said Jeff Ruch of the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which is defending Monnett, who was suspended July 18. He had received significant publicity for co-authoring a paper that detailed his observations of dead polar bears in the Arctic. It became a rallying point for climate activism amidst concern for the risks the bears face in swimming greater distances because of melting ice. However, investigators for the Inspector General’s Office who interviewed Monnett asked about his calculations of polar bear mortality rates in the paper, according to a transcript of the interview that was made public. For additional information see: ABC News, Interview Transcript Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Cuts to be Less than Predicted, Report Finds Canada is overestimating the potential of its current suite of policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, an independent policy advisory group reported. The cumulative effect of the policies is likely to be half the effect predicted when each policy was introduced. Policies include regulations on greenhouse gases from cars and light trucks, and regulations and incentives to promote energy efficiency and use of renewable energy in industrial, residential and commercial sectors. The analysis was published in late July by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, an advisory group created in 1999 by a federal law to promote sustainable development. The analysis also reaffirmed a previous statement by the government that it would not meet its 2020 target for emissions reductions. For additional information see: Montreal Gazette, Report Carbon Trading Program Cuts Emissions, Gains Support in New Zealand New Zealand’s greenhouse gas (GHG) trading program is cutting emissions and winning support from the business community. National GHG emissions decreased during the past two years – the first time since 1990 that emissions had fallen two years in a row. Renewable sources also accounted for 80 percent of energy generation last year. And, 63 percent of companies responded in submissions to the government that they support the program. A majority opposed the program two years ago. A new government report released the data, and Climate Change Minister Nick Smith commented on a “marked and positive shift” in business attitudes toward the program. “’This reflects the value of certainty – the fact that critics overstated the costs of the scheme and the careful approach the government has taken to the transitional arrangements,” he said. The program has been implemented in stages and puts a price on GHG emissions; energy plants, large industry and transportation sources of GHG emissions were included in July 2010. For now, they are paying a reduced price of $10 NZD per metric ton of GHG emissions. For additional information see: The Age, Government Website Near-Record Melting of Ice in Arctic Ocean Opens Safe Route for Cargo Ice cover in the Arctic melted to such an extent this summer that previously perilous waters are open to easy and safe navigation, the Russian climate monitoring agency reported. The melting is occurring at a near-record pace. “Since the beginning of August, icebreaker-free sailing is open on almost all the (northern shipping) routes,” the agency said in a statement posted Aug. 3 on its website. The Arctic Ocean could be entirely free of ice during the summer by 2050 if the current pace of melting keeps up. Russia would like the northern passage through the Arctic to rival the Suez Canal in moving cargo and become a year-round route. For cargo moving between European and Asian ports, the northern route is one-third shorter. Right now, it is used from July to November and ice-breakers ensure safe passage. For additional information see: Reuters, Bloomberg Hydroelectric Reservoirs Emit Less Greenhouse Gas than Previously Thought, Study Finds Generating electricity from reservoirs produces far less carbon dioxide and methane than previously thought, according to a new study that used the largest data set available on hydroelectric energy. Hydroelectricity produces about 20 percent of the world’s electricity, and greater development of hydroelectricity is expected worldwide. Although hydroelectricity produces fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than burning fossil fuels, carbon dioxide and methane are still produced naturally from wetlands and lakes, and are emitted in the largest amounts following the creation of a new reservoir as vegetation and soil organic matter decomposes. An international team of researchers analyzed 85 hydroelectric reservoirs across the globe, and found they emit only one-sixth the amount of GHGs previously attributed to them. But the study found that the location of a reservoir and composition of local biomass affects the quantity of GHGs emitted. Site location and reservoir design should be considered carefully, the authors said. “The bottom line is that per unit of energy, hydroelectric generation produces much less carbon dioxide and methane emissions than previously thought, but impacts are not equal across all landscapes,” said lead author Nathan Barros. The study was published online in Nature Geoscience in August. For additional information see: Science Daily, Study Abstract Small Increases in Water Temperatures Can Cause Collapse of Ice Shelves, Study Says An analysis of prehistoric, large scale discharges of icebergs in the North Atlantic Ocean shows small temperature increases of subsurface water can cause a rapid collapse of ice shelves. The findings indicate a 3-4 degree Celsius increase in water temperatures was enough to cause breakup of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in what is now Canada. According to the researchers, present day temperature increases and potentially shifting ocean currents could greatly increase ice melt and hasten sea level rise. The study was conducted by researchers from Oregon State University, the University of Wisconsin, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and the Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology and was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. For additional information see: Science Daily, Study Abstract Climate Change Will Push Out Native Grasses in California, Study Predicts Invasive grass species that are more prone to wildfire will push out native grasses in California as the climate warms, a new study found. The study by researchers at the University of California-Berkeley found that the ecological traits of invasive grasses make them superior in adapting to warmer temperatures. But the invasive grasses tend to become drier than native grasses in the summer, making them more susceptible to fire. And, some invasive grasses provide sanctuary to unwanted pathogens and viruses that harm crops. Native grasses in California already are under pressure; in some areas, two-thirds of all grasses are invasive species. “As climate changes in the coming century, which at this point is quite certain, this means we expect the distributions of the grasses to change as well,” said David Ackerly, a professor at Berkeley. “Sadly, what this predicts is that the alien species that already dominate the Central Valley and other hotter regions of the state will become even more widespread in the future.” The study was published online in Global Change Biology. For additional information see: Science Daily, Study Abstract Crops with Deeper Roots Can Lower CO2 Levels, Study Finds Replacing today’s crops with deeper-rooted plants could dramatically lower atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, a new study found. Deeper root systems promote greater sequestration of CO2 in the soil. The University of Manchester study found that replacing today’s crops with new crops that have roots that extend one meter deeper into the soil could double the amount of CO2 sequestered in the soil from agriculture. Deeper-rooted crops also are more drought resistant. Most of today’s crops do not have root systems that extend below one meter. Many deeper-rooted plants exist, but have not been bred for agriculture. “While there is a way to go before such crops might have, for example, the grain yields of present day cereals, their breeding and deployment seems a very promising avenue for sustainable agriculture,” said study author Douglas Kell. The study was published in the Annals of Botany. For additional information see: Science Daily, Study Abstract Science Daily, Study Abstract Cutting emissions of short-lived greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as methane and nitrous oxide could provide a buffer to develop long-term strategies to mitigate emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), a new study found. Although CO2 is a main contributor to climate change, other GHGs also contribute to the problem. They include methane and nitrous oxide, which are relatively short-lived gases in the atmosphere. “We know that recent climate change is primarily driven by CO2 emitted during fossil-fuel combustion, and we know that this problem is going to be with us a long time because CO2 is so persistent in the atmosphere,” said Stephen Montzka of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which conducted the study. “But lowering emissions of GHGs other than CO2 could lead to some rapid changes for the better.” The study confirms the long-term need to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere, but shows that there are other opportunities to curb the warming trend, the scientists said. The study was published online Aug. 3 in Nature. For additional information see: Science Daily, Study Abstract Other Headlines California Poll Finds Overwhelming Support for Climate Change Action Audio: China Looks to Add Carbon Storage to Anti-Climate Change Armory $100 Million Wyoming Clean Coal Plant Suspended Federal Legislative Action S.1426: Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2012 and 2013: On July 27, S.1426 was introduced and referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Intent: To authorize certain authorities by the Department of State, and other purposes. The bill integrates consideration of climate change into foreign policy on sustainable development and poverty reduction. Previous Action: No previous action. Sponsor: Sen. Kerry, John (D-MA) For additional information see: S.1426 H.R.2738: Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act of 2011: On Aug. 1, H.R.2738 was introduced and referred to the following House committees: Transportation and Infrastructure; Energy and Commerce; and Natural Resources. Intent: To authorize the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a program of awarding grants to owners or operators of water systems to increase resiliency or adaptability of the systems to any ongoing or forecasted changes to the hydrologic conditions of a region of the United States. Previous Action: No previous action. Sponsor: Rep. Capps, Lois (D-CA) For additional information see: H.R.2738 Writers: Dave Gershman, Justin Jones and Matthew Johnson Please distribute Climate Change News to your colleagues. Permission for reproduction of this newsletter is granted provided that the Environmental and Energy Study Institute is properly acknowledged as the source. Past issues are available here. Free email subscriptions are available here. We welcome your suggestions, comments, and questions. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) is a non-profit organization founded in 1984 by a bipartisan Congressional caucus dedicated to finding innovative environmental and energy solutions. EESI works to protect the climate and ensure a healthy, secure, and sustainable future for America through policymaker education, coalition building, and policy development in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy, agriculture, forestry, transportation, buildings, and urban planning. EESI’s work, including this free newsletter, is made possible by financial support from people like you. Please help us continue to make it available by making a secure, online donation today by clicking here or mailing a check to Environmental and Energy Study Institute; 1112 16th St NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036. Please contact Susan Williams at (202) 662-1887 or see www.eesi.org/donate to find out more. Thank you for your support! Climate Action Hotline is the new weekly update by the US Climate Action Network. Let us know what you think.

Mercury Pollution Safeguards Proposal Draws Blockbuster Public Support Follow the Science: It Will Lead You to a More Protective Ozone Standard Asthma and the African-American Community Debt-ceiling Deal Passes; Wildlands, Environment to Suffer Japan Update-Coping Navajo Nation Settles Lawsuit Alleging A Coal Company Cheated It Out Of millions In Royalties State Climatologist: Drought Officially Worst On Record Studies: Global warming, Climate Science Far From Settled U.N. Slams Shell As Nigeria Needs Biggest Ever Oil Clean-Up Friends Of Earth Accuse Canada Of Misleading EU On Oilsands Uganda Could Be Next Hit By Malnutrition, UN Warns Germany Sees Thousands of Miles of New Power Lines on Its Road to Renewable Energy “Once the standards are in place, widespread use of existing pollution-control technology will prevent an estimated 17,000 premature deaths and 11,000 heart attacks each year. These safeguards will also protect against 120,000 incidents of childhood asthma symptoms and ensure 11,000 fewer cases of acute bronchitis in children each year, making this is one of the largest steps forward in protecting our kids from toxic air pollution in a generation.” – Lisa Jackson, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator.

Related posts:

1. Record Heat: Climate Action Hotline, July 7
2. Climate Action Heats Up as Summer Wanes, Climate Action Hotline 9.14.10
3. Climate Action Hotline, 3.21.11

Water-Related Impacts of Climate Change: Today the Natural Resources Defense Council released their new report called, “Thirsty for Answers: Preparing for the Water-related Impacts of Climate Change in American Cities.” The report makes clear that some of the most profound effects of climate change are water-related, like sea level rise, increased rain and storms, flooding, and drought. These changes affect the water we drink, fish, and swim in, as well as impact our infrastructure and the economy.    They compiled local and regional research findings about the water-related impacts of climate change in 12 U.S. cities. They  also analyzed what many of these municipalities are doing in terms of preparedness planning, and offer their solutions as examples for other communities to emulate.

Dirty Coal: On July 18, 2011 Greenpeace released a report, “Polluting Democracy: Coal Plays Dirty.”  The report provides a sampling of the actions of a bipartisan cadre of 15 politicians, who are among those in the House of Representatives working for America’s dirty and decrepit coal-fired power industry.  These 15 members have tried to stop EPA from modernizing standards for pollutants that come predominantly from coal-fired power plants, including mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, greenhouse gases, and coal ash.  It is important to note that while renewable energy systems can provide job opportunities to 196,000 people, coal fired power plants can only provide 60,000.  

National Parks: On July 13, 2011 the Natural Resources Defense Council released a report, “Great Lakes National Parks In Peril: The Threats Of Climate Disruption.”  The report focuses on five national parks that surround the Great Lakes coastline: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (NL) in Indiana; Sleeping Bear Dunes NL, Pictured Rocks NL, and Isle Royale National Park (NP) in Michigan; and Apostle Islands NL in Wisconsin.  For this report, the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization (RMCO) analyzed temperature records for the two weather stations in the U.S. Historical Climatology Networ(USHCN) in the immediate vicinity of Great Lakes national parks.  It found extreme weather conditions can lead to the change in ecosystems, loss in wildlife, loss of cultural resources, and reduction of visitor enjoyment.  Parks should be managed to preserve their resources at risk, to adapt to coming changes, and to provide visible leadership in addressing climate change.

Oil Independence: On July 7, 2011 Environment America released a report, “Getting Off Oil: A 50 State Roadmap for Curbing our Dependence on Petroleum.”  The report states that the United States has the technology and policy legislation that will enable Americans to reduce its consumption of oil for energy by 1.9 billion barrels of oil per year by 2030 – 31 percent of today’s oil use – while achieving President Obama’s goal of reducing oil imports by one-third by 2025 and putting the nation on track to ending its dependence on oil.  Several of the threats mentioned in the report that are induced by America’s dependence on oil consist of: global warming, oil spills, and air pollution.   The United States and individual state governments are prompted to start taking action now by shifting towards renewable energy systems to ensure a sustainable environment.    

Clean Vehicles: Also this month the World Resources Institute released a report, “The Role of Driving in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Oil Consumption.”  The report explores whether technology improvements alone can achieve oil consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets consistent with recent draft legislation and international climate negotiations.  The report provides the Department of Transportation with recommendations on how to reduce vehicles miles traveled (VMT), oil use, and GHG emissions.  Although the rate of technological progress, such as fuel efficiency improvements, is uncertain, these improvements are encouraged by federal incentives and standards.  Transportation planning at the local, regional, and state level should incorporate strategies to reduce VMT in order to reduce GHG emissions and oil consumption. With the production of more efficient vehicles and reduction on VMT the United States may no longer need to import any oil by 2030.

Humanitarian and Disaster Response to Climate Change: On June 17, 2011, Oxfam American and CNA Analysis and Solutions released a joint report, “An Ounce of Prevention: Preparing For The Impact Of A Changing Climate on US Humanitarian and Disaster Response.” The report analyzes both domestic and foreign civilian and military humanitarian responses systems to climate change emergencies, such as disease outbreaks, population displacement, and periodic droughts and floods.  Thus far, the international community has allocated little aid to people who suffered from climate related disasters.  “Between 2005 and 2009 the international community provided only 69 percent of the amounts requested in UN humanitarian appeals. In 2010, the figure fell to 63 percent.”  The report recommends two policy shifts that can improve effectiveness and reduce costs: organizing a coherent, whole-of-government approach to humanitarian assistance and emphasizing strategies with a long-term perspective.

Deforestation: On June 2011, the Center for Clean Air Policy released a report, “REDD+ Design In Cambodia, Indonesia and Mexico: Lessons to Inform International REDD+ Policy Development.”  According to the study, deforestation contributes approximately 17 percent of total global emissions of greenhouse gases every year.  To prevent climate change disasters, deforestation must be reduced by at least 50 percent by 2020 and global forest loss by 30 percent by 2030.  Thus, the Center for Clean Air Policy has joined forces with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change with the hope of helping key developing countries – Cambodia, Indonesia, and Mexico- participate in a post 2012 international REDD+ regime where they will be committed to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.  The initiatives range from government legislation to local projects, with a focus on environmental, social and economic objectives.  In-country experiences ought to provide insight to international policymakers to guide their decisions on REDD+.

Environmental Conservation and Development Integration: InterAction released a report in June 2011 called: “The Nature of Development: Integrating Conservation & Development to Support Sustainable, Resilient Societies.”  The report focuses on the negative impact that rising food prices and lack of natural resources has on society.  Today, nearly half the world’s people live in poverty, and the world’s poorest countries must provide for billions more as human numbers grow from 7 to 9.3 billion by the middle of this century.  These two challenges—environmental protection and development—are profoundly interconnected.  An integrated approach to conservation and development accomplishes a variety of critical goals, such as: saving money, protecting investments in development, creating jobs, building resilience, and enhancing security.  The report mentions barriers that may potentially detain integration.  Overall, the integrated approach calls for greater flexibility in our existing approach to development and how we account for its benefits.

Non Member Reports

Enhance Nuclear Power Safety: On July 12, 2011 the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) released a report, “Recommendations For Enhancing Reactor Safety In The 21^st Century.”  The Near Term Task Force was established in light of the recent accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant to conduct methodical reviews and determine whether the NRC needs to make additional improvements to their regulatory system.   Upon further examination of the Fukushima Dai-ichi disaster, the Task Force referred to protecting against accidents resulting from natural phenomena, mitigating the consequences of such accidents, and ensuring emergency preparedness.

Black Carbon and Tropospheric Ozone: On June 14, 2011, the United Nations Environment Programme released a report, “Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Tropospheric Ozone.”  This study states scientific evidence and new analyses demonstrate that control of black carbon particles and tropospheric ozone through rapid implementation of proven emission reduction measures would have immediate and multiple benefits for human well-being.   It reflects, in particular, a number of findings on the state of scientific knowledge as well as policy proposals to cut emissions provided by over fifty authors.  The report provides a comprehensive assessment of the collateral benefits which can be derived from practical measures to reduce black carbon – a principal soot component – as well as the gases which contribute to the formation of tropospheric ozone, especially methane.  Although the report mentions some discouraging facts, such as the number of people who fall ill from breathing in black carbon polluted air, there is substantial evidence that existing technologies, policies and measures – some of them linked to actions launched to improve energy access, sustainable transport and health – could immediately begin to provide significant benefits in terms of human well-being, the climate system and the wider environment, if they were rapidly and widely implemented.

Related posts:

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2. Cleaning Up Our Waters, Spending, and Energy Use Hot Pubs
3. Cues from Our Climate and Other Hot Pubs

Green Economy Adaptation: On June 20, 2011 Oxfam released a report, “Adapting For A Green Economy; Companies, Communities and Climate Change.” Based on results from a 2010 survey of corporate signatories to the United Nations Global Compact and the United Nations Environment Programme Caring for Climate initiative, the report shows the business perspective for private sector adaptation to climate change in ways that build the resilience of vulnerable communities in developing countries.   Addressing the adaptation needs of vulnerable communities at the scale that is necessary will require unprecedented levels of cooperation, collaboration and resource mobilization among governments, businesses, civil society groups and communities themselves.  It is hoped that the report’s findings will be useful for a much wider range of actors as well, including small, local businesses in developing countries that are on the front line of climate impacts; civil society organizations seeking to strengthen their work around climate change and sustainable development; and subnational policymakers, who are in a key position to shape a productive interface among government, communities and businesses.

Green Jobs:  On June 15, 2011 Blue Green Alliance released a report, “Gauging Growth: The Freight Rail Supply Chain and Job-Creation Potential.”   It states the rail industry has nearly doubled the amount of goods it has shipped without increasing fuel consumption over the past three decades, and creates a fraction of the pollution of other transport modes such as trucking and aviation. Its continued growth will generate green jobs, reduce dependence on foreign oil and contribute to solving climate change.  As the U.S. economy gets back on track, freight movement will expand, requiring corresponding infrastructure investment.  By growing capacity, the freight rail industry can seize significant opportunities to meet projected demand for shipping cargo, save energy, reduce pollution and create tens of thousands of new jobs throughout the economy.

Climate Change: On June 16, 2011 Clean Air-Cool Planet released a report , “Preparing for the Changing Climate: a Northeast-Focused Needs Assessment” – the first region-wide snapshot that includes information from regional, state and local governments on how communities in the Northeastern U. S. are preparing for a changing climate — and what resources and assistance they need to succeed.  The study is based on direct outreach to over 200 communities from Maine to New Jersey, including survey responses from 34 local governments, 6 regional governments, and 8 state agencies.

Mercury Pollution: On June 14, 2011 the Sierra Club released a study, “National Study of Hispanics on Environmental Issues” which emphasized Latinos are at a higher risk for mercury pollution. The study findings revealed that many are not aware of any of toxic sites close to their home or workplace.  It is also important to note that fifty one percent of the study respondents replied that polluted air and water is a top environmental problem.

Climate Investor Group Survey: On June 13, 2011 Ceres released a report, “2010 Global Investor Survey On Climate Change.”  The report provides an overview of the investment practices of investors around the world relating to their actions on climate change, in addition to presenting a selection of case studies.

Better Buildings Initiative: On June 13, 2011 US Green Building Council and the National Resources Defense Council released a joint report, “A New Retrofit Industry: An Analysis Of The Job Creation Potential Of Tax Incentives For Energy Efficiency In Commercial Buildings And Other Components Of The Better Buildings Initiative.”  In February, President Obama announced the Better Buildings Initiative (BBI) – a suite of legislative proposals and executive actions aimed at reducing energy consumption in commercial buildings by twenty percent by the year 2020.  In order the pursue the shared agenda of improving energy efficiency in commercial and multifamily buildings, US Green Building Council (USGBC), Real Estate Roundtable (RER), and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) commissioned the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) to conduct an analysis of the Better Buildings Initiative and assess its potential to create jobs.  Chief amongst the potential job creators is the redesign of the tax deduction for energy efficiency commercial buildings as proposed by USGBC, RER, and NRDC, followed by a loan guarantee program for financing retrofits and the grant programs of the BBI.

Drivers of Deforestation : On June 8th 2011 the Union of Concerned Scientists released a report “The Root of the Problem—Drivers of Deforestation: What is driving tropical deforestation today?” which discusses various economic agents, otherwise known as “drivers”, of forest degradation and deforestation, both which are important sources of global warming pollution, as well as threats to biodiversity and to the livelihoods of forest peoples.   The drivers of deforestation differ by region.  Reducing growth in demand for commodities that drive deforestation in addition to increasing the productivity of currently-used lands and directing agricultural expansion into grasslands rather than forests are essential for future success.  If recent successes, such as pressure to change the soybean industry in Brazil, can be duplicated in other tropical countries, we can envision the end of deforestation in the next few decades.

Non Members

Mercury Falling: On June 21, 2011 American Progress released a brief “Mercury Falling: Many Power Plants Already Have Equipment to Slash Mercury, Toxic Contamination.” In March the Environmental Protection Agency proposed to dramatically reduce the mercury, lead, acid gases, and other toxics from more than 400 plants in 46 states.  The briefing compiles various reports and data tables relevant to the recent Environmental Protection Agency Mercury Hearings.  The brief concludes with an urgency to issue and enforce air toxic safeguards to protect children, seniors, and other Americans from cancer-causing and smog-forming pollution from coal-fired power plants.

Air Toxics Standard: On June 14, 2011 the Economic Policy Institute released a report “A Lifesaver, Not a Job Killer EPA’s Proposed “Air Toxics Rule” is No Threat to Job Growth”, which explains that the air toxics rule will not deter job growth.  The EPA explored two sectors, changes in employment in the directly regulated industry (utilities), and the increased demand for labor directly stemming from the construction and installation of pollution abatement and control (PAC) equipment.  The report details several major findings such as: modest positive net impact on overall employment, likely leading to the creation of 28,000 to 158,000 jobs between now and 2015, between 81,000 and 101,000 jobs in the pollution abatement and control industry, and assuming a re-spending multiplier of 0.5, and since the net impact of the above impacts is positive, another 9,000 to 53,000 jobs would be created through re-spending.  Specifically, the EPA that adoption of the proposed toxics rule would lead to the following outcomes: 6,800 to 17,000 lives saved, 11,000 fewer heart attacks, 12,200 fewer hospital and emergency room visits, 225,000 fewer cases of respiratory symptoms, and 850,000 more work days.

Electric Power Sector: On June 13, 2011 the Bipartisan Policy Center released a report “Environmental Regulation and Electric System Reliability” which summarizes the current state of knowledge about challenges facing the electric power sector as it seeks to maintain reliability without jeopardizing important process on public health and environmental protections.  This study finds that impacts on the reliability of the electric system due to EPA regulations are manageable and there are tools available at the federal, state, and local levels to address localized reliability risks.  While recognizing the political difficulties, the report states that there may be an opportunity to enact legislation that could guarantee the environmental benefits of the Clean Air Act and provide a lower cost transition for the power sector.

Polls

Renewable Energy Paves Pathway for Green Economy: On June 16, 2011 the Next Economy Partnership Project recently completed a national survey “Energy Findings in the Latest Next Economy Poll” of 2012 likely voters, building on focus group research conducted over the preceding six months, focused on the economic challenges facing the country.  The organizations hoped to gain a better understanding of how Americans view today’s economy and how they believe our country can best address the rapidly changing global economy it faces.  The survey was divided into the following section: current views of economy reveal deep discontent and uncertainty, understanding how voters measure economic success, the power of bottom-up growth and success stories, focus on oil companies a double-edged sword, energy solutions among most popular economic policies, and further energy solutions on the horizon.  Voters still strongly support new energy solutions — which they see as key to creating jobs and restoring America’s economy.

Public Support for Environmental Protection Agency: On June 16, 2011 a nationwide, bipartisan survey conducted by The American Lung Association showed that Americans across the country are overwhelmingly supportive of the Environmental Protection Agency and their efforts to update standards for life-threatening air pollutants.

Climate Change Beliefs and Attitudes: In May 2011 the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication released a joint survey “Climate Change in the American Mind: Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in May 2011” This survey found a majority of Americans want more action to address global warming from corporations (65%), citizens themselves (63%), the U.S. Congress (57%), President Obama (54%), as well as their own state and local officials. Seventy one percent of Americans say global warming should be a very high (13%), high (27%), or medium (31%) priority for the president and Congress, including 50 percent of Republicans, 66 percent of Independents and 88 percent of Democrats. 91 percent of Americans say developing sources of clean energy should be a very high (32%), high (35%), or medium (24%) priority for the president and Congress, including 85 percent of Republicans, 89 percent of Independents, and 97 percent of Democrats.

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1. Clean Breeze for the Economy
2. Necessity for Safe and Clean Energy
3. Congress Holds Key to Creating Green Jobs

Member Reports

Climate Change and Ozone Pollution: On June 2, 2011 the Union of Concerned Scientists released a report “Climate Change and Your Health: Rising Temperatures, Worsening Ozone Pollution” that demonstrated how higher temperatures could increase ozone pollution above current levels, and analyzes the potential health consequences of these ozone increases in 2020 and 2050, as well as the economic costs of these health impacts in 2020.

Grow Campaign: On June 1, 2011 Oxfam released a report “Growing A Better Future: Food Justice In A Resource-Constrained World” in support of their GROW campaign.  The campaign was launched in over 40 countries around the world and focused on the simple message: “another future is possible, and we can build it together.”  Among the various factors continuing to drive food prices up in the coming decades, Oxfam predicts that up to half of the serious impacts will be due to climate change. The report presents new research forecasting price rises for staple grains in the range of 120–180 per  cent within the next two decades, as resource pressures mount and climate change takes hold. To put those figures into perspective that could mean more than a doubling in staple food prices before 2030.

Clean Air: On May 24, 2011 Physicians for Social Responsibility released their report, “The : Clean Air Act: A Proven Tool for Healthy Air.” This review finds that the Clean Air Act is working.  Air emission levels for six of the most common air pollutants (sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, lead, ozone, and particulates) have been steadily declining and are expected to continue to decline with additional pollution prevention actions. However, the report identifies how pollution continues to threaten the health of Americans, and cautions that efforts to weaken the Clean Air Act will be at the expense of the health of vulnerable populations.

Renewable Energy: On May 2011 the World Watch Institute collaborated with the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Heinrich Boell Foundation to release a report “Grounding Green Power: Bottom-Up Perspectives on Smart Renewable Energy Policy in Developing Countries.” This working paper identifies key components of smart renewable energy policy in developing countries, focusing on the power sector. It also provides recommendations for maximizing the effectiveness of international support for deployment of renewable energies, drawn from these on-the-ground experiences in developing countries.

Nuclear Fuel Reactor Storage: On May 2011 the Institute for Policy Studies released a report “Spent Nuclear Fuel Pools in the U.S.: Reducing the Deadly Risks Of Storage” which provides data for the first time on the amount of radioactivity in spent nuclear fuel at all individual reactor sites in the United States. Several sites are storing far more radioactive waste in vulnerable pools than the U.S. nuclear weapons program produced over the past 50 years. The report also details serious incidents that have occurred at U.S. reactor and storage sites containing these enormous amounts of radioactivity, and examines dry cask storage as a means of reducing the risks of nuclear waste storage. This report indicates that more than 30 million highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel rods are submerged in vulnerable storage pools all over the country. These pools at 51 sites contain some of the largest concentrations of radioactivity on the planet.  The report provides recommendations to reduce these risks, which other nations have adopted.  It states safely securing the spent fuel by eliminating highly radioactive, crowded pools should be a public safety priority of the highest degree.

Other Reports

Climate Change: On June 2011 the World Bank released a report “Climate Change, Disaster Risk, and The Urban Poor: Cities Building Resilience For a Changing World” that demonstrated how the daily challenges of people living in urban cities throughout the developing world exacerbate as a result of climate change and natural disasters.  This study falls under a broader effort Mayors’ Task Force on Climate Change, Disaster Risk and the Urban Poor that was launched at the Mayors’ Summit in Copenhagen in 2009.  The report highlights four topics: urban poor are on the front line, city governments are the drivers for addressing risks through ensuring basic services, city officials build resilience by mainstreaming risk reduction into urban management, and significant financial support is needed.

Cost and Benefit Analysis of EPA Regulations: On May 31, 2011 the Economic Policy Institute released a briefing paper “Tallying Up The Impacts Of New EPA Rules: Combined Costs of Obama EPA Rules Represent A Sliver Of The Economy And Are Far Outweighed By Cumulative Benefits”   that provided a benefit verses costs analysis of President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations impact on the economy.  The analysis came up with two conclusions.  First, the dollar value of the benefits of the major rules finalized or proposed by the EPA so far during the Obama administration exceeds the rules’ costs by an exceptionally wide margin.  EPA regulation can save people from trips to the hospital and save lives.  Second, the costs of all the finalized and proposed rules total to a tiny sliver of the overall economy, suggesting that fears that these rules together will deter economic progress are unjustified.

Polls

Strong Support for RGGI: According to the poll conducted by the Natural Resources Defense Council on May 26, 2011, “74 percent of New Jersey voters want to keep New Jersey energy dollars in state rather than send them out-of-state, or out of the country, to bring in fossil fuels.”  The poll provides background information on Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and reasons for why New Jersey’s Governor Christie is hesitant on whether or not he ought to join the RGGI program.  Numerous studies have proven that states who participate in RGGI have experienced job growth and reduction of air pollution.  So far, RGGI has been able to bring down air pollution by 30 percent, lower energy costs between 15 and 30 percent, and has the potential to create 18,000 job years.   

60 MPG Fuel Economy: According to the poll conducted by the Mellman Group for CERES on April 9-12, 2011, voters in Ohio and Michigan states that are seen as America’s auto & manufacturing heartland, want 60 MPG fuel economy standard by 2025.  “80 percent of likely Ohio voters and 70 percent of likely Michigan voters believe a national 60 mpg standard will encourage American car makers to innovate, boosting sales and protecting American auto jobs.”  In order to reach the 60 mpg average fuel economy goal by 2025 drivers would have to increase fuel economy by 6 percent a year over the current 2016 standard of 35 mpg.  Proposed standards are expected to be released in September.

Gas Prices: According to the poll conducted by Pew Research Center on April 28 – May 1, 2011, many Americans are curious on why gas prices have been rising.  A majority of the people surveyed believe oil companies are simply pushing for higher profits.  31 percent cited a variation of this theme as the leading cause for the rise in the price of gas. Roughly two-in-ten (19 percent) said conflicts in the Middle East, such as the ongoing war in Libya, are to blame for the recent price increase. Another 14 percent pinned blame on U.S. politics and policy (not drilling enough for oil, the Obama administration) while 12 percent cited economic and market forces (international demand, time of year) as the main driver of rising gas prices.

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3. Renewable Energy Projects on Federal Lands Will Be Fast-Tracked