Seeing "REDD" -- International Avoided Deforestation is a Big Winner in Waxman-Markey
I have written about the eleventh-hour concessions the House agreed to in order to secure the support of farm-state lawmakers for Waxman-Markey, see here and here, but what may be overlooked in the brouhaha over domestic agriculture's clout in the House climate debate are the significant resources Waxman-Markey would devote to reducing deforestation in the developing world. As the NGO Forest Trends wrote, "advocates of using forestry offsets to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) have little to complain about."
Continue Reading...Webcast: Analyses of the Groundbreaking American Clean Energy & Security Act (ACESA)
Co-presented by McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO) and the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA)
On June 26, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved game-changing climate change legislation, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACESA), also called Waxman-Markey (HR 2454) -- the first major environmental legislation to be approved by either the House or the Senate in almost twenty years. The bill would require a 3% cut in CO2 emissions from 2005 levels by 2012, 17% by 2020, 42% by 2030, and 83% by 2050. This would transform the US economy and in particular the energy sector, and create a multi-billion dollar new market in valuable rights to emit greenhouse gases.
|
McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO) and the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) invite you to a webcast that will help identify the key issues you will need to address as the debate moves to the Senate. The program will:
-
Cover the bill’s major provisions and political future;
-
Discuss the multi-billion dollar emissions allowances market it creates;
-
Provide insight on the industrial sectors that are likely to receive a significant amount of the allowances and incentives;
-
Analyze how the new renewable electricity standard and efficiency requirements will impact the energy sector;
-
Discuss the projected roles of EPA, states, regional pacts and other federal oversight agencies; and
-
Identify important next steps for the Senate and for stakeholders like American industry.
To register for this complimentary webcast, please click here.
Update on Pickens' Pullout
In my July 13 post, I commented on the implications of T. Boone Pickens' widely reported announcement that he intends to pull out of his massive Texas wind project. But since making those remarks, Pickens has clarified that he is delaying, not canceling, the $10 billion project.
Pickens says the so-called Pampa project will be postponed until 2013 when Texas is expected to complete a $4.9 billion transmission line. By that time, hopefully, credit markets will be healthy enough to finance the project: "Financing is tough right now so what is going to happen is it's going to be pushed back a year or two."
Palin's Folly
To kick off her new career as a pundit, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has chosen to train her critical eyes on the climate change legislation under consideration in Congress. Unfortunately, instead of sharing new thinking, insights or ideas, Gov. Palin's punditry is nothing more than a rehash of the party line.
Palin's column does not even mention "climate change" or "renewable energy"! Instead, she frames the issue entirely as a question of how best to achieve energy independence and security. President Obama's "cap-and-trade energy tax" is the wrong approach, she says, because it makes "energy scarcer and more expensive." A better approach to energy independence, she says, would be...say it with me...drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (She's also comfortable with mining more coal.)
Continue Reading...Pickens' Pullout Underscores the Need for Renewable Electricity Standard
After T. Boone Pickens' stunning decision to shelve his ambitious plan to build the world's largest wind farm in the Texas panhandle, does anyone still think converting from fossil fuels to renewable energy will be easy? One year ago, Pickens was the toast of the green movement. The Texas oil man, foe of Al Gore, identified a common cause that both climate changers or doubters could get behind: energy security.
The stated goal of the "Pickens Plan" was to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil by one-third over a ten-year period. To achieve this goal, Pickens would replace natural gas now used to generate electricity with wind power and then use the saved natural gas to power vehicles that presently run on gasoline. His $60 million ad campaign draped the American flag around his Plan: "at current oil prices, we will send $700 billion out of this country this year alone - that's four times the annual cost of the Iraq war." He described adoption of his Plan almost as an act of patriotism. Why send all that money to our enemies in the Middle East when right here in the US we have a massive untapped resource - a wind corridor stretching from North Dakota all the way through Texas?
Continue Reading...Don't Yank the Tariff Provisions from the House Climate Change Bill
President Obama deserves a share of the credit for the historic vote by the House June 26 to pass the first climate change bill. The bill is far from perfect, but it is an important step in the right direction. In comments following the House vote, however, President Obama took a step in the wrong direction. In urging the Senate to swiftly pass their counterpart to the House bill, President Obama raised questions about a provision that would impose a tariff on the import of goods from countries where the cost of such good benefits from weaker climate change laws:
"At a time when the economy worldwide is still deep in recession and we've seen a significant drop in global trade, I think we have to be very careful about sending any protectionist signals out there….I think we're going to have to do a careful analysis to determine whether the prospects of tariffs are necessary, given all the other stuff that was done and had been negotiated on behalf of energy-intensive industries."
Continue Reading...