Governor Schwarzenegger Struck Again
California Governor Schwarzenegger struck again last week. The Governor issued Executive Order S-21-09 requiring California utilities to obtain 33 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020. The previous requirement was 20 percent by 2010. This law compliments the State goal to reduce GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Yet the Executive Order comes with controversy on the horizon.
Continue Reading...Climate Week In New York: Hope Over Pessimism?
As President Obama spoke at the United Nations today and now heads to the G-20, international skepticism is obvious. The United States still has not taken definitive action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The lack of movement in the Senate on a climate bill is now cited as the primary reason that the US cannot make the level of concrete commitments necessary to forge a global agreement. This lack of Senate action does not bode well for Obama to position the US as a global leader on climate change. As Politico reported yesterday, the European Union’s ambassador to the US, John Bruton, is not happy about Senate delay stating that “(i)f this were to happen, it would open the United States to the charge that it does not take its international commitments seriously, and that these commitments will always take second place to domestic politics. I submit that asking an international Conference to sit around looking out the window for months, while one chamber of the legislature of one country deals with its other business, is simply not a realistic political position.”
Yet despite the growing gloom in climate policy circles, signs of optimism are there.
Continue Reading...New Rules for Forest Offset Projects
We were pleased to see the extensive provisions in the House's Waxman Markey bill for foreign forest offsets generated by reducing deforestation and forest degradation projects. Today, California's Climate Action Reserve released an updated set of rules for forest offset projects, "Forest Project Protocol version 3.0." This new protocol opens the door for forest-related offset projects to be included in efforts across the US to mitigate climate change. The new protocol raises the bar for rigorous national standards for forest-related projects that sequester carbon emissions.
Continue Reading...Making the Business Case for International Funding in US Climate Legislation
As the Senate deliberates on climate change legislation this Fall, strong provisions related to international cooperation and investment in greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation and adaptation are necessary. Recent news reports show that various fossil fuel intensive industries are ramping up for even greater free allowance allocations to meet their emerging climate risk obligations. It is imperative that the slice of the allowance set aside and auction revenue pie, marked for international finance and embedded in the Waxman-Markey bill from the House, is not lost in this feeding frenzy. The Waxman-Markey approach strategically avoids the annual appropriations process for financing climate mitigation efforts abroad and creates the beginnings of self-sustaining finance mechanisms. State Department Climate Envoy Todd Stern testified on the importance of these provisions in a September 10th hearing before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
Continue Reading...Health Care Legislation > Climate Change Legislation > Copenhagen Agreement on Emission Limits
President Obama's address on health care reform to joint session of Congress, as well as the rancorous reactions by some Republicans, leads me to the following inescapable conclusion: the chances of Congress passing climate change legislation in 2009 just got a lot dimmer. The President has essentially thrown down the gauntlet and staked his reputation -- indeed perhaps even his presidency -- on succeeding in passing comprehensive health care reform. We can expect a full court press by the White House to get a bill passed and signed into law. And given the obvious level of rancor and opposition, you can expect this to be an all-out brawl. That means that few resources will be diverted from this battle to pass climate change legislation. Senate leaders have already laid the groundwork for a hiatus on climate change legislation. Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) had been slated to introduce the bill after returning from the August recess. In a joint statement with Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.), she said the bill is now expected “later in September.”
Continue Reading...Swing Votes in the Senate on Climate Change
As the Senate prepares to consider energy and climate legislation this Fall, the vote counting begins again on cap & trade. Assuming a cap & trade bill moves forward, 60 votes are necessary for a procedural vote (cloture) to cut off debate on a motion to proceed on a floor vote. Reaching this filibuster proof 60 vote count threshold remains a steep hill to climb despite 59-60 Democratic votes in the Senate. Climate positions don’t fall along party lines. Further, the challenge has just grown harder with Senator Kennedy’s death and no replacement likely until January 2010.
Climate Change Insights takes a look at three swing Senate votes that are indicative of the political landscape and substantive policy issues in play. There are different accounts of how various Senators might vote but it is fair to say that the following 3 Senators are representative of the key issues under consideration: the level of ambition for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, industry specific allowances, protections and incentives, a priori limits on the price of carbon and pure politics.
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