Self Reporting Doesn’t Cut it: Why We Need a National GHG Measurement System
Posted by BC Upham November 20th, 2009 
1 Comment
Say you’re the Mayor of San Francisco. You’re spending million of dollars every year to increase energy efficiency, install solar panels and encourage the use of electric cars — all in an effort to lower your city’s greenhouse gas emissions, in line with (hypothetical) newly-enacted Federal greenhouse gas reduction guidelines.
Meanwhile, the (hypothetical) Mayor of Sacramento, who doesn’t believe in global warming, and certainly doesn’t believe in spending a dime to reduce the city’s carbon footprint, has completely ignored the GHG guidelines, and then lied about it on self-reported greenhouse gas inventories required by the Feds.
Both cities benefit from reduced emissions, but only one is spending the money to do so. How fair is that?
Not very. Which is why Congress is currently considering a National Greenhouse Gas Observation and Analysis System being considered. The system would consist of a network of hundreds of greenhouse gas monitors that could analyze GHG concentrations on the regional, state, and even local level.
As Asia Outpaces America in Cleantech, US and China Agree to Cooperation
Posted by BC Upham November 19th, 2009 1 Comment
Obama’s recent trip to China felt like a bit of a bummer, with the Times pointedly portraying the President as a solitary figure, wandering alone on the Great Wall — and getting stone-walled by the PRC’s leadership.
But behind the scenes, hard-working diplomats hammered out agreements on what could be the basis for an important partnership between the world’s two largest polluters on clean technology, ranging from carbon capture to electric cars and more.
And it couldn’t come soon enough, as a new study calculates China, Japan and South Korea will spend $502 billion on clean technology over the next five years, $337 billion more than the US, which the authors warn is in grave danger of being left behind.
Seventh Generation Launches the Million Baby Crawl for Toxic Chemical Reform
Posted by Kathryn Siranosian November 19th, 2009 0 Comments
Take a look at the baby in this video. He’s innocent, adorable, and completely irresistible . . .
At least that’s how Seventh Generation hopes the U.S. Congress sees it.
Seventh Generation, the nation’s leading brand of non-toxic and environmentally-safe household and personal care products, has joined forces with eco-advocate Erin Brockovich and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families to launch the Million Baby Crawl, a grassroots effort designed to urge Congress to pass stronger regulations regarding the chemicals used in household products.
Currently, synthetic chemicals are regulated by the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA), an outdated law that experts say has utterly failed to keep us safe from substances that cause cancer and a host of other serious illnesses. Under the TSCA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not have the authority to demand the information it needs to evaluate a chemical’s risk, and neither manufacturers nor the agency are required to prove a chemical’s safety before it can be used.
As a result, in the 33 years since the TSCA was enacted, the EPA has required testing on only 200 of the more than 80,000 chemical compounds now in use. Only 200 of 80,000? That’s an astonishingly small 0.25%!
Fortunately, a new proposal to reform the TSCA is in the Congressional pipeline. This new bill will:
GreenLink Alliance’s Executive Director on Taking the Mountain Less Traveled
Posted by Cory Vanderpool November 19th, 2009 1 Comment
I believe I was born to help protect the environment. My first vivid memory of the awe-inspiring power of nature came when, as a young teenager, I traveled with my family to the remote wilderness of Colorado for a pack trip deep into the Rocky Mountains. I remember feeling humbled by the Earth’s bounty and overwhelmed by the pure wildness of the landscape that surrounded me. I promised myself then that I would imprint that feeling in my soul forever.
Now, 15 years years later, I can picture that moment in time as if it were yesterday. Today, however, that memory is even more precious as I reflect on the lessons I have learned and the satisfaction I feel as I lead GreenLink Alliance, a non-profit start up, towards success. The beautiful irony is that my life, at least to this point, has brought me full circle, back to the mountaintop where it all began.
Spacing Out on Solar Energy
Posted by Bill DiBenedetto November 17th, 2009 2 Comments
Solar power satellites are the yin to the yang of Ronald Reagan’s 1980s Star Wars fantasy, and almost as old. Scientists for decades have explored the potential of using space-based solar cells to beam power to the Earth.
It’s an idea with very long legs, as they say, but now the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has gone beyond whimsy by actually signing up several major collaborators to launch a giant one-gigawatt space solar power satellite into space. The players are huge – Fujitsu, Mitsubishi Electric and Sharp – and the bucks that JAXA has indicated it will invest in the project are also huge, $21 billion worth of huge.
The plan, according to various recent news reports including London’s Telegraph, is to have the test version of the Space Solar Power System launched in 2020. The final system would go operational in 2030. The station would send down power by laser or microwave.
Landmark “Electrification Coalition” Plays Down Environmental Benefits of EVs, Plays Up Oil Dependence
Posted by BC Upham November 17th, 2009 1 Comment
More than a dozen top executives ranging from Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn to David W. Crane of NRG Energy and Frederick W. Smith of FedEx Corporation jointly announced Monday the launch of the Electrification Coalition, a serious and rigorous industry-backed non-profit with the goal of having 75 percent of all miles driven in this country in 2040 powered by electricity.
The non-profit, non-partisan Coalition’s first act was to release the Electrification Roadmap, a 91-page report “detailing the dangers of oil dependence, explaining the benefits of electrification, describing the challenges facing electric cars, and providing specific policy proposals to overcome those challenges.” The Roadmap is available from the organization’s website. For anyone the slightest bit interested in the challenges and promise of electric cars, it’s required reading.
The More Climate Regulation, The Better? A Report…
Posted by BC Upham November 16th, 2009 1 Comment
A new report out of UC Berkeley argues the stricter the regulation of greenhouse gases, the better it is for state economies, from California to Connecticut, and everywhere in between.
The report, entitled “Clean Energy and Climate Policy for U.S. Growth and Job Creation,” argues that improvements in energy efficiency, as well as a government mandated shift away from fossil fuels, will result in increased income for Americans, and higher job growth, as less income is spent on energy and new technologies spur industry.
From the report:
Green For All at the Green Business Conference
Posted by Scott Cooney November 12th, 2009 1 Comment
Millions of new jobs. An inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Dignity. The ability to support one’s family. All done in an environmentally friendly way.
A worker owned cooperative that salvages building materials.
Efficiency audits for homeowners and small businesses.
Horticultural and permaculture companies creating local food from dilapidated landscapes in inner cities.
Many of us know the story of Green For All. It’s a beautiful congruence of old school environmentalism, sustainable economic development, and social justice. It’s one of the great feel-good stories of the new economy. But then Van Jones was badgered out of Washington by right wing nut-jobs because of some supposedly over-exuberant activism in his past.
So where is Green For All now? Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins spoke to the Green Business Conference about their vision for the future.
Increasing Pessimism on Copenhagen, US Climate Bill
Posted by BC Upham November 12th, 2009 3 Comments
A bad week for climateers. Several news reports out Wednesday pour cold water on imminent climate change change.
The Wall Street Journal reports “Climate Bill Likely on the Shelf for Rest of the Year.” Obviously it’s not over until the fat lady sings, but a key Democratic senator, Max Baucus, Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said “it’s common understanding that climate-change legislation will not be brought up on the Senate floor and pass the Senate this year,” according to WSJ.
Baucus’ comment was reinforced by one from Republican Senator Richard Lugar, who told the Washington Post “I don’t see any climate bill on the table right now that I can support.”
The New York Times meanwhile gossips that at a symposium Tuesday of climate change experts and representatives from China, Brazil and other nations sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, the general consensus was that achieving a broad, global agreement at Copenhagen was “very very low,” in the words of Atul Arya of BP, the British oil company.
Greenhouse Gas Accountants to the Rescue!
Posted by BC Upham November 12th, 2009 0 Comments
Lost in all the talk about whether or when nations and industries will have emissions targets, is the question of who, exactly, is going to measure those targets.
Without a pool of trained and certified professional GHG managers, climate change initiatives — from the United Nations Framework down to the sustainability plan for the shop around the corner — could stall.
Worse, a lack of accountability could turn the “greenhouse gas expert” into the snake oil salesman of the 21st century, peddling a dubious product whose ingredients change from one bottle to the next.
Enter the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute. The Institute provides professional training in greenhouse gas accounting and verification, primarily online, and its ultimate goal is to create a professional society for greenhouse gas accountants and verifiers, similar to the way other fields — architecture, law, medicine, accounting — have national or international certification bodies.
The Institute was launched in 2007 as a non-profit by Michael Gillenwater and Tom Baumann, two recognized experts in emissions measurement, who realized that there was an emerging need for standardization in their field.
California Group Blames Immigrants for Climate Change
Posted by BC Upham November 10th, 2009 13 Comments
A California anti-immigration group has created a multimedia ad campaign blaming immigrants for climate change and environmental degradation in California. Californians for Population Stabilization, or CAP, argues that immigrants, legal and illegal, increase their carbon footprint four-fold when they move to the US and “Americanize” their consumption habits, thus exacerbating climate problems.
Listen to the radio ad here.
According to CAP President Diane Hull, “Californians [have] made significant progress in energy conservation over the last couple of decades. However, the progress has been mitigated by massive population growth over the same period, driven by immigration and births to immigrants.” Hull continues:
Overheard at Opportunity Green: LA Having “Serious Conversation” About Feed-in Tariff
Posted by BC Upham November 9th, 2009 0 Comments
Los Angeles Deputy Mayor for Energy and the Environment Romel Pascual said during a panel discussion at Opportunity Green 2009 that Los Angeles has begun a “serious conversation” about a feed-in tariff for the city. Feed-in tariffs, or FiTs, provide cash rebates for renewable energy fed into the grid — above the normal cost of electricity.
FiTs are popular in Europe; German has had a program for several years. But there are few places in the US with an FiT, Gainsville County, Florida, being one. If LA, the country’s second largest city, with the largest municipal electric utility, created an FiT, it would have a profound effect on the small-scale solar power market.
Pascual echoed acting Director of Los Angeles Water and Power Director S. David Freeman, who also mentioned an LA FiT at an Opp Green keynote speech this morning. The idea has come up in public meetings held to discuss LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s ambitious environmental goals. Said Pascual, “it’s on the drawing board.”
Freeman also mentioned LA possibly building large scale solar plants in the Owens River Valley, which was first reported in Triple Pundit last summer.
Cap-and-Trade: The Real Deal from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Posted by Shannon Arvizu November 9th, 2009 1 Comment
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce may actually have a better idea than a cap-and-trade bill for cutting emissions. And, contrary to popular opinion, they do recognize climate change and the need for clean tech development.
This past week I interviewed Dan Letourneau, the Communications Director for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as part of a clean car web radio show called the EVCast. What I learned was quite surprising, given the amount of negative attention the Chamber has been getting lately from environmental groups and the green media.
It appears that the main reason the Chamber opposes a cap-and-trade bill in Congress is because it believes that it will not do enough to help businesses incorporate clean tech into their operations. It has issued an official statement detailing its position and has created an affiliate Institute for 21st Century Energy to develop what they call a “common sense energy strategy.” Letourneau remarked that the Chamber has, in fact, proposed 88 different policy recommendations to Congress that reflect real-world approaches to helping businesses curb emissions.
So – what is the real deal here? Is this just a facade to cover up prior opposition to clean energy…or does the Chamber have a valid point? As I’ve written on TheCleanDeal, a climate treaty should work directly to implement clean technology in the market place. A “cap-and-trade” bill does not necessarily lead to mass market clean tech outcomes. In fact, under Europe’s carbon market system, it has often been cheaper to buy credits than invest in clean tech to reduce GHG emissions.
European Lawmakers To Give Free Carbon Credits to Heavy Industry
Posted by BC Upham November 6th, 2009 0 Comments
Satellite Image of European Air Pollution
The EU, that bastion of environmental common sense, is giving away its carbon credits. For free. To some of their biggest polluters.
Reuters reports that European Union lawmakers have approved a list of heavy industries, including metals, textiles, building materials and ceramics, that will be handed free carbon credits starting in 2013, rather than have to pay for them like everyone else. The credits will be handed out under the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme, or ETS.
The lawmakers acceded to industry complaints that the cost of carbon credits would make them uncompetitive with companies operating in India, China and other nations with fewer environmental safeguards, forcing them to move operations out of the EU. The end result, industry argues, would be the same companies making the same products for the same consumers, only in a more polluting way overseas, a phenomenon known as “carbon leakage.”
Sponsors
Where We’re Going
Nov 19, 09
San Jose: The Tech Awards
Dec 2, 09
Bard CEP National Climate Seminar: Hon. Ed Markey Sponsor event
Dec 16, 09
Bard CEP National Climate Seminar: Eban Goodstein, Live from Copenhagen Sponsor event
Partners
Recent Comments