Clean Energy

News Summary

Top Stories

• EPA Begins Greenhouse Gas Regulations, Politico
• House Republicans to Attack EPA Greenhouse Gas Rules, Climate Science Watch
• Renewable Energy Industry Shows Surprising Clout in States, Slate
• Climate PR Effort Heats Up, Politico

Government & Politics

• E.P.A. Limit on Gases to Pose Risk to Obama and Congress, New York Times
• The Oil Industry’s DC Wish List for 2011, Politico
• California's Cap-and-Trade Rules Finalized, Araceli Ruano, Center for American Progress
• How Congress Can Stop the EPA's Power Grab, Wall Street Journal
• Congressman Ed Markey Issues Report on His Now Defunct Energy Independence & Global Warming Committee, Committee Report
• The 10 Senators to Watch on Energy Issues, Politico
• Massachusetts Joins California and New Mexico in GHG Cuts, Reuters

Science, Jobs, & Investment

• Figures on Global Climate Show 2010 Tied 2005 for Hottest Year on Record, NY Times
• Noam Chomsky Discusses Hostility to Climate Change and the Renewables Economy, Clean Energy Authority

• A Scientist, His Work and a Climate Reckoning, New York Times
• Solar Plant to Generate Electricity Rain or Shine, Wall Street Journal
• California Leads Way on Global Warming, San Francisco Chronicle

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Articles

Top Stories

EPA Begins Greenhouse Gas Regulations / Politico, January 2

At first, the greenhouse gas rules will only apply to new and modified plants that would already trigger control requirements based on their emissions of other pollutants regulated by EPA, like soot or smog. Starting in July, large plants will fall under EPA’s rules based only on their greenhouse gas output. EPA says phasing in those rules will allow states and other permitting authorities to get used to the process. the EPA plans to issue a final rule by May 2012. The draft rule for refineries is due by December 2011 and a final rule by November 2012.

House Republicans to Attack EPA Greenhouse Gas Rules / Climate Science Watch, January 10

The new Republican majority in the House is making moves in its plan to hamstring EPA regulations, particularly of greenhouse gases.  The strategies are taking shape under a new crop of climate ‘skeptic’ committee chairmen to de-fund implementation of regulations, conduct aggressive oversight, and overturn rules through the Congressional Review Act.  Here’s a look at the new chairmen and their roles in the Republican attack on EPA.

Renewable Energy Industry Shows Surprising Clout in States / Slate, January 4

With cap-and-trade off the table in Washington, and with 29 states either run by or about to be run by Republican governors, the prospects for legislation aimed explicitly at reducing greenhouse-gas emissions are not bright, at least in the near term. Shifting to cleaner forms of energy, however, is another matter. It’s just that saving the environment won’t be the driving thrust. Creating jobs will.  So Republican governors are trying to figure out how to position themselves between two poles: ideological opposition to anything with ‘climate’ on the label, and the economic development opportunity presented by the clean-energy economy.

Climate PR Effort Heats Up / Politico, December 31

“After a year that started with fallout from the “Climategate” e-mail release, saw the cap-and-trade bill die in Congress, and ended with a gang of Republican climate skeptics winning House and Senate seats, global warming experts are going back to basics,” reports Darren Samuelsohn.  “Environmentalists, scientists and lawmakers have renewed public relations efforts to put global warming plainly before Americans' eyes and also rebut opponents who say nothing is happening.”

Government & Politics

E.P.A. Limit on Gases to Pose Risk to Obama and Congress / New York Times, December 30

“With the federal government set to regulate climate-altering gases from factories and power plants for the first time, the Obama administration and the new Congress are headed for a clash that carries substantial risks for both sides,” reports John Broder.  “While only the first phase of regulation takes effect on Sunday, the administration is on notice that if it moves too far and too fast in trying to curtail the ubiquitous gases that are heating the planet it risks a Congressional backlash that could set back the effort for years.”

The Oil Industry’s DC Wish List for 2011 /  Time, January 5

American Petroleum Institute president Jack Gerard made the case for increased oil drilling off the coasts of the U.S. “[Policymakers] face two choices: One leads us forward and promotes jobs, investments, revenue and growth… or one that takes us backward, threatening the progress we've made and closing the door on future opportunities. They’ve even put up posters in the Washington D.C. Metro in the stations closest to Capitol Hill.  More broadly, the agenda can be summed up in one word: deregulation. Republican Fred Upton, the new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, was in the front row of the audience for Gerard's speech.

California's Cap-and-Trade Rules Finalized / Araceli Ruano, Ctr for Am Progress, Dec. 20

Following California voters dramatic rejection of Prop23 (61%-38%), a ballot initiative to overturn the State’s climate and clean energy laws, California regulators voted 9-1 to approve the regulatory framework of the cap and trade system to implement the state’s landmark 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32).  Araceli Ruano of the Center for American Progress offers a great overview:

* Implementation begins in January 2012.
* For 2012-14, emission permits are going to be free.
* Major sources of GHG will reduce their outputs, including many utilities and industries already making those changes.  
* California’s out of state power sources will have to make changes to their generation, or begin selling their power elsewhere.
* Subsidies given to fossil fuels, at least on the state level, are likely to begin disappearing.
* DC's partisan divide (& a massive misinformation campaign) notwithstanding, the cap and trade market mechanism is a Republican construct conceived in the Reagan White House to ease out lead pollution in an industry-friendly way.  It was first written into law by President George H.W. Bush to reduce air pollutants in the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments. His son later used it in his own air pollution bill, and it was accepted by both presidential candidates (+ Biden & Palin) during the 2008 election.  The whole idea is to use the power of the market to reduce the harm is without resorting to government mandates.

How Congress Can Stop the EPA's Power Grab / Wall Street Journal, December 28

“On Jan. 2, the Environmental Protection Agency will officially begin regulating the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. This move represents an unconstitutional power grab that will kill millions of jobs—unless Congress steps in,” report Fred Upton and Tim Phillips.  “This mess began in April 2007, with the Supreme Court's decision in Massachusetts v. EPA. The court instructed the agency to determine whether greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide pose (or potentially pose) a danger to human health and safety under the Clean Air Act.”

Congressman Ed Markey Issues Report on His Now Defunct Energy Independence & Global Warming Committee / Committee Report

Ed Markey's Select Committee on Energy Independence & Global Warming in the House issued its final report yesterday. "Someday, our children and grandchildren will look back on the record of the Select Committee. That record will reflect a respectful and rigorous debate and an unprecedented understanding of the challenges before us. Whether or not they will see that this generation has taken the bold action required by these challenges remains to be seen."

The 10 Senators to Watch on Energy Issues / Politico, December 30

With Republicans controlling the House and ramping up oversight and investigations of the Obama administration, focus at least initially in the next Congress will be on the Senate to lay a potential pathway for legislative compromise on energy and environmental policy.

Business, Science, & Investment

Figures on Global Climate Show 2010 Tied 2005 as the Hottest Year on Record / New York Times, January 12

“New government figures for the global climate show that 2010 was the wettest year in the historical record, and it tied 2005 as the hottest year since record-keeping began in 1880,” reports Justin Gillis.  “The new figures confirm that 2010 will go down as one of the more remarkable years in the annals of climatology.”

Noam Chomsky Discusses Hostility to Climate Change and the Renewables Economy / Clean Energy Authority, January 13

Change rarely comes easily, and according to Dr. Noam Chomsky, professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the changes required to stop and reverse climate change will be a daunting challenge.

Massachusetts Joins California and New Mexico in GHG Cuts / Reuters, January 3

On the last day of 2010, Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles set the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit for 2020. Given a range of 10 to 25 percent below 1990 levels, Bowles has now selected the maximum authorized by the Act.

California Leads Way on Global Warming / San Francisco Chronicle, December 20

Washington failed miserably to take action on climate change this year. The nation's best hope is California, which made a historic leap forward last week when its Air Resources Board approved a broad-based cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases.

A Scientist, His Work and a Climate Reckoning / New York Times, December 22

Challengers have mounted a vigorous assault on the science of climate change. Polls indicate that the public has grown more doubtful about that science. Some of the Republicans who will take control of the House of Representatives in January have promised to subject climate researchers to a season of new scrutiny. But “nature doesn’t care how hard we tried,” Jeffrey D. Sachs, the Columbia University economist, said at a recent seminar. “Nature cares how high the parts per million mount. This is running away.” Perhaps the biggest reason the world learned of the risk of global warming was the unusual personality of a single American scientist, Charles David Keeling, who first measured the alarming rise of CO2 in the atmosphere.  Even as challengers try to pick apart every other aspect of climate science, his half-century record of carbon dioxide measurements stands unchallenged. “He was a registered Republican,” his widow recently said. “He just didn’t think of it as a political issue at all,” but he would be "dismayed" now.

Solar Plant to Generate Electricity Rain or Shine / Wall Street Journal, December 31

Something new is headed for the Southwest desert: solar power plants that can make electricity whether or not the sun is shining. Abengoa Solar Inc. expects to start construction in mid-2011 on a plant in Arizona that will store sun-generated heat to provide six extra hours a day of electric-generating capacity. The heat creates steam that is used to turn power turbines.

(also posted online at The Huffington Post)

Two primary pieces of legislation are being debated in the Senate: the Bingaman energy bill and the bipartisan Kerry-Graham-Lieberman climate bill.

There are several factors at play in 2010 that will affect what any new climate & energy laws look like (and might even determine whether Congress passes any laws at all).

• First, the 2010 congressional elections are making things difficult because many Democrats facing close re-election fights are worried about supporting controversial (and even costly) legislation, and President Obama has used a lot of political capital to pass health care legislation, which leaves less for upcoming climate and financial regulation fights.
• Second, the intense partisanship that has developed in Congress over the last sixteen years means that most Republicans will fight to deny the Democrats and the President any victory. It will thus be very hard to find Republicans to replace wavering Democrats.
• Third, it is unclear yet that the business community that does support climate & energy legislation, especially the clean tech industry, can compete equally with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the coal & oil companies when making the economic, jobs, energy prices, and national security arguments. Environmentalists are unable to win this debate on their own.

The Senate climate bill is where the real difficulty lies; its cap-and-trade element being the most controversial with members of both political parties.  Nonetheless, there is an opportunity for earning some Republican support that will be needed to offset some wavering Democrats because of its sponsorship by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. (There is another bipartisan climate bill sponsored by Republican Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington. It offers a cap-and-dividend solution instead of cap-and-trade; this does not currently appear to be the primary vehicle for a new national climate policy.)

Advocates for Senate climate legislation, including the White House, are pushing back against calls to abandon a mandatory cap on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in favor of a stand-alone energy bill. Division among Democrats on whether a new climate law is possible this year goes all the way to the top. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) recently told The Associated Press that passage of the legislation was unlikely.  Other Democrats who suggest that energy-only legislation has a better chance of passing in an election year include Agriculture Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Policy Chairman Byron Dorgan of North Dakota.

But Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) spoke to the undercurrent of pessimism, “These are the dumb D.C. rumors that too often mark this city and are rendered meaningless on a daily basis. We can cross the finish line this year.” Sen. Graham said this week, “I am convinced that reason, logic and good business sense and good environmental policy will trump the status quo.”  And President Obama's top energy adviser, Carol Browner, insisted January 11th that the Administration's goal remains a "comprehensive bill" that touches on all corners of the energy and climate debate, including the controversial cap-and-trade program.