Air Quality Links:
The Independent UK reports Divisions over global warming threaten EU-US climate meeting. [4-27-07] European officials want reference to EU climate change policies, which recognize anthropogenic global warming and the need to reach a worldwide agreement. The EU has committed to a 20 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020. The US ambassador to the EU, C. Boyden Gray, said the "The main difference is over the weight you give to new technologies versus binding targets now." The US has insisted there should be no commitment to binding targets unless developing countries such as China and India agree. The US argues that it is investing more than the EU in technologies such as carbon capture, which could help countries such as China to tackle emissions.
The report Climate Change 2007: Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability - Summary for Policymakers [IPCC WG2-4, April 6, 2007] is now available from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). A copy of this report is also available at this alternative website.
The Seattle Times reports High court tells Bush: Take action on global warming [ST, April 3, 2007]. The EPA had maintained it lacked authority to set emissions limits because air-pollution laws don't include greenhouse gases (GHG) such as carbon dioxide. However, scientists have linked the rise in the emissions of greenhouse gases to a steady and potentially harmful rise in air temperatures. An assembly of New England and Pacific Coast states, including Washington, challenged the EPA (i.e., Massachusetts v. EPA) for failing to regulate GHG. The Supreme Court held that, under the Clean Air Act, the EPA must regulate "any air pollutant" that is likely to endanger "public health or welfare", which includes effects on the climate or weather. The full text of the Supreme Court decision can be found at Massachusetts et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency et al.. A copy of this decision is also available at this alternative website.
The Christian Science Monitor discusses As earth warms, lawsuits mount [CSM, February 22, 2007]. The CSM article notes that a number of climate change lawsuits are working their way through United States courts. One of the most far-reaching is Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, now in the US Supreme Court docket. Massachusetts and 11 other states sued in 1999 to compell the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The EPA claims that greenhouse gases do not fit the legal definition of "air pollution," and that there is still too little scientific certainty about global warming to take action. The case was argued in November, and a ruling is expected in June. In another case, California is pursuing litigation to control environmental damage by reducing greenhouse gases emissions related to "big six" automakers – Ford, GM, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.
A New York Times editorial, Taming Fossil Fuels [NYT, March 17, 2007], discusses the convergence of industry and investor response to reducing greenhouse gases. Chief executives of America's largest automobile companies including General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and Toyota North America pledged to support mandatory caps on carbon emissions, as long as the caps covered all sectors of the economy. Additionally, significant institutional investors organized by Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmentalists, plans to offer support for mandatory controls. The group will include Merrill Lynch and Calpers, the large California state pension fund with a history of making environmentally friendly investments. Bidders on the large Texas utility, TXU, dropped plans to build 11 coal-burning power plants with obsolete technology and announced building two experimental plants to capture carbon dioxide. Similarly, American Electric Power has announced it will build a coal-fired plant based on different technology to capture carbon.
The Independent UK says Blair hails 'bold' EU deal to slash carbon emissions and boost renewable power . [IUK, March 10, 2007] The European Union agreed to slash carbon emissions and generate one fifth of its energy from renewables including solar and wind power. EU leaders committed to binding targets which will dramatically change how Europe powers its economies.
The Washington Post observes Midwest Has 'Coal Rush,' Seeing No Alternative [WP, March 10, 2007] with a new coal-fired generation station coming on line this spring. The Iowa power plant is one of over a dozen coal-fired plants currently being constructed in the United States that will increase emissions of carbon dioxide, the most prevalent greenhouse gas. Forty (40) more facilities are likely to be constructed within the next 5 years putting the energy industry on an apparent collision course with Congress, which is moving to cap and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
A commentary in The Christian Science Monitor discusses Plug-in hybrids: the way to reduce emissions and foster energy independence (CSM, February 12, 2007). The commentary is adapted from a technical paper written in the December 2006 issue of Public Utilities Fortnightly by: Steven Letendre, associate professor of business, economics, and the environment at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vt.; Paul Denholm, senior energy analyst at the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL); and Peter Lilienthal, senior economist at the NREL.
CBS reports China Fails To Meet Environmental Goals (CBS, February 13, 2007) for emissions of sulfur dioxide ( SO2 ), an acid-rain forming gas.
The Christian Science Monitor summary of Key players react to the IPCC global warming report (CSM, February 8, 2007) including statements from the United States, France, Greenpeace, India, European Union, South Africa, ExxonMobil, and Maldives.
CBS discusses Global Warming Debate Shifts To Who Pays (CBS, February 2, 2007). The IPCC's report Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis
Summary for Policymakers (IPCC WG1-4, February 2, 2007) is now available. A copy of this report is also available at this alternative website. In the debate between scientists and bureaucrats, Experts slam upcoming global warming report (CNN, January 29, 2007), as they gather in Paris to finish the first of four major global warming reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The LEDE blog has gotten hold of this story, too (Global Climate Panel’s First Report Looks Dire, but Wait for Part 2; LEDE, January 30, 2007).
The Christian Science Monitor reports how an air pollution emissions 'cap and trade' system can be used to help reduce greenhouse gases but the approach is harder in practice than in theory
(On global warming, what US can learn from Europe; CSM, January 30, 2007).
The Washington Post reports on environmental trade-offs debated in the State of Maryland Senate ('Clean Cars' Debate Pits Cost Against Health; WP, January 26, 2007).
The New York Times discusses how alternative energy, as discussed in President Bush's 2007 State of the Union address, may be on a collision course with greenhouse gas reduction efforts (NYT, January 25, 2007) . The International Energy Agency (IEA) has an interesting website for information on air emissions relating to energy policy.- Others to be Announced
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