Article by Kyle W. Danish, Shelley N. Fidler, Andrea Hudson Campbell and Kevin M. Gallagher
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Commentary
The top energy and environment advisor to the Obama campaign has said that, absent Congressional action, an Obama Environmental Protection Agency would move forward with Clean Air Act-based regulation of GHG emissions . . . The California Air Resources Board (CARB) came out with its final Scoping Plan for GHG regulation in the state. The Plan calls for a phased-in, but ultimately broad, cap-and-trade program complemented by a raft of other emission controls, efficiency measures, and an ambitious Renewable Portfolio Standard of 33%.
Presidential Politics
- Advisor Says that, Absent Legislation, Sen. Obama would Regulate CO2 Under the CAA. Jason Grumet, the top Environment and Energy Advisor to Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama (D-IL), said last week that an Obama Administration would make an "endangerment" finding under the Clean Air Act (CAA) that would allow EPA to regulate CO2 if Congress does not enact climate legislation. Mr. Grumet said that Sen. Obama would give Congress 18 months to approve a comprehensive federal climate change program; if Congress is unable to enact legislation, Sen. Obama would then initiate rulemaking procedures at EPA. Mr. Grumet added that the U.S. must take domestic action on climate in order to "get back in the game internationally." Republican candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has not taken a position on regulating CO2 under the CAA.
For an alternative viewpoint on this
topic that examines the question of how EPA could regulate
CO2 under the CAA, please see the article
New Wine Into Old Bottles: The Feasibility of Greenhouse Gas
Regulation Under the Clean Air Act" by Van Ness
Feldman's
Bob Nordhaus.
Administration
- EPA Awards $4.5 Million under Methane to Markets Partnership. EPA announced that 20 methane capture projects in 12 nations would receive a total of $4.5 million in funding under the agency's Methane to Markets Partnership. The program is intended to encourage the capture of methane from landfills and other sources that can be used to produce energy. Argentina, Brazil, China, Ecuador, India, South Korea, Mexico, Mongolia, Nigeria, Poland, Thailand, and Ukraine will receive awards ranging from $90,000 to $700,000 per project.
States and Cities
- CARB Releases Final "Scoping Plan" for Regulating California GHG Emissions. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued its final "Scoping Plan" for reducing the state's GHG emissions. The Plan is intended to help the state comply with AB 32, a 2006 law that requires the state to reduce its 2020 emissions to 1990 levels, and to reduce its 2050 emissions to 80% below 1990 levels. The Plan, which focuses on the 2020 target, proposes implementing a hybrid regulatory structure.
- Cap-and-Trade: The proposed cap-and-trade program would be phased in. Beginning in 2012, it would cover electric power plants and industrial facilities with emissions in excess of 25,000 mtCO2e/yr. Starting in 2015, the cap would extend to "upstream" coverage of smaller industrial emitters, residential and commercial end-users of natural gas (the precise point of regulation is unspecified), and upstream coverage of the transportation sector (through regulation at the point where fuels enter state commerce). The Plan estimates that the cap-and-trade program ultimately will reach 85 percent of the state's emissions and achieve 21 percent of the total emission reductions required by the Plan. In addition, the cap-and-trade program would be linked with a regional trading program being developed under Western Climate Initiative.
- Allowance Distribution. The current proposal makes no decision on the auction of emission allowances, only stating the eventual auction of 100 percent of allowances is "a worthwhile goal." Last month, the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Energy Commission, which are advising CARB on development of the GHG regulations, recommended that CARB auction 20 percent of allowances during the first year of the program and distribute the remaining allowances for free to covered emitters.
- Offsets. The Plan proposes to limit the use of offsets and emission allowances from other programs to 49 percent of the emission reductions required; the Western Climate Initiative has a parallel limit.
- Other Measures. Other major emission reduction programs included in the Plan include vehicle fuel efficiency regulations; energy efficiency measures; a tougher renewable portfolio standard that requires 33 percent of the state's electricity to be generated using renewable sources; and new fees on water use and on high global warming potential greenhouse gases. California's ability to implement the vehicle emission regulations remains in doubt, as those regulations were denied a necessary Clean Air Act waiver by the Environmental Protection Agency late last year.
The final Scoping Plan, which CARB is
scheduled to adopt in December, contains few major differences from
a draft version released in June of this year. The Scoping Plan is
available at: http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/scopingplan/document/psp.pdf.
- Florida Governor's Climate Advisory Group Issues Final Recommendations. The Action Team on Energy and Climate Change, a climate change advisory group appointed by Florida Governor Charlie Crist (R), sent its final report to the Governor. The report provides 50 policy recommendations for reducing the state's GHG emissions. One of the most significant recommendations calls for Florida to seek "observer" status in both the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), two regional cap-and-trade programs. The report asserts that, even though state's observer status would mean that it would not be subject to a mandatory emissions cap, the state nevertheless would gain information about emissions trading. Other major recommendations include reducing energy demand, increasing energy efficiency, adopting a renewable portfolio standard, and investing in low-carbon energy sources. The report estimates that implementation of all 50 recommendations would reduce the state's GHG emissions 64 percent below business-as-usual levels by 2025. The report is available at: http://www.flclimatechange.us/documents.cfm.
- RGGI Prepares for Second Allowance Auction. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a regional emission trading program in the northeastern United States, announced the terms of it second auction of emission allowances. The auction will take place December 17 and will offer for sale 31.5 million CO2 emission allowances. Though only 6 member states participated in the first allowance auction in September, RGGI officials expect that all ten RGGI member states will be eligible to participate in the December auction.
Studies and Reports
- Study Resolves Discrepancies Between Climate Models and Actual Observations, Authors Say. A study published in the International Journal of Climatology concluded that there are no discrepancies between the temperature trends predicted by climate models and actual recorded data. The study, led by Benjamin Santer, a climatologist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, focused on apparent disagreements between model predictions and observations in the tropics. A 2007 study published in the same journal found that there were significant differences, which indicated that climate models were seriously flawed. The latest study took into account natural phenomena such as El Niño and concluded that when such episodic variations are considered, there are no major differences between actual observations and modeled predictions. The study is available for purchase at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121433727/abstract.
- Union of Concerned Scientists Calls for Moratorium on New Coal Plants, CCS Research. The Union of Concerned Scientists issued a report calling on federal regulators to halt construction of new coal-fired power plants until carbon capture-and-sequestration (CCS) technology is available for widespread use. To encourage the development and deployment of commercial-scale CCS, the group also urged the federal government to finance five to ten large scale CCS projects at existing coal-fired power plans, using a variety of different generation, capture, and storage technologies. The Union of Concerned Scientists suggested that the $10 billion demonstration project should be funded in the near term by fees paid by coal-fired facilities and later by revenues generated by the auction of allowances under a federal GHG cap-and-trade program. The report is available at: http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/clean_energy/Coal-power-in-a-warming-world.pdf.
International
- U.N., E.U. Link Emissions Trading Mechanisms. The United Nations and the European Union have forged a technical link between their respective emissions allowances trading mechanisms. The link between the U.N.'s International Transaction Log (ITL) and the E.U.'s Community Independent Transaction Log (CITL) will allow the transfer of emission allowances between the two systems. The U.N. system will also link to the emissions allowances registries of 25 of the 27 EU member states. The move will double the size of the ITL and is expected to significantly increase liquidity in the global carbon market.
- World Bank Limits Coal Funding to CCS. The World Bank announced that its new $6.1 billion climate change funds will only provide financing for coal projects that incorporate carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology. In addition to CCS projects, the World Bank's two Climate Investment Funds, which are funded by donations from ten developed countries including the United States, will finance the deployment of low-carbon technologies and the establishment of national climate change adaptation plans in developing countries.
- UK Pledges to Reduce Emissions 80 Percent by 2050. United Kingdom Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband announced a government commitment to reduce the nation's GHG emission to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The target was included in a report by a government climate change committee that included a number of recommendations for responding to climate change. The report, which was adopted in its entirety, recommended that the UK achieve the target through, among other measures, a feed-in tariff on electricity that would support small scale renewable energy technologies, increased renewable heating, and energy efficiency initiatives.
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