Article by Kyle Danish, Shelley Fidler, Kevin Gallagher, Megan Ceronsky and Tomás Carbonell

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Commentary

No sign this past week of EPA's guidance on Best Available Control Technology for greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, the deeply divided working group of the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee issued its report on the subject . . . Continuing in the vein of deeply divided: The Tianjin session of the United Nations climate negotiations came to an end having achieved little forward progress in advance of the conference of the parties scheduled to start at the end of November in Cancún . . . EPA's strategic plan for FY2011-2015 identifies climate change and air quality as the top priority . . . Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) expressed opposition to EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, but did not commit to any particular legislative remedy . . . A proposed rule from the Federal Trade Commission would impose new requirements on advertisements concerning voluntary carbon offsets . . . The Council on Environmental Quality released its final guidance on federal agency greenhouse gas reduction targets . . . A study suggests that renewable energy policies in the absence of a carbon price on land use emissions could accelerate deforestation—by promoting bioenergy without a counter-incentive to preserve forests.

Executive Branch

  • Advisory Committee Issues New Round of Recommendations on BACT. A working group of the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee (CAAAC)—a committee of environmental and industry stakeholders that has provided non-binding policy recommendations to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since its establishment in 1990—issued a long-awaited report with recommendations on how the Best Available Control Technology (BACT) requirement of the Clean Air Act's Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program should be applied to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Under EPA's "Tailoring Rule," PSD permits will be required of certain stationary sources of GHGs beginning January 2, 2011. The report focused on two issues: potential uses of BACT to promote energy efficient processes and technologies, and potential uses of flexible BACT requirements to promote innovative GHG control technologies. According to the report, the workgroup was unable to arrive at a consensus on the scope of energy efficient technologies that should be considered in a PSD application. However, the workgroup agreed that EPA will need to provide additional flexibility with respect to its current policy of granting "waivers" from BACT for facilities using innovative technologies. EPA is expected to use the report to provide guidance to states on the implementation of BACT for GHG emissions in individual PSD permit proceedings.
  • EPA Strategic Plan Lists Climate Change as Priority for FY2011-2015. EPA issued a strategic plan for fiscal years 2011-2015 identifying "Taking Action on Climate Change and Improving Air Quality" as its top strategic goal. In its discussion of this goal, the plan emphasizes the importance of building local resilience to the effects of climate change as well as the mitigation of GHG emissions. The plan also reaffirms EPA's intention to develop GHG emission standards for nonroad vehicles such as marine vessels, locomotives, and aircraft, and indicates that EPA will publicly release the first round of GHG emissions data submitted to the agency under the Mandatory Reporting Rule by June 15, 2011. The strategic plan is available at http://www.epa.gov/ocfo/plan/2015/FY2011_2015_EPA_Strategic_Plan.pdf.
  • CEQ Releases Final Guidance on Accounting for Federal GHG Emissions. The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) released a final version of guidance providing a uniform method for Federal agencies to account for and report their direct and indirect GHG emissions. President Obama directed the drafting of the guidelines in Executive Order 13514, which required all Federal agencies to establish ten-year GHG reduction targets. Pursuant to the Executive Order, the Federal government has a goal of achieving a 28% reduction in direct emissions and a 13% reduction in indirect emissions relative to 2008 levels by 2020. The guidance is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ceq/GHG%20Guidance%20Document_0.pdf.
  • Proposed FTC Rule Would Regulate Carbon Offset Advertisements. As part of a sweeping proposed rule that would regulate "green" advertising claims across a wide range of products, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed several restrictions on advertising claims for carbon offset credits in order to prevent deception of consumers. First, FTC proposed to require that marketers of offset credits notify consumers if the claimed GHG emission reductions were not likely to occur for two years or more. In addition, FTC proposed that marketers have accounting protocols and tracking systems in place to ensure that claimed GHG offsets are properly verified and not sold more than once. Lastly, FTC proposed that offset credits could not be sold for emission reductions that are already required by law. However, FTC did not commit to developing detailed standards and protocols for offset projects. The proposed rule is available at http://www.ftc.gov/os/fedreg/2010/october/101006greenguidesfrn.pdf.
  • New Yorker Article Faults White House with Cap-and-Trade Downfall. A widely-distributed article by Ryan Lizza in the New Yorker traces the rise and fall of the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman (KGL) climate legislation. The article primarily attributes the collapse of the legislative effort to President Obama's unwillingness to engage as well as White House leaks and announcements that undermined the Senate negotiations at critical moments. The article also cites the refusal of Senate Republicans to work on the bill, pressure on moderate Republicans from more right-wing groups and politicians, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's sudden announcement that the Senate would consider immigration legislation before the climate bill and refusal to give Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) the political cover he requested.

Congress

  • Baucus Opposes EPA GHG Regulatory Authority. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) told reporters "I do not want EPA writing those regulations. I think it's too much power in the hands of one single agency. But rather climate change should be a matter essentially up to the Congress." A Baucus staffer told reporters that Sen. Baucus has not committed to any specific legislative proposal that would block EPA from regulating GHG emissions.
  • Senators Introduce Energy Bills, Head Home. Before leaving for home for the campaign season, several Senators introduced legislation related to clean-energy and energy efficiency:
    • S.15, introduced by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), would provide an investment tax credit for investment in international land-use-based carbon sequestration projects, including forest preservation.
    • S. 3923, introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and co-sponsored by Sens. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act to clarify State authority to enact feed-in tariffs to support low-carbon energy generation.
    • S. 3876, introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and co-sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), would extend and increase tax incentives supporting the deployment of fueling infrastructure for "clean-burning fuels" (such as ethanol, natural gas, hydrogen, and biodiesel) and expand incentives for the deployment of recharging infrastructure for electric vehicles.
    • S. 3925, introduced by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and co-sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), would establish stricter energy efficiency standards for certain home appliances.
  • Boehner Casts Election as "Referendum" on Cap-and-Trade. Minority House Leader John Boehner (R-OH) predicted that the mid-term elections would "be a referendum on [the Democrats'] job-killing policies, one of which is cap-and-trade." He also promised that if Republicans take control of the House of Representatives, "there'll be no cap-and-trade."

States and Cities

  • Virginia AG Renews Investigation of Climate Scientist Mann. After his original subpoena was rejected by a county judge as overly broad and insufficiently explained, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) filed a revised subpoena seeking documents from the University of Virginia related to research conducted by climate change scientist Michael Mann, who was a professor at the University until 2005. The new subpoena seeks all emails related to a single state-funded project between Mann, other scientists, his research associates and secretaries.

Industry and NGOs

  • Main Street Alliance Defends EPA Regulation of GHGs. The Main Street Alliance, a network of small business coalitions from 12 states, sent a letter to all members of Congress signed by over 500 small businesses, urging that EPA be allowed to proceed with regulation of GHG emissions under the Clean Air Act. The letter argued that climate change "poses a serious threat to the health of our communities, putting Main Street small businesses' economic future at risk" and claimed that EPA regulation will "ensure that large emitters of greenhouse gas pollution install the best available technology to limit their emissions." The letter also stated that EPA regulation would encourage investment in clean energy and create "green jobs." The text of the letter is available at http://mainstreetalliance.org/wordpress/2768/msa-sign-on-letter-in-support-of-new-epa-standards/.

Studies and Reports

  • Study Questions Efficacy of Iron Enrichment of Oceans. In an article published in Geophysical Research Letters, researchers reported the results of their examination of a massive plankton bloom in the subarctic northeast Pacific Ocean. The bloom, in a normally iron-poor area, was found to be triggered by iron-rich volcanic ash deposits from eruptions in the Aleutian Islands. Based on sampling data, the researchers concluded that the plankton absorbed .01 Pg (petragrams) of carbon (compared to average annual oceanic absorption of 2 Pg), and determined that even large-scale iron fertilization is not an efficient means of sequestering atmospheric CO2. "Seeding" the oceans with iron to generate plankton blooms has been suggested as a geo-engineering means of sequestering carbon already in the atmosphere, as plankton absorb CO2. The study's abstract is available at http://europa.agu.org/?view=article&uri=/journals/gl/gl1019/2010GL044629/2010GL044629.xml&t=hamme.
  • Carbon Price Needed to Preserve Forests. Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences modeled future land use changes under different climate policy and agricultural productivity growth scenarios. The study found that climate policies that put a price on land use emissions expand forest cover, including tropical forests; conversely, climate policies that do not put a value on land use emissions generate widespread deforestation to support bioenergy production. The study also found that increases in agricultural productivity also increased forested land by reducing the need to expand croplands. However, increases in agricultural productivity without a price on land use emissions was found to increase deforestation, while the combination of a price on land use emissions and low agricultural productivity growth generated deforestation in some regions and forestation elsewhere. The study is available at www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0910467107.
  • Review Shows Significant U.S. Offshore Wind Potential. An assessment of large-scale offshore wind potential by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimated the U.S. gross offshore wind resource at over 4,000 gigawatts, or four times the current U.S. electric capacity. The report suggests that resource estimates are likely to shrink by 60 percent or more once environmental and socioeconomic constraints are considered. Using a least-cost optimization model to assess how the U.S. could generate 20 percent of electricity from wind by 2030, the report found that 54 gigawatts of additional wind capacity could be installed offshore, which would generate approximately $200 billion in new economic activity and 43,000 permanent, well-paid technical jobs. The review also noted that 26 states have offshore wind capacity with capacity located near large urban areas with growing power demands, and projected that offshore wind will penetrate the U.S. market on a large scale even without substantial new energy storage technology or infrastructure development. The report is available at http://www.nrel.gov/wind/pdfs/40745.pdf.

International

  • Limited Progress as UN Climate Talks Conclude in Tianjin, China. A week-long meeting of climate change negotiators representing 194 nations ended in Tianjin, China with limited progress. While the meeting did result in a draft agreement text that may be submitted at this year's final negotiating session in Cancún, Mexico, the Tianjin talks were largely marked by on-going disagreements between developed and developing nations. In particular, tension continued between the United States and China—the world's two largest emitters—as the US pushed China to accept some form of emission reduction commitments and expanded access for monitoring and verification, while China argued that the US has failed to make any real commitments of its own. Even the path forward for the negotiations in Cancún later this year remains uncertain. Although some negotiators suggested that the Cancún negotiations could focus on less-contentious issues such as adaptation, technology transfer and deforestation while putting off decisions on problematic issues like mitigation and long-term financing, others called for the negotiations to address the full range of unresolved issues. In remarks following the Tianjin negotiations, Todd Stern, the lead climate change negotiator for the US, suggested that negotiators may be moving toward consensus on an approach at Cancún that would attempt to salvage some progress even without final resolution of the issues by having negotiators agree to a series of non-binding political "decisions".
  • International Shipping Body Fails to Agree on GHG Standards. At its annual meeting, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) failed to reach agreement on proposed GHG emission reduction standards for passenger and freight ships. Similar to the main track of the international climate change negotiations under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the IMO talks were derailed by disagreement between developed nations and major developing nations. Unlike the UNFCCC negotiations, however, which operate based on a principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" that allows for different GHG reduction commitments from developed and developing nations, the IMO negotiations must result in a single set of standards that would apply equally to developed and developing nations in order to prevent developed nations from shifting ship building operations to developing nations. The shipping industry comprises approximately 2.7 percent of annual global emissions.
  • Canada Finalizes 2011-2016 Vehicle GHG Emissions Standards, Details Climate Financing. Canadian Environmental Minister Jim Prentice released final GHG emissions standards for new passenger automobiles and light trucks. The new standards, which apply to model years 2011-2016, were developed in coordination with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and are harmonized with the vehicle GHG standards recently promulgated by EPA. By the 2016 model year, the regulations will require a 25 percent reduction in GHG emissions from 2008 levels. GHG emissions from automobiles and light trucks contribute approximately 12 percent of Canadian GHG emissions. Minister Prentice's release also included the issuance of a notice of intent that commits the Canadian Government to continue working with the United States to develop harmonized vehicle GHG standards for the 2017-2025 model years. In a separate announcement, Minister Prentice released details of Canada's plan for fulfilling its fast-start climate change financing commitments under the Copenhagen Accord. Canada will give a total of US$391 million; the majority (US$286 million) will go to the International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank, to fund clean energy projects in developing nations.

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