Friday, November 4, 2011 |
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N.D. Threatens Legal Action Over Minn. Coal Measures (Reg. & Leg.) North Dakota is threatening to sue Minnesota over restrictions it says could affect North Dakota's electric power sales, but have held off their action to see if the Minnesota Legislature overturns some of the state's carbon dioxide emission restrictions adopted in 2007.
The Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bill at the end of the regular legislative session in May to allow power from a new coal-fired Spiritwood, N.D. power plant and existing North Dakota plants into Minnesota, but Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed it as being "environmentally unfriendly".
Dayton said the suit has no merit. The Senate sponsor of the vetoed bill, however, sided with North Dakota.
The Minnesota bill had been watered down in an attempt to meet Dayton's objections, Rep. Mike Beard (R-Shakopee) said at the time. It would have allowed Minnesota power companies to buy power from coal-fired plants in other states, but restrict building new coal plants in Minnesota.
About 60 percent of electricity Minnesota power plants generate comes from coal brought in from other states. North Dakota provides much of that coal,as well as power from its coal-fired plants.(Source: Morris Sun Tribune, November, 2, 2011)
Vulnerable Island States Reject Climate Action Delays (Int'l, Reg. & Leg.) The 42-member Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), a group of island states most vulnerable to global warming, has lashed out against rich nations for wanting to delay a new international climate pact until years after the Kyoto Protocol on curbing carbon emissions expires in 2012.
AOSIS claims that wealthy countries such as Japan and Russia are "reckless and irresponsible" for promoting a delay in the adoption of a new international agreement until 2018 or 2020, just weeks before the start of a United Nations climate summit in Durban, South Africa.
If the pact is delayed, global warming will worsen and its impact will be calamitous for island states like Grenada and others.
If world governments fail to toughen climate targets then small island countries in the Caribbean, the Pacific, Africa and elsewhere will suffer greater exposure to drought, rising sea levels, and stronger hurricanes as a result of climate change.
AOSIS said a large number of developed and developing countries also want a climate deal done before the end of 2012 and are calling for that timetable to be agreed at the climate summit in Durban.
Representatives from more than 190 nations will meet in the South African city from November 28-December 9 to resume climate talks, but a binding pact to reduce emissions looks unlikely to be delivered and may take several years due to deep divisions between rich and poor nations.(Source: AOSIS, Reuters, November, 3, 2011)
UK CO2 Targets Should Cover Maritime Emissions (Ind. Report) In the UK, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) recommends that, in an effort to regulate a growing carbon footprint,, Britain should include international shipping emissions in its climate targets to 2050.If the UK included shipping emissions, it would become the first nation to regulate the carbon footprint from this sector as part of its effort to curb global warming.
The CCC unveiled its first detailed assessment of carbon emissions from ships entering UK ports, showing current emissions are likely to be in a range of 12-16 million tonnes of CO2 or higher.
UK law requires the nation to make an economy-wide cut in its GHG emissions to 160 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2050, which equates to an 80 percent emissions reduction against 1990 levels.
International shipping and aviation were excluded in the UK's carbon budgets largely due to difficulties in estimating emissions from those sectors.
The CCC projected ships entering UK ports will emit up to 18 million tonnes or 11 percent of the total emissions permitted under the government's Climate Change Act by 2050.
The committee's forecast is 80 percent higher than a previous government estimate of 10 million tonnes, which was based solely on the consumption of bunker fuel.
The CCC's estimate takes into account the miles traveled by, and the carbon intensity, of all ships arriving at UK ports.
The committee has already provided detailed projections for aviation emissions in a December 2009 report, and will provide its advice for both sectors at the same time next March.
The CCC is weighing three possible options for shipping before it makes its recommendation, because of uncertainties in the methodology used to calculate emissions and legal issues.
The first is to include shipping emissions in the 2050 target and carbon budgets.
Another is to include the sector in the 2050 target and carbon budgets only when progress has been made on developing internationally agreed methodologies for estimating emissions.
The third option is to include the sector's emissions in the 2050 target, but not in the carbon budgets until a later date. (Source: UK Committee on Climate Change, Reuters, November, 3, 2011)
U.S. Carbon Emissions Down 7 Percent; Bigger Drops Projected (Ind. Report, Reg & Leg.) According to the Washington, D.C-based Earth Policy Institute, between 2007 and 2011, carbon emissions from coal use in the U.S. dropped 10 percent and emissions from oil use dropped 11 percent. In contrast, carbon emissions from natural gas use increased by 6 percent. The net effect of these trends was that U.S. carbon emissions dropped 7 percent in four years. And this is only the beginning.
The initial fall in coal and oil use was triggered by the economic downturn, but now powerful new forces are reducing the use of both. For coal, the dominant force is the Beyond Coal campaign, a national effort coordinated by the Sierra Club involving hundreds of local groups that oppose coal because of its effects on human health.
In the first phase, the campaign actively opposed the building of new coal-fired power plants, an initiative that led to a near de facto moratorium on new coal plants.
The campaign's second phase is dedicated to closing existing coal plants. Of the U.S. total of 492 coal-fired power plants, 68 are already slated to close. With current and forthcoming U.S. EPA air quality regulations on emissions of mercury, sulfur, and ozone precursors requiring costly retrofits, many of the older, dirtier plants will be closed.
The move to close coal plants comes at a time when electricity use for lighting will be falling as incandescent light bulbs are phased out. The DOE
projects that residential electricity use per person will drop by 5 percent during this decade as incandescent light bulbs are replaced, more-efficient household appliances come to market, and the use of renewable energy resources rise.
We are now looking at a situation where the 7 percent decline in carbon emissions since the 2007 peak could expand to 20 percent by 2020, and possibly even to 30 percent. If so, the U.S. could become a world leader in cutting carbon emissions and stabilizing climate. (Source: Earth Policy Institute, November, 2, 2011) Global Warming Prompts Tree Migration (Ind. Report, R&D) A new report being released Thursday by Oregon State University has found what researchers are calling a "migration of trees" throughout the West - with some species disappearing from regions where they've thrived for centuries - due to global warming, insect attack diseases and fire.
Scientists found some tree species replacing others that are no longer well-adapted for the climate in true survival-of-the-fittest fashion.
The greatest shifts in tree species are expected to be at the northern and southern extremes of the West; British Columbia and California.
For example, the once-common lodgepole pine is likely to be replaced by other more temperate tree species such as Douglas fir. Other forests are likely to shift to a grass savannah or sagebrunch desert ecosystem.
The research compared 15 coniferous tree species that are common across the West in Canada and the United States. It looked into impacts on 34 different "eco-regions" such as the Columbia Plateau and the Yukon Highlands.
The study projected which tree species would be at highest risk in a future that's expected to be as much as 9 degrees (Fahrenheit) warmer by 2080, with altered precipitation patterns.
The mild, wetter portions of Oregon and Washington are expected to see less of an impact on tree species than other parts of the West.
Researchers caution that little can be done to alter or control the changes taking place.(Source: OSU, November, 3, 2011) Access report here
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