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Upward from the Climate Security Act

Climate Solutions Policy Director K.C. Golden has some thoughts on where to go with national climate legislation after last week's down vote on the Climate Security Act.

As thunderstorms and tornadoes ripped through the nation's capital last week, the U.S. Senate tied itself in a procedural knot, preventing a vote on the substance of the Climate Security Act -- the first meaningful climate legislation to reach the Senate floor.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called it "the most important issue facing the world today." But the minority stalled -- insisting on a full reading of the nearly 500-page bill -- while the storm raged outside. Once again, the "world's greatest deliberative body" did nothing about the world's biggest problem.

Twenty years after our preeminent climate scientist Jim Hansen warned Congress of the need for immediate action, this dilly-dallying is enough to make you scream.

Obama VP possibility heads establishment energy advocacy group

Apparently a new name has popped up on the Obama VP short list: Ret. Gen. James Jones, highly regarded and highly decorated Marine from Missouri. He was NATO Supreme Allied Commander from 2003-2006, when Wiki says he “declined an opportunity to succeed General John P. Abizaid as Commander of U.S. Central Command, and stepped down […]

I’ve got the 450-ppm solution about right

Part 1 discussed the basic conclusion of the new International Energy Agency report -- cutting global emissions in half by 2050 is not costly. In fact, the total shift in investment needed to stabilize at 450 ppm is only about 1.1 percent of GDP per year, and that is not a "cost" or hit to GDP, because much of that investment goes toward saving expensive fuel.

 

In this post, I will discuss the basic solution IEA is proposing. I will also start to look at how the report is too pessimistic about renewables, and thus it overestimates costs. In their business-as-usual baseline, neither solar thermal nor solar photovoltaics are ever commercially competitive. Part 3 discusses IEA's very dubious assumptions in the transportation sector. The IEA assumes the price of oil is half of current levels and is frozen at $65 a barrel from 2030 to 2050. I kid you not. That is a key reason their marginal price of CO2 is so absurdly high.

My central argument in recent months has been that stabilizing at 450 ppm requires about 14 wedges -- carbon mitigation strategies deployed over a few decades that ultimately each prevent the emission of one billion tons of carbon annually (see here). The IEA comes to almost exactly the same conclusion, and has relatively similar wedges, so I view this report largely as a vindication of my analysis.

ASUW student body transcends State and Federal legislators

A resolution opposing current Washington State biofuel policies (website not yet updated to reflect acceptance of resolution) passed in the University of Washington Student Senate on the third of June.

The Associated Students of the University of Washington are, to my knowledge, the first legislative body in the country to take this bold step.

The following is a brief history of how it came to be:

Renewables industry fears for future if Senate doesn’t extend tax credits

The Senate once again failed to pass tax-credit extensions for renewable energy on Tuesday, and folks in the industry are starting to get worried. Companies working in wind, solar, and other renewables rely on the tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of the year. Trade organizations that represent renewable-energy firms on […]

HGTV sets her up in sweet South Carolina digs

Back in January, I mentioned that HGTV was giving away a green home in Hilton Head, S.C. Well, that 2,000-square-foot home done been given away (along with a hybrid GMC Yukon). The winner is a grandmother and medical billing clerk now living in Florida. Marsha Coulthard hasn’t decided whether to live in or sell the […]

TV characters avoid gas pump drama

Interesting post about TV characters who will likely feel the gas price pinch (including Dwight Shrute of The Office and the taxi driver on How I Met Your Mother). And to counter that, a list from Whitney at Pop Candy of TV characters who don’t have to worry about problems at the pump: 1. Hiro […]

Snippets from the news

• Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” could be largest on record. • Toronto cyclists form first-of-its-kind union. • Melting Arctic could spur warmer temperatures inland. • Hybrid batteries in short supply. • Gas-drilling rights to Colorado’s Roan Plateau will be auctioned.

Senators ignore the warning signs

Originally posted at the Think Progress Wonk Room.

Recently, the United States Senate has taken several votes on building a green economy that moves away from fossil fuel dependence, creates new green industry, and addresses global warming. Each time, a minority of senators blocked the way. On Friday, 38 senators filibustered mandatory greenhouse-gas reduction legislation (S. 3036). This morning, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) joined 41 Republicans to filibuster the Consumer-First Energy Act (S. 3044), which would have given consumers relief by placing a windfall tax on oil companies. Then 44 Republican senators blocked consideration of the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act (H.R. 6049) to extend renewable energy and other tax incentives.

Meanwhile, the signs of the looming climate crisis abound. Extreme weather of all kinds -- freak snowstorms, extended droughts, heat waves, flash floods -- are causing havoc around the nation, and conservative neglect is leaving us unprepared and unable to rebuild:

I procrastinate too, but this is ridiculous

“I think we can get a global agreement on climate change during my presidency — just so you know.” — President George W. Bush