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Probably no U.S. CO2 emissions cuts from new Lieberman-Warner bill until after 2025

I made a mistake about the Boxer substitute for the Lieberman-Warner bill. Every year, it allows enough offsets into the market to cover 30 percent of the total quantity of emissions allowances. I had said it was 15 percent, which was a loophole the size of the Gateway Arch. How big a loophole is 30 percent offsets? Wait and see.

I had said the three offsets -- domestic, international, and international forestry -- could make up 15 percent of allowances because the WRI summary [PDF] says that "The combination of all three of these mechanisms is limited to 15 percent of total emissions allowances" and because when I read the actual bill (page 23), that's what it seemed to say. But in fact we read it wrong. My apologies! What does this all mean?

Group airing ads in support of Climate Security Act in states with swing-vote senators

The ad wars over the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act continue: Environmental Defense Fund has just released new ads in support of the legislation. They show a man being struck by falling barrels of oil, telling viewers to call their senators and ask them to support the bill. “By telling special interests they can’t pollute for […]

Brazil swears in new environment minister

Carlos Minc was sworn in as Brazil’s environment minister on Tuesday. Minc succeeds Marina Silva, who quit after six years of uphill battling to protect the Amazon rainforest from development. Greens are cautiously optimistic about Minc, who was a founder of Brazil’s Green Party, a former environment secretary in the state of Rio de Janeiro, […]

Stratfor breaks it down

Interesting stuff over on Stratfor about the “Geopolitics of $130 oil.” The short story is: The U.S. is hit, but not too hard, given its transition from manufacturing to services. China gets the worst of it by far — it lives by manufacturing but it’s forced to hold prices down to avoid unrest, so it’s […]

Recount

I watched Recount last night, and my god, it is a gut punch.

Evidently, women, infants, and children in need don’t deserve organic

The Women, Infants, and Children program provides food aid to “low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk,” according to the USDA website. The federal government funds the program through grants to states, which then decide how to allocate […]

Walruses should be threatened species, says litigious green group

Having seen no action on a petition from last year, the Center for Biological Diversity says it will sue to force the U.S. Interior Department to consider listing the walrus as a threatened species. Walruses do all of their resting between foraging trips, breeding, and chillaxing on Arctic sea ice, which is rapidly disappearing. And […]

Gingrich mounts campaign to support domestic oil drilling

"Green conservative" and We campaign spokesman Newt Gingrich is mounting a new campaign: "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less." His promise is that (blocking Lieberman-Warner and) opening up drilling off the coasts, in the Gulf of Mexico, in northern Alaska, and in the Rockies (for oil shale) would lower gas prices. Now, for one thing […]

The enemy of the human race is set to wipe out Europe’s meager emissions gains

They’re building a huge new coal-fired power plant in Holz, Germany, where there are already three. To fuel it, an open-pit mine that has scarred the fields outside town with a 31-square-mile hole will be moved west, swallowing up this village and nearby Pesch. Already, their neat cottages sit empty and boarded. That’s just one […]

Exxon shareholders reject resolution to shake up management

Exxon shareholders have rejected a high-profile resolution to strip one management role from current Chair-‘n’-CEO Rex Tillerson and hire an independent chairperson. The influential Rockefeller family, along with various other investors, had pushed for the split. “Despite top-notch individual directors, [Exxon’s] record over the last decade, particularly regarding climate change, demonstrates that debate has been […]