carbon cap
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Boxer Proceeds with Clean Energy and Climate Protection Bill Despite Republican Boycott
Minority members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) followed through on their threat to boycott the scheduled markup of the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S.1733) today, demanding more analysis of the bill before they are willing to participate. Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) proceeded anyway with opening statements from […]
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Fixing the bioenergy accounting loophole
A group of prominent ecologists and climate scientists have an important article coming out in tomorrow’s issue of Science, in which they call for “fixing a critical climate accounting error.” The error is ignoring a significant source of global warming pollution related to using biomass for energy (“bioenergy”). I know that most people’s eyes glaze […]
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Kerry-Graham op-ed dramatically enhances prospects for Senate climate bill this year
Sunday’s New York Times op-ed by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) begins: CONVENTIONAL wisdom suggests that the prospect of Congress passing a comprehensive climate change bill soon is rapidly approaching zero. … However, we refuse to accept the argument that the United States cannot lead the world in addressing global climate change. […]
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A Clean Energy Bargain
Earlier today the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a Policy Brief summarizing economic analysis of clean energy and climate protection legislation that we have been working on for more than a year. We know that the Senate debate on this legislation will turn largely on economic issues, so we used two well-known national energy […]
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A Clean Energy Bargain
Earlier today NRDC released a Policy Brief summarizing economic analysis of clean energy and climate protection legislation that we have been working on for more than a year. We know that the Senate debate on this legislation will turn largely on economic issues, so we used two well-known national energy models to examine the impact […]
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Lower your expectations for Copenhagen, says Foreign Affairs journal
Michael A. Levi of the Council on Foreign Relations, writing in the September/October Foreign Affairs, finds “vanishingly small” odds that December’s international negotiations in Copenhagen will produce a comprehensive climate treaty. From the journal’s summary (emphasis mine): “Government officials and activists should fundamentally rethink their strategy and expectations” for the December climate conference in Copenhagen, […]
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Can trade policy and climate policy work hand-in-hand?
This past weekend, while traveling in India, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received the message, courteous but firm, that India has no intention of capping carbon. The rationale provided is that India has low per capita emissions. This is, to be sure, India’s best argument. Her overall emissions are soaring as her population spirals upward–India, […]
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Everything you always wanted to know about the Waxman-Markey energy/climate bill — in bullet points
You keep hearing about the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill — aka the American Clean Energy and Security Act, ACES, H.R. 2454 — but what’s actually in it? We combed through the 946-page beast so you don’t have to. Here are the highlights of the bill, which is sponsored by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif) and […]
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Waxman-Markey bill would do more for climate without cap-and-trade provision
Waxman-Markey is a big split personality of a bill. Its efficiency and renewable requirements would make a dent in greenhouse gas emissions, even if not a very big one. But the cap-and-trade at the heart of the legislation is another story. Why do we need cap-and-trade or a carbon tax or something similar? If we […]
