April 2015 Climate Change Summary Report

“Millennials seem no more concerned about warming than their elder Americans”

April 30, 2015: Climate Wire (subscription required) reports: “Young adults are no more likely to believe in man-made climate change than older Americans, according to a poll released yesterday that challenges assumptions about the strength of the millennial generation’s views on warming. The Harvard University survey found that 55 percent of respondents aged 18 to 29 say that climate change is mostly caused by emissions from cars and industrial activity. That’s similar to the findings of other polls that ask Americans of all ages about their belief in rising temperatures.”

“We need energy technology, not ideology”

April 29, 2015: An op-ed in The Hill by Charles McConnell, executive director of the Energy and Environment Initiative at Rice University and a former assistant secretary of energy at the Department of Energy states: “Let’s keep burning coal; after all, it is a ‘way of life,’ therefore we must continue. No, wait: Let’s eliminate fossil fuels altogether right now and make the world a better place. These two perspectives could not be more opposite, and yet both are the same. They are uninformed. We are not using coal the way we were even 30 years ago and have advanced power production efficiency enormously — but we are still emitting carbon dioxide. Can we simply eliminate carbon dioxide overnight and declare war on energy affordability and security? We can’t do that and be truly responsible to people that require affordable energy.”

“Seven Big Failed Environmentalist Predictions”

April 29, 2015: An editorial in The Federalist states: “I recently discussed what it would take to prove that global warming is actually occurring, that it is caused by humans, and that it will be catastrophic. But that’s not the full picture. To understand why so many of us are so skeptical about global warming, you have to understand the environmentalists’ larger track record: a long series of failed predictions and bogus prognostications of doom. It has been 45 years now since the first Earth Day. You would think that in this time frame, given the urgency with which we were told we had to confront the supposed threats to the environment—Harvard biologist George Wald told us, ‘Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken’—at least one of the big environmental disasters should have come to fruition.”

“States: Comment period on EPA climate rule a ‘sham’”

April 28, 2015: The Hill reports: “Fifteen states suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told a federal court that the agency’s public comment period for its land climate rule is a “sham” because it has already made up its mind about the rule. The states’ late Friday letter to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is part of their effort to convince the court that the EPA has decided to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants, a policy the states say is illegal under the Clean Air Act. It is a key argument to their challenge to the regulation, because courts traditionally can only overturn agency actions that are final, not proposed.”

“Solar energy project killed 3,500 birds”

April 27, 2015: The Hill reports: “A California solar energy project federal regulators once called a ‘mega-trap’ for wildlife is responsible for the death of 3,500 birds, according to a new report. The Ivanpah project, a 377-megawatt solar energy array in San Bernardino County, Calif., killed an estimated 3,504 birds during its first year of operation, according to a study, reported The Desert Sun. The array is a collection of mirrors that direct sunlight to three tall towers, which create steam to run a turbine.”

“The Climate-Change Religion”

April 24, 2015: An op-ed in The Wall Street Journal from Lamar Smith (R-Tex) states: “‘Today, our planet faces new challenges, but none pose a greater threat to future generations than climate change,’ President Obama wrote in his proclamation for Earth Day on Wednesday. ‘As a Nation, we must act before it is too late.’ Secretary of State John Kerry, in an Earth Day op-ed for USA Today, declared that climate change has put America ‘on a dangerous path—along with the rest of the world.’ Both the president and Mr. Kerry cited rapidly warming global temperatures and ever-more-severe storms caused by climate change as reasons for urgent action. Given that for the past decade and a half global-temperature increases have been negligible, and that the worsening-storms scenario has been widely debunked, the pronouncements from the Obama administration sound more like scare tactics than fact-based declarations.”

“Obama: US can profit from climate change”

April 23, 2015: The Hill reports: “President Obama told National Geographic this week that the fight against climate change ‘represents one of the greatest economic opportunities of the 21st century.’ In a written interview with the magazine published Thursday, Obama said advancements in the clean energy sector could drive job creation in the future. He also highlighted the success of past environmental protection laws while defending his administration’s actions on climate change and the science behind it.”

“Inhofe: Obama wants legacy of eliminating fossil fuels”

April 23, 2015: The Hill reports: “Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) says President Obama wants to ‘do away with fossil fuels’ as his presidential legacy. Inhofe spoke with The Hill on Earth Day about Obama’s carbon emissions efforts. ‘I think we’re looking at a president right now who, now that he can’t run for president anymore — he’s already been reelected — that he’s looking at his legacy and what is his legacy?’ Inhofe said in an on-camera interview. ‘He wants total gun control, he wants to close Gitmo, and then of course, this is the big thing, he wants to do away with fossil fuels.’

“IA Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Reynolds Visit QCCP Cellulosic Ethanol Facility to Celebrate One Million Gallons of Production”

April 22, 2015: Biofuels Journal reports: “Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds on April 21 visited the site of the first commercial cellulosic ethanol production in the state of Iowa at Quad County Corn Processors (QCCP). QCCP recently passed the one-million gallon milestone for cellulosic ethanol production using Cellerate™ process technology.”

“MN Trucking, Auto Groups Sue State to End 10% Biodiesel Mandate (Oil Express Alert)”

April 21, 2015: Biofuels Journal reports: “Minnesota trucking, automaker and petroleum trade groups are suing the state to end its 10% biodiesel mandate, saying the provision ‘causes significant harm to consumers and a broad range of businesses,’ while conflicting with the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2). The 10% Minnesota biodiesel mandate began July 1, 2014, but is only in place during the summer months (April 1-Sept. 30), with the provision reverting back to 5% biodiesel in the winter months. The 10% mandate is in its first full year of enforcement for 2015, beginning April 1. Meanwhile, Minnesota had a 5% biodiesel mandate in place since May 2009. The lawsuit, filed April 17 in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, claims that the biodiesel mandate ‘plainly conflicts with federal law.’ Specifically, a biomass-based diesel provision is included in RFS2.”

“Toshiba Looks to Get Around Hydrogen’s Dirty CO2 Secret”

April 21, 2015: The Wall Street Journal reports: “Toshiba Corp. plans to roll out a transportable hydrogen power generator later this year that doesn’t produce carbon dioxide in the process, thereby getting around the main drawback tarnishing hydrogen’s reputation for clean energy. The company hopes to market its power generating system by the end of September in what represents its first step toward developing technologies for mass producing hydrogen using renewable energy. Hydrogen is seen as an energy of the future because it doesn’t emit CO2 when it is used in fuel cells. But most hydrogen commercially used across the world is produced from fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas, that produce CO2 in the process.”

“Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars Return for Another Run”

April 17, 2015: The New York Times reports: “For decades, hydrogen has been the Dracula of automotive fuels: Just when you think a stake has been driven through its zero-emissions heart, the technology rises from the grave. In 2015, even with gasoline cheaper than it has been in years, hydrogen is back to haunt those who insist that battery electric vehicles are the long-term solution for reducing fossil fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. This time — with hydrogen fuel cell costs falling significantly, and a tiny yet budding network of public fueling stations — automakers are placing their latest long-odds bet on hydrogen cars.”

“Obama’s Mentor Turns Against Him In Court”

April 17, 2015: National Journal reports: “Laurence Tribe—an iconic legal scholar and longtime mentor to President Obama—offered up blistering criticism on Thursday of the administration’s efforts to tackle climate change. Regulations crafted by the Environmental Protection Agency to limit carbon pollution from power plants violate the Constitution and overstep executive authority, Tribe argued in the opening act of a major legal challenge at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Obama’s plan would ‘upturn the entire constitutional system’ and force states to become ‘puppets of a federal ventriloquist’ that would be ‘brought into the federal army,’ Tribe told the three-judge panel.”

“Legal Battle Begins Over Obama Bid to Curb Greenhouse Gases”

April 16, 2015: The New York Times reports: “President Obama’s most far-reaching regulation to slow climate change will have its first day in court on Thursday, the beginning of what is expected to be a multiyear legal battle over the policy that Mr. Obama hopes to leave as his signature environmental achievement. In two separate but related cases to be jointly argued in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the country’s two largest coal companies, along with 14 coal-producing states, have challenged a proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulation, which the agency issued under the authority of the Clean Air Act, to curb planet-warming carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants. If put in effect as E.P.A. officials have proposed, the rule is intended to fundamentally transform the nation’s power sector, shuttering hundreds of coal plants and expanding renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.”

“Saudi Arabia Adds Half a Bakken to Oil Market in a Month”

April 16, 2015: Bloomberg reports: “Saudi Arabia boosted crude production to the highest in three decades in March, with a surge equal to half the daily output of the Bakken formation in North Dakota. The kingdom boosted daily crude output by 658,800 barrels in March to an average of 10.294 million, according to data the country communicated to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ secretariat in Vienna. The Bakken formation, among the fastest-growing shale oil regions in the U.S., pumped 1.1 million barrels a day in February, according to data from the North Dakota Industrial Commission.”

“Liberal groups aim to register a million climate voters”

April 16, 2015: Politico reports: “A coalition of environmental, civil rights and progressive groups aims to register a million climate-conscious voters by Election Day. The goal, shared first with POLITICO, is the latest indication that liberals view climate change as a wedge issue that can boost Democratic candidates while drawing a contrast with Republicans. Organizers plan to announce the target Saturday during an Earth Day gathering on the National Mall, which will include performances by Usher and Mary J. Blige.”

“EIA Says U.S. Could Be Net Energy Exporter By 2019”

April 16, 2015: Morning Consult reports: “The often-stated policy goal of reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil is close to becoming a reality, according to a report from the federal government. The U.S. Energy Information Administration today predicted that for the first time in more than 60 years the amount of energy the country imports will be equal to the amount it exports by as early as 2019. The agency also said exports could surpass imports sooner rather than later. ‘It’s a realistic possibility that the U.S. becomes a net energy exporter earlier in the coming decade,’ EIA Administrator Adam Sieminski said at an event unveiling the agency’s Annual Energy Outlook.”

“EIA Says U.S. Could Be Net Energy Exporter By 2019”

April 15, 2015: Morning Consult reports: “The often-stated policy goal of reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil is close to becoming a reality, according to a report from the federal government. The U.S. Energy Information Administration today predicted that for the first time in more than 60 years the amount of energy the country imports will be equal to the amount it exports by as early as 2019. The agency also said exports could surpass imports sooner rather than later. ‘It’s a realistic possibility that the U.S. becomes a net energy exporter earlier in the coming decade,’ EIA Administrator Adam Sieminski said at an event unveiling the agency’s Annual Energy Outlook.”

“China to surpass U.S. as top cause of modern global warming”

April 14, 2011: Reuters reports: “China is poised to overtake the United States as the main cause of man-made global warming since 1990, the benchmark year for U.N.-led action, in a historic shift that may raise pressure on Beijing to act. China’s cumulative greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, when governments were becoming aware of climate change, will outstrip those of the United States in 2015 or 2016, according to separate estimates by experts in Norway and the United States. The shift, reflecting China’s stellar economic growth, raises questions about historical blame for rising temperatures and more floods, desertification, heat waves and sea level rise.”

“The Dirty Secret of Obama’s Carbon Plan”

April 13, 2015: An op-ed in The Wall Street Journal states: “Americans don’t give much thought to whether their electricity will be there when they need it. You flip a switch, the lights go on. Your phone charges up. The medical equipment in the emergency room does its job. Yet electric reliability, long a bedrock of this country’s prosperity and high standard of living, does not come as easily as its steady presence might suggest. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, a proposed regulation limiting carbon emissions from existing coal-fired plants, threatens to jeopardize the reliability that Americans and businesses have come to depend upon. The EPA proposal calls for states to cut emissions by 30% from 2005 levels by 2030. It also imposes aggressive interim targets starting in 2020 that will test states’ ability to meet these standards without disrupting service. For example, 39 states must achieve more than 50% of their final target by 2020. Reliable power requires decades of careful planning. The appropriate amount and type of round-the-clock generation capacity, transmission and distribution lines must be finely balanced in advance to ensure the lights go on when a switch is flipped anywhere in the U.S. The EPA plan will significantly impair that planning process.”

“Obama climate agenda faces first big test”

April 13, 2015: The Washington Examiner reports: “President Obama’s legacy climate agenda faces its first major challenge next week as over a dozen states have their day in court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral arguments April 16 from states and industry contesting the Environmental Protection Agency’s emission rules for power plants. The rules are at the center of the president’s legacy agenda for battling the threat of global warming. The states argue that EPA does not have the authority under the law to implement the rules, which are at the center of Obama’s climate change agenda, and the White House goal of securing a global climate deal at the end of the year in Paris.”

“White House Emphasizes Health Effects In Push for Action to Curb Greenhouse Gases”

April 9, 2015: Bloomberg BNA reports: “The White House is emphasizing the link between a changing climate and public health as part of an effort to boost support for its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. President Barack Obama participated in a roundtable discussion April 7 at Howard University School of Medicine and the administration released a report detailing the impact rising temperatures will have on public health as the administration attempts to link its efforts to regulate greenhouse gases to tangible health impacts. ‘No challenge poses a greater threat to future gens like climate change, but this is not just a future threat. This is a present threat,’ Brian Deese, senior adviser to the White House, told reporters April 7.

“For Solar to Take Off, It Needs a Longer Runway”

April 8, 2015: Morning Consult reports: “With major tax incentives set to scale back or expire, the booming solar industry is passing into unfamiliar territory. Uncertainty surrounding the extension of the solar investment tax credit is already slowing the industry’s growth and could eventually bring utility-scale solar growth to a dead halt – but for now, the industry is focusing on Congress. ‘I liken it to a jet plane leaving on a runway,’ said Ken Johnson, vice president of communications at the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group representing more than a thousand companies and leading the charge to extend the ITC. ‘The bigger the plane, the longer the runway you need – we just need a little more time.’ Enacted in 2006 and expanded in 2009, the ITC is the ‘principle federal policy mechanism’ supporting the solar industry, according to Tom Starrs, a vice president at SunPower Corp., a Silicon Valley-based solar company. ‘There’s no question that it gave us a runway that contributed very substantially to the growth of the business.’

“Plowing prairies for grains: Biofuel crops replace grasslands nationwide”

April 8, 2017: The University of Wisconsin-Madison reports: “Clearing grasslands to make way for biofuels may seem counterproductive, but University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers show in a study today (April 2, 2015) that crops, including the corn and soy commonly used for biofuels, expanded onto 7 million acres of new land in the U.S. over a recent four-year period, replacing millions of acres of grasslands. The study — from UW-Madison graduate student Tyler Lark, geography Professor Holly Gibbs, and postdoctoral researcher Meghan Salmon — is published in the journal Environmental Research Letters and addresses the debate over whether the recent boom in demand for common biofuel crops has led to the carbon-emitting conversion of natural areas. It also reveals loopholes in U.S. policies that may contribute to these unintended consequences. ‘We realized there was remarkably limited information about how croplands have expanded across the United States in recent years,’ says Lark, the lead author of the study. ‘Our results are surprising because they show large-scale conversion of new landscapes, which most people didn’t expect.’

“Obama seeks to link climate change to health”

April 7, 2015: The Hill reports: “The Obama administration is launching a series of efforts aimed at confronting what it says are the negative health effects of climate change. A warming climate, caused by humans through greenhouse gases, can exacerbate asthma, lengthen allergy seasons and increase the risk of injuries from extreme weather, the administration said Tuesday. Children, the elderly, minorities the sick and the poor are especially at risk, officials say. ‘The sooner we act, the more we can do to protect the health of our communities, our kids, and those that are the most vulnerable,’ the White House said in a Tuesday fact sheet.

“Calling Obama’s Bluff on Climate Change”

April 7, 2015: An op-ed in The Wall Street Journal states: “From immigration to Internet regulation, there is scarcely an issue on which President Obama has not pushed the limits of executive power to achieve his ideological goals. The Republican Congress has been able only to react to these usurpations, often floundering, as seen in the recent debacle over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Is there a way the GOP Congress can get ahead of Mr. Obama? This question is especially salient with respect to climate change, as Mr. Obama has indicated that he intends, at the next United Nations climate-change summit to be held this November in Paris, to bypass Congress once again and settle on a “politically binding” climate agreement that he would implement through executive action. This is very different from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which was regarded as a formal treaty that would have required Senate ratification to take effect. President Clinton never submitted Kyoto to the Senate for a vote: His own council of economic advisers told him it was an economic nonstarter. This episode is relevant today.”

“Wesley Clark, retired general speaking at Lewis & Clark Monday, calls for carbon tax to boost national security”

April 6, 2015: Bloomberg reports: “Climate change will be catastrophic to national security unless countries address it with measures such as a U.S. carbon tax, says retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who will speak Monday in Portland. Clark, a former Democratic presidential-primary candidate who remains influential in policy circles, believes climate change helped cause the war in Syria and conflict across East Africa. Speaking in a telephone interview Friday, Clark said a carbon tax could be made palatable by boosting U.S. oil and gas production as a start, thereby uniting left and right political wings.”

“Washington Governor Puts Focus on Climate Goals, and Less on Debate”

April 6, 2015: The New York Times reports: “In his office, Gov. Jay Inslee keeps a framed image of a stand of magenta paintbrush, an alpine meadow flower and a signature species in Washington, that he photographed while hiking with his wife in Olympic National Park. The magenta paintbrush is threatened by global warming, and the photograph is a reminder, Mr. Inslee said, of all the things that are at risk. But then he paused and said, no, a beautiful blossom was not the point: The deeper reason he is pushing for tough new air-quality policies is to combat worsening health problems, like asthma in children, that are caused by pollution. ‘It’s not the flowers,’ he said. ‘It’s kids’ lungs.’”

“Obama pushes to train veterans for solar power”

April 3, 2015: The Hill reports: “The Obama administration is aiming to train 75,000 workers — many of them military veterans — for the solar power industry. The goal is a 50 percent increase from President Obama’s last commitment on solar training, announced last May. Obama will announce the goal along with efforts to achieve it Friday at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, the White House said. A major part of the initiative will be programs to attract outgoing military personnel and veterans into solar training, including community college programs. The Energy Department’s Solar Ready Vets program is a key component, the White House said in a fact sheet.”

“California joins other states in scrutinizing rebates for electric cars”

April 3, 2015: Bloomberg reports: “California’s incentives to purchase electric vehicles are under attack, as data shows most of the money goes to consumers who earn twice the national average yet collect cash rebates on Tesla Motors’s luxury models. ‘It’s hard for the average Californian to understand why someone buying a $100,000 car should get a rebate,’ said California State Sen. Ted Gaines, a Republican who has proposed eliminating rebates on cars that cost more than $40,000. ‘That’s the same question I posed to myself, and it was hard to justify.’ With almost a fifth of California payments applied to Tesla vehicles priced higher than $71,000, its regulators also are drafting rules to ration incentives based on income. While the state accounts for 40 percent of the U.S. plug-in market and has doled out more incentive cash than any other, such rebates are being scrutinized from Washington to Georgia. The incentives are intended to rid the roads of gas- guzzling vehicles that spew carbon pollution by making electric cars more more affordable to a broad range of consumers. Surveys indicate that 77 percent of buyers in California earn more than $100,000 a year.

“Senate GOP presses EPA on climate models”

April 2, 2015: The Hill reports: “A group of Senate Republicans is pressing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to explain the climate change models it uses for its regulations. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) wrote the letter after a March hearing at which he challenged EPA head Gina McCarthy to answer specific questions about whether the models her agency uses have correctly predicted various climate events. ‘Although questions regarding the impacts of climate change were clear and straightforward, none of the questions received direct answers, and many responses contained caveats and conditions,’ Sessions wrote in the Wednesday letter, which was also signed by Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), all members of the Environment and Public Works Committee, which hosted the hearing. ‘We write today to emphasize that these questions were not posed lightly or in passing,’ they wrote.”

“McConnell warns countries against UN climate plan”

April 1, 2015: The Hill reports: “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told foreign countries to think twice before entering into the United Nations’ climate pact. McConnell’s statement came after the Obama administration submitted its plan to cut the United States’ greenhouse gases as much as 28 percent as part of the international agreement. He called President Obama’s submission ‘job-killing and likely illegal,’ and said that one of the main pillars of the United States’ commitment — the Environmental Protection Agency’s climate rule for power plants — is at risk since Congress and the Supreme Court have not weighed in on it. ‘Considering that two-thirds of the U.S. federal government hasn’t even signed off on the Clean Power Plan and 13 states have already pledged to fight it, our international partners should proceed with caution before entering into a binding, unattainable deal,’ McConnell said in a Tuesday statement.”

“Rand Paul finds way to champion Iowa ethanol”

April 1, 2015: The Des Moines Register reports: “It looks like presidential hopeful Rand Paul has found a clever way to champion ethanol, with an issue that’s in harmony with his keep-government-out-of-the-marketplace mentality. Paul, a Republican U.S. senator from Kentucky, has teamed up with Iowa’s popular U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, to introduce the Fuel Choice and Deregulation Act. Ethanol industry backers say the bill would grant relief from a regulatory quirk that’s thwarting free market sales of E15, fuel that’s 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline. The bill dropped on Thursday, with little fanfare from either senator’s office. Industry insiders are applauding it, even as they warn it’s not a substitute for support for the all-important renewable fuel standard – a government mandate that Paul frowns upon.”