Environmental Justice Coalition Opposes Carbon Markets

Posted by Brad Johnson Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:44:00 GMT

Citing the American Enterprise Institute, the Economist, and the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, a group of environmental justice organizations including the California Environmental Rights Alliance (CERA) have come out in opposition to carbon trading schemes, in particular the European Union cap-and-trade system (the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme or EU ETS) and the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism for investing in emissions reductions in developing countries. Major signatories include the Rainforest Action Network and the Los Angeles chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility.

The declaration cites the windfall profits generated by the initial phase of EU ETS and argues that carbon trading “stands in the way of the transition to clean renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency strategies.” CDM is criticized for encouraging “carbon dumps” and financing “private industrial tree plantations and large hydro-electric facilities that appropriate land and water resources”.

The California Environmental Justice Movement will oppose efforts by our state government to create a carbon trading and offset program, because such a program will not reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the pace called for by the international scientific community, it will not result in a shift to clean sustainable energy sources, it will support and enrich the state’s worst polluters, it will fail to address the existing and future inequitable burden of pollution, it will deprive communities of the ability to protect and enhance their communities, and because if our state joins regional or international trading schemes it will further create incentives for carbon offset programs that harm communities in California, the region, the country, and developing nations around the world.

Signatories are below the jump.

Signatories:
  • Asian-Pacific Environmental Network
  • Association of Irritated Residents
  • California Communities Against Toxics
  • California Environmental Rights Alliance
  • Carbon Trade Watch
  • Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment
  • Clean New York
  • Coalition For A Safe Environment
  • Communities for a Better Environment
  • Del Amo Action Committee
  • Desert Citizens Against Pollution
  • Environmental Health Coalition
  • Fresno Metro Ministry
  • Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice
  • People Organized in Defense of the Earth and Her Resources
  • Physicians for Social Responsibility-LA
  • Rainforest Action Network
  • San Joaquin Valley Latino
  • Environmental Advance Project
  • Society for Positive Action
  • The Corner House
  • West County Toxics Coalition

ExxonMobil Stands to Profit Handsomely in International Carbon Markets

Posted by Brad Johnson Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:38:00 GMT

ExxonMobil, the world’s largest company by both revenue and market capitalization, has a place on the world stage comparable to a major nation-state (only 23 nations in 2006 had a GDP greater than Exxon’s revenues of $347 billion, which rose 7% in 2007). Only 31 nations exceeded its annual greenhouse gas emissions in 2004 [UN MDG indicators, ExxonMobil CDP response]. If end-use emissions of ExxonMobil’s products are included, its carbon footprint of 1 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent is exceeded only by five nations.

David Sassoon at Solve Climate asked Mario Lopez-Alcala, a senior analyst with Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, to estimate how the Kyoto Protocol impacts the company. Lopez-Alcala made some counter-intuitive discoveries.
Turns out that under Kyoto, Exxon is responsible for abating only 9 million out of the 138 million tons of its carbon footprint—about 6.9% of its absolute exposure. Mario arrived at this figure by compiling a weighted average of the emissions targets affecting all Exxon operations around the world. His estimate for what it costs Exxon to abate those emissions, assuming it had to purchase carbon credits? About $1 billion a year. (He calculated net present value for the 2008-2012 Kyoto compliance period and applied a standard oil industry discount rate to arrive at the figure, based on an expected price of $28 per ton of carbon. He also had to add in to the calculation, abatement costs for reducing emissions to a baseline year.)

$1 billion annually is not a terribly large liability for a $400 billion company.

Furthermore:
There’s also another aspect to Exxon’s carbon footprint: the 129 million tons of emissions that it is not required to reduce. It is an enormous carbon asset in a world in which carbon has a price, and it presents a tangible opportunity for enhancing profitability – even beyond $40.6 billion. By reducing those emissions – most simply through reduced flaring, co-generation, heat recuperation, and carbon capture and sequestration – Exxon could reap profits from selling carbon credits it generates. Mario reports that BP is the leader in the sector in taking advantage of these opportunities, which are tangible and positive already.

Sassoon concludes that from an investor (as well as moral) standpoint, ExxonMobil’s storied resistance to the science of climate change is a poor corporate position.

DSCOVR Climate Satellite Still in Limbo

Posted by Brad Johnson Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:37:00 GMT

Mitchell Anderson at DeSmogBlog:
NASA was given over $100 million in taxpayers money to build the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), a spacecraft designed to measure the energy budget of our warming planet from the unique vantage of a million miles away.

Even though it is fully completed over five years ago, DSCOVR is still sitting in a box at the Goddard Space Center – likely for political reasons.

In 2006, Anderson filed a FOIA request with NASA, receiving only letters from scientists to NASA concerned about the cancellation, but no documents about the internal decision-making process.

In 2007, NOAA proposed a joint NASA-NOAA mission with the private launch company Space Services Inc. using the DSCOVR satellite.

Anderson now reports on his 2007 FOIA request to NOAA on the fate of DSCOVR:
My request was sent in November. I was told my documents would be emailed on December 11. Then I got call from NOAA General Counsel Hugh Schratwieser before Christmas telling me that it going to take longer than they thought but I should get the document package in early January. Mr. Schratwieser also assured me NOAA takes pride in their compliance with the Freedom of Information Act and that I shouldn’t worry.

Then silence.

I have since sent five unanswered emails to NOAA requesting updates on my request. Government bodies like NOAA have a legal obligation to respond to FOIA requests in 20 working days. It is now over three times that long and counting.

Since I was repeatedly told over the last two months that the package of documents was very close to being assembled, I can only assume that it is now complete but being held up for political reasons.

McKinsey: Energy Efficiency Investment Offers Massive Returns

Posted by Brad Johnson Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:03:00 GMT

At yesterday’s Investor Summit on Climate Risk, McKinsey’s economic research arm, the McKinsey Global Institute, released the report The Case for Investing in Energy Productivity (lead authors Jaana Remes and Diana Farrell).

The report finds that global investments on the order of $170 billion annually through 2020 ($38 billion in the US) in energy efficiency (what they call “energy productivity”) would deliver annual returns at a rate of 17 percent. Furthermore, these investments would reduce energy demand at half the cost of building out infrastructure to meet that demand. (For a sense of scale, $170 billion is 1.6 percent of global fixed-capital investment today.)

MGI finds some key energy-market failures that block the needed capital outlays:
Fuel subsidies that directly discourage productive energy use; a lack of information available to consumers about the kind of energy productivity choices that are available to them; and agency issues in high-turnover commercial businesses.
The report’s top-line recommendations for repairing these failures:
  • Set energy efficiency standards for appliances and equipment
  • Finance energy efficiency upgrades in new buildings and remodels (see Architecture 2030)
  • Raise corporate standards for energy efficiency
  • Invest in energy intermediaries (such as energy service companies aka ESCOs)

For more, read the full report.

Sierra Club ED Takes Strong Stand on Cap-and-Trade Legislation

Posted by Brad Johnson Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:19:00 GMT

The Sierra Club, until today, has stayed on the sidelines during the contretemps over Lieberman-Warner (S. 2191) fueled by a campaign by Friends of the Earth asking Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to “fix or ditch” the bill. The 1.3 million member organization has now made its position clear.

In an essay posted to Grist’s Gristmill blog this afternoon, Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope delineates clear principles for endorsing climate legislation, all of which Lieberman-Warner currently fails to satisfy:

  • Reductions in total emissions on the order of 80 percent by 2050 and 20 percent by 2020
  • All allowances should be auctioned or otherwise used to benefit the public
  • Revenue should fund “highest-value solutions”, not coal or nuclear energy
  • Ensure a just transition for workers, protect vulnerable groups, and help induce world action

He compares the current political situation to the one that led to the Clean Air Act in 1971, saying that “Maine Sen. Edmund Muskie, fearing that industry would block him on other points, acceded” to the industry insistence to grandfather old plants, and that environmentalists like the 25-year-old Pope went along.

He then responds to Sen. Barbara Boxer and advocates of pushing a climate bill this year hell or high water:
Fast-forward to present day: the carbon industries are lobbying to get a deal done this year that would give away carbon permits free of charge to existing polluters – bribing the sluggish, and slowing down innovation. And politicians are telling us that while it would be better to auction these permits and make polluters pay for putting carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, creating that market unfortunately gets in the way of the politics. We are being urged to compromise – to put a system in place quickly, even if it is the wrong system.

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: Reviewing FY 2009 Budget Request and Key Tax Incentives

Posted by Brad Johnson Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:00:00 GMT

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the House Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Caucus invite you to a briefing addressing the impacts of the President’s FY 2009 budget on energy efficiency and renewable energy (EE/RE) programs, including impacts upon states and low-income consumers. In addition, the urgent need to extend Federal tax incentives for EE/RE will be discussed. Energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies are critical elements of a national energy policy that will meet the nation’s goals of reducing energy imports, moderating energy prices, and improving the economy, national security, the environment and public health.

Panel
  • Deborah Estes, Majority Counsel, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
  • Scott Sklar, President, The Stella Group; Chair, Sustainable Energy Coalition Steering Committee
  • Bill Prindle, Deputy Director, American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy
  • Jeff Genzer, General Counsel, National Association of State Energy Officials; Duncan Weinberg, Genzer & Pembroke

The President’s FY 2009 budget request for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) EE/RE programs is $1.26 billion—essentially flat with the Administration’s FY 2008 budget request and 27 percent below FY 2008 appropriations. Given the volume of voices and concerns about energy security, the huge bills residential and business consumers face, loss of economic competitiveness, environmental degradation, and rising greenhouse gas emissions, the funding priorities reflected in the President’s FY 09 budget appear in conflict with his goals of expanding renewable energy development and making the economy more energy efficient. With dramatically rising energy prices for homes, businesses and drivers, states are concerned by the proposed zeroing out of the Weatherization Assistance Program Grants.

In signing the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA, P.L. 110-140) on December 19, 2007, President Bush said EISA makes “a major step toward reducing our dependence on oil, confronting global climate change, expanding the production of renewable fuels and giving future generations of our country a nation that is stronger, cleaner and more secure.” However, not included in EISA were a Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) and an extension of renewable energy and energy efficiency tax incentives. A new economic study by Navigant Consulting finds that over 116,000 US jobs and nearly $19 billion in U.S. investment could be lost in just one year if renewable energy tax credits are not renewed by Congress. See EESI’s FY 2009 DOE Budget Analysis regarding requested funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

This briefing is free and open to the public. No RSVP required. For more information, contact Fred Beck at fbeck@eesi.org or 202-662-1892.

Fire and Rain: How Destruction of Tropical Forests is Fueling Climate Change

Posted by Brad Johnson Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Investor Summit on Climate Risk

Posted by Brad Johnson Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:53:00 GMT

The 2008 Investor Summit on Climate Risk will bring together more than 450 institutional investors, Wall Street leaders and CEOs from around the world to consider the scale and urgency of climate change risks, as well as the economic opportunities of a global transition to a clean energy future.

Purpose

The purpose of the Summit is to provide a high-level forum for state treasurers, leading institutional investors, and financial services firms from around the world to consider the scale and urgency of climate change risks, as well as the economic opportunities of a global transition to a clean energy future.

Objectives

Based on a vision of hope and opportunity, the Summit will focus on how investors can advance solutions to climate change, with a particular emphasis on the benefits of energy efficiency. The Summit aims to help investors:
  • Examine recent scientific findings on climate risk and technological solutions
  • Assess potential capital flows into energy efficiency and clean technologies
  • Learn how treasurers, institutional investors and financial services firms worldwide are factoring climate risk into their policies and strategies
  • Consider prudent steps investors can take to address climate risk and opportunities

Background

The 2008 Summit builds on the groundbreaking success of the first two UN Investor Summits on November 21, 2003, and May 10, 2005. Hundreds of institutional investors and asset managers from around the world, representing trillions of dollars in assets, attended the previous Summits. The information they shared raised profound concerns about investor exposure to climate risk, the future security of investment assets, and the fiduciary duty to take prudent steps to address climate risk on behalf of shareholders and beneficiaries. Information on previous Summits can be found at the Investor Network on Climate Risk website.

Climate Risk – and Opportunity

Climate change poses regulatory, legal, physical and competitive risks for companies. In the two years since the 2005 Summit there has been a growing recognition that climate change presents serious risks, not only for businesses and investments, but also for the global economy. Left unattended, risks from climate change will worsen over time, harming company assets and global investment portfolios. Leading economists, investors, and business leaders have stated recently that the costs of action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are both affordable and significantly lower than the costs of inaction. Where there are risks, there are also opportunities, and the business opportunities posed by addressing climate change are significant. With the proper government policies and market conditions, low-carbon technologies that are available today could be more broadly deployed, and significant reductions in emissions could be achieved over the next few decades—all while creating vast new economic opportunities and new jobs.

Agenda

7:30 am – Registration and Coffee (enter at UN Visitors Entrance, 1st Avenue @ 46th Street)

9:00 am – Welcoming Remarks (Trusteeship Council Chamber, 2nd Floor)
  • Amir A. Dossal, Executive Director, United Nations Fund for International Partnerships
  • Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations
  • Timothy E. Wirth, President, United Nations Foundation
9:15 am – Climate Change: Scientific Findings, Technological Solutions
  • John P. Holdren, Professor, Harvard University & Director, Woods Hole Research Center – presentation and discussion
10:00 am – The Case for Investing in Energy Productivity
  • Diana Farrell, Director, McKinsey Global Institute – presentation 10:20 am – Discussion
  • Mindy S. Lubber, President, Ceres & Director, Investor Network on Climate Risk (moderator)
10:45 am – Panel and Discussion: Unleashing the Business Potential for Clean Energy
  • Timothy E. Wirth, President, United Nations Foundation (moderator)
  • Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director, International Energy Agency
  • Peter A. Darbee, Chairman, CEO, & President, PG&E Corporation
  • Vinod Khosla, Founding CEO, Sun Microsystems & Founder, Khosla Ventures
12:00 pm – Panel and Discussion: Factoring Climate Change into Institutional Investment Strategies
  • John Chiang, Controller, State of California (moderator)
  • Donald MacDonald, Trustee Director, BT Pension Scheme
  • Denise L. Nappier, Treasurer, State of Connecticut
  • Russell Read, Chief Investment Officer, California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS)
  • Alex Sink, Chief Financial Officer, State of Florida

1:00 pm – Luncheon (Delegates Dining Room, 4th Floor; closed to press)

  • Luncheon Welcome: Richard H. Murray, Managing Director & Chief Claims Strategist, Swiss Re
  • UN Welcome: Dr. Srgjan Kerim, President, 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly
  • Introduction: Jeff Skoll, Founder & Chairman, Skoll Foundation & Participant Productions
  • Featured Speaker: Al Gore, 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner; Former Vice President of the United States; Chairman, Generation Investment Management

International Aspects of a Carbon Cap and Trade Program

Posted by Brad Johnson Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Witnesses
  • Jennifer Haverkamp, Senior Counsel, Environmental Defense, Washington, DC
  • Abraham Breehey, Assistant Director of Government Affairs, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers & Helpers
  • Kjell Olav Kristiansen, Director, Advisory Services, Point Carbon North America
  • Ruksana Mirza, Vice President, Government and Environmental Affairs, Holcim, Inc.

FY 2009 Department of Agriculture Forest Service Budget

Posted by Brad Johnson Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:30:00 GMT

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