Hill Heat

Three months after the landmark agreement on a road map towards strengthened international action on climate change reached in Bali, Indonesia, the next round of negotiations shifts to the neighboring country of Thailand and its capital, Bangkok. The talks are taking place between 31 March to 4 April 2008 at the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC) of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

The climate change talks in Bangkok will convene sessions of both the Ad hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (first session) and the Ad hoc Working Group on further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (first part of the fifth session), during which Parties need to advance the Bali Road Map agreed last December.

Parties agreed at Bali to formally launch negotiations on enabling the full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention. These negotiations need to conclude in an agreed outcome by the end of 2009.

The challenge is to design a future agreement that will successfully halt the increase in global emissions within the next 10-15 years, dramatically cut back emissions by 2050, and do so in a way that is economically viable and politically equitable worldwide.

The Bangkok meeting of the Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention needs to map out how to tackle this enormous challenge and begin by establishing without delay a clear work programme for the next two years.

Concretely, Parties meeting in Bangkok will identify the areas that need to be further clarified as well as the issues where work needs to be done and in what order that should happen. They will also establish what input is needed from the UN at large, the business sector and others, and how this will be integrated into the overall work plan.

The issues that the new Working Group needs to address were clearly defined at Bali. In addition to the goal of achieving agreement on long-term global action, work on on-going issues such as deforestation and technology needs to be advanced.

The Kyoto Protocol AWG, mandated in 2005 to consider future commitments for Annex I Parties, will initiate the second step of its work programme; in particular, the analysis of possible means available to Annex I Parties to reach their emission reduction targets. It will provide an informal setting for input from experts and for Parties to present their views on the issues related to the different means, as well as on how to enhance their effectiveness and contribution to sustainable development. Issues under consideration include emissions trading and the project based mechanisms, land use, land-use change and forestry, greenhouse gases, sectors and source categories to be covered, and possible approaches targeting sectoral emissions. These themes will be addressed in an in-session thematic workshop.

For both groups, work will continue at the twenty-eighth session of the Subsidiary Bodies to be held in Bonn in June. After that, both groups will reconvene at a week-long intersessional meeting at the end of August before meeting again at the fourteenth session of the Conference of the Parties and the fourth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in Poland in December.

Bismarck State College located at 1500 Edwards Avenue, Bismarck, North Dakota – Missouri Room

Witnesses

Panel 1

• Mr. Tim Spisak , Fluid Managers Division Chief, U.S. Department of the Interior
• Mr. Scott Klara , Director of the Office of Coal and Power R&D, National Energy Technology Laboratory
• Ms. Bonnie Lovelace , Chief of the Water Protection Bureau, Montana Department of Environmental Quality

Panel 2

• Ms. Sandi Tabor, General Counsel, Lignite Energy Council
• Mr. Gordon Criswell , Manager, PPL Montana
• Dr. Lee Spangler , Director, Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership
• Mr. John Harju , Associate Director of Research, Plains Carbon Dioxide Reduction Partnership
• Mr. Gary Loop , Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President, Dakota Gasification Company

What are the relative contributions from the sun, cosmic rays, and greenhouse gases, to the observed warming in the late 20th century and what are their expected contributions during the 21st Century? How does this compare to natural climate variability of past centuries and millennia? What is the principle driver or drivers of global warming in the 20th and 21st centuries? How are cosmic rays different from solar irradiance? Are there direct measurements of solar irradiance changes over the last 30 years or so? If so, what do these measurements show? What are the signals of this solar variability in the Earth’s atmosphere, and how do climate models reproduce these? Are we likely to observe additional changes in solar irradiance in the future and what might such variability have as an effect on climate? How is the ozone layer affected by solar activity changes and how does it influence surface weather and climate?

Public Invited

Buffet Reception Following

Moderator:

• Dr. Anthony Socci, Senior Science Fellow, American Meteorological Society

Speakers:

• Dr. Judith Lean, Senior Scientist for Sun-Earth System Research, Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC
• Dr. Caspar Ammann, Research Scientist, Climate and Global Dynamics Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO

Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) invite you to a briefing to examine the factors that limit the water available for critical uses throughout the country. The briefing is held in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program.

Competition for water is becoming more intense across the United States. Population growth competes in many areas with demands for water for irrigation and power production. Aquatic ecosystems compete for water used by cities, farms, and power plants to support their minimum flow requirements. In addition, the depletion of water in many aquifers decreases the supply of good quality surface water, and climate change is likely to exacerbate the availability of water as well.

Water quality impaired by human activities constrains water use. Perhaps less understood is that water use can degrade water quality by releasing naturally occurring contaminants, like salts, uranium and radium, into streams and aquifers, thereby constraining water availability.

This briefing will explain and provide examples of the connections between water use and water quality and how they can ultimately affect water availability for critical uses. It will begin by highlighting salinity in the Southwest, where a new USGS study has found reduced concentrations of salts in streams resulting from control activities in irrigated agricultural areas. It also will provide brief examples of how agricultural practices have affected naturally occurring radium in New Jersey, pumping has affected naturally occurring uranium in San Joaquin public-supply wells, and water re-use has introduced man-made organic compounds in coastal aquifers in southern California.

To conclude, the briefing also will connect the science to national policies relating to issues of water availability.

Speakers include:

• David Anning, NAWQA scientist, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. Geological Survey
• David Kanzer, Senior Water Resource Engineer,Colorado River Water Conservation District
• Robert Hirsch, Associate Director for Water, U.S. Geological Survey
• Claudia Copeland, Specialist in Resource and Environmental Policy, Congressional Research Service

This briefing is free and open to the public. No RSVP is required. Please forward this notice to others who may be interested. For more information, contact Leanne Lamusga, llamusga@eesi.org, 202-662-1884.

This webcasted panel discussion will examine opportunities for U.S. businesses and others to invest in energy efficient and renewable energy projects in Ukraine using the mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol. The panelists will review opportunities for reducing energy waste in Ukraine’s major end-use energy sectors as well as the status and near-term potential for developing Ukraine’s solar, wind, biomass/biofuels, small hydro, geothermal, and coal-mine methane resources.

Panelists

• Brian Castelli – Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Alliance to Save Energy
• John Palmisano – Chairman, IE3
• Rich Rosenzweig – Chief Operating Officer, Natsource
• Ken Bossong – Co-Director, Ukrainian-American Environmental Association

(biographical information on each of the four panelists follows below)

This event, being co-sponsored by the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and The Washington Group, will be broadcast live on-line in English.

Persons planning to attend in person should arrive by 11:50 am

• (Ukrainian Time: 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm)

U.S.-Ukraine Foundation 1701 “K” Street NW Suite #903 Washington, DC 20006

TO SUBMIT QUESTIONS ON-LINE: Questions for the panelists can be e-mailed either in advance or during the discussion to ulyana@usukraine.org. Please type “Kyoto/Energy Panel” in the “subject” line.

TO REGISTER AND FOR MORE INFORMATION: For On-Site Attendance, RSVPs Required. Lunch will be served. Space is Limited.

RSVP by email to: ulyana@usukraine.org.

The presentation will be broadcast live online. To register to watch online, please visit this link and follow the instructions.

Chairman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and the Select Committee on Energy Independence & Global Warming will hold a hearing on Thursday March 13, 2008 with EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson and other experts to discuss EPA and the Bush administration’s response to the landmark Supreme Court decision Massachusetts v. EPA.

Witnesses

Panel I

• The Honorable Stephen L. Johnson, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Panel II

• The Honorable Roderick Bremby, Secretary, Kansas Department of Health and Environment
• The Honorable Josh Svaty, Kansas House Member
• Lisa Heinzerling, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
• David Bookbinder, Chief Climate Counsel, Sierra Club
• Peter S. Glaser, Partner, Troutman Sanders

This event will feature presentations by leading thinkers on energy policy from the U.S. government (state and federal), universities, and the private sector, as well as international perspectives. It will take place in the main auditorium of the National Academy of Sciences building at 2100 C Street, NW, in Washington DC. This event will serve to develop information for the Academies’ ongoing study, America’s Energy Future: Technology Opportunities, Risks and Tradeoffs, and to stimulate discussion among leading thinkers with diverse points of view on energy issues as the 2008 U.S. elections approach.

The Summit will include presentations addressing three major energy themes: Energy Security; Energy and the Economy; and Energy and the Environment. During the sessions, the analyses and results of key recent energy studies will be presented by principals from:

• Council on Foreign Relations
• Electric Power Research Institute
• InterAcademy Council
• International Energy Agency
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• McKinsey Global Institute
• National Commission on Energy Policy
• National Petroleum Council
• National Research Council
• Rocky Mountain Institute
• U.S. Climate Change Science and Technology Program
• U.S. Department of Energy

In each session, there will also be time provided for participants to ask questions to a roundtable of speakers. The preliminary agenda will be posted by mid-January. This event is expected to be very full – please register early (free) if you’d like to attend. If you have any questions, please contact us at energysummit at nas.edu.

A media conference call to discuss the findings of a study jointly commissioned by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF) that quantifies the potential national and state economic impacts of the Lieberman-Warner climate change bill, S. 2191, the America’s Climate Security Act of 2007.

Conducted by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the independent study examines the implications of the legislation with respect to future energy costs, economic growth, employment, production, household income and the impact on low income earners. The study includes a comprehensive national economic assessment, as well as separate and specific overviews of the impact the legislation would have on all 50 U.S. states.

The results of the study will be outlined during a brief presentation which will be followed by a question and answer session. The full SAIC national and 50 state-specific studies will be posted online at 9:30 am ET, Thursday, March 13, in advance and can be found at either www.accf.org or www.nam.org/climatechangereport.

The call is for credentialed media only.

• The Honorable John Engler, President, National Association of Manufacturers
• Dr. Margo Thorning, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, American Council for Capital Formation

This hearing will explore the degree to which nuclear power could provide a solution for addressing climate change.

The contemplated future role of nuclear power in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions will clearly require a monumental capital investment, many years if not decades of planning and construction, extensive international coordination, and substantial assumption of risk by the general public and by investors. This hearing will examine the feasibility of achieving such a nuclear expansion, the costs and benefits of this nuclear path, and whether nuclear power can play a leading role in solving the climate challenge.

Wtinesses

• Amory Lovins, Cofounder, Chairman, and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute
• Sharon Squassoni, Senior Associate in the Nonproliferation Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• David Lochbaum, Director of the Nuclear Safety Project for the Union of Concerned Scientists

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, will be joined by the heads of America’s leading environmental organizations to discuss the need for action to address the challenge of global warming.

Participants

• Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman, Environment and Public Works Committee
• Frances Beinecke, President, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Carl Pope, Executive Director, Sierra Club
• Gene Karpinski, President, League of Conservation Voters
• Kevin Knobloch, President, Union of Concerned Scientists

Also participating will be representatives of Environment America, Environmental Defense, Center for International Law, Clean Water Action, National Wildlife Federation, Ocean Conservancy, Pew Environment Group, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and The Wilderness Society.