Video President Obama's Plan to Protect Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
On January 25, 2015, President Obama announced a plan to protect 1.5 million–acre coastal plain in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This is a place which local indiginous people call, "The Sacred Place Where Life Begins". This is good news for caribou and polar bears, as well as a number of bird and fish species of birds and fish.
The President's plan would prohibit motorized access to the area, as well as the construction of any roads.
The Interior Department also plans to announce several other plans to protect Alaska wilderness in the coming weeks, which includes limitations and prohibitions on oil and gas production in the Arctic.
This is far from a fait acompli as the Republican controlled Congress has the ability to kill the plan. It is expected that this move will be resisted by the GOP and Alaska Republicans in particular. However, the Interior Department can begin to manage the refuge with a higher level of protection.
In a written announcement accompanying the video, the White House called the refuge's coastal plain "one of the few remaining places in the country as pristine today as it was when the oldest Alaska native communities first set eyes on it. ...By designating the area as wilderness, Congress could preserve the coastal plain in perpetuity—ensuring that this wild, free, beautiful, and bountiful place remains in trust for Alaska natives and for all Americans."
Video - Sustainability: Are We Winning?
In this talk, given at a local TEDx event, Peter Newman, professor of sustainability at Curtin University, compiles recent trends to show the hope that we could perhaps change enough to meet the global challenges.
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Most sustainability talks are about the doom and despair associated with climate change. In his talk, Peter Newman compiles recent trends to show the hope that we could perhaps change enough to meet the global challenges, especially in our cities. Decoupling fossil fuels from wealth and liveability can now be seen with peak fossil fuel investment, peak power consumption, peak car use and peak oil.
There is no room for complacency but we are winning!
Peter is the Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University and Director of CUSP. He is a Lead Author for Transport on the IPCC and was a member of the Advisory Council for Infrastructure Australia. His books include ‘Green Urbanism in Asia’ (2013), ‘Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change’ (2009), ‘Green Urbanism Down Under’ (2009) and 'Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence' with Jeff Kenworthy which was launched in the White House in 1999.
In 2001-3 Peter directed the production of Western Australia’s Sustainability Strategy in the Department of the Premier and Cabinet. In 2004-5 he was a Sustainability Commissioner in Sydney advising the government on planning and transport issues. In 2006/7 he was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at the University of Virginia Charlottesville. In 2011, Peter was awarded the Sidney Luker medal by the Planning Institute of Australia (NSW) for his contribution to the science and practice of town planning in Australia.
In 2014, he was awarded an Order of Australia for his contributions to urban design and sustainable transport, particularly related to the saving and rebuilding of Perth’s rail system.
He was an elected Fremantle City Councillor from 1976 to 80 where he still lives.
Video - Global Calculator Climate Tool
A new online tool developed by the government of the UK gives people the power to understand the elements required to address climate change. It even enables users to try out their own solutions.
For more information click here.
We Can Have Economic Growth and Combat Climate Change
The report is titled, Prosperous living for the world in 2050. It answers the question, "Is it physically possible to meet our climate targets and ensure everyone has a good living standards by 2050?"
Drawing upon a new tool called the Global Calculator, the report indicates that economic growth and climate action are not mutually exclusive. "[I]t is physically possible to achieve both our economic development and climate change goals by 2050," the report says.
We can simultaneously triple the global economy, provide decent standards of living while cutting our greenhouse gas emissions by half. Even with a global population that is expected to exceed 10 billion by 2050, the report indicates that we can do all of the above and keep temperature increases within internationally agreed upon limits (2 degrees Celsius or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial times).
To achieve this we will need to retool our economies to minimize carbon emissions. To forge a low carbon world we need to transform both our technology and our energy while making smarter use of our limited resources. This includes the need to transition away from fossil fuels and expand our forests to act as carbon sinks.
Carbon dioxide levels per unit of electricity will need to fall by 90 percent and at least one third of all vehicles on the road must be emissions free (electric or hydrogen powered).
"But making this transition to low carbon will require massive effort across all sectors and action must start urgently," the report says. "To ensure that these changes are rolled out, strong leadership from businesses, civil society and politicians is essential to support urgent action to cut emissions through an ambitious global deal in the December 2015 United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) negotiations."
The cost of transitioning to a low carbon world is commonly cited as being prohibitive, however this report suggests otherwise. "The total cost of a decarbonized energy system is only fractionally higher than one that stays fossil fuel dependent and it could even be cheaper."
It is possible to prevent climate change and ensure people's living standards continue to improve, but if we are to succeed we must act now.
Click here to see the full report (pdf).
An Upside to Failed Climate Amendments in Keystone Bill
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced an amendment to the Keystone bill that acknowledged that climate change is "real and not a hoax." With the exception of Roger Wicker (R-MS), the motion was unanimously approved.
Although Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) was added as a co-sponsor on the Whitehouse amendment, he revealed his true climate denying identity when he said "The hoax is that there are some people who are so arrogant to think that they can change climate, Man cannot change climate."
Inhofe repeatedly embarrasses himself and the nation with statements like man-made climate change is a Liberal tax grab that "was cooked up by the United Nations."
Immediately before the vote on his amendment Whitehouse said, “I’m hoping that after many years of darkness and blockade that this vote can be a first little beam of light through the wall that will at least allow us to start having an honest conversation about what carbon pollution is doing to our climate and to our oceans.”
Amendments that attribute climate change to man-man causes failed to secure the necessary votes. One such amendment was brought forth by Bernie Sanders (I–VT). His amendment had the support of the majority of Senators but a final vote of 56 to 42 vote, was 4 votes shy of the 60 needed to be adopted.
Other anthropogenic climate change amendments also failed to secure the necessary votes. One by Republican John Hoeven (R-ND) failed with a vote of 59 for and 40 against. Another by Democrat Brian Schatz (D-H) received 50 yea votes to 49 nays.
It is hard to understand how elected officials can flout good science the way Republicans do. Some like political analyst Jonathan Chait have argued that such ignorance should disqualify someone from their right to hold public office.
However, some Senators have a different take on recent events in the Senate. Sanders appeared optimistic after the amendments on anthropocentric climate change were defeated, "I think this is a significant step forward, and I think in the months and years to come more and more Republicans will accept that position," he said.
Whitehouse said, "It starts by admitting you have a problem, just like many other areas of human life."
New Climate Tool: Global Calculator
The model upon which the Global Calculator is built draws upon the latest IPCC climate science. It takes into account the energy, materials and land required to enable us to reduce carbon emissions so that we can stay within the internally agreed upon upper temperature limits of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
The Global Calculator is an interactive tool is for anyone interested in exploring what a low-carbon world could look like in 2050. Anyone can download the full Excel model to explore all the assumptions used and methodology used. You can even make your own version to test out your ideas.
Click here to use the Global Calculator.
Senate Passes Keystone XL Pipeline Bill
The GOP is well known for their support of the fossil fuel industry. The pretext Republicans used to argue in favor of the KXL concerns false assertions about thousands of jobs. The truth is that there will be between 30 and 40 full time jobs associated with the multi-billion dollar pipeline.
While Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell said that the pipeline would pump "billions" of dollars to help the middle class, President Obama has stated that the main beneficiary will be TransCanada, the company positioned to build the KXL.
None of the Republican Senators addressed the massive climate change causing carbon load that would be generated by the 800,000 barrel per day pipeline.
Lisa Murkowski, the chair of the energy committee knows that oil pipelines inevitably leak, so she included an amendment in the bill that would set up an oil spill fund.
The House of Representatives has already voted (nine times) to approve the KXL. The President is expected to make a final decision soon as the State Department has given a February 2 deadline for federal agencies to provide their assessments.
If the President honors his commitment to veto the legislation, Republicans can be expected to try other means of forcing Keystone on the nation. This will likely include attaching it to a spending bill later in the year.
Growth of US Renewable Energy (NREL's Energy Data Book)
In 2013, US energy consumption rose 2.4 percent year-over-year in 2013 to total 97.3 quadrillion Btus. Consumption of renewable energy and coal-fired power plants rose slightly during the year while energy consumption from oil and natural gas fell slightly.
The installed renewable energy capacity has more than doubled between 2000 and 2013 and it now represents 27 percent of the total electricity generation capacity globally.
For more information click here to see the Energy Data Book released on January 20th by the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
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Growth of Renewable Energy in 2015 and Beyond
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Renewable Energy Case Studies: Burlington Vermont and Argentina
Economic Benefits of Renewable Energy and Efficiency
Collaboration and Cooperation are Imperitive (WEF Summaries)
While many are talking about global disunity, others are pointing to significant examples of global collaboration. John Kerry, US Secretary of State, said "I don’t see an unraveling [of international cooperation]. I see just the opposite. I see nations coming together … to reach an ambitious global agreement to address climate change, with the recent agreement by China and the United States that begins to set the targets to make the Paris negotiations this year a success."
Over the course of the last year businesses have come together and provide real leadership on issues like sustainably sourced palm oil. This was the subject of a talk by Dominic Waughray, Head of Public/Private Partnerships at the World Economic Forum. He addressed how the peer-to-peer conversations among business leaders led to significant commitments to sustainably sourced palm oil. As of right now over 90 percent of global palm oil demand is covered by voluntary agreements focused on sustainability.
However, the reality on the ground does not always live up to the talk, particularly in the private sector. As revealed by the BCG/Sloan Management Review annual sustainability survey which found that while 90 percent of respondents believe that collaboration is needed for sustainability, only 47 percent of companies are actually collaborating on sustainability.
We will need to see a lot of progress on the collaboration front if we are to sign a global agreement at COP21 in Paris.
"The key is coming up with a vision of how we are going to finance mitigation and adaptation to climate change," said World Bank President Jim Kim. "We have got to get away from the mutual accusations between rich and poor and move towards cohesive collaboration."
In both the public and the private sector we require more collaboration and cooperation to advance the sustainability agenda.
Related
WEF Summaries: Climate Change
Towards a Global Climate Agreement at COP21 (WEF Summaries)
Business Leadership on Climate Change (WEF Summaries)
Curbing Fossil Fuels - Carbon Pricing and an End to Subsidies (WEF Summaries)
The Value of Investing in Climate Mitigation (WEF Summaries)
Global Economies Feeling the Heat from Climate Change (WEF Summaries)
What is The World Economic Forum (WEF)
Risks Associated with Environment, Climate, Water Crisis and Extreme Weather in the WEF Report
Report - Benefits of Sustainability Branding & Communications
1. How your brand can benefit from having an ethical slant
2. 12 ideas to create an effective comms strategy
3. 5 steps to effective social media campaigns
As an added bonus they have included a management spotlight with the Dow Jones Sustainability Index’s No1 Supersector leader. In this bonus section Alcatel Lucent explains what makes them a sustainability leader.
Click here to register to get your free copy.
Road Salt Causes Pervasive Environmental Damage.
The US uses 22 million tons of salt on its roads each year, this is more than 10 times the amount used in food processing.
We can expect more snow as the Earth warms and deicing with salt (NaCl, sodium chloride, calcium chloride) poses a number of environmental challenges.
Road salt is a potential danger to vegetation, wildlife and humans.
Salting snow and ice covered roadways has been shown to reduce traffic accidents. The benefits of using salt to remove ice on our roadways also include low cost and economic productivity afforded by keeping roads open.
Salt used on roads attracts a wide range of wildlife including deer, moose, and birds. This causes vehicular collisions and contributes to increased rates of human and wildlife mortality.
Road salt causes leaf damage and dieback which can allow salt-tolerant invasive species can take over road sides. Mammals and birds that drink salt water can lead to salt toxicity. Small birds confuse salt crystals with grit, and the ingestion of small amounts leads to acute toxicity and death.
Roadsalt washes into lakes and streams where it can kill amphibians and spawn dead zones. A salt water layer can form at the bottom of waterways, imprisoning nutrients away from aquatic plants and animals. In addition, elevated concentrations of salt in freshwater has detrimental effects on the growth, reproduction, and survival of a large range of invertebrates, fish, and amphibians.
When it seeps into the ground, it can infiltrate drinking water supplies where it can reside for long periods of time, in turn affecting human, animal, and vegetation health. When wells are contaminated with salt they have to be abandoned.
Towards a Global Climate Agreement at COP21 (WEF)
François Hollande, the President of France and host to next year's COP21 climate talks in Paris, made a number of prescient comments in Davos.
"I call upon the whole of business to make an economic contribution to the most fragile of states, in the name of solidarity and security. I call on you also to counter another threat which is one that looms over the very future of this world: we need to fight global warming," Hollande said.
He continued saying, "The time is past when humankind thought it could selfishly draw on exhaustible resources. We know now the world is not a commodity, is not a source of revenue; it’s a common good, it’s our heritage. And the consequences of climate change are fully known now – we’re not talking about theories anymore, we’re talking about certainties."
Lord Stern has made it clear that the decisions taken at the intergovernmental conference in Paris in late 2015 will shape the next 20 years.
"Paris needs to result in a binding global agreement that will map out an effective fight against climate change – that is the major challenge of the twenty-first century," Hollande said.
UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon added, "Ours is the first generation that can end poverty, and the last that can take steps to avoid the worst impacts of climate change."
The private sector has an important advocacy role to play. They must push governments to be more ambitious with their targets ahead of COP21.
"We have a single mission, to protect and hand on the planet to the next generation," Hollande said. "We are faced with a moral and political responsibility, because a botched solution to a crisis might result in exacerbating the consequences of climate change."
As he introduced the Live Earth: Road to Paris concert, Al Gore said: "The purpose is to have a billion voices with one message to demand climate change now...It is absolutely crucial that we build public will for an agreement."
Although the importance of securing a global climate deal is obvious it will not be easy. "There is a huge challenge ahead for the rest of this year," World Bank President Jim Kim told the Guardian.
"If this year goes badly, and I don't think it will, it would be a massive missed opportunity," said Nobel laureate Michael Spence Michael Spence.
Related
WEF Summaries: Climate Change
Business Leadership on Climate Change (WEF Summaries)
Curbing Fossil Fuels - Carbon Pricing and an End to Subsidies (WEF Summaries)
The Value of Investing in Climate Mitigation (WEF Summaries)
Global Economies Feeling the Heat from Climate Change (WEF Summaries)
Collaboration and Cooperation are Imperitive (WEF Summaries)
What is The World Economic Forum (WEF)
Risks Associated with Environment, Climate, Water Crisis and Extreme Weather in the WEF Report
Snowstorms are Consistent with Climate Change
Warmer ocean temperatures are driving storms like Juno and the research evidence indicates that climate change is expected to make snowstorms and deluges both more frequent and more severe. There is a clear trend towards more intense precipitation in the US and this is particularly pronounced along the northern portions of the US east coast. A review of the literature in the U.S. Climate Impacts Report concluded, "Cold-season storm tracks are shifting northward and the strongest storms are likely to become stronger and more frequent."
Currently sea temperatures are 2 degrees Fahrenheit above normal along the east coast, the result is more water vapor in the atmosphere which causes more storms.
Milder winters will actually produce more snowstorms because warmer air hold more moisture while cold air does not contain as much vapor. For every 1 degree temperature increase the air can hold 4 percent more moisture.
In addition to increased vapor, climate change is also altering the jet stream which can cause a storm to slow down or even remain fixed giving it more time to dump snow and increase accumulations.
Juno is not the first major snowstorm and it certainly will not be the last. As temperatures continue to rise both on land and at sea we can expect far more and far bigger snowstorms in the future.
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Curbing Fossil Fuels - Carbon Pricing and an End to Subsidies (WEF Summaries)
Investors and business leaders need and want regulatory certainty. Regulations on fossil fuels are coming the only question is when. Climate economist Lord Nicholas Stern was among those who argued that we need to see carbon taxes and eliminate oil subsidies.
If we are to get serious about tackling climate change we will need to curb fossil fuel use. One of the best ways to do so is through carbon pricing schemes. Rowan Douglas, CEO Capital, Science & Policy Practice and Chairman, Willis Research Network, said, "Carbon pricing is a very important tool in the armory. I think it is difficult to see the world achieving its targets without some sort of pricing mechanism for this critical pollutant."
Stern said, "Those of us who think that market economies work well, are also those who think when we see a major failure like this that the right thing to do to get the markets to work well is to correct it. And there’s a very simple correction: it’s carbon pricing. It can raise revenues for all the important things we have to do, like enhancing the life of poor people, [and] investing in innovation, health and education." He also said, "If you want to put a carbon tax on, now is absolutely the right moment."
Rachel Kyte, World Bank Group, Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change said, ‘We want carbon pricing. If you price carbon, we will be able to reduce emissions,’ then that will be a powerful message." World Bank President Jim Yong Kim urged governments around the world to agree on a pricing system for climate-changing CO2 emissions.
We are seeing momentum build for some form of carbon pricing scheme. Kim noted there had been progress over the last 12 months, including the UN general assembly’s commitment to set a carbon price. The head of Unilever, Paul Polman explained that businesses are also getting on-board, "50 of the top-200 companies now have an internal price for carbon. In New York, we had 1,000 businesses who signed a statement calling for a price on carbon."
In the US the Republican controlled congress stands in the way of carbon pricing. As Al Gore said in Davos, "We need to put a price on carbon and we need to put a price on denial in politics."
In addition to carbon pricing we also need to eradicate fossil fuel subsidies. Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin group said, "We have to make sure there are no more coal-fired power stations built anywhere in the world from today onwards. And we’ve got to get rid of all fossil fuel subsidies.”
Nobel Economics Prize laureate Michael Spence talked about progress being made removing oil subsidies in the developing world. "Fortunately, they [oil subsidies] are in the process of disappearing. Energy subsidies are a catastrophic policy. They produce a distorted development of the economy and all kinds of bad things."
Related
WEF Summaries: Climate Change
Towards a Global Climate Agreement at COP21 (WEF Summaries)
Business Leadership on Climate Change (WEF Summaries)
The Value of Investing in Climate Mitigation (WEF Summaries)
Global Economies Feeling the Heat from Climate Change (WEF Summaries)
Collaboration and Cooperation are Imperitive (WEF Summaries)
What is The World Economic Forum (WEF)
Risks Associated with Environment, Climate, Water Crisis and Extreme Weather in the WEF Report
Weak Climate Test for the Energy East Pipeline
If it is built, the Energy East pipeline would allow for a 40 percent expansion of the tar sands that would produce at least 32 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year. It is the largest tar sands pipeline ever proposed, with a climate impact equivalent to adding 7 million cars.
In November the governments of Quebec and Ontario announced seven conditions for the approval of the Energy East pipeline. One of those conditions involves a climate change test. However, the leaders of the two provinces have indicated that they will only concern themselves with emissions from the building of the pipeline, not the emissions generated by the extraction and burning of tar sands oil.
Ontario premiere Kathleen Wynne indicated that she was not talking about upstream emissions and Quebec premiere Philippe Couillard has said that "Whatever the future of the TransCanada project, the extraction will take place. So it doesn’t add anything to the debate to look at [upstream emissions]. What we really want to see is the sum of greenhouse gases over the Quebec section of the project."
In the context of the massive GHG load from the Energy East, failure to factor upstream emissions is tantamount to willful ignorance. The federal governments own estimates indicate that emissions from Canada’s oil and gas sector will increase by 48 per cent between 2005 and 2030. Climate scientists have indicated that the carbon load from expanded tar sands exploitation would make it impossible to reign in climate change.
A number of organizations are working to demand that the NEB do a proper review of the Energy East. Thus far 350.org have gathered over 60,000 messages for the NEB demanding they evaluate the climate impacts of the pipeline. On February 2nd, 350.org is going to deliver these messages to the Board headquarters in Calgary. The Council of Canadians have also organized a petition against the pipeline as has Avaaz.
Webinar - New Paths in Environmental Management and Compliance
ArcelorMittal, Tri-State Generation, Tampa Electric Company and Southern Ute Growth Fund are tapping environmental technologies in new ways to experience greater environmental compliance breakthroughs and efficiencies.
Hear the panelists discuss environmental successes and lessons learned in 2014 and what changes are in store for 2015!
For more information click here.
Click here to download the new webinar.
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