Lima Climate Change Conference - December 2014

<> Lima Climate Change Conference - December 2014 - The 20th session of the Conference of the Parties and the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol will be held from 1 to 12 December. COP 20/CMP 10 will be hosted by the Government of Peru, in Lima, Peru. Briefing: What to expect in Lima and on the road to a Paris agreement - C2ES Executive Vice President Elliot Diringer hosted a pre-Lima briefing for journalists on Nov. 20.  Topics included recent events that have helped build momentum, a brief history of UNFCCC negotiations, likely issues for Lima, and the potential shape of the Paris agreement.

OIG: 8 staff paid not to work nearly 21,000 hours cost taxpayers more than $1 million

<> OIG: 8 staff paid not to work nearly 21,000 hours cost taxpayers more than $1 million - EPA's Office of Inspector General (OIG) released an early warning report alerting EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to the fact that employees were on extended periods of administrative leave through fiscal year 2014 – in some cases for several years. Vitter: EPA Paid 8 Employees Over $1 Million for Not Working

Keystone XL Pipeline Bill, fails by 1 vote; Votes, Reactions

<> S.2280, to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline, fails by 1 vote - 14 Democrats joined all Senate Republicans to account for 59 votes of 60 needed to pass the bill [See the roll call] McConnell Statement on Keystone Vote - "Tonight, Senate Democrats once again stood in the way of a shovel-ready jobs project that would help thousands of Americans find work —  a remarkable stance after an election in which the American people sent a clear message to Congress to approve serious policies like the Keystone XL Pipeline and get the Senate working again. . ." Sen. Murkowski Vows to Revisit Keystone XL in New Congress Boehner: A Keystone Veto "Equivalent of Calling the American People 'Stupid'" – Before the vote the House Speaker said, "Vetoing an overwhelmingly popular bill would be a clear indication that he doesn't care about the American peoples' priorities. It would be [the] equivalent of calling the American people 'stupid.'" Markey: Keystone XL is a Part of Oil Industry Export Plan - ". . .This export pipeline would make the United States a middleman to ship Canadian oil to the thirstiest foreign markets abroad, where they can charge more for their oil while our country assumes all the environmental risk. . . Senator Boxer's Statement Following Defeat of Keystone XL Pipeline Bill - "I want to thank the 40 other Senators who stood up for what is right - protecting the health of families and the health of the planet. . .

<> U.S. Senate Rejects Attempt to Force Approval of Keystone Pipeline - Environmental Defense Fund: We believe the pipeline is the wrong choice for America, a step in the wrong direction at a time when we need a rapid shift to clean energy in order to safeguard the climate and our economy. Center for Biological Diversity - The pipeline, which would transport tar sands oil from Canada to Texas, would worsen the climate crisis and put rivers, streams, wildlife and pristine landscapes directly in harm's way. Sierra Club - There's no good reason the Senate should have wasted all this time on yet another meaningless push for Keystone XL. Some in Senate block biggest bi-partisan jobs and energy security bill - American Petroleum Institute (API) President and CEO Jack Gerard said the Senate's failure to pass legislation to build the Keystone XL pipeline shows a few stood in the way of the largest bi-partisan jobs and energy security bill ignoring the will of the American people on Election Day. U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy - Unfortunately, there have been no indications that the Obama administration will stop ignoring the vast majority of Americans that support the pipeline, but we do know that Keystone will have even stronger support in the next Congress.

Senate To Consider Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Bill

<> Senate To Consider Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Bill - On Tuesday, November 18, 2014, following any Leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to the consideration of S.2280, a bill to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline -- There will be up to 6 hours of debate equally divided between opponents and proponents. McConnell Urges Senate Democrats to Support Cassidy Keystone Bill - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate Floor urging his colleagues to support Keystone XL jobs: "Later today, the Senate will vote on whether or not to send Congressman Cassidy's Keystone jobs bill to the President. It's a vote that's long overdue, but welcome. "Keystone XL is just common-sense. It's a shovel-ready jobs project that would help thousands of Americans find work. It would increase our supply of North American energy. Access the Senate Roll Call website for final results when available

Recommendations to the President from Climate Task Force

<> FACT SHEET: Recommendations of the President's State, Local and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience and New Executive Actions – Nov. 17: New Climate Resilience Toolkit Unveiled to Help Plan for Changing Climate -- The Task Force's recommendations are the culmination of a year of work to solicit input from across State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments, trade associations, academic organizations, civil society, and various other stakeholders and translate their first-hand experiences into action items for the Federal Government to support climate-ready communities. Task Force On Climate Preparedness and Resilience Recommendations to the President State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force On Climate Preparedness and Resilience website

Cassidy Urges Support for Keystone Solution

<> Cassidy Urges Support for Keystone Solution - Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) yesterday spoke on the House floor in support for his bill, H.R. 5682, to approve the application to build the Keystone XL pipeline [vote expected soon today]. Legislative details freo H.R. 5682 Markey: Senate Should Reject Keystone Oil Export Strategy Republican Senators Request "Yes" or "No" from Obama on Keystone Sierra Club Statement On Forthcoming Keystone XL Votes API welcomes pathway of bipartisan Keystone XL bill to president's desk

House to Vote on Cassidy Keystone Solution that Says #Yes2Energy

<> House to Vote on Cassidy Keystone Solution that Says #Yes2Energy - The House will vote tomorrow on a bill, H.R. 5862, authored by Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) that would immediately authorize construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Cassidy Introduces Bill To Approve Keystone XL Pipeline on November 12 - Vote expected this afternoon Keystone pipeline approval bills advance in Congress Keystone Pipeline bills by Sen. Landrieu and Rep. Cassidy advancing before Dec. 6 Senate runoff NRDC: Senators Should Oppose Bill Forcing Approval of Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline - The lame duck Senate soon may consider a bill forcing approval

U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change

<> U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change - President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping reaffirmed the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation on climate change and will work together, and with other countries, to adopt a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all Parties at the United Nations Climate Conference in Paris in 2015. FACT SHEET: U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change and Clean Energy Cooperation McConnell Reacts to President Obama's New Emissions Reduction Targets - LOUISVILLE, KY– U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell issued the following statement regarding the President's unrealistic  Boehner: "the president's crusade against affordable energy. . ." Senator Boxer's Statement on Historic U.S.-China Agreement to Combat Climate Change Inhofe: U.S.-China Climate Deal a Non-Binding Charade Markey: China-U.S. Climate Agreement Could Protect Health of People and Planet US, China Climate Moves Boost Paris Prospects - Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, said: "These two crucial countries have today announced important pathways towards a better and more secure future for human-kind. Allied to the European Union's recent announcement, this signals in an increasingly positive way a determination towards addressing the climate change challenge from a growing number of key economies".

<> Historic US-China deal marks the beginning of the end of China's coal chapter - Today could be the most important day so far this century in climate and energy politics -- China and United States have come to an historic agreement, negotiated privately over a period of months. . . Sierra Club Statement on U.S.-China Climate Announcement  Environmental Defense Fund Welcomes Bilateral Talks on Climate Between U.S. and China New Carbon Reduction Goals by China, U.S. Are a Critical Step Forward - China and the Unites States tonight announced new targets for carbon pollution reductions. The following is a statement from Frances Beinecke, president of NRDC SEIA Embraces Efforts to Double Renewables Worldwide by 2030 - The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), along with other U.S. renewable power industries, today hailed the goal announced at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing of doubling renewable energy in the 21-member economies by 2030. Bob Perciasepe, C2ES statement on US-China climate announcement Statement from Ceres president Mindy Lubber on US-China Climate Agreement - "The agreement by the world's two largest economies and carbon emitters is a game changer on every level.

GAO Report Blasts FDA's Inadequate Pesticide Monitoring of Fruits, Vegetables

<> GAO-15-38, Food Safety: FDA and USDA Should Strengthen Pesticide Residue Monitoring Programs and Further Disclose Monitoring Limitations, October 07, 2014 - Data from 2008 through 2012 show that pesticide residue violation rates in 10 selected fruits and vegetables were low, but FDA's approach to monitoring for violations, which targets commodities it has identified as high risk, has limitations. GAO Report Blasts FDA's Inadequate Pesticide Monitoring of Fruits, Vegetables

McConnell: Top Priority is "to try to do whatever I can to get the EPA reined in."

<> McConnell: Top Priority is "to try to do whatever I can to get the EPA reined in." - "It will be hard because the only good tool to do that ... is through the spending process, and if (President Barack Obama) feels strongly enough about it, he can veto the bill. But I view it as a complete outrage that he could not get cap and trade through the Congress when he owned the place — owned the place — and decided to do it anyway."

President Obama Responds to "Massive Repudiation"

<> President Obama Responds to "Massive Repudiation" – [Editor's Note: If you do a Google search of the term "massive repudiation" (use quotations) over the last 24 hours you might be surprised to see how many times various Republicans, pundits and media referred to the November 4, election as a massive repudiation of everything that Barack Obama and Democrats represent.] The President responded to the election saying in part: "What stands out to me, is that the American people sent a message, one that they've sent for several elections now. They expect the people they elect to work as hard as they do. They expect us to focus on their ambitions and not ours. They want us to get the job done. As President, I have a unique responsibility to try and make this town work" Email from President Obama: "Here's what's next" - President Obama sent this message to the White House email list about what's next for his Administration.

Republicans take U.S. Senate majority

 

<> Republicans take U.S. Senate majority - Republicans captured majority control of the Senate Tuesday, gaining at least seven seats as Democrats faced strong political headwinds in midterm elections where discontent with President Obama was a decisive theme. Riding Wave of Discontent, G.O.P. Takes Senate - Resurgent Republicans took control of the Senate on Tuesday night,expanded their hold on the House, and defended some of the most closely contested governors' races, in a repudiation of President Obama that will reorder the political map in his final years in office

<> Here are the top candidates for Senate chairmanships under the GOP majority - Republicans gained control of the Senate on Tuesday, which means the GOP will chair the committees in that chamber of Congress next year – e.g. Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.); Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) the ranking member of the Senate Energy Committee, and she could potentially succeed Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) once the GOP takes control next year.

MapLight's Voter's Edge Launched Nationwide

MapLight's Voter's Edge Launched Nationwide - Nonpartisan Online Voter Guide Separates Fact from Fiction; Users simply type in their home address and can immediately view their personalized ballot, supplemented by helpful information such as endorsements, funding sources, candidate biographies, and more. Voters can mark selections and share their choices via social media, or create election widgets to display on their website or blog.

• Voter's Edge website

Final installment of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report

Final installment of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report: Climate change threatens irreversible and dangerous impacts, but options exist to limit its effects - COPENHAGEN, Nov 2 – Human influence on the climate system is clear and growing, with impacts observed on all continents. If left unchecked, climate change will increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems. However, options are available to adapt to climate change and implementing stringent mitigations activities can ensure that the impacts of climate change remain within a manageable range, creating a brighter and more sustainable future.

• Links to: Summary for Policymakers, Synthesis Report - Longer Report, Factsheet, Documents & Quick links
• U.N. Panel Issues Its Starkest Warning Yet on Global Warming - NYT reports that "By contrast, the report found, less than $400 billion a year is being spent around the world to reduce emissions or otherwise cope with climate change. That is a small fraction of the revenue spent on fossil fuels — it is less, for example, than the revenue of a single American oil company, ExxonMobil."

EPA Releases Climate & Sustainability Plans

EPA Releases Climate Plans on Fifth Anniversary of President Obama's Sustainability Initiative/Plan Builds Capacity to Protect Human Health and the Environment in a Changing Climate - These Sustainability Plans and Climate Change Adaptation Plans coincide with the fifth anniversary of President Obama's 2009 Executive Order on Environmental, Energy and Economic Performance, which set aggressive energy, climate and environmental targets for agencies, and detail how EPA's actions have already contributed to reducing the Federal Government's greenhouse gas emissions by more than 17 percent since 2008 – the equivalent of permanently taking 1.8 million cars off the road.

• EPA Climate Adaptation Implementation Plans
• 2014 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan

EPA revamps High Priority Violator policy, ends 'watch list'

EPA revamps High Priority Violator policy, ends 'watch list' - EPA has eliminated the complicated matrix by which it evaluates facilities that commit high priority violations (HPVs) of polluted air, water and soil.

• EPA Office of Civil Enforcement's Air Enforcement Division, Aug. 25 memo

EPA Provides Additional Clean Power Plan Information & Comment

EPA Provides Additional Information on Clean Power Plan & requests public comment on additional information and proposes carbon goals for areas in Indian Country and U.S. Territories - EPA is making additional information and ideas on its proposed Clean Power Plan rule available for public comment in a notice of data availability (NODA) and is following through on its commitment made in June to propose goals to reduce carbon pollution in areas of Indian Country and U.S. Territories where fossil-fuel power plants are located -- nearly 1.5 million public comments the agency has received so far; comments due  on Dec. 1 & Dec. 19, 2014.

• Clean Power Plan Supplemental Proposal
• Notice of Data Availability for the proposed Clean Power Plan

Environmental Assessment Certificate issued for TransCanada's Coastal GasLink Pipeline Project

Environmental Assessment Certificate issued for TransCanada's Coastal GasLink Pipeline Project - TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP) (NYSE:TRP) (TransCanada) announced Oct. 24, that the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) has issued an Environmental Assessment Certificate for the Coastal GasLink Pipeline Project (Coastal GasLink) -- The proposed project involves the construction and operation of an approximately 670-kilometre (415-mile), 1,219-mm (48-inch) diameter natural gas pipeline from the Groundbirch area near Dawson Creek, B.C. to the proposed LNG Canada liquefied natural gas export facility near Kitimat, B.C.

• Coastal GasLink Pipeline Project Information & Documents
• TransCanada's $4b pipeline gets B.C. environmental assessment certificate - The next steps for the proposed project include detailed engineering and construction planning, as well as ongoing consultation with Aboriginal groups and the public; pending the receipt of all required regulatory approvals and a positive final investment decision from LNG Canada, the start of pipeline construction is anticipated in 2016, with an in-service date by the end of the decade.

Encouraging Ending to Bonn Talks as World Readies for Lima UN Climate Conference

Encouraging Ending to Bonn Talks as World Readies for Lima UN Climate Conference -  The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) says: A positive stage has been set for the UN climate convention conference in Lima [COP20/CMP10] following a week of governmental negotiations in Bonn that have evolved a range of issues needed to deliver a draft climate agreement in the Peruvian capital in December -- the draft is meant to form the basis for a new universal climate agreement scheduled to be inked in Paris, France next year and due to come into effect in 2020.

European Commission Approves ambitious proposals to cut GHG at least 40%

European Commission Approves ambitious proposals to cut GHG at least 40% - No player in the world is as ambitious as the European Union when it comes to cutting greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions. Indeed, the proof that it is ambitious is that we are now going from a goal of 20% cut by 2020 compared to 1990 to 40% by 2030, so, doubling the effort.

• EU 2030 framework for climate and energy policies - Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40%; Increasing the share of renewable energy to at least 27%; Increasing energy efficiency by at least 27%; & Reform of the EU emissions trading system

Coalition of Farmers and Environmental Groups to Challenge EPA Over Herbicide Approval

Coalition of Farmers and Environmental Groups to Challenge EPA Over Herbicide Approval - A coalition of farmers and environmental groups filed a lawsuit to sue the U.S. EPA on behalf of six Midwest states where a toxic herbicide cocktail called Dow's Enlist Duo, a blend of glyphosate and 2,4-D, was approved on October 15 for use on genetically engineered (GE) crops.

Geochemical Tracers Can ID Fracking Flowback Fluids

Geochemical Tracers Can ID Fracking Flowback Fluids - The National Science Foundation reports scientists have developed tracers that can identify hydraulic fracturing flowback fluids that have been spilled or released into the environment, and they have been field-tested at a spill site in West Virginia and downstream from an oil and gas brine wastewater treatment plant in Pennsylvania.

• New tracers can identify frack fluids in the environment

US, EU want UN to stress low cost of climate change fight; draft document

US, EU want UN to stress low cost of climate change fight; draft document - (Reuters) - The United States and European Union want the U.N. to stress the low cost of fighting climate change in a draft handbook on the issue that it is compiling, a leaked document showed on Tuesday.

EPA's Rules on Ozone-Depleting Chemicals Miss the Mark on Health and Climate Protection

EPA's Rules on Ozone-Depleting Chemicals Miss the Mark on Health and Climate Protection - (October 17, 2014) – David Doniger, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Climate and Clean Air Program, made this comment on a final rule issued by EPA limiting the use of HCFC-22, used in air conditioners and refrigeration. It is the most powerful ozone-depleting chemical still in widespread use and traps nearly 2,000 times more heat than carbon dioxide.

• Final Rule: Protection of Stratospheric Ozone: Adjustments to the Allowance System for Controlling HCFC Production, Import and Export, 2015-2019 - EPA Administrator, Gina McCarthy, signed the final rule on 10/16/14, and EPA is submitting it for publication in the Federal Register.

IPCC releases full Working Group II report

IPCC releases full Working Group II report - Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the full version (1820-pages) of its contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability on October 15 – 32-page summary also available

• IPCC corrects claim suggesting climate change would be good for the economy

EPA Approves Dow's Enlist Duo, Herbicide Containing 2, 4-D and Glyphosate

EPA Announces Final Decision to Register Enlist Duo, Herbicide Containing 2, 4-D and Glyphosate/Risk assessment ensures protection of human health, including infants, children - EPA announced it is registering in six states the highly controversial herbicide, Enlist Duo with first-time ever restrictions to manage the problem of resistant weeds.

• NRDC Sues EPA to Block New Pesticide That Threatens Monarch Butterflies, Human Health - The Natural Resources Defense Council filed suit in the D.C. Circuit court immediately after EPA approved the use of "Enlist Duo" -- a combination of two herbicides: glyphosate (initially marketed as Roundup) and 2,4-D, an older, toxic herbicide.
• Earthjustice Statement On Dow's Enlist Duo Approval - "This heedless action merely perpetuates the endless cycle of more genetically engineered crops leading to more pesticide use, leading to more of the same.  We are examining all legal options."
• EPA Ignores Public Outcry, Approves Dangerous Weed Killer - The Environmental Working Group is "deeply disappointed" that [EPA] has decided to approve a toxic weed killer. . . despite overwhelming opposition from the scientific and public health community

Revealed: the companies doing the most to combat climate change

Revealed: the companies doing the most to combat climate change - 187 businesses from around the world, including BMW AG, Centrica, Samsung Electronics and Unilever, demonstrate a superior approach to climate change mitigation. [from the Carbon Disclosure Project]

• The A List: The CDP Climate Performance Leadership Index 2014 - The research is published and has been created at the request of 767 investors who represent more than a third of the world's invested capital.

The Pentagon's "2014 Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap"

The Pentagon's "2014 Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap" - The Department of Defense (DoD) released its 2014 Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap, which focuses on various actions and planning the DoD is taking to increase its resilience to the impacts of climate change [the report is dated June 2014, but released 10/13/14.

• Pentagon unveils plan for military's response to climate change

Secretary of State John Kerry On Clean Energy & Climate Change

Secretary of State John Kerry Remarks With U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond - "Together, both of our countries recognize that never before has a threat like climate change found in its solution such a level of opportunity – the opportunity to unleash the clean-energy economy that will get us out of this mess but also take us forward towards a safer, more sustainable future."

Building community resilience by strengthening America's natural resources and supporting green infrastructure

FACT SHEET: Building community resilience by strengthening America's natural resources and supporting green infrastructure - The Administration is announcing new executive actions and a series of private and public sector commitments that will improve the management of our natural resources in the context of a changing climate and support investment in green infrastructure.