Thursday, January 09, 2014

WIMS Environmental HotSheet 1/9/14

<> White House: We the Geeks: "Polar Vortex" and Extreme Weather - at the White House, while we're beginning to thaw from this week's bone-chilling deep freeze, our discussions about the science of weather extremes are heating up. We know that no single weather episode proves or disproves climate change. Video and Friday January 10,  2:00 PM ET

<> The Clean Energy Economy in Three Charts – White House: The simple fact is that key clean energy technology costs are continuing to come down, and these technologies are producing more American energy than ever before.

¨      Competitive Enterprise Institute Criticizes Proposed Carbon Pollution Standard - WASHINGTON, D.C., JAN, 8 – Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute criticized EPA's proposed Carbon Pollution Standard, a regulation which would effectively ban the construction of new coal-fired power plants. The regulation was published in today's Federal Register, thereby kicking off a 60 day comment period. CEI's initial comments on the proposal, submitted today, 

¨      Today: EPA to Publish Rules For New Power Plants After Delay- (Huffington Post) The Environmental Protection Agency will finally publish notice of new proposed rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants on Wednesday, more than three months after announcing the rules last September. Read original story

1.    AIR, CLIMATE – PR/Withdrawal. EPA. Proposed Standards of Performance: Withdrawal of Proposed Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From New Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating UnitsPDF | Text | 

2.    AIR, CLIMATE – PR. EPA. Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New Stationary Sources: Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From New Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units PDF | Text | 

<> CRS report outlines PTC phaseout allowing wind, gas parity - The renewable energy production tax credit is gone for now and, even if it is reinstated this year, there are growing calls to replace the current system of year-to-year extensions with a more definitive path meant to phase out the credit altogether. To that end, the Congressional Research Service last month produced a report weighing the pros and cons of various phaseout proposals. . .

<> Paper: Shining a Light on Fossil Fuel Subsidies at the WTO: How NGOs can contribute to WTO notification and surveillance - Liesbeth Casier, Robin Fraser, Mark Halle, Robert Wolfe - Fossil fuel subsidies undermine efforts to mitigate climate change and damage the trading system. However, multilateral discussion is hampered by inconsistent definitions and incomplete data. Members do not notify such subsidies as much as they should under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing measures 

<> U.S. Ethanol Export Opportunities Abound - (January 8, 2014) WASHINGTON — U.S. ethanol exports surged to 82.4 million gallons (mg) in November, with large volumes finding their way into new or emerging markets such as China and India, as well as the Philippines, Tunisia, Panama, and Mexico, according to government data released this week. Total exports were up 54 percent from October, reaching the highest 

<> UN urged to recognize benefits derived from mountain regions as essential for sustainable development - As United Nations-led talks on outlining the future global development agenda continue to progress, UN agency officials joined representatives of mountain countries and organizations today at Headquarters to encourage mountain-specific policies in sustainable development strategies, with a particular focus on plans for adaptation and mitigation of climate change.

<> Road Map to Clean Energy and Climate Initiatives in Governor Cuomo's 2014 State of the State Report - Governor Cuomo announced some significant new clean energy and climate initiatives.  In case you didn't have time in listen in, or to pore through the 219-page State of the State report that the Governor's office released 

<> The Koch brothers political empire continues to metastasize - what a Washington Post investigative article on January 5 calls "a far-reaching operation of unrivaled complexity, built around a maze of groups that cloaks its donors"

<> USDA Extends Deadline for Conservation Stewardship Applications- Related ATTRA Resource:Accessing the New Conservation Stewardship ProgramThe U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has extended the deadline for new enrollments in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)

<> China sets targets for curbing air pollution - BEIJING (Reuters) - China has set new targets for its provinces to reduce air pollution by 5 to 25 percent, state media said lateon Tuesday, underscoring the government's concern about a source of public anger.

<> Net metering controversy: How to calculate the true value of solar

<> First-Year Report: Market Strong for Cap and Trade in California

<> Bird Conservation Groups Announce Intention to Sue Over Ohio Wind Turbine in Key Bird Migration Corridor - The Ohio National Guard facility at Camp Perry, near Port Clinton in northern Ohio, is the focus of possible legal action by American Bird Conservancy and Ohio's Black Swamp Bird Observatory, which today announced the intention to sue the Ohio National Guard in connection with violations of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) and other federal laws

<> Senator Vitter: EPA Basing New Carbon Rule on Impracticable Technology