Tuesday, March 11, 2014

WIMS Environmental HotSheet 3/11/14

<> Senators conclude all-night climate change talkathon - Overnight Monday into early Tuesday, 30 Democratic senators and one Republican devoted a little more than 14 hours to climate change.

<> CO2 Allowances Sold at $4.00 at 23rd RGGI Auction - The nine Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the nation's first market-based cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, announced the results of their 23rd auction of carbon dioxide (CO2) allowances.

<> Energy Department Awards $2.2 Million to Drive Innovative Solutions, Lower Costs of Solar - Energy Department Awards $2.2 Million to Drive Innovative Solutions, Lower Costs of Solar The Energy Department today announced $2.2 million for three California projects to help lower the costs of solar electricity and increase deployment nationwide.

<> FIRST Act Prioritizes Science Investments to Keep America First - Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Research and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.) today introduced the Frontiers in Innovation, Research, Science, and Technology (FIRST) Act (H.R. 4186). The bill reauthorizes and streamlines federal investments at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and. . .

<> As U.S. Energy Booms, Don't Forget About Roadway Infrastructure - One fracking operation needs 600 to 1,100 one-way truck trips for equipment to and from a well site. In a new paper in the Journal of Infrastructure Systems, our team estimated the costs of additional heavy truck traffic associated with shale gas development on Pennsylvania's state-maintained roadways.read more. . .

<> USDA Announces Efforts to Expand Support for Small and Mid-Sized Farmers and Ranchers - March 10 – Today in remarks at the National Farmers Union National Convention, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new and expanded efforts to connect small- and mid-sized farmers and ranchers with USDA resources

<> Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline: The 'significance' trap - Carbon Tracker responds to the US Department of State's Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) with new research report -- KXL: The 'significance' trap.

<> LCFS and iLUC Workshops Presentations - The California Air Resources Board (ARB) staff has posted PowerPoint presentations for the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and indirect land use change (iLUC) workshops on March 11, 2014.

<> ASP Briefing Note: The Ukraine Crisis and the Geopolitics of Energy -

<> The Truth About Nuclear Power - Part One - This post marks the first of several articles on commercial nuclear power plants, providing facts and figures from various credible sources.   It is notable that in some parts of the world, it is already March 11, the third anniversary of the disastrous Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdowns.   This article does not address the numerous safety issues at nuclear power plants, as that will be addressed. . .

<> GAO-14-109, Nuclear Safety: Countries' Regulatory Bodies Have Made Changes in Response to the Fukushima Daiichi Accident, March 06, 2014 - What GAO Found All the nuclear regulatory bodies in the 16 selected countries in GAO's review—13 of which currently operate nuclear power reactors and 3 of which are developing or considering developing civilian nuclear power programs—have taken steps to strengthen nuclear safety in response to the Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan. Japan in particular has fundamentally. . .

<> Rethinking Emissions Reduction - March 6, op-ed for Project Syndicate, C2ES Board Member David Hone, chief climate change adviser at Royal Dutch Shell, urges policymakers to focus more on the deployment of carbon capture and storage technology as a strategy for achieving emissions reductions. . . "fossil fuels will likely remain dominant throughout this century – meaning that carbon capture and storage (CCS) may well be the critical technology for mitigating climate change."

<> New UNEP Report Outlines Japan's Experience with Industrial Waste Management - Lessons for Sustainable Development in Rapidly Industrializing Countries Spotlighted. . .

<> Free Online Event: the Whole Earth Summit Starts! (March 11-13, 2014) - The Whole Earth Summit (free and online). Join Geoff Lawton and 42 remarkable visionaries, and tens of thousands of people worldwide, as we share our passion, vision and next steps for creating regenerative communities and a whole earth...

<> U.S.-India Energy Dialogue 2014 - March 11, 2014U.S.-India Energy Dialogue 2014 The U.S.-India Energy Dialogue met in New Delhi on March 5-11. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia hosted the government-to-government portion of the Dialogue meeting on March 11 with United States Department of Energy Secretary Dr. Ernest Moniz.  The U.S. delegation included the Department of. . .

<> New Report Reveals Environmental Costs of North American Free Trade Agreement - A massive free trade deal went into effect 20 years ago and has had very harmful effects on communities and the environment in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, according to a report released by Sierra Club

<> USGS Recognizes "National Groundwater Awareness Week," March 9-15, 2014 - Groundwater is one of the Nation's most valuable natural resources. It occurs almost everywhere beneath the Earth's surface and is a major source of water supply worldwide.