Senators Sanders, Boxer propose legislation to institute GHG price on large stationary sources and remove support for fossil fuel industries

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) introduced legislation that would set an escalating fee on greenhouse gas emissions from large stationary sources to fund investments in energy efficiency and sustainable energy technologies and also provide rebates to consumers to offset increases in energy prices. The legislation also proposes numerous actions against financing and support for fossil fuel industries.

The proposal was drafted as two measures, the Climate Protection Act-which sets the carbon price and finance programs for sustainable technologies-and the Sustainable Energy Act-which ends federal support for fossil fuel companies and research and extends tax incentives for renewables. Among the financing provisions of the legislation are:

• Price on carbon. The legislation would enact a fee of $20 per ton or carbon or methane equivalent, rising at 5.6% per year over a 10-year period. Applied upstream, the fee would apply to 2,869 of the largest stationary sources, covering about 85% of US greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Congressional Research Service.

  The Congressional Budget Office estimates this would raise $1.2 trillion in revenue over 10 years and reduce GHG emissions by approximately 20% from 2005 levels by 2025.

• Investment in energy efficiency and sustainable energy. A portion of the revenues raised would be used to weatherize 1 million homes per year; triple the budget for ARPA-E; create a sustainable technologies finance program to leverage $500 billion for investments; invest in domestic manufacturing; and fund $1 billion per year in worker training.

• Rebate program. The Family Clean Energy Rebate Program would use 60% of the funds from the carbon fee and use the model developed by Alaska's oil dividend to provide a monthly rebate to every legal US resident to offset potential energy price increases.

• International sources. Imported fuels and products would also be charged the same carbon fee that domestic fuels and products play, unless the exporting nation has similar climate program and already charges a fee on carbon.

• Debt reduction. Approximately $300 billion would go to debt reduction over 10 years.

The Sustainable Energy Act eliminates a number of areas of financial benefit for fossil fuel companies and research, including the elimination of royalty relief. It also repeals sections of existing energy legislation dealing with ultra-deepwater and unconventional natural gas and other petroleum resources; removes limits on liability for offshore operations and pipeline operators; rescinds all unobligated funds to the World Bank and the Ex-Im Bank for financing projects that support coal, oil, or natural gas; terminates the DOE Office of Fossil Energy Research and Development; prohibits the use of DOT funds to award any grant, loan, loan guarantee, or provide any other direct assistance to any rail or port project that transports coal, oil, or natural gas; terminates fossil fuel tax breaks; and institutes numerous other accounting and tax changes on the fossil fuel industries.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/02/sandersboxer-20130215.htm

January 30 News: China Burning Nearly As Much Coal As The Rest Of The World

As of the end of 2011, China was burning nearly as much coal as the rest of the world combined. [WaPo]

China's coal use grew 9 percent in 2011, rising to 3.8 billion tons. At this point, the country is burning nearly as much coal as the rest of the world combined.

Coal, of course, is the world's premier fossil fuel, a low-cost source of electricity that kicks a lot of carbon-dioxide up into the atmosphere. And China's growing appetite is a big reason why global greenhouse-gas emissions have soared in recent years, even as the United States and Europe have managed to curtail their coal use and cut their carbon pollution.

Millions of people worldwide are fleeing their homes because of environmental disasters. But the conditions in which the refugees have to take up residence in neighboring countries isn't regulated by international law. [DW]

A new study by the National Wildlife Federation has concluded that climate change in the United States is happening much faster than many of its animal species are able to respond and adapt. [USA Today]

With its carbon cap-and-trade system now up and running, California - the most populous state in the U.S. and the ninth biggest economy in the world - is ahead of the rest of the country in taking action on climate change. [Time]

While air travel only accounts for an estimated 5 percent of global carbon emissions, that share is expected to grow as air travel becomes cheaper and more accessible. [The Economist]

According to a study by researchers at the Zoological Society of London and others, a mangrove forest shared by India and Bangladesh that's home to possibly 500 Bengal tigers is being rapidly destroyed by erosion, rising sea levels and storm surges. [The Guardian]

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/01/30/1513841/january-30-news-ch

100 Days of Action for Climate, Clean Energy Kicks Off with Coast to Coast Events

In the two weeks since the Sierra Club launched our Obama Climate and Clean Energy Legacy campaign, Sierra Club volunteers, chapters, organizers, and allies have held more than 30 inspiring (and fun!) launch events nationwide. The events they organized from coast to coast kick off 100 Days of Action, from the Inauguration to Earth Day, calling on President Obama to take bold action on the many climate and clean energy decisions before his Administration in his second term.

From Owensboro, Kentucky to Olympia, Washington and from happy hours to Martin Luther King Jr. Day marches, a movement is growing. Each day I am inspired when I hear about all the great work everyone is doing to engage people across the country in our climate and clean energy agenda for the President.

I'd like to highlight some of the awesome events that have taken place so far in our 100 Days of Action for Climate and Clean Energy.

Virginia: In Norfolk, more than 300 people (the line is pictured above) attended a screening of the documentary Chasing Ice and then stayed after to discuss climate disruption and what can be done.

Minnesota: In Minneapolis, a packed room of climate volunteer leaders and allies from faith and local groups met over breakfast to kick off a joint 100 days of action and plan upcoming actions and events.

Texas: A crowd of Texas Sierra Club volunteers participated in the Austin Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration march and festival. They carried a banner that read, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy," (see above photo) a King quote and call to President Obama to do more on climate.

At the festival, the marchers also collected handwritten letters to President Obama from children and adults alike asking him to take action on climate.

Colorado: On Saturday, January 19, the Colorado Beyond Coal Campaign hosted a Climate and Clean Energy Legacy Happy Hour in Denver to kick-off the Legacy Campaign. More than 20 folks came by to learn about the campaign and enjoy a beer, with many of them expressing an interest in doing further work with the Sierra Club on pushing for climate action and more clean energy.

Georgia: More than 20 volunteers marched in the Atlanta MLK Day parade calling for clean air, climate justice, and a clean energy economy for Georgia by chanting "Coal power, we gotta fight, 'cause clean air is a human right!"

Pennsylvania: Activists in Philadelphia have held six events so far -- including two house parties (one photographed above) to discuss upcoming climate actions, to a happy hour for interested volunteers, and events with the Sierra Student Coalition on the Drexel University campus to get students involved.

I think my favorite event so far, though, might be the amazing "Tell Your Story" party in Inland Empire, California. Participants produced an amazing video of them telling stories about how climate disruption affects people in the city:

The 100 Days of Action continues, with many more events to come. We encourage to you contact your local Sierra Club chapter or organizer to see if there's an event coming up near you -- or organize your own!

President Obama took the first step by inviting the community to a conversation around climate disruption -- now it's up to us to respond and show the president it's time to act.

-- Mary Anne Hitt, Beyond Coal Campaign Director

http://sierraclub.typepad.com/compass/2013/01/100-days-of-action-event

Incoming! New Report Notes 14 "Carbon Bombs" Threatening To Blow The Global Carbon Budget

The general scientific consensus is that the average global temperature cannot be allowed to warm more than two degrees Celsius [3.6°F] in order to avoid catastrophic climate change. In fact, a two degree rise alone would threaten the water supplies of hundreds of millions of people, lead to global crop declines, bleach coral reefs around the world, and drive up ocean acidification.

Limiting global emissions between 2010 and 2050 to 1,050 gigatons of CO2-equivalent pollution should give us a 75 percent chance of staying under a two degree rise, according to a new report from Ecofys and Greenpeace, which rounded up 14 "carbon bombs" - the biggest coal, oil and natural gas projects currently being planned around the world.

According to the analysis, the combined effect of these projects alone would dump 300 new gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere by 2050. That would blow through roughly a third of the allowance that gives us a 75 percent chance of staying under two degrees. Needless to say, if these projects were carried out, it would make it vastly more difficult for the planet to stay on a path that keeps it under the two degree threshold.

Two of the projects can be found in the United States, and a third is deeply bound up with rapidly approaching U.S. policy choices:

• A plan to export new coal from the Pacific Northwest. This would add 420 million tons of carbon a year by 2020. Activists and even some American politicians have already been battling the project for some time.
• Expanded shale gas production. This will add 280 million tons a year by 2020 according to the report. But as David Roberts points out, this estimate relies on the assumption that natural gas fields leak methane at a rate of 3.9 percent. There's evidence that assumption significantly low-balls the problem.
• Tar sands in Canada. This project would be greatly helped along by construction of the Keystone XL pipeline through the lower-48 states. The Obama Administration will decide whether to approve the pipeline sometime after March.

Here's a map of the offenders, put together by The Washington Post's Brad Plumer from the report. (Click the image for a larger version.)

The two biggest offenders in the report were China's plan to ramp up new coal production, creating an additional 1,400 megatons of CO2 emissions a year, and Australia's plan to export 760 new megatons of coal per year. Ironically, both countries were hit by the effects of coal pollution over the course of 2012. Particulate pollution in Beijing literally broke the relevant measuring scales, and Australia was wracked by a record-breaking heat wave and a rash of wildfires, all linked to global warming.

There is some good news in the caveats, as Plumer notes. The energy produced by these projects won't necessarily add on linearly to each other, or to the energy already being produced by fossil fuels. Natural gas from one project could undercut the need for coal from another project, for instance. Or it could displace coal consumption already occurring - a net reduction in carbon output, in the latter instance. (Of course, these projects could also displace energy being produced from renewables. A problem, to put it mildly.)

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/01/23/1487311/14-carbon-bomb/?mo

Soot Pollution - the Number Two Contributor to Climate Change?

Soot is defined as the particulate matter released by the burning of fossil fuels, mainly coal. It is often a black substance that is deemed harmful because the dark particles cause warming by absorbing heat in the air. On a grand scale, black carbon also quickens the melting of glaciers. It is now listed as the number two human contributor to climate change.

http://theenergycollective.com/ecskris/173451/soot-pollution-climate-c