Submitted by Bill Becker on 16/May/2006

Message:

House Committee Supports Mandatory Caps on U.S. GHG Emissions
On May 10, the House Appropriations Committee went on record in support of addressing climate change through a mandatory cap on U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The committee by voice vote accepted an amendment to the FY07 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill, sponsored by Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA), to include a Sense of the Congress resolution on climate change. The resolution calls for "mandatory market-based limits and incentives to slow, stop, and reverse the growth of GHG emissions in a manner that will not significantly harm the United States economy, and encourages comparable action from international trading partners.

Senate Energy Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Ranking Member Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) said in a statement, The bipartisan decision of the House Appropriations Committee to adopt a resolution on global warming that is identical to the Sense of the Senate resolution passed last year is an important indicator of the growing interest in Congress to responsibly address global warming. Climate Center policy director David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) said, "This is another indication of serious Congressional movement on global warming. A majority of the Senate and a traditionally conservative committee are now on record supporting global warming limits."

Click on the following links for the full news stories: Free Market News Network, NRDC and E&E News PM (subscription)


Senators Call for Stricter Fuel Economy Standards, Reduced GHG Emissions
On May 10, Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and Richard Durbin (D-IL) released details of their proposed legislation that would raise fuel economy standards for all vehicles, including SUVs and sedans, from the current combined CAF average of 24.8 miles per gallon (mpg) to 35 mpg by model year 2017. The Feinstein-Snowe-Durbin bill would save 2.5 million barrels of oil per day by 2025, equivalent to the amount of oil currently imported to the United States from the Persian Gulf; and prevent 420 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2025, the equivalent of taking 90 million cars off the road in one year. Senator Feinstein said, We have the technology to raise the average fuel efficiency of all vehicles to 35 miles per gallon by model year 2017. Its up to Congress to ensure that the standards are there to prompt the auto industry to build a cleaner fleet. We also need to act urgently on global warming. Reducing our carbon dioxide emissions. is one of the most important steps we can take to address global warming. We must act now. The final language is being drafted and the Senators hope to introduce the legislation in the coming week.

Click on the following links for the full news stories: Associated Press, KCBS, Senator Feinstein, Senator Snowe and Senator Durbin


World Bank Chief Scientist Warns of Greater Temperature Increases
On May 11, the World Banks Chief Scientist Dr. Robert Watson told a Cologne carbon trade fair that global temperatures may be increasing more quickly than first thought, and evidence is stronger that humans are causing the rise. Dr. Watson cited research reviewed in the draft version of the upcoming Fourth assesment Report of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Dr. Watson said, Everybody Ive talked to in [IPCC scientific evidence] Working Group 1 says the evidence is getting stronger, that this is more and more solid ... and that most observed warming is due to human activities. Dr. Watson also said that the expected temperature increase is larger than previous assesments, stating, The latest climate change models suggest changes on the upper end of the scale, a projected temperature increase of 3-5C.

Click on the following link for the full news story: Reuters


Climate Change Impacts Felt in Russian Arctic, Winters Two Months Shorter
In a survey released May 10 by WWF, the global conservation organization, indigenous Russian Arctic peoples report a shortening of the winter season by two months. The survey documents the impacts of climate change being felt in the far northeastern corner of Eurasia, Russias Chukotka Peninsula. Vladilen Kavry, a local Chukotkan hunter, collected coastal residents perceptions of climate change and found reports of changing seasonal weather patterns and increased unpredictability and instability of the weather.

According to WWF, respondents noted shorter winters, observing that the fallwinter transition is occurring about one month later and spring weather arriving about one month earlier. Girgory Mikhailovich Rykhtyn, a Chukchi seal hunter and reindeer herder said, There is no longer good sea ice. Sea ice now remains until mid-June, and is gone altogether by mid-July. In the past, people were able to hunt on the ice all summer long. Siberian Yupik sea hunter Vladimir Petrovich Typykhkak said, the sea begins to freeze in November only, while before it did so in September.

Click on the following links for the full news stories: WWF and Siku News Service


Weakening Tropical Winds Due to Human GHG Emissions
In the May 4 issue of Nature, scientists reported that the Walker wind circulation pattern over the Pacific Ocean has begun to weaken due to human-induced climate change. The Walker circulation drives climate and ocean behavior across the tropical Pacific, and trade winds are the portion of the Walker circulation that blow across the ocean surface. The study led by University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) scientist Gabriel Vecchi finds that the Walker circulation has weakened by 3.5 percent since the mid-1800s, and it may weaken another ten percent by 2100.

The authors analyzed 11 simulations using the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) climate model for the period 1861 to 2000. Only the simulations that included an increase in greenhouse gases (GHG) showed the Walker circulation slowing at a rate consistent with the observations. Dr. Vecchi said, This could have important effects on ocean ecosystems. The ocean currents driven by the trade winds supply vital nutrients to the near-surface ocean ecosystems across the equatorial Pacific, which is a major fishing region.

Click on the following links for the full news stories: NASA, Nature, UCAR and Forbes


Al Gore and Theodore Roosevelt IV Form Alliance for Climate Protection
On May 10, former Vice President Al Gore, Jeff Skoll, CEO, Participant Productions (a Paramount Classics Subsidiary) and John Lesher, President of Participants specialty division announced the formation of the Alliance for Climate Protection to boost public awareness about global warming. Gore and Theodore Roosevelt IV, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Managing Director and great-grandson of former President Roosevelt, will co-chair the alliance.

According to Bloomberg, the Gore-Roosevelt group plans to enlist the broad-based support of lawmakers, religious leaders, the agriculture industry, manufacturers, labor groups, and possibly several high-profile Republicans, in the wake of the release of Gores climate change documentary, An Inconvenient Truth on May 24. Mr. Roosevelt said, "There is a recognition we are getting much closer to serious adverse consequences. According to PRNewswire, Paramount Classics has committed five percent of their domestic theatrical gross for the film, with a minimum guarantee of $500,000 to be donated to the new bipartisan climate alliance. The agreement will run the length of the films United States release.

Click on the following links for the full news stories: Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, ABC News and PRNewswire


Developed Countries Urged to Reach Consensus on Climate Action
According to a newly released book, Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change, the most dangerous impacts of global warming can still be avoided if immediate action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with existing technologies. On May 9, the United Kingdoms lead international climate change director Henry Derwent released the book in the United States at a media briefing at JP Morgan Chase in New York. Mr. Derwent urged developed countries to reach a consensus on the scale of action needed to stabilize the climate and avoid dangerous climate change, saying, This must now be a serious and urgent priority for all governments. The book, a compendium of the findings from a 2005 Exeter scientific conference (see Climate Change News 2.4.05), presents the latest science on the causes and impacts of global warming, as well as new data on the ability of proven technologies to slow, halt and reverse the growth in GHG emissions.

At a May 10 Congressional briefing, hosted by the British Embassy and the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Dr. Michael Schlesinger, a contributing author and professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said Through the burning of fossil fuels, we have been performing an uncontrolled experiment on our planet. It is now time to rein in that experiment, to earnestly begin the transition from the age of fossil fuels to the post-fossil-fuels age. Dr. Robert Socolow, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University and a contributing author, said that the technologies needed to dramatically reduce carbon emissions already exist. Dr. Socolow said, We know how to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. In order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we need to accelerate the widespread adoption of clean energy technologies in the United States and throughout the world, especially in the developing world where so much investment is now occurring.

Click on the following links for the full news stories: PRNewswire, DEFRA, British Embassy and Cambridge University Press


Alaska State Legislature Creates Climate Change Impact Assessment Commission
On May 9, the Alaska State legislature passed HCR 30 (see Climate Change News 4.14.06), the first legislation ever enacted in Alaska concerning climate change. Unanimous votes in the State Senate and House approved the bill, which creates a Climate Change Impact assessment Commission. The commission is charged with estimating costs to the state and its citizens of the adverse effects associated with climate change, and offering recommendations for possible solutions and preventative measures that can be implemented by Alaska communities and state and federal governments. A preliminary report of the commission is due March 1, 2007, and a final report is due January 10, 2008.

Click on the following link for the full new story: Alaska Legislature


New UK Foreign Secretary Will Focus on Combating Climate Change
On May 9, newly promoted British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said that the environment would be the big new theme of her tenure, with combating climate change becoming a top priority of British foreign policy. Secretary Beckett said that one of the reasons that Tony Blair had asked her to take over the Foreign Office was to intensify Britains focus on tackling global warming. She said, The Prime Minister wants to give as much and possibly even a greater emphasis [to promoting the environmental agreements at last years G8 summit in Gleneagles].

Click on the following link for the full news story: Telegraph


Response of Plants to Elevated CO2 Levels
Research published in the May 9 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) details the biological mechanism by which plants respond to increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration. Dr. Julian Schroeder, professor of biology at the University of California San Diego, and his coauthors show how the level of CO2 in the atmosphere controls the opening and closing of leaf stomatapores through which plants breathe CO2. How plants respond to increasing CO2 is an important source of uncertainty in predictions about global warming. Dr. Schroeder said, As human activity continues to raise atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, a better understanding of how plants respond to carbon dioxide is becoming imperative.

According to the University of California San Diego (UCSD), one of the standard arguments against taking action to reduce emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels is that the elevated carbon dioxide levels will stimulate plants to grow faster. The assumption is that plants will take up excess carbon dioxide to produce carbohydratestheir stored energy source. However, recent studies have shown that, contrary to expectations, increased carbon dioxide does not accelerate plant growth. Research has also shown that the doubling of atmospheric CO2 expected to occur this century can cause leaf stomata to close by 20 to 40 percent in diverse plant species, reducing CO2 intake and water respiration. Dr. Schroeder said that this latest research aimed at understanding the underlying mechanisms may make it possible to engineer improved water use efficiency in some crop plants or trees that will be exposed to higher carbon dioxide levels in the future.

Click on the following link for the full news story: UCSD and PNAS


EESI Briefings
DVDs Available: Copies of DVD's are available of EESI's recent climate briefings: "Agriculture and Climate Change: Threats and Opportunities," May 24, 2005; "What Does Climate Change Mean for the Arctic? How is Alaska Being Affected?," March 15, 2005; "Perspectives on Climate Change: Business Initiatives to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions," November 18, 2004; State and Local Government Climate Change Efforts, September 28, 2004; Climate Change Post 2100, September 21, 2004; Abrupt Climate Change, September 15, 2004; and Discussing Climate Change: A Multi-faceted View of the Climate Stewardship Act, June 3, 2004. The discs are $20 ea. (incl. shipping/handling) plus tax 5.75% (DC residents only). Click on the following link to order a DVD: EESI Climate Change DVD's


Events
May 17, 2006 Business Strategies to Promote Renewable Energy Development
The American Bar Association's (ABA) Renewable Energy Resources Committee will host a teleconference entitled "How Global Businesses Incorporate Cutting Edge Strategies that Promote the Development of Renewables" that will discuss the current corporate interest in clean energy and sustainability, the nature of the renewables market, and the business community responses to the resultant opportunities presented. The event takes place on Wednesday, May 17 from 12:15-1:30 pm ET. There is a $20 charge for this event. Click on the following link for more information: ABA

May 24, 2006 Al Gore's Climate Change Documentary Opens
The climate change documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, profiling former Vice President Al Gore's campaign to raise awareness about the links between carbon emissions and climate change and making his case for what should be done about it, will open in U.S. theaters on May 24. The 95-minute film grew out of Gore's lecture circuit presentation on climate change. The film opens in the Washington DC area on June 2, with screenings at the E Street, Georgetown and Bethesda Row Theaters. For more information see: An Inconvenient Truth

April-November, 2006 Smithsonian Natural History Museum Arctic Climate Special Exhibit
The Arctic: A Friend Acting Strangely exhibit is part of the Forces of Change Program at the National Museum of Natural History. The exhibit explores changes that have been observed in the Arctic, the Earths northernmost region, and how they are monitored by scientists and polar residents. The exhibit will be open to the public April 15 - November 2006. For more information, click the following link: Smithsonian