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Obama Will Seek Aggressive Early Cap On Climate Pollution
BY CHRIS HOLLY
Staking out an aggressive position on a key issue in the global warming debate, President-elect Barack Obama called Tuesday for returning U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020—a reduction of 20 to 30 percent, according to federal estimates of likely emissions growth over the next dozen years—and then cutting emissions an additional 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
In a videotaped message to the Bipartisan Governors Climate Summit in Los Angeles hosted by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), Obama signaled his determination to make the United States the global leader in combating global warming, spelling out for the first time how quickly, and how sharply, he would trim U.S. emissions.
Obama throughout his campaign for the White House had pledged to cut emissions by 80 percent by 2050, without specifying the baseline against which those cuts would be taken. His remarks Tuesday also were the first detailed description of what he would require in the early years of a national cap-and-trade program.
“My presidency will mark a new chapter in America’s leadership on climate change that will strengthen our security and create millions of new jobs in the process,” Obama said. “That will start with a federal cap-and-trade system. We will establish strong annual targets that set us on a course to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them an additional 80 percent by 2050.”
Obama’s promise to pursue an aggressive emissions cap in the early years of a U.S. cap-and-trade program puts him at odds with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) and House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-Va.), who last month unveiled draft climate change legislation that would require far more modest short-term emissions cuts of 6 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) also has voiced caution on setting aggressive caps in the early years of a U.S. program, sponsoring legislation (S. 1766) that would return emissions to 2006 levels by 2020 and to 1990 levels a decade later.
Dingell and Boucher for months have warned that setting aggressive caps in the early years of a cap-and-trade program would force utilities to shift to natural gas, asserting that technology for capturing carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants and storing it deep below ground won’t be commercially available for at least a decade or longer. Massive utility fuel-switching, they warn, will cause electricity prices to spike and dampen voter support for a strong U.S. response to global warming.
Repeating a pledge that was a staple of his campaign for the White House, Obama promised billions of dollars in federal spending over the next decade to transform the U.S. fossil fuel economy to one that relies on clean energy, saying the effort would “steer our country out of this economic crisis” by creating millions of new manufacturing jobs.
“…[W]e will invest $15 billion each year to catalyze private sector efforts to build a clean energy future,” Obama said. “We will invest in solar power, wind power and next-generation biofuels. We will tap nuclear power, while making sure it is safe. And we will develop clean coal technologies.
“This investment will not only help us reduce our dependence on foreign oil, making the United States more secure. And it will not only help us bring about a clean energy future, saving our planet. It will also help us transform our industries and steer our country out of this economic crisis by generating 5 million new green jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced.”
Obama’s remarks were embraced by members of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a coalition of 27 corporations and six environmental groups that joined in early 2007 to announce support for a U.S. cap and trade program.
At a press conference Tuesday called to express support for moving climate change legislation by the end of 2009, corporate and environmental leaders of USCAP members backed Obama’s remarks, which had been released to the news media only minutes before the USCAP press conference was scheduled to begin.
They said Obama’s statement shows that he will be an aggressive leader in the climate change debate, and that presidential leadership is essential to press Congress for action on global warming legislation.
“I think we have to recognize that I don’t think we’ve had the leadership on this issue that we potentially have today, particularly given the statement made by the president-elect,” said Jeff Sterba, chairman and chief executive officer of PNM Resources. “And that can make a world of difference.”
Sterba and other executives said that Obama’s linking of the climate change and energy independence issues will make it easier for Congress to tackle these daunting problems.
“The interlinkage…between energy and climate, the ability to bring those things together and the willingness of the administration to have those two things come together, can expedite the ability to get new legislation,” Sterba said.
David Crane, president and chief executive officer of NRG Energy, a leading power producer, said Obama’s willingness to put a price on carbon by restricting emissions will send the signal the economy needs to develop new energy technologies.
“American capitalism is the most dynamic force on the Earth…and what it responds to is price signals,” Crane said. “Without a price on carbon, American capitalism will not solve the carbon abatement [problem] so that’s what we need right now.”
Court Backs State Override Of County’s Wind Farm Protest
BY GEORGE LOBSENZ
In a key legal win for the wind industry, the state Supreme Court in Washington has upheld action by Gov. Christine Gregoire overriding local government objections to a wind farm planned by Horizon Wind Energy in Kittitas County. If you are a subscriber click here to view full story. Not a subscriber? You can purchase this story by clicking here.
EPA Issues 2009 Renewable Fuels Standard
In what has become an annual rite since the enactment of the 2005 Energy Policy Act, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday it has revised the renewable fuels standard to 10.21 percent for 2009, an increase EPA said will lead to the use of 11.1 billion gallons of renewable fuel in that year. If you are a subscriber click here to view full story. Not a subscriber? You can purchase this story by clicking here.
Schwarzenegger Ups California RPS To 33 Percent By 2020
Shrugging off the likely steep price tag, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Monday endorsed a proposal by the California Air Resources Board to boost the state’s renewable portfolio standard to 33 percent by 2020, issuing an executive order directing state agencies to prepare for the beefed-up mandate, which awaits approval by the California legislature. If you are a subscriber click here to view full story. Not a subscriber? You can purchase this story by clicking here.
North Carolina Utilities Partner In PHEV Trial
In the first plug-in hybrid vehicle test involving multiple utilities, an energy innovation firm has announced it is partnering with North Carolina utilities Progress Energy and Duke Energy Corp. to assess the potential for wide-scale adoption of electric vehicles. If you are a subscriber click here to view full story. Not a subscriber? You can purchase this story by clicking here.
JA Solar Teams With BP; Suntech Sees 2009 Bounce
With solar panel companies being socked by falling profits and stock prices, JA Solar Holdings Co. Thursday announced a joint venture with BP’s alternative energy subsidiary to bolster its access to key markets. If you are a subscriber click here to view full story. Not a subscriber? You can purchase this story by clicking here.
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