In this edition, a summary of the debate’s lack of climate talks, in Politico’s Climate change still a no-show at debates and The New York Times’ Bigger Than Either of Them?. Meanwhile, Ceres weighs in on oil sands and Americans Support More Waste Water Reuse, GE Survey Shows.
Quote of the Day:
“Given that climate change may be the greatest challenge we face in the decades ahead, to be silent on the issue over the course of four debates does a real disservice to the country.”
–Penn State climate researcher Michael Mann in Politico’s “Climate change still a no-show at debates”
Lead Stories
European Union to Propose 2030 Climate Framework by 2014
Bloomberg
The European Union plans to propose next year or in 2014 a framework for reducing greenhouse gases in the period until 2030 to ensure regulatory stability necessary for investments in clean technologies.
http://jlne.ws/UyWZGb
**RKB – More in Carbon section.
Climate change still a no-show at debates
Politico
Scientists warn the planet is facing a global climate crisis that could result in unprecedented sea-level rise, drought and food shortages. But you wouldn’t know it from listening to the presidential debates.
http://jlne.ws/P0oIwL
Bigger Than Either of Them?
The New York Times
“DRILL, baby, drill.” It is among the best-remembered lines of the 2008 presidential campaign, colorfully capturing the desire of many Americans for cheap, reliable energy produced at home rather than in unpredictable places like Iran or Venezuela.
http://jlne.ws/RfKXic
The Issue that Dare Not Speak Its Name
The New York Times Green blog
A mountain of scientific evidence points to climate change as a serious risk for the human future. The Pentagon sees it as a threat to national security. Arctic sea ice hit a record low this summer. In some low-lying countries threatened by sea level rise, evacuation planning has already begun.
http://jlne.ws/S1RWvX
Obama and Romney clash over clean energy, but climate change frozen out
Business Green
US green NGOs and businesses have been left frustrated after the final presidential debate before next month’s election failed to address the topic of climate change and made no mention of environmental issues.
http://jlne.ws/VBoFvw
Investors Call on Canadian Oil Sands Producers to Improve Environmental and Social Performance
Press Release and Report – Ceres
As presidential candidates spar over the issue of North American energy independence, a group of 49 investors with $2 trillion in assets under management are calling on Canadian oil sands developers to dramatically reduce the environmental and social impact of their operations by lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, managing water use, promoting land reclamation and consulting fully with First Nations and other communities affected by oil sands projects. The investors argued that these performance improvements “should be prioritized ahead of unmitigated growth ambitions for oil sands development.”
http://jlne.ws/XbssNQ
Investor group says oil sands industry must cut environmental risks
The Globe and Mail
An international group of ethical funds with investments in Alberta’s oil sands is concerned the industry’s environmental performance could be creating financial risk.
http://jlne.ws/QU2GIm
EU biofuel shift could apply to tar sands: Wynn
Reuters
The European Commission has proposed phasing out support for food-based biofuels in a move that not only undermines the industry but provides a possible roadmap for addressing the wider implications of producing crude
oil from tar sands.
http://jlne.ws/XbqOfd
Newsweek’s 2012 Green Rankings: This time it’s serious
GreenBiz.com
The latest Green Rankings from Newsweek are out today, and while there aren’t any show-stopping changes from last year, at least at the top of the list, this year’s rankings represent the first meaningful, apples-to-apples comparison of company performance in the rankings’ four-year history.
http://jlne.ws/Sp1aj9
IKEA to move to clean energy by 2020, protect forests
Reuters
IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, will shift to renewable energy by 2020 and grow more trees than it uses under a plan to safeguard nature that has won support from environmentalists.
http://jlne.ws/P0uyyh
Indonesia Seeks Big Jump in Output of Renewable Energy
The Wall Street Journal
Renewable sources will provide Indonesia with as much as 25% of its electricity by 2025, up from around 7% today, Djadjang Sukarna, the secretary of the nation’s renewable energy directorate, said Monday.
http://jlne.ws/TEO1Bg
WWF makes case for targeted renewables support
Business Green
Adopting an economy-wide carbon price is unlikely to provide the surge in investment required to decarbonise the UK’s energy sector, according to a major new report from WWF that makes the case for the continuation of targeted support for renewable energy projects.
http://jlne.ws/WHnwlk
Events
EMA 2012 Fall Meeting
**Keynote speaker is Richard Sandor
October 24 – October 26, 2012
Santa Monica, CA
http://jlne.ws/NIFCwM
Carbon
Brussels pitches ban on Kyoto-era credits
EurActiv
The European Commission has proposed an Emissions Trading System (ETS) ban on 440 million euro of Kyoto-era carbon credits from non-EU countries such as Russia, which have not signed up to a second Kyoto commitment period.
http://jlne.ws/Rj81uN
EU Should Steepen Carbon-Reduction Trajectory, Survey Shows
Bloomberg
Europe should steepen the pace of greenhouse-gas emission reductions in its carbon market through 2050 as it seeks to fix a glut in the supply of allowances, according to a survey of traders, lobbyists and analysts.
http://jlne.ws/S206EB
Natural Gas/Coal
Canada Rejects $5.21 Billion Petronas-Progress Deal
The Wall Street Journal
Canada over the weekend rejected the 5.18 billion Canadian dollar (US$5.21 billion) takeover offer by Malaysia’s state-controlled energy giant for Canadian natural-gas producer Progress Energy Resources Corp., PRQ.T -3.36% in a surprise move that clouds Canada’s approach to foreign investment.
http://jlne.ws/T9mk31
China’s Bid for Nexen May Survive a Rejection
The New York Times
The rejection of a major energy industry takeover by Canadian government may not indicate that it is adopting a harder line on mergers involving foreign companies.
http://jlne.ws/SgTcdC
BP Executive Calls Australia Too Costly
The Wall Street Journal
The cost of operating in Australia is discouraging investment in its natural resources, the president of BP BP.LN -2.30% PLC’s Australasian operations said, joining a growing chorus of international energy executives.
http://jlne.ws/SoYSAt
The Big New Push to Export America’s Gas Bounty
The New York Times
JUST off the coast of Texas, Excelerate Energy is hoping to strike it big.
http://jlne.ws/RxNcve
National Grid takes to the road with Liquid Natural Gas master plan
Business Green
Companies considering using liquefied natural gas (LNG) to power their buildings and fleets could soon receive a major boost, after National Grid today announced plans for a major distribution hub for the relatively low emission fuel.
http://jlne.ws/Sp6Nhs
Power
NRG Gets U.S. Lease for Delaware Offshore Wind Project
Bloomberg
The U.S. Interior Department agreed to lease more than 96,400 acres of ocean off the Delaware coast for an offshore wind farm, while NRG Energy Inc. (NRG), the project’s owner, considers selling it.
http://jlne.ws/PoV5XC
EDF Denies U.K. Nuclear Deal to Be Sealed in ‘Smoke-Filled Room’
Bloomberg
Electricite de France SA rejected criticism that its one-to-one talks with the U.K. over the deal it’ll get to build nuclear plants in the country means officials setting rates in a “smoke-filled room” without open scrutiny.
http://jlne.ws/S1KBMO
SSE, Fluor apply to build huge wind park offshore Scotland
Reuters
SSE and Fluor applied to the Scottish government to build and operate the first phase of their planned 3.5 gigawatt (GW) Firth of Forth offshore wind farm, one of the biggest being planned in Britain.
http://jlne.ws/RTKQq2
CleanTech
WiseTech Global goes carbon neutral
Voxy.co.nz
WiseTech Global, a global leader in the provision of technology solutions for the logistics, transport and healthcare industries, announced it has established the baseline metrics to track its carbon emissions, and plans to integrate carbon emission tracking tools into its existing software solutions for key brands CargoWise, TransLogix and eHealthWise.
http://jlne.ws/T9nifx
Water
Water Stress Hurting More Than 50% of Global Companies, CDP Says
Bloomberg
Water stress affects more than half of the world’s largest listed companies, according to the Carbon Disclosure Project, which urged businesses to set targets and increase board oversight to manage a shrinking resource.
http://jlne.ws/TRDqDC
Americans Support More Waste Water Reuse, GE Survey Shows
Bloomberg
The majority of Americans polled support re-using water to help protect the environment and stem scarcity issues forecast for 36 U.S. states next year, according to a General Electric Co. (GE) consumer survey.
http://jlne.ws/SgOb4M
Miscellaneous
Invasive Grasses as Biofuel? Scientists Protest
The New York Times Green blog
More than 200 scientists from across the country have sent a letter to the Obama administration urging the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider a rule, in the final approval stages, that would allow two invasive grasses, Arundo donax and Pennisetum purpureum, to qualify as advanced biofuel feedstock under the nation’s renewable fuel standard.
http://jlne.ws/Rj4XPk
On Our Radar: ‘Climate of Doubt’
The New York Times Green blog
“Climate of Doubt,” a “Frontline” documentary that airs Tuesday night on PBS, explores how a movement mobilized to undermine public acceptance of the scientific consensus on global warming and on how human activity contributes to climate change. The conservative Heartland Institute, which has played a prominent role in seeking to discredit climate science, pre-emptively issues a statement denying that a scientific consensus exists and predicting that the documentary will be unfair. [PBS, Heartland Institute]
http://jlne.ws/Rj5lxg
A New Sustainability Chief for New York
The New York Times
New York City’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability is about to see a changing of the guard. In a few weeks Sergej Mahnovski, the current director of energy policy for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, will take over the sustainability office, which puts changes into effect related to the mayor’s PlaNYC environmental agenda.
http://jlne.ws/PPf41k
Reports
Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in September 2012 (Posted Oct. 21, 2012)
Yale Project on Climate Change Communication
http://jlne.ws/T4XcdE
The EU Emissions Trading System (Posted Oct. 17, 2012)
Environmental Defense Fund
http://jlne.ws/R5RSKM
Energy Water Nexus: Coordinated Federal Approach Needed to Better Manage Energy and Water Tradeoffs (Posted Oct. 17, 2012)
GAO
http://jlne.ws/T2epJe
Carbon Markets and Carbon Policy in China (Posted Oct. 15, 2012)
The Climate Institute/Climate Bridge
http://jlne.ws/T2mHma
The Carbon Emissions of Server Computing for small- to medium-sized organizations (Posted Oct. 15, 2012)
http://jlne.ws/Rp3Jk5
The Hidden Costs of Electricity: Comparing the Hidden Costs of Power Generation Fuels (Posted Sept. 19, 2012)
http://jlne.ws/PCt372
CDP Global 500 Climate Change Report (Posted Sept. 11, 2012)
Carbon Disclosure Project
Beyond the bluster: Why wind power is an effective technology (Posted Aug. 30, 2012)
IPPR
http://jlne.ws/UeZB9b
Carbon Tax Revenue and the Budget Deficit: A Win-Win Solution? (Posted Aug. 27, 2012)
MIT
http://jlne.ws/Ri3So8
The 21st Century Corporation: The Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability (Posted Aug. 21, 2012)
Ceres
http://jlne.ws/ONwe8M
EPA REGULATIONS AND ELECTRICITY (Posted Aug. 16, 2012)
GAO
http://jlne.ws/NHwlos
European Power & Renewables Deals: Quarterly M&A outlook (Posted August 15, 2012)
Pricewaterhousecoopers
http://jlne.ws/TFZjaV
Advancing Technology for America’s Transportation Future (Posted August 6, 2012)
http://jlne.ws/MA2U6I
Benchmarking Air Emissions Of the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in the United States (Posted July 31, 2012)
http://jlne.ws/QbRr0J
Per capita CO2 emissions in China reached European level (July 18, 2012)
http://jlne.ws/NAjBQQ
The Interim Regulation of Voluntary Greenhouse Gases Emission Trading in China (Posted July 10, 2012)
The Climate Group
http://jlne.ws/Mhv62s
Measure for Management: C40 Cities (July 9, 2012)
Carbon Disclosure Project
http://jlne.ws/L9LC37
