Carbon Positive News
US climate bill: Now for Plan DThursday, July 15, 2010 3:12 PM
Efforts to pass a climate bill in the US Congress have moved to Plan D this month, as pro-climate lawmakers face a fast-closing window of opportunity for pushing through carbon emissions capping legislation in 2010.
The latest approaches are around the idea of capping emissions on power plants only, the biggest contributing sector to greenhouse emissions and responsible for about a third of the US total.
In the latest developments:
- Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman are reworking their stalled compromise climate bill to try and resurrect its chances, concentrating on power plants and removing provisions to phase in other sectors at a later date.
- Senate majority leader Harry Reid is working on a climate and energy bill draft that might include the power plant caps from the Kerry-Lieberman bill within a wider alternative energy plan. Reid is believed to be aiming to introduce his bill to the Senate in the last week of July.
- Senator Jeff Bingaman, head of the Senate's energy and natural resources committee, has released a discussion draft for a new bill to cap emissions in power plants from 2012, among other things offering easier permit allocation. A scheme opt-in would be offered to manufacturers. Bingaman, however, says he has no plans to introduce a bill currently as it would stand little chance of success
It would be the fourth significant attempt to pass a carbon cap and trade bill in Congress during the Obama administration. The three previous attempts failed to make headway in the Senate over the past year. Most Republicans remain opposed to any form of cap and trade, characterising it as a "national energy tax".
Earlier this month, President Obama convened a cross-party group of twenty Senators constituting the main players in the climate legislative debate to tell them he wanted climate legislation with a price on carbon emissions. Obama did not prescribe any particular approach.
The most common feature across the bills so far is for the setting of a medium-term emissions reduction target on covered entities of 17 per cent below 2005 levels by 2020. This is consistent with the overall national US target tabled by the Obama administration at the Copenhagen climate conference. Accordingly, this appears to be the one area of consensus on US climate action in coming years, despite the target falling short of international expectations for a new global climate agreement.
Reuters 14/7/10, New York Times, Bloomberg 13/7/10, Van Ness Feldman 8/7/10
Related stories:
US climate bill emerges for uphill battle
US climate bill: Flawed but positive
Hill steepens for US climate bill
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World watches Indonesia forest dealWednesday, July 14, 2010 11:40 AM
A deal welcomed as a breakthrough initiative in the worldwide fight to halt tropical deforestation is running into problems amid the practical challenges to making it work on the ground. An agreement announced in May would see Norway pay $1 billion to Indonesia for forest protection in return for Jakarta declaring a two-year moratorium on forest clearing.
Indonesia is home to the world's third largest area of tropical rainforest and its high deforestation rates make it a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. The country is a key to the global forest challenge with Brazil and DR Congo.
As the international community grapples in various forums with the development of a worldwide system to pay for forest protection, REDD+, this Indonesia-Norway initiative provides an early test of the underlying principles of such a global mechanism. As such, it is currently THE front-line story in the battle against deforestation.
Draft rules for the moratorium issued by the Indonesian government appear to raise as many questions as they answer and there is a lot more work to be done before the freeze on clearing is set to take effect. The complexities of making a deal like this work are highlighted in the following article in the Wall Street Journal:
A widely hailed new project to restrict forest-clearing in Indonesia over the next two years is turning out to be more complicated than expected and could leave large areas of the country unprotected, as environmentalists and industry groups fight over terms of the deal before it takes effect in January.
Read the full story at
Plan to save Indonesia's forests hits snags
Join a discussion on the LinkedIN Forest Carbon Association group
Background:
Indonesia freezes forest clearing
Indonesia drafts rules on forest clearing ban
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Japan ETS plan hits electoral snagTuesday, July 13, 2010 6:15 PM
The government of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), under the recently appointed prime minister, Naoto Kan, lost its majority in the upper house and must now negotiate with other parties to secure passage of legislation. This includes a contentious climate bill.
Japan has been looked upon as a climate change leader among rich nations since the DPJ government came to power promising the most stringent emissions reduction target of any industrialised economy – 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.
A wide ranging climate bill could not be passed before the upper house election that would enshrine the target in law. It would also commit the government to producing an emission trading scheme legislative blueprint within a year.
Climate policy analysts are concerned that the government might now move to water down the climate bill to win its passage through parliament, including dropping plans for an economy-wide cap and trade scheme.
Reuters 12/7/10
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Climate change job vacancies #103Tuesday, July 13, 2010 8:39 AM
Oxfam GB
www.oxfam.org.uk
Economic Policy Adviser
Duty Station: Oxford, UK
Deadline for Applications: 14 July 2010
Contact : Oxfam GB via link
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Overseas Development Institute
www.odi.org.uk
Research Officer 1: Climate Change
Duty Station: London, UK
Deadline for Applications: 14 July 2010
Contact Person: recruitment@odi.org.uk
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Global Gender and Climate Alliance
http://gender-climate.org/
Coordinator
Duty Station: Home based
Deadline for Applications: 26 July 2010
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Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (GEF/UNDP/UNOPS PEMSEA)
www.pemsea.org
Port Safety, Health and Environmental Management Consultant (Short-term)
Duty Station: Manila, Philippines.
Deadline for Applications: 16 July 2010
Contact: Mrs Sprong-Wijnreder,
franca.sprong@gtz.de
Tel: +66 81 887 78 64;
Mr. Renato Cardinal,
rcardinal@pemsea.org
Tel: +1 632 926 3752
Special Requirements: With frequent travel to other countries involved in the project; as well as spend part of the time in the project office in Bangkok
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Transparency International
Forest Governance Integrity programme
www.transparency.org/fgi
Programme Coordinator [PDF]
Preventive Anti-Corruption measures in REDD mechanisms
Duty Station: Berlin, Germany
Deadline for Applications: 10 August 2010
Contact Person: Michel GARY,
Project Manager,
PAC-REDD-job@transparency.org
+49 303 4382 0721
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Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation
http://www.climateworks.org/
Interim Director of Programs
Duty Station: New Delhi, India
Deadline for Applications: 31 August 2010
Contact Person: Aarthi Ananthanarayanan
aarthi@cearecruiting.com
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ClearCarbon Consulting
http://www.clearcarboninc.com
Greenhouse Gas Analyst or Senior Analyst (with Agricultural Focus)
Duty Station: Arlington, Virginia, USA
Deadline for Applications: Open until filled
Contact Person: Sarah Matheson
smatheson@clearcarboninc.com
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ClearCarbon Consulting
http://www.clearcarboninc.com
Research Associate
Duty Station: Arlington, Virginia, USA
Deadline for Applications: Open until filled
Contact Person: Sarah Matheson
smatheson@clearcarboninc.com
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ClearCarbon Consulting
http://www.clearcarboninc.com
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Analyst
Duty Station: Arlington, Virginia, USA
Deadline for Applications: Open until filled
Contact Person: Sarah Matheson
smatheson@clearcarboninc.com
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