Obama calls major economies climate change meeting

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is launching a "Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate" to help facilitate a U.N. agreement on global warming, the White House said on Saturday.

Leaders from 16 major economies have been invited to a preparatory session on April 27 and 28 in Washington to "help generate the political leadership necessary" to achieve an international pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions later this year, it said in a statement.

It said the meeting would spur dialogue among developed and developing countries about the issue, "and advance the exploration of concrete initiatives and joint ventures that increase the supply of clean energy while cutting greenhouse gas emissions."

The major economies include: Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the United States.

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Obama calls major economies climate change meeting

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And Obama gives the best clean energy and global warming solutions job to …

Cathy Zoi, CEO of Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection, has been nominated by President Obama to serve as Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) under Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

Zoi has a unique combination of expertise in clean energy and high level federal government experience — she was Chief of Staff in the Clinton White House Office on Environmental Policy, managing the staff working on environmental and energy issues (full bio here, recent writing below). Since I have known Zoi for nearly 2 decades and since in 1997 I held the job she is now nominated for, I can personally attest she will be able to hit the ground running in the crucial job of overseeing the vast majority of the development and deployment of plausible climate solutions technology.

What does EERE do? You could spend hours on their website, here, exploring everything they are into. Of the 12 to 14 most plausible wedges the world needs to stabilize at 350 to 450 ppm — the full global warming solution — EERE is the principal federal agency for working with businesses to develop and deploy the technology for 11 of them!

The stimulus and the 2009 budget dramatically increases — more than doubles — EERE funding for technology development and deployment. Zoi’s most important job is deployment, deployment, deployment. And again she is a uniquely qualified to get clean energy into the marketplace. Zoi was a manager at the US Environmental Protection Agency where “she pioneered the Energy Star Program,” which was the pioneering energy efficiency deployment program launched in the early 1990s.

So we know Zoi gets energy efficiency. Here’s what she wrote last year about “Embracing the Challenge to Repower America“:

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And Obama gives the best clean energy and global warming solutions job to …

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Obama pledges billions for renewable energy projects

by Ewen MacAskill, The Guardian - published under license by, BusinessGreen

President says $129bn that has been allocated for environmental plans is off limits to Congress

Barack Obama yesterday declared the billions of dollars he is planning to spend on renewable energy projects off-limits to the usual bartering over the next few weeks with Congress....

Obama pledges billions for renewable energy projects

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APS commends President Obama's memorandum on scientific integrity

(American Physical Society) The American Physical Society today commends President Obama's decision to sign a Memorandum on Scientific Integrity that will ensure that fact-based, scientific evidence is used in the development of solutions to the nation's most pressing challenges.

"This memorandum rightly places science at the forefront of informing the President, agency leaders and Congress in their development of solutions to issues such as enhancing energy security, revamping health care, and improving science and math education," said APS President Cherry A. Murray.

APS has a long history of using its scientific expertise to inform policymakers on issues of critical concern to the nation. Some of the organization's reports have focused on energy efficiency (www.aps.org/energyefficiencyreport/), nuclear power and proliferation (http://www.aps.org/policy/reports/popa-reports/proliferation-resistance/upload/proliferation.pdf), and nuclear forensics (http://www.aps.org/policy/reports/popa-reports/upload/nuclear-forensics.pdf).

APS commends President Obama's memorandum on scientific integrity

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Leaked slides show Obama EPA is fast-tracking global warming endangerment finding

From Think Progress:

In April 2007, the Supreme Court mandated that the EPA determine whether greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare and take action in response. After more than a year of resistance, the EPA released a document of staff findings, which was then quickly attacked by White House political appointees. They also resisted finalizing taking any actions. Today, Greenwire (sub. req’d) published an internal EPA presentation showing that the Obama administration is “fast-tracking” its response to the 2007 ruling, with plans to release its findings in mid-April:

To expand to public health, EPA plans to make connections between climate change and everything from temperatures to air quality and expanded ranges of vector-borne and tick-borne diseases.

The EPA document said dealing with public health and welfare had “solid legal defensibility.”

The Obama EPA’s analysis is significant; the Bush ruling ignored global warming’s effects on public health, focusing only on “welfare and the links between greenhouse gases and visibility, weather, crop damage and soil.” View the slide show here.

Leaked slides show Obama EPA is fast-tracking global warming endangerment finding.

Technorati Tags: global warming,EPA,Obama

Obama rolls back Bush rules on endangered species

Hallelujah.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday directed U.S. government agencies to consult with scientists before taking action that could harm endangered species, rolling back last-minute rules put forward by former President George W. Bush.

Obama rolls back Bush rules on endangered species

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Obama reverses Bush effort in pollution case

By DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration signaled Friday that it will seek more stringent controls on mercury pollution from the nation's power plants, abandoning a Bush administration approach that the industry supported.

The Justice Department on Friday submitted papers to the Supreme Court to dismiss the Bush administration's appeal of the rule, which a lower court struck down last year.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency said it would begin crafting a new rule limiting mercury emissions from power plants.

The court was expected to decide later this month whether it would take the case. Last year, an appeals court ruled that the Bush plan violated the law by allowing utilities to purchase emission credits instead of actually reducing emissions.

Such a plan would have allowed some power plants to release more mercury pollution than others, creating localized "hot spots" where concentrations are higher, states and environmental groups argued. The law requires all facilities to install the best technology available to curb emissions.

Power plants are the biggest source of mercury, which finds its way into the food supply. It is commonly found in high concentrations in fish. Mercury can damage developing brains of fetuses and very young children.

"It is yet another Bush administration policy they are not going to go forward with," said David Bookbinder, the Sierra Club's chief climate counsel.

The EPA also announced Friday that is was starting the review of the Bush administration's decision to deny California and other states the right to control emissions of the gases blamed for global warming for cars.

Obama seeks tougher controls on mercury emissions

Technorati Tags: mercury,pollution,coal,Obama,Bush

U.S. stimulus would cut climate emissions: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Energy efficiency and conservation proposals in President Barack Obama's original economic stimulus plan would cut climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions by 61 million tonnes a year, a new report says.

That would be equivalent to eliminating the greenhouse gas emissions from electricity used in 7.9 million U.S. homes or taking 13 million cars off the road, the analysis of the recovery plan's carbon footprint found on Thursday.

The report was commissioned by the environmental group Greenpeace and produced by climate and energy consulting firm ICF International.

The report analyzed only the parts of Obama's initial January 20 blueprint for economic recovery where the decrease in carbon dioxide emissions could be quantified, Kert Davies of Greenpeace said in a telephone interview.

Many parts of that blueprint were incorporated in the first measure proposed by the U.S. Congress and currently being debated on Capitol Hill, with the total cost of the package passing $800 billion.

"The fact that the federal government could spend so much money and actually help slow global warming means we've really turned the page as a country," Davies said. "This is a real sign that we're starting to move beyond the era of fossil fuels."

U.S. stimulus would cut climate emissions: report

Technorati Tags: carbon dioxide,Obama,green economy,carbon reduction

Obama to add 20 GW of wind power within 3 years

From Red, Green, and Blue:

by Susan Kraemer

An aide to Obama said Friday that the administration plans to add 20 gigawatts (GW) or more of wind power and  4 GW of geothermal and solar power by 2012 through loan guarantees and fast tracked national renewable energy requirements, like the Renewable Portfolio Standard. Last May the U.S. Energy Department estimated wind power could provide almost a quarter of U.S. electricity.

Trade groups from the U.S. wind and solar industries were happy with the news, considering that the current economic environment for commercial credit has lowered all boats as it were, with all investment now endangered - not just investment in risky financial instruments, but even those investments in renewable energy that are essential to growing a stable economy.

No other country, in any single year, has added the volume of wind capacity that was added to the US electrical grid in 2007 with both wind and solar growing well over 40%, but with the credit crunch affecting all sectors of the economy, new projects could drop by as much as 50%, without help from the Federal government.

In response to the news, renewable energy shares soared following the announcement, with the rally continuing into Friday. The move was an about-face for many of those stocks, which have been battered by a string of recent earnings warnings from solar companies including Germany’s Q-Cells, U.S.-based MEMC Electronic Materials Inc , and China’s LDK Solar Co Ltd;.

Obama to Add 20 GW of Wind Power in 3 Years

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Obama: “We will double the production of alternative energy in the next three years”

From ClimateProgress:

[I will post the details of how Obama will achieve this remarkable goal when they become available. But clues can no doubt be found in his August energy plan, “Breaking news — A real energy plan for America: Efficiency now, 10% renewables by 2012, and one million plug-in hybrids by 2015,” where he pledges to “Require 10 Percent of Electricity to Come from Renewable Sources by 2012″ and 25 percent by 2025.]

In his big economic speech today at George Mason University, Obama pledged to jumpstart job creation and long-term growth by:

• Doubling the production of alternative energy in the next three years.
• Modernizing more than 75% of federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of two million American homes, saving consumers and taxpayers billions on our energy bills.
• Making the immediate investments necessary to ensure that within five years, all of America’s medical records are computerized.
• Equipping tens of thousands of schools, community colleges, and public universities with 21st century classrooms, labs, and libraries.
• Expanding broadband across America, so that a small business in a rural town can connect and compete with their counterparts anywhere in the world.
• Investing in the science, research, and technology that will lead to new medical breakthroughs, new discoveries, and entire new industries.

His full remarks as prepared for delivery are below:

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Obama: “We will double the production of alternative energy in the next three years”
Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:44:33 GMT

Technorati Tags: Obama,renewable energy,green economy

Climate change policies failing, NASA scientist warns Obama

Award-winning researcher James Hansen says new president's rhetoric must be backed by action

James Randerson, science correspondent guardian.co.uk, Thursday 1 January 2009 15.23 GMT

Current approaches to deal with climate change are ineffectual, one of the world's top climate scientists said today in a personal new year appeal to Barack Obama and his wife Michelle on the urgent need to tackle global warming.

With less than three weeks to go until Obama's inauguration, Prof James Hansen, head of Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, asked the recently appointed White House science adviser Prof John Holdren to pass the missive directly to the president-elect.

Obama spoke repeatedly during his campaign about the need to tackle climate change, and environmentalists fervently hope he will live up to his promises to pursue green policies.

The letter, from Hansen and his wife Anniek, is a personal plea to the first couple. It begins: "We write to you as fellow parents concerned about the Earth that will be inherited by our children, grandchildren, and those yet to be born … Jim has advised governments previously through regular channels. But urgency now dictates a personal appeal."

Climate change policies failing, Nasa scientist warns Obama

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New Scientist: Reality returns to the White House

by Peter Aldhous, 27 December 2008

Barack Obama may have an impossible burden  of expectation on his shoulders, but one fervent wish of many US scientists should be easy enough to fulfil: simply lead the nation back into the "reality-based community".

That phrase, famously used by a senior adviser to George W. Bush in a 2002 conversation with the journalist Ron Suskind, epitomised the Bush administration's contempt for those who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality": that is from observation rather than ideology.

Instead, the Bush White House boasted of creating its own reality, and had little time for research that questioned its policies, leading to what some observers characterised as a "war on science". Many top scientific jobs were filled by ideologues, and empirical evidence was ignored or distorted in order to bolster policies such as inaction on global warming, a reluctance to list species as endangered, and an approach to HIV that focused on sexual abstinence.

Scientists were prominent among those cheering Obama's election victory on 4 November. A clear sign of the president-elect's new direction came two weeks later when he sent a video message to a conference on global warming in Beverly Hills, California. "The science is beyond dispute and the facts are clear," Obama said. "Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response. The stakes are too high; the consequences too serious."

News review 2008: Reality returns to the White House

Technorati Tags: Obama,global warming,Bush

Obama team primed to push climate change agenda

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama's new "green dream team" is committed to battling climate change and ready to push for big policy reforms, in stark contrast with the Bush administration, environmental advocates said on Monday.

"If this team can't advance strong national policy on global warming, then no one can," said Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, referring to Obama's picks for the top energy and environment jobs in his administration, which takes office on January 20.

"This caliber of scientists in any administration would be a major headline," Knobloch said by telephone on Monday. "But in contrast to the eight years of the Bush administration, where political appointees ran roughshod over science at a terrible cost to the truth, they stand out even more."

Obama team primed to push climate change agenda

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Obama urged to address deteriorating oceans

By J.R. Pegg

WASHINGTON, DC, December 19, 2008 (ENS) – More than four years after two independent expert panels urged the Bush administration and Congress to immediately overhaul the nation's oceans policy, few of their recommendations have been implemented and the state of the oceans is deteriorating rapidly.

Overfishing, pollution and climate change are wreaking havoc with ocean ecosystems and driving species into extinction, leaving scientists and advocates fearful for the future absent dramatic action to change course and desperate for leadership from President-elect Barack Obama.

"We need a statement from the new administration that the United States is ready to bail out the oceans to protect marine biodiversity and related economic opportunity worldwide," said Michael Hirshfield, chief scientist and senior vice president of the North American arm of Oceana.
Storm waves in the North Pacific Ocean (Photo courtesy NOAA)

Hirshfield is hoping for "concrete action" early in the Obama administration, such as an executive order calling for a new oceans policy stating the nation's intent to manage the oceans for long-term sustainability, rather than short-term profits.

Obama Urged to Address Deteriorating Oceans

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Obama signals break with Bush in new science team

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday signaled climate change and genetic research will be among his top priorities when he takes office as he named White House science and technology advisers.

"Today, more than ever before, science holds the key to our survival as a planet and our security and prosperity as a nation," Obama said in a weekly radio and video address.

"It's time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and worked to restore America's place as the world leader in science and technology."

Obama's comments were a clear reference to President George W. Bush's administration which has been accused of downplaying scientific findings on climate change and genetic research.

Signaling a break with Bush's policies on global warming, Obama named John Holdren, an award-winning environmental policy professor at Harvard University, to head the Office of Science and Technology Policy and co-chair the president's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Obama signals break with Bush in new science team

Technorati Tags: Obama,global warming,science

Lisa Jackson in line to be first black EPA chief

By DINA CAPPIELLO 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lisa Jackson is in line to become the first African-American to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

President-elect Barack Obama intends to announce Jackson as EPA administrator in the coming weeks, barring unforeseen circumstances that derail his plans, according to Democratic officials close to the transition.

Jackson, a Princeton University-educated chemical engineer, would take the helm at the agency at a time of record-low morale and when it is still grappling with how to respond to a 2007 Supreme Court decision that said it could regulate the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

During the Bush administration, the White House has at times overruled the advice of the EPA's scientific advisers and the agency's staff on issues ranging from air pollution to global warming.

Supporters say Jackson, 46, has the experience to steer the agency down a new path.

She spent 16 years at the EPA in Washington and in New York before being hired at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in 2002, an agency that has been riddled by budget cuts and personnel shortages. Jackson was named the head of the department in 2006 by Gov. Jon Corzine, overseeing environmental regulation in a state plagued by pollution problems and home to the most hazardous waste sites in the country. She left earlier this month to take a job as Corzine's chief of staff.

Lisa Jackson in line to be first black EPA chief

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Obama vows to end global warming 'denial' after Gore talks

AFP - President-elect Barack Obama said Tuesday his administration would brook no further delay in tackling climate change after discussing global warming with former vice president Al Gore.

Obama vows to end global warming 'denial' after Gore talks (AFP)
Tue, 09 Dec 2008 21:02:48 GMT

Technorati Tags: Obama,Gore,global warming

Obama proposal ties economic stimulus to energy plan

By JOHN M. BRODER

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama and leaders in Congress are fashioning a plan to pour billions of dollars into a jobs program to jolt the economy and lay the groundwork for a more energy-efficient one.

The details and cost of the so-called green-jobs program are still unclear, but a senior Obama aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a work in progress, said it would probably include the weatherizing of hundreds of thousands of homes, the installation of “smart meters” to monitor and reduce home energy use, and billions of dollars in grants to state and local governments for mass transit and infrastructure projects.

The green component of the much larger stimulus plan would cost at least $15 billion a year, and perhaps considerably more, depending on how the projects were defined, aides working on the package said.

Proposal Ties Economic Stimulus to Energy Plan

Published: December 3, 2008

Technorati Tags: Obama,green economy,renewable energy,Schwarzenegger

Obama buzz felt at global climate talks

AP - The president-elect won't be there, but an Obama buzz will crackle through the conference hall when negotiators gather Monday for a final push toward a sweeping new global warming treaty.

"America is back," says Sen. John Kerry, underscoring that Barack Obama's election signals a U.S. intent to regain a leadership role on climate change.

"After eight years of obstruction and delay and denial, the United States is going to rejoin the world community in tackling this global challenge," said the Massachusetts Democrat, in line to become chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Obama buzz felt at global climate talks (AP)
Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:39:03 GMT

Technorati Tags: Obama,global warming,Poland,Kerry

Obama names Mexico chemistry Nobel laureate Molina to oversee climate change

Ecologist will be part of the Executive Office of 21 key leaders of Obama team

MEXICO CITY -- Nobel Prize-winning Mexican chemist Mario Molina will be a part of the transition team of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, the scientist's assistant told Efe.

Lorena Ibarra confirmed that the scientist was invited to join Obama's work team, where he "is going to be managing everything to do with science and ecology," an offer she said he accepted by saying, "Yes, immediately."

Obama on Tuesday promised to give priority to the fight against climate change when he gets into the White House, making his commitment in a videotaped speech that was released at the Bi-Partisan Governors Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles.

Molina, who won the Nobel in chemistry in 1995, will be part of the Executive Office of the 21 leaders of the president-elect's team.

US President-Elect Obama Names Mexico Chemistry Nobel Laureate Molina to Oversee Climate Change

Technorati Tags: Obama,global warming