Tar sands’ climate threat, security promise both exaggerated.
| Tar sands’ climate threat, security promise both exaggerated. Further development of Alberta’s famous oil sands will be neither the climate disaster that activists fear nor the energy security panacea that proponents suggest it is, the Council on Foreign Relations concludes in a new report. |
| Refiners blast proposed climate bill. U.S. refiners on Friday blasted landmark climate change legislation that is currently making its way through Congress as an “abject policy failure,” saying it could lead to an increase in imports of refined products such as gasoline and diesel. |
| Press Release: EDF Touts Market-Based Solutions to Carbon Capture Sequestration Risk Management FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Scott Anderson, Environmental Defense Fund, 512.691.3410-w or 512.699.1077-c Media Contact: Chris Smith, Environmental Defense Fund, 512.691.3451-w or 512.659.9264-c or csmith@edf.org(WASHINGTON D.C. – May 14, 2009) – Praising the initiative that a pending Senate bill provides on carbon capture and sequestration risk management and the development of corresponding market-based solutions, Senior Policy Advisor Scott Anderson with Environmental Defense Fund testified today before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in support of S. 1013.”We are pleased that this bill helps explain the difference between two geologic sequestration issues that are often confused,” Anderson said. The two issues are 1) the need for long-term site maintenance after sequestration sites are successfully closed; and 2) the need for project developers to manage the risk of liability for damages resulting from their activities.Anderson was invited to testify on Senate Bill 1013, the Department of Energy Carbon Capture and Sequestration Program Amendments Act of 2009, and stated that EDF believes the bill offers a “measured response” to barriers faced by some early project movers at a time when private sector insurance options are not fully developed.”In the long run, we believe a market-based solution for risk management should be our goal,” Anderson said. “This model is healthier for taxpayers, parties who may suffer damages, and the industry itself than would be a system where firms routinely depend on the government to absolve them of the consequences of their actions.”While EDF supports CCS development, Anderson also testified, “We aren’t champions of coal, but we are realists. Since the transition away from fossil fuels is likely to take a very long time, we foresee a long-term need to deal with coal-based emissions.”EDF considers CCS to be an important part of reducing the climate impact of coal, the world’s most abundant but most carbon-intensive fossil fuel, and accommodating it to a carbon-constrained future.Full testimony by Scott Anderson is available in PDF format at: http://www.edf.org/documents/9741_CCS-Anderson-Senate-Testimony-2009-May-12.pdf |
| Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars Arrive Hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars are now in the hands of consumers, with more on the way. These custom-made cars from Chevrolet, Honda and BMW are paving the way for production models of the future.  |
| Heathrow third runway a mistake, says Lord Stern. The decision to allow a third runway at Heathrow was a mistake, according to one of the government’s most senior advisers on the economics of climate change. |
Obama Stresses Clean Energy on Earth Day President Barack Obama is known as a staunch supporter of green energy. His stimulus plan has raised new hope for the environmentalists and economists alike. On the occasion of Earth Day, President Obama declared that developing renewable energy is crucial to America’s prosperity. He also declared that his administration will for the first time [.]Posted in: Politics, Tidal Power, Wind Power |
| Infographic: How Capping Carbon Creates Jobs We encourage you to re-use and distribute this infographic to spread the word on the benefits of a carbon cap.Select your preferred version from the list of four to the right. |
| Melancon votes against climate-change bill. A bill to impose significant reductions in greenhouse gases passed a committee Thursday night in the U.S. House, despite a EUR |