Climate Change
What happens if not all allowances are sold at the first cap-and-trade auction?
California held its first cap-and-trade auction for greenhouse gas (GHG) allowances yesterday. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will announce the results from that auction on Monday, Nov. 19. What happens if not all the allowances are purchased at the auction? The short answer is that unsold allowances will be withheld from the market and …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy California’s cap-and-trade auction is not a tax
Yesterday, Ann and Cara gave their initial reactions to the California Chamber of Commerce lawsuit against California’s cap-and-trade auction. The main thrust of that lawsuit is that the auction (that happens today) is an unconstitutional tax because, according to the lawsuit, AB 32 gave the California Air Resources Board (CARB) no authority to withhold and …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy Was the Lawsuit Challenging California’s Cap-and-Trade Auction Filed Just One Day Before the Auction?
As Ann posted earlier today, the California Chamber of Commerce has filed a petition for writ of mandate in a California superior court, alleging that the auction of allowances to emit carbon dioxide scheduled for tomorrow constitutes an illegal tax and is not authorized by the California law AB 32. AB 32 requires the state …
CONTINUE READINGNew Developments for Cap-and-Trade in California
There’s big news for California’s cap-and-trade program to control the state’s greenhouse gas emissions on two fronts this week. Cara alluded to the first in her post this week about California Democrats gaining a supermajority in both houses of the legislature after Tuesday’s election. The legislative development is important because the state legislature can probably …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Election Results and National Energy Policy
In trying to read the effect of the 2012 elections on national energy policy, there are at least five places to look: 1. Continuity at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission One of the more dramatic changes that occurred during the first Obama term was a shift in the mission of the Federal Regulatory Commission. FERC …
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CONTINUE READINGAn Inconvenient Treaty
Should the U.S. join an international treaty to limit carbon emissions? The little-known answer: we already have. No, this wasn’t a secret Obama Administration initiative. The treaty was signed by none other than President George H.W. Bush. The treaty is called the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or UNFCCC. The word “framework” can …
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CONTINUE READINGRewarding Climate Adaptation Heroes
Earlier this week, Mother Jones posted a piece on how the public rewards politicians for disaster response instead of disaster prevention: Politicians get much more credit for their reaction to disasters like Sandy than they do for trying to ensure disasters don’t cause so much damage in the first place. The post cites a 2009 …
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CONTINUE READINGIs Hurricane Sandy the Face of Climate Change?
It’s a question at the forefront of many of our minds, as we witness the aftermath of Sandy’s fierce destruction. In the days following the superstorm, we’ve seen surreal images — an illuminated carousel appearing to float in high water, drowning taxi cabs in perfect rows — things we believed would not happen for decades, as …
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CONTINUE READINGIs geoengineering inevitable?
There’s been a lot of attention paid to a geoengineering “experiment” conducted recently in the North Pacific. A team distributed iron into the ocean: This is a form of geoengineering because, in many parts of oceans around the world, iron is the main nutrient that limits the growth and productivity of phytoplankton. If you add more iron in …
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CONTINUE READINGThe trouble with resource shuffling
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Jon Wellinghoff recently voiced concern that California’s cap-and-trade program could lead to unforeseen consequences that would upset energy markets. He was speaking about resource shuffling, and echoing a letter his fellow Commissioner sent to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in August. What is resource shuffling? According to CARB, …
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