Some Maryland scientists have been trying to get to the bottom, figuratively and literally, of what's going on in the Bering Sea off Alaska.

Along with an international team of more than 30 other scientists, Lee Cooper and Jacqueline Grebmeier, research professors at the University of Maryland's Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, spent much of March aboard a Coast Guard icebreaker exploring the ice and open water around St. Lawrence Island.  A story I wrote about their research cruise is in the Closeup section of today's Baltimore Sun.

They're involved in a six-year, $52 million study of the Bering, from the sea bottom to the atmosphere above, as well as the people who live along its shores.  The sea, which supplies half the seafood eaten in the United States, has been undergoing dramatic changes in recent years, as the ice that covers its surface in winter thins and melts earlier.  Scientists want to understand how the changing climate is affecting all aspects of the sea, and project what's to come.

Cooper's and Grebmeier's piece of the multi-dimensional study is to assess changes in the clams, worms and other benthic creatures on the bottom, which are an important food source for walruses and sea ducks.  They and their team dropped buckets down to the bottom to scoop up the sand and any critters in it - numbing work, with tempertures below and barely above zero degrees Fahrenheit.  Some of the crew are pictured above.

You can read more about the Bering Sea Project here and an account of the cruise here, with plenty of photos.  And check out "Extreme Ice," a Nova video series on the research.

Cooper, seen at left working inside the icebreaker Healy, told me he's been visiting Alaska regulalrly since he first visited it 30 years ago as a graduate student studying sea grasses. He lived in Fairbanks for five years while getting his Ph.D. He and Grebmeier, besides sharing a professional interest in that part of the world, happen to be married.

In addition to Cooper, Grebmeier and five others from the university's Center for Environmental Science, there was a teacher from Charles County aboard for the three-week cruise: Deanna Wheeler (no relation).  You can read her journal here.  Definitely not your ordinary spring break trip! 

Besides the brutal cold, the folks on board had to be mindfull that the seemingly empty frozen sea surface might harbor polars bears, camouflaged in white, prowling for food.  Coast Guard crew members kept watch, as seen below.

Photos courtesy of Chris Conner, UMCES) 

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:32 AM | Permalink
                       

Incentives to live greener and more sustainably seem to be popping up like spring flowers all around.  In his column today in The Baltimore Sun, my colleague Jay Hancock, runs through an impressive list of grants, tax credits and other ways to shrink your carbon footprint by acquiring energy efficient appliances or installing solar, wind or geothermal facilities at your house.

And if you don't have the upfront cash right now for those options, you can save some dough and still do your part by purchasing wind-generated power from outfits like Clean Currents or Washington Gas Energy Services.  As Jay points out, both are cheaper than BGE right now --  enough to save $10 or more on your monthly power bill through the summer.

Finally, here's one Jay didn't mention: "green" homeowners' insurance.  Firemen's Fund insurance is offering coverage that will pay to rebuild or repair a home using more energy-efficient, environmentally friendly materials and designs if it is damaged or destroyed.  And for homeowners whose abodes are already green, the company's offering a five percent discount on premiums.

Keep 'em coming!  It's "Earth month," after all.  Anyone know of other green deals out there?

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:54 AM | Permalink
                       

Climate bills are blooming like cherry blossoms in Washington.  Earlier this week, two senior Democrats unveiled their long-awaited plan for capping climate-warming emissions from burning fossil fuels.  The bill put in by California Rep. Henry Waxman and Massachusetts Rep. Edward Markey is more ambitious in some respects than the "cap and trade" scheme being pushed by President Barack Obama.

Now comes another leading Democrat, Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, with yet another idea on what to do about climate, and particularly with all the money the government might raise by putting a price on carbon.

Van Hollen, who represents Montgomery County, has proposed a "cap and dividend" scheme.  It's noteworthy beause he's assistant to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and no slouch on energy and environmental issues, as co-chair of a House renewable energy caucus.

His bill would aim for reducing carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases 25 percent by 2020 and 85 percent by 2050.  The emission targets vary slightly from the others, but where Van Hollen's plan is different is that he would have the government give back to consumers the millions and billions raised by auctioning off credits or rights to emit limited quantities of greenhouse gases.

Under Obama's plan, roughly two thirds of the money raised through those carbon auctions would be returned in tax breaks.   But Van Hollen's proposing to give all of it back, returning "100% of auction proceeds in the form of a monthly Consumer Dividend to every lawful resident of the United States with a valid Social Security number," according to a press release put out by his office.

Van Hollen, in a telephone chat recently, downplayed the differences between his bill and the others, including the President's.

"The overriding objective here is to reduce carbon emissions and move us towards a clean economy," he said. "There are lots of ways to get there."

Still, the virtue of his plan, he said, was its proposal to auction carbon credits to producers of coal, oil and gas, rather than trying to regulate individual industries or factories.  The government's proceeds from such auctions could help to soften the impact on consumers as the shrinking carbon cap raises energy prices, he explained.  He said his plan offers a simpler, more direct repayment scheme than other proposals.

"Everybody's going to get a certain amount back in their pockets,'' Van Hollen said. "That's the dividend." 

It's unknown yet if Van Hollen's plan will go down any better with skeptics who contend "cap and trade" will bankrupt the nation.   But some environmentalists, at least, like it.

"No other carbon cap proposal does as much to help American families, our economy, and our planet,” said Mike Tidwell of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:00 AM in global warming | Permalink
                       

Critics of the economic stimulus bill that the Obama administration pushed through Congress complained it was riddled with wasteful spending.  Now some environmental activists are pointing out a waste of another sort -- some of the "shovel-ready" infrastructure projects meant to put people to work could simply wash away as climate change raises sea levels.

A group of scientists meeting in Copenhagen recently warned that sea levels could rise much more than previously thought - by three feet or more, compared with the 7- to 23-inch rise predicted two years ago by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

If the waters do reach that height, many low-lying coastal areas could get wet, environmental activists warn. And the millions being spent to improve infrastructure there may be lost.  Investments in highway repairs, school renovations and a shipyard could be inundated, they contend.

One of the smaller projects said to be at risk:  $1.8 million for bus replacement and facility upgrades in Ocean City.   (Those buses are likely to be rusting hulks by the time OC is awash, or could be driven away to higher ground - not so the facility upgrades.)

"Our point is not to say that we think these are bad projects, or that there shouldn't be infrastructure and investment as part of an economic recovery in coastal areas," said Mike Tidwell of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.  "We need to go forward understanding that this is a waste of money if we don't get on top of carbon levels."

Not all the stimulus money is a waste, from a climate standpoint, Tidwell acknowledged.  Tens of billions of dollares are earmarked for "clean" energy efforts, including weatherizing of low-income families' homes.  Such efficiency projects would help ease the the demand for home heating energy - and reduce greenhouse emissions.

Maryland lawmakers, he noted, are on the verge of voting on a bill that would commit the state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020.  The measure already has cleared the Senate; a vote is imminent in the House.  Meanwhile, Congress is wrangling over what to do nationally, he said.

"The projects, they should go forward but we need to undersand if they go forward without serious federal legislation to cap carbon, then they're doomed," Tidwell said. "They're going to drown under multiple feet of sea level rise."

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 5:48 PM in global warming | Permalink
                       

It's spring, and with the slowly warming temperatures, key moves are under way in Annapolis and Washington to combat climate change by regulating greenhouse gases.

In Annapolis, the House Economic Matters Committee gave its blessing yesterday to the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act, which would commit Maryland to reducing climate-warming emissions 25 percent from 2006 levels by 2020.  This is the same committee that killed similar legislation in the waning hours of last year's legislative session.

The measure, HB315, will go to the full House for a vote once it clears the Environmental Matters Committee, but that's considered likely.  The Senate overwhelmingly passed the bill, 36 to 9, on March 2.

The bill has been watered down a bit from last year's Global Warming Solutions Act, which was derailed by opposition from labor unions and manufacturers.  This less ambitiuously titled measure exempts manufacturers for now and requires the Maryland Department of the Environment to finalize regulations by 2012. That would give the General Assembly a chance to review and change the rules, or even pull the plug if it feared harm to the state's economy.

This is the third try for state climate legislation; a bill was introduced in 2007 but failed to come to a vote. This year's measure was introduced by Gov. Martin O'Malley along with Prince George's Sen. Paul Pinsky and House Majority Leader Kumar Barve of Montgomery County. 

Advocates hope that Maryland's action, along with that of other states, will help put pressure on lawmakers in Washington to enact national legislation dealing with greenhouse gases.

The heat on Congress apparently is about to get turned up a notch by the Obama administration as well.  The Washington Post and other news organizations report that the Environmental Protection Agency has submitted a finding that greenhous gases endanger the public health and the environment.  The finding was sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review before it can be published.

Such a finding would set the stage for EPA to propose regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.  The Bush administration EPA had refused to do that, arguing it had no legal authority to regulate greenhouse gases as air pollution.  But the Supreme Court rejected the Bush claim in a ruling two years ago and said EPA did have authority to act under existing laws. 

President Obama has said he wants Congress to curb greenhouse gases through "cap and trade" legislation.  But there is opposition to that among Republicans and some other lawmakers concerned about the impacts on the economy.  With EPA readying the ground for regulations, advocates hope that lights a fire on Capitol Hill.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:49 AM in global warming | Permalink
                       

The growing prospect that there may be federal action on climate change apparently has spawned a wave of lobbyists in Washington.  The Center for Public Integrity reports that in the past year, as climate legislation finally came to a vote on Capitol Hill, more than 770 companies and interest groups hired an estimated 2,340 lobbyists to influence federal policy.

That's a lot of buttonholing - as the center noted, that comes to more than four lobbyists for every member of Congress.  Environmental advocacy groups have ramped up their Washington presence, but so have all the industries that see themselve being affected.  The center's put together an analysis of the lobbying corps, profiled some of the more prominent ones and provides a listing. Check it out here.

Advocates of curbing greenhouse gases have argued that the push will generate "green" jobs and actually boost rather than kill the economy, as skeptics contend.  Looks like the job growth is already happening, though maybe not the kind of jobs environmentalists had in mind, and certainly not the kind of green they were thinking of.

(Photo by Brendan Hoffman, Getty Images)

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:17 AM | Permalink
                       

Maryland's Senate gave preliminary approval today to a bill calling for a 25 percent reduction in climate-warming pollution in the state by 2020.

Sen. Paul G. Pinsky, a co-sponsor along with Gov. Martin O'Malley, accepted two minor amendments to the bill, SB278.  One would require gender, geographical and racial balance on a task force overseeing a study of the impact of the state's greenhouse gas reduction plan.  The other would require that the study include consideration of the impacts on rural communities of any transportation measures aimed at reducing carbon emissions.

Senators turned down two other amendments, which Pinsky, a Prince Geroge's County Democrat, warned would hurt or even sink the effort.  Sen. Alex Mooney tried to strip an exemption written into the bill for the state's manufacturers, arguing that no sector of society should be exempt.  "We should do it right if we do it at all," said the Frederick County Republican, who's not been known previously as an advocate for doing anything about climate change.

But Pinsky warned that accepting Mooney's amendment would unravel the coalition of labor and manufacturers now supporting the bill.  Their opposition to a similar measure last year led to its defeat, so proponents agreed to spare manufacturing this time, reasoning that it is only responsible for about 4 percent of  the state's overall greenhouse gas emissions.  The bill would exempt them from doing anything until 2016, unless federal or multi-state mandates came along before that.  Mooney's amendment failed, 1 to 44.

Sen. Nancy Jacobs drew more support for her amendment, which would have guaranteed that efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions wouldn't increase consumers' electricity bills.  Jacobs, a Republican representing Harford and Cecil counties, noted that many utility customers are complaining bitterly now about increases in their heating and electricity bills.  She said she wanted to assure them that this effort would "hold consumers harmless."

Pinsky countered that her amendment would "disarm" and hurt the bill.   Officials expect to reduce greenhouse gas emission by promoting energy conservation and efficiency, Pinsky said, so using less electricity should reduce consumers' bills rather than raise them.  But he noted that electricity rates have shot up since deregulation several years ago, and he argued that it would be wrong to hold the climate bill hostage to factors beyond its control.   Jacobs' bid failed, 17 to 29.

The bill is now expected to come up for a final vote in the Senate early next week.   The House version of the legislation, HB315, is scheduled for a hearing tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the Environmental Matters Committee.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 12:24 PM | Permalink
                       

Legislation that would commit Maryland to reducing climate-warming pollution 25 percent by 2020 is expected to be voted on by the state Senate this week. 

The "Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act" sponsored by Prince George's Sen. Paul G. Pinsky and Gov. Martin O'Malley cleared the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee late last week with only minor amendment.  It is to be presented to the full Senate tonight, at which time senators not on the committee can propose changes they'd like to see.

It's rare for any legislation to sail through the General Assembly virtually unchanged.  But any major changes to this bill could unravel the unusual coalition of environmentalists, unions and manufacturers supporting it.  Labor and business leaders torpedoed a more ambitious measure last year.  They only climbed on board this time after lengthy negotiations resulted in language essentially giving manufacturers a pass on doing anything unless and until required to do so by the federal government or some multi-state regional entity.

Still, it wouldn't be surprising if at least a couple senators don't seek to tinker with the bill, most likely to weaken it.  Last year, the more grandly named "Global Warming Solutions Act" got watered down in the Senate, where members amended it so that the state Department of the Environment would have had to get legislative approval of any steps it would take to reduce greenhouse gases.  The bill ultimately died in a House committee.

This bill also gives lawmakers a chance for buyer's remorse, but one that doesn't tie regulators' hands the way last year's amendment would have.  The Department of the Environment is required to develop a plan by 2011 for reducing greenhouse gases, and to adopt it by the next year after receiving public comment.   The department would have to report by 2016 on progress and costs and benefits, at which time the General Assembly would decide whether to continue, adjust or eliminate the 25 percent reduction goal.

The measure also requires the administration to show that curbing carbon dioxide will improve the state's economy, protecting manufacturing jobs and creating new "green" jobs.   A state-funded study in 2006 predicted that transitioning to a low-carbon economy could produce 144,000 to 326,000 jobs by 2020, with a net infusion of $2 billion.

Even with labor and manufacturers on board, the bill still has its critics - including the retail and petroleum industries, taxpayer watchdogs and Constellation Energy, which urged lawmakers to leave climate legislation to Congress.

Here's a summary: http://www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/Air/ClimateChange/GreenHouse_Gas_Reduction_Act_Bill_2009_Summary.pdf 

And here's the fiscal impact analysis, prepared by legislative analysts: http://mlis.state.md.us/2009rs/fnotes/bil_0008/sb0278.pdf

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:04 AM in global warming, legislation | Permalink
                       

Climate change may be occurring faster than predicted just two years ago, a top climate scientist warned last week, because greenhouse gas concentrations are increasing in the atmosphere more rapidly than in the 1990s.

Christopher Field of the Carnegie Institution told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago that the growth in climate-warming gases is "beyond anything we've considered seriously in climate model simulations."  That according to a report Sunday in The Washington Post. 

Field is a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which in its most recent report warned in 2007 that scientific evidence of global warming is "unequivocal" and "very likely" manmade.  But that assessment was based on research only through 2005, and new evidence is showing that the report's projections were understated.

Field, according to this report in the Associated Press, told the Chicago scientific meeting that carbon emissions have been growing at 3.5 percent per year since 2000, up sharply from the 0.9 percent per year in the 1990s.  Another scientist told the group that satellite images found sea level rising faster than projected as well.

Former Vice President Al Gore, who shared the Nobel Prize with the IPCC for his advocacy of action on climate change, also spoke to the AAAS last week.  For more on the meeting, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:39 AM in global warming | Permalink | Comments (9)
                       

Gov. Martin O'Malley announced today he will renew the push for a climate-change bill that commits the state to reducing greenhouse gases 25 percent by 2020.

With labor, manufacturers and environmentalists all on board this time, O'Malley is expected to cosponsor a compromise version of the bill he backed last year that passed the Senate in watered-down form and then died in a House committee at the end of the 90-day legislative session.   Joining the governor will be the lead cosponsors of last year's bill, Sen. Paul Pinsky, a Prince George's County Democrat, and Del. Kumar Barve, a Montgomery County Democrat who's majority leader.

The bill will commit the state to making a 25 percent reduction by 2020 in climate-warming pollution - mainly carbon dioxide - as last year's bill did.  Dropped from last year's original language is any long-term goal or target of 80 percent reduction by 2050 - but that was whittled in last year's efforts to craft a last-minute deal as well.

In deference to labor leaders and manufacturers, whose loudly voiced fears of plant closings and job losses killed last year's bill, the carefully crafted compromise this time gives manufacturing a pass on having to reduce its emissions unless and until action is mandated either nationwide or on a regional, multistate basis. 

State Environment Secretary Shari Wilson, who was involved in the talks leading up to this year's compromise, said the concession does not substantially weaken the bill.  Industrial processes like making aluminum, cement or steel only account for about 4 percent of the greenhouse gases released in the state, according to an inventory compiled for the state's Climate Action Plan. 

"If you're looking for a 25 percent reduction, that's not where you're going to start," Wilson said. Indeed, the largest generators of greenhouse gases are electricity use (42 percent) and transportation (30 percent), with residential, commercial and industrial fuel use combined a distant third (18 percent).

Continue reading "O'Malley to renew push for climate bill" »

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 9:48 AM in global warming | Permalink
                       

Want to do your part to fight global warming?   If you live where it's frosty, maybe you should consider relocating to the Sunbelt.

That's one way of reading an analysis published in the current issue of Cities, the International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning (abstract only, must pay to see full text).

Heating and air conditioning account for over half of residential energy use, according to the "viewpoint" article by Michael Sivak, a professor with the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute.

Sivak looked at energy demand for the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the United States, where more than half the population lives.  He toted up the heating and cooling degree days for the metro areas as an indicator of how much residents would crank up their AC or furnace, depending on the weather. 

(Heating degree days are an index of the energy needed to heat buildings, he notes, while cooling degree days are a ranking of how much juice it would take to chiill a sun-baked building.)

San Diego came out best in Sivak's ranking, with the lowest combined heating and cooling score, while Minneapolis fared worst.  Baltimore came in 30th, two notches below Washington and just ahead of New York and Philadelphia.

The 25 metro areas with the lowest combined energy demand are all in the Sunbelt, with the exception of Portland and Seattle in the balmy Northwest.  The chilliest metro areas turn out to have much higher overall energy demand - heating apparently consumes a lot more energy than cooling does.

Of course, as anyone knows who's argued with a roommate over where to set the thermostat, people vary in how much heat or cold they can take.  The amount of energy needed to keep a home warm or cool also depends on how well insulated it is, and on the efficiency of the home's appliances, air conditioning and furnace.

So maybe instead of bailing out the Big Three automakers, Congress should offer incentives for everyone living in Detroit to move south.  While we're at it, clear out those big cities in the frigid Midwest and Northeast.  And since Baltimore is a bit on the chilly side right now as well, perhaps we ought to start packing, too, and get across the Potomac.  Imagine what that would do for the slumping real estate market in all those Sunbelt cities! 

But before we force everyone to live where it's warm, maybe we ought to do what we can to trim our residential carbon footprint.  Get a home energy audit.  Upgrade insulation.  Get more energy- efficient windows and appliances.  

Or, if a new furnace is not your idea of a holiday gift and you really can't afford anything else right now, turn down the thermostat and put on an extra sweater.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:48 AM in global warming | Permalink | Comments (1)
                       

President-elect Barack Obama may not attend a United Nations climate summit in Poland next month, but he's made clear he'll chart a more active US response to the global environmental threat once he moves into the White House. 

In a video message to governors at a California climate summit, Obama pledged to write a "new chapter" in White House leadership on the issue.  The Democratic president-elect committed his administration to reducing greenhouse gas emissions - and to joining in international efforts that were shunned or deflected by the Bush administration over the past eight years.

"Few challenges facing America -and the world - are more urgent than combating climate change,'' Obama said.  "The science is beyond dispute and the facts are clear. Sea levels are rising. Coastlines are shrinking.  We've seen record drought, spreading famine and storms that are growing stronger with each passing hurricane season."

You can see Obama's videotaped message on YouTube, or read more about it here.

Obama and Republican John McCain both had vowed during the campaign to tackle climate change if elected president.  The Democratic ticket called for an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050, using "cap-and-trade" regulations.  It also promised to invest $15 billion a year in developing alternative energy such as solar, wind, biofuels and even nuclear and "clean" coal.

Environmentalists had been urging Obama to dramatize his commitment to the issue by attending next month's UN climate summit in Poland.   Hundreds of activists rallied in front of the Capitol in Washington today, with Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen among the speakers.

In his taped remarks, Obama demurred, pointing out that he won't be sworn in by then and "the United States only has one president at a time."  But he said he's asked members of Congress who will be attending the UN meeting to report back to him.  And he pledged to actively engage in future negotiations over a coordinated international response.   Talks are beginning on drafting a new climate compact to replace the Kyoto accord, which the United States never ratified. 

Coincidentally, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that combined global land and sea-surface average temperatures last month were the second warmest since record-keeping began in 1880.  For details, go here.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 6:04 PM in global warming | Permalink | Comments (3)
                       

We won't know until Monday how much Maryland and other states got in this week's auction of carbon-dioxide pollution allowances.  But some experts are saying the launch of the nation's first mandatory program to regulate carbon dioxide already has been a success, no matter how much revenue it raises.

Power plant owners and others bid electronically on Thursday for the rights to emit 12.5 million tons of carbon dioxide in the 10 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states that are partcipating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Inititative.  The group had specified a minimum bid of $1.86 per ton.  The auction is part of a multi-state effort to combat global warming by curtailing power plant emissions of the chief gas linked with rising temperatures.

Some observers have wondered if the upheaval in the financial markets would dampen interest in the carbon auction.  Monday may tell.  But Dallas Burtraw, a senior fellow with Resources for the Future, says the sale already has proven its worth.

"It's pretty heroic that they've done it in the first place," said Burtraw, who was among a group of experts commissioned by Maryland to review the potential impact of the auction.  Many thought it impossible, Burtraw pointed out, that a group of states could collaborate on something this complex and untried without support from the federal government in Washington.   The Bush administration, worried about the economic impact, had refused to regulate carbon dioxide until a Supreme Court ruling that it had the power and obligation to do so.

Burtraw, an economist, said he thought the carbon auction scheme was well designed and is a good model for a national plan to regulate climate-changing pollution from power plants.  The revenues from the auction are used by government to promote energy efficiency among consumers.

Even if Monday reveals there was some glitch in this initial bidding, Burtraw said, the auction already has influenced regulators in Europe, where there's been a market for carbon-dioxide allowances since 2005.

Europeans have been giving away their carbon pollution allowances for free, rather than selling them off.  And indeed, when they started, the Europeans gave away far more than industries were actually emitting - so many more that their allowances were virtually worthless to anyone holding them. But some in Europe had doubted that industries would willingly bid for the allowances, so the launch of the U.S. auction has largely overcome those fears.

"The heads of the EU have spun around with what RGGI has done here," Burtraw said. 

Malachy Hargadon's head wasn't exactly spinning when reached at his office in Washington.  But the environment counselor for the European Commission's delegation to the United States acknowledged that the U.S. decision to sell off its carbon pollution allowances, rather than give them away, has impressed him and his colleagues in Europe. 

"We learned that there are advantages to moving to auctions for allowances," Hargadon said.

European nations may well put up for bid the next batch of carbon allowances that they're due to issue in 2013, he said.  They could yield quite a lot of revenue, if so - Hargadon said allowances have been trading recently in Europe for about 25 Euros a ton.  A Euro is worth about $1.46 US. 

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 4:42 PM in global warming | Permalink
                       

In the laundry list of recommendations for curbing greenhouse gases put out this week by the Maryland Commission on Climate Change, one idea that didn't make it was halting construction of the long-disputed Intercounty Connector. 

That's not surprising, perhaps, when you consider that the commission was appointed by Gov. Martin O'Malley. Despite an otherwise green record - he scored a record-high A-minus recently from the Maryland League of Conservation Voters - the governor has taken heat from environmentalists for his vow to complete the six-lane tollway through Washington's suburbs.

The issue divides environmentalists - not over its substance but over the political pragmatism of potentially angering a powerful patron.  A lawsuit filed by environmental and community groups to stop the highway was thrown out, allowing construction to begin - though the groups have appealed.

"It was one of the most controversial topics discussed," said Brad Heavner, state director of Environment Maryland and a member of one of the climate commission's working groups. 

It seems that ICC foes did briefly plant their flag during the climate commission's deliberations last fall, before being thwarted by supporters of the east-west highway.  A small working group focused on transportation and land use issues reportedly put forward a recommendation to stop building the ICC in consideration of its impacts on climate change.  They argued that that the $2.4 billion project would encourage more driving - and release more climate-warming greenhouse gases - than if the state expanded transit service and put tolls on existing roads to ease traffic congestion.  

The Environmental Defense Fund, for instance, has estimated that building the 18.8-mile highway would boost gasoline consumption in the Washington region by 5 percent within a generation.  And if the state invested instead in transit and other measures to reduce driving, the difference in fuel use could be as much as 11 percent, according to the group's analysis.

But the working group quickly backtracked amid protests from ICC backers, at least one of whom reportedly had been absent when the stop-work recommendation got the preliminary nod.  Unable to resolve their differences over what to do about the ICC, the group did agree to recommend that the state weigh climate-change impacts of all big publicly funded transportation and land-use projects that may be proposed in the future.

"In the end, there was a move to weaken the recommendation, to be basically forward-looking and not focus on any particular project," said Michael A. Replogle, transportation director of the Washington-based Environmental Defense Fund and a member of the working group.

Replogle said he helped broker the fallback position.  Although still firmly convinced that halting the ICC could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emission in that part of the state, he said he and others decided it wasn't worth a pitched battle over this one project.

"The reality is the ICC's under construction now," he said.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 12:52 PM in global warming | Permalink | Comments (4)
                       

A new report takes the measure of the "carbon footprints" produced by Americans living in the nation's largest metropolitan areas. We in the Baltimore area fare rather poorly - 69th out of 100 - in the amount of carbon emitted per resident.  

The study, the first to try to quantify carbon emissions from U.S. urban centers, was produced by the Brookings Institution, in collaboration with researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology.  The report only fills in half the footprint for now, focusing on the carbon produced by driving in metro areas and by the energy used in housing.  Researchers say they hope to tally up carbon emissions from commercial and industrial activity, and from transit, by year's end.  

Densely settled regions with compact development patterns and rail transit tend to be more energy- and carbon-efficient than sprawling, car-happy metro areas, the report says. 

But per capita emissions vary widely among cities, and some, like Baltimore, still lag, despite having more transit ridership than most.  Spendthrift energy consumption to heat and chill our homes through winter and muggy summer apparently is the culprit.

Georgia Tech energy professor Marilyn Brown, a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, suggested that the relatively cheap electricity rates Marylanders enjoyed as a result of utility deregulation in the early part of this decade kept residents from making their homes more energy efficient.   The study only looks at energy use and carbon emissions from 2000 to 2005, before the rate caps came off and utility bills shot up by 70 percent or more.

Paying more for electricity, plus new state energy-efficiency incentives, and a push for more renewable energy could help shrink Baltimore's carbon footprint in years to come, she agreed. 

Meanwhile, Honolulu, Los Angeles and Portland, Ore. topped the list as the three regions with the smallest per capita carbon emissions, according to the study.  Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Lexington, Ky., brought up the rear with the biggest prints.  Urban areas in the West, in fact, tended to have smaller carbon outputs per resident. For more on the study, and the rankings, go here.

The report's authors say the federal government ought to do more to encourage transit and compact development, because two-thirds of Americans live in the largest metro areas, and three-quarters of all economic activity takes place in them.  The payoff to focusing on metro areas, the study says, is that the carbon footprint of an urban denizen is 14 percent smaller than for - and is increasing only half as much. 

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 1:00 AM in global warming | Permalink | Comments (4)
                       

Here's a roundup of news on the climate front, here and abroad.

As the presidential campaign spotlight shifts to Florida, Katharine Mieszkowski notes in Salon that MSNC's Tim Russert asked Rudy Guiliani during a televised debate last week to explain what he'd do to combat the threat of global warming.  That evidently brings to six the number of climate-related questions the major TV network interviewers have asked of the candidates, out of some 2,975 queries in all.  This despite public opinion polls suggesting voters are concerned about climate change, and efforts by nearly all the candidates to stake out positions on it.  For those who'd like to see more coverage of how the presidential wannabes would address this issue, Russert's question was a step up - until a week or two ago, the TV political brain trust had only asked four climate questions, advocates say - versus three about UFOs.

If you want to read or listen to your news instead of watch it, there's more to like:

American Public Media's Marketplace started airing a new climate series today called "Plan B: Adapting to a Warmer World."  Produced in conjunction with the Center for Investigative Reporting, Marketplace takes a look at what engineers, scientists and governments are working on to cope with the consequences should efforts to stave off climate change fail.  The first two reports, by Nate Dimo and Sam Eaton, are about desalination in Australia and about a scientist's idea for making something positive out of melting icecaps.  Something to tune in to as you drive to work (in a hybrid, with three passengers, we trust).

Meanwhile, NPR continues its long-running "Climate Connections" series with a report by Jon Hamilton today on how the Maldives islands are building up their islands with sand dredged from the Indian Ocean bottom to stave off being flooded out by rising sea levels.  As you can see from the photo above, these idyllic-looking spots are just a few feet above the waves now.  Of course, this may give the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ideas here.  Climate Connections is produced in conjunction with National Geographic.  To see (and hear) more from the series, go here. 

Last, an interesting item from the dead-tree media: David Fahrenthold reports in The Washington Post today that the U.S. House of Representatives paid $89,000 for carbon offsets to cancel out the greenhouse gas emissions from House buildings (and their debates?).  But a lot of the taxpayers' cash apparently went to farmers in North Dakota who already were taking steps to keep carbon in the soil, and to an Iowa power plant that had already canceled its experiment in burning alternative fuels before the offsets were purchased.  It's another example of what The Sun's own Tom Pelton reported some time back about the lack of accountability in the booming market for buying so-called carbon credits or offsets.  Caveat emptor.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 11:14 AM in global warming | Permalink
                       

Looking for a chance to learn more about "green building?" How it can help lower energy bills while also cooling global warming?

Continue reading "Going global on green building" »

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 5:13 PM in global warming, growth/land use | Permalink
                       

It's dry out there.  Is it just another natural cycle in the weather, or a sign of long-term changes in climate that many scientists warn are coming?  A story in today's Sun by Frank Roylance reports that long-range weather forecasts see no relief through next spring for the near-record drought gripping Maryland.  Stream and ground-water levels are at or approaching record lows in Central Maryland and the Eastern Shore, with some of the fastest growing parts of the state most affected.

Looking around the country, there are similar reports elsewhere.  The Southeast is suffering its worst drought ever,  The New York Times had this story about the even more severe drought conditions across the Southeast. With less than four months' water left in the lake supplying the sprawling Atlanta metro area, Georgia's governor declared a state of emergency for more than half of the state.  Another story in the NYT noted how the Great Lakes are low as well - and while their water levels rise and drop as the seasons change, there's been less-than-normal rain and snow to replenish them in the past couple years.

Of course, it's a stretch to pin any area's unusual conditions on climate change, as droughts come and go.  Also, the most dramatic impact predicted from global warming is one of too much water - rising sea levels and destructive storms.  New Orleans, still struggling to recover from devastation in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina, was flooded again today by torrential rains.  

But climate scientiest also predict that warmer temperatures can make dry areas drier, causing more water to evaporate from reservoirs and rivers while also preventing the buildup of snow in mountains that replenishes water supplies every spring when it melts. 

In that vein, the NYT magazine on Sunday had a cover story headlined "The Future is Drying Up" warning of potentially catastrophic water shortages in the arid West, where surface water supplies are dwindling and scientists warn that changing climate could diminish the mountain snowpacks that replenish the reservoirs and rivers sustaining the farms, ranches and cities of the region.  The story quoted the water czar for Las Vegas saying the rapidly growing city already is the first U.S. victim of global warming.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 4:22 PM in global warming | Permalink | Comments (1)
                       

For those who want some hard-hitting science before their Monday night football, stop by Johns Hopkins University Sept. 24 at 5 p.m. to hear a distinguished atmospheric scientist explain the human causes and responses to climate change. 

Ralph J. Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences, led a 2001 study requested by President Bush of the then-current state of climate change and its impact on the environment and human health.   His free public lecture, at Hodson Hall on the Homewood campus, comes the same week that President Bush hosts an international meeting in Washington on climate change.

For more information about the lecture, call 410-516-7136.  For a thumbnail bio of Cicerone, go here.  

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 8:36 PM in global warming | Permalink