Summary
In today’s edition, we are told that the U.S. will offer up to 28 percent emissions cut when it unveils its plans to reduce emissions to the UN today, while many other countries will miss the deadline. In any case, you will be able to follow the pledges on a special map put together by the World Resources Institute. And in case you are not yet convinced: Major economies would boost their prosperity, employment levels and health prospects if they took actions that limited global warming to 2C, says a new analysis.
Quote of the day
“The massive health benefits expected from mitigation action not only include premature deaths avoided but also reduced healthcare costs and increased productivity. This should be welcome news for European decision-makers.”
Anne Stauffer, the deputy director of the Health and Environment Alliance, in the Guardian’s story Limiting climate change could have huge economic benefits, study finds
Lead stories
Limiting climate change could have huge economic benefits, study finds By Arthur Neslen – The Guardian
Major economies would boost their prosperity, employment levels and health prospects if they took actions that limited global warming to 2c, according to the first analysis of emissions pledges made before the UN climate summit in Paris later this year.
http://jlne.ws/1HgOpR3
US offer for climate treaty: Up to 28 percent emissions cut
By Josh Lederman – AP
In a highly anticipated announcement, the United States will offer a roughly 28 percent emissions cut as its contribution to a major global climate treaty nearing the final stages of negotiation, according to people briefed on the White House’s plans.
http://jlne.ws/1yvlkwm
U.S. to Submit Climate Change Plan to UN; Most Others Delay
Reuters
The United States will submit plans for slowing global warming to the United Nations early this week but most governments will miss an informal March 31 deadline, complicating work on a global climate deal due in December.
http://jlne.ws/1Gb1EEn
WRI Launches New Tool For Tracking And Comparing National Climate Plans
By Jenna Blumenthal, Mengpin Ge, Johannes Friedrich and Thomas Damassa – Ecosystem Marketplace
Earlier this week, the World Resources Institute (WRI) launched its CAIT Paris Contributions Map, a new tool on the CAIT Climate Data Explorer for tracking and analyzing intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs), which are the national climate action plans that will form the basis of a new international climate change agreement, set to be finalized during a high-level climate summit in Paris in December (COP 21).
http://jlne.ws/19DYpIM
Anglican church must divest fossil fuels to cope with climate crisis, bishops say
By Karl Mathiesen – The Guardian
An influential group of bishops have called on Anglican churches to remove their investments from the fossil fuel companies that are driving climate change.
http://jlne.ws/1yvcxdW
EPA chief: Keystone wouldn’t be a ‘disaster’ for climate
By Timothy Cama – The Hill
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the Keystone XL pipeline would not be disastrous for the climate.
http://jlne.ws/19DO2Vf
EPA head knocks McConnell’s climate rule amendment
By Timothy Cama – The Hill
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is “confused” about how exactly the Clean Air Act works.
http://jlne.ws/1GaS7x8
Shell cynically blocking action on climate change, says ex-diplomat
The Guardian
Shell and its oil and gas peers are narcissistic, paranoid and psychopathic, and engaged in a cynical attempt to block action on global warming, according to the UK’s former climate change envoy.
http://jlne.ws/1FcufaS
Events
World Green Economy Summit 2015
22 April 2015 – 23 April 2015
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
http://jlne.ws/1By0E6J
Navigating the American Carbon World (NACW) 2015
North America’s premier conference on climate policy and carbon markets
Presented by the Climate Action Reserve
April 28-30, 2015
Los Angeles, California
http://jlne.ws/1F1ycOT
Carbon
White House reviews truck efficiency rules
By Timothy Cama – The Hill
The White House Monday started its final review of a proposal to improve the efficiency of large trucks and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
http://jlne.ws/19DNuPo
Supreme Court wrestles with air-pollution rule
By Elizabeth Shogren – High Country News
The Supreme Court is reviewing a major Obama administration rule aimed at cleaning up toxic power plant exhausts.
http://jlne.ws/1Ev6qO5
***LB: Also in this story “Under that 2011 Environmental Protection Agency rule, by the middle of next month, several hundred coal- and oil- fired power plants across the country must slash their emissions of mercury, arsenic and other toxic air pollutants or shut down.”
Natural gas / coal
Morgan Stanley to sell natural gas business scrutinized by Fed
By Lauren Tara Lacapra – Reuters
Morgan Stanley has agreed to sell a compressed natural gas business that came under regulatory scrutiny shortly after its launch last year, according to a document obtained by Reuters and three people familiar with the matter.
http://jlne.ws/1G2NIOn
German states challenge climate fees on outdated power plants
EurActiv
The Economic Affairs Minister’s plan to hit coal-fired power plants with a climate fee has been met with considerable resentment from eastern states.
http://jlne.ws/1CrXGVp
GOP bill would block mountaintop mining rule
By Timothy Cama – The Hill
A House Republican introduced a bill Monday that would block the Obama administration’s efforts to restrict the controversial mountaintop removal coal mining process.
http://jlne.ws/19DN3V8
Queensland’s proposed Carmichael coalmine faces legal bid over climate change
By Oliver Milman – The Guardian
Environmental activists have begun a legal bid to prevent the creation in Queensland of Australia’s largest mine, citing its contribution to global climate change and potential impact on water and biodiversity.
http://jlne.ws/1GaRaF0
Doctors demand immediate fracking moratorium
By Jessica Shankleman – BusinessGreen
Doctors and other health professionals have today urged the government to impose an immediate moratorium on fracking for shale gas and oil after a report showed the controversial drilling technique generates “numerous” public health risks.
http://jlne.ws/19vhuNE
Implementation of a cash trading limits service on PEGAS Spot
EEX Customer Information
To support the growth of the PEGAS 24/7 Spot market and to help market participants to cope with their financial exposure, Powernext will implement the PEGAS Trading Limits Application service starting 5 May 2015 at 9:00 am CET.
http://jlne.ws/1HgRyAA
Power
Hanergy Thin Film revenues triple on sales in China
By Miles Johnson – Financial Times
Hanergy Thin Film — a solar company whose share price has surged 1,800 per cent in two years, making its owner China’s richest man — has said its revenues nearly tripled in 2014, driven by sales of solar projects in China.
http://jlne.ws/1MsyN3E
Falling cost of solar offers solace after halving of oil price
By Siona Jenkins – Financial Times
For decades, energy in the Arab world has been synonymous with oil. Plentiful hydrocarbons and heavily subsidised power and fuel have been a birthright for more than a generation.
http://jlne.ws/1CrFFXc
Low Carbon flicks switch on five giant solar parks
BusinessGreen
Renewable energy investment company Low Carbon has commissioned five new solar parks with a combined 84MW of capacity.
http://jlne.ws/1adp5RU
***LB: Also in this story “The installations are set to produce enough electricity to power more than 25,300 UK homes and avoid around 36,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.”
Clean tech
Solar Impulse plane lands in China
By Jonathan Amos – BBC News
Solar Impulse, the fuel-free airplane, has completed the fifth leg of its round-the-world flight. The vehicle, with Bertrand Picard at the controls, touched down in Chongqing in China just after 17:30 GMT.
http://jlne.ws/1yveQ0u
Water
Urban water future: Changing climate means changing water
By Leia Larsen – Standard Examiner
The T.W. Daniel Experimental Forest, located about an hour up Logan Canyon from Utah State University, is full of all kinds of shiny metal objects.
http://jlne.ws/1BLq0Q8
Climate change making droughts in Australia worse as rain patterns shift
By Oliver Milman – The Guardian
Climate change is making drought conditions in south-west and south-east Australia worse, with serious ramifications for people’s health and the agriculture industry, a new paper has warned.
http://jlne.ws/1HZA6UC
How Growers Gamed California’s Drought
By Marc Hertsgaard – The Daily Beast
Consuming 80 percent of California’s developed water but accounting for only 2 percent of the state’s GDP, agriculture thrives while everyone else is parched.
http://jlne.ws/1bM0Zy5
Miscellaneous
Dubai buildings must use green concrete
By Sajila Saseendran – Khaleej Times
Hours after switching off lights for Earth Hour, Dubai on Sunday announced its decision to switch to green concrete to make its ever-expanding built-up areas healthier and more sustainable.
http://jlne.ws/1Dn85W5
Research Confirms That Carbon Dioxide Led To Higher Temperatures In The Past
Alex Knapp – Forbes
Over the past 400,000 years, the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere has periodically fluctuated, and along with it, so have global temperatures.
http://jlne.ws/1Gb5wFj
READ MORE: Environmental Energy: US offer for climate treaty: Up to 28 percent emissions cut; Most Others Delay; WRI Launches New Tool For Tracking And Comparing National Climate Plans; Limiting climate change could have huge economic benefits, study finds..