Summary
In today’s edition, Bill Gates throws his weight behind calls for a rapid expansion of carbon pricing policies and a crackdown on fossil fuel subsidies. And not only should companies invest in R&D for clean energy but they should also voluntarily publish details of their environmental impact. Indeed, according to academic research, this will save them millions of dollars by boosting their investment credibility. Meanwhile, on the campaign trail, Jeb Bush takes positions on climate change, EPA rules and other energy issues.
Quote of the day
“Right now, the world spends only a few billion dollars a year on researching early-stage ideas for zero-carbon energy. It should be investing two or three times that much. Why should governments fund basic research? For the same reason that companies tend not to: because it is a public good.”
Bill Gates, in the BusinessGreen’s story Bill Gates backs carbon pricing push
Lead stories
Bill Gates backs carbon pricing push
BusinessGreen
Bill Gates has thrown his weight behind calls for a rapid expansion of carbon pricing policies and a crackdown on fossil fuel subsidies, arguing more needs to be done to ensure “the energy market accurately reflects the full impact of emitting carbon”.
http://jlne.ws/1H91vxF
***LB: Also in this story “The Microsoft founder and billionaire philanthropist this week published a blog post, reiterating his support for a drastic increase in clean tech R&D spending, but also making the case for policies that ensure the cost of polluting externalities is accurately reflected.”
How carbon reporting can unlock multi-million dollar benefits
By Madeleine Cuff – BusinessGreen
Businesses will go to great lengths to convince the markets they are a safe investment. But it might come as a surprise that one of the best things a company can do to boost its investment credibility is voluntarily publish details of its environmental impact.
http://jlne.ws/1IwqccK
***LB: Also in this story “That’s according to emerging research from academics at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and Oxford University in the UK, which finds that companies can save millions of pounds on the cost of debt interest by volunteering data on their carbon emissions.”
Jeb Bush Takes Positions on Climate Change, EPA Rules, Other Energy Issues
Bloomberg News
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) acknowledges human activity contributes to climate change but cautioned against actions that would harm the U.S. economy.
http://jlne.ws/1JUU6nI
Cheap Power or Clean Energy? India’s $200 Billion Dilemma
By Rajesh Kumar Singh and Anindya Upadhyay – Bloomberg News
A weak link lurks in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push for an unprecedented $200 billion expansion of clean energy: cash-starved state electricity distributors.
http://jlne.ws/1ItG4Zb
Mapping Chinese Direct Investment in the U.S. Energy Economy
By Melanie Hart – Center for American Progress
When China’s double-digit economic growth rates first began to affect global oil markets in the early 2000s, the energy sector appeared on track to become a new source of U.S.-China strategic competition, distrust, and potential conflict.
http://jlne.ws/1I6pmC8
(US) Senate energy panel approves reform bill
By Timothy Cama – The Hill
After three days of debate, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted Thursday to approve its attempt at the first broad energy policy reform bill in eight years.
http://jlne.ws/1DdJOSM
Alberta officials won’t lobby Obama on Keystone pipeline
By Devin Henry – The Hill
Government officials in Alberta, Canada won’t push President Obama to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline, saying they’ll focus instead on securing permits for other projects.
http://jlne.ws/1KEprxD
***LB: Also in this story “The province’s energy minister told CBC News on Thursday that the government’s goal now is to move forward on other pipeline projects, such as those delivering oil east and west through Canada rather than across the U.S. border, like Keystone. ”
Before the Time of Global Warming, Data Shows Spring Sprung Later
By Phil McKenna – Inside Climate News
If actions do indeed speak louder than words, plants and animals are telling us in no uncertain terms that human-caused climate change is changing their lives—with potentially dire consequences for the ecosystem.
http://jlne.ws/1gsiRAz
Events
EMA Annual Meeting
October 28-30, 2015
Omni Parker House Hotel
Boston, MA
http://bit.ly/192w3CR
2015 Rising Seas Summit
Association of Climate Change Officers
November 12-13, 2015, Cambridge, MA
http://jlne.ws/1Uxkext
Carbon
New research will boost grasp of North American carbon cycle
Phys.org
For centuries, people have transformed and splintered landscapes and ecosystems in North America. This radical altering of nature makes it tough for scientists to analyze the continent’s life-sustaining carbon cycle—the biological, geological and chemical routes the element carbon takes to shift among earth, water and atmosphere.
http://jlne.ws/1OS8Nw8
Study Says Banks Are Still Financing Deforestation. Here Is How They Can Stop
By Steve Zwick – Ecosystem Marketplace
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Natural Capital Declaration (NCD) today unveiled the “Soft Commodity Forest-Risk Assessment” (SCFA), which is a set of simple guidelines that banks and other financial institutions can use to measure and reduce the impact that their agricultural clients have on deforestation.
http://jlne.ws/1ItEma5
(UK’s) Football League launches carbon-saving car share initiative
BusinessGreen
With the football season set to kick off this weekend, supporters up and down the country will be preparing for another nine months of lengthy journeys, substantial fuel bills, and hefty carbon footprints.
http://jlne.ws/1IwmxM4
Natural gas/coal
Mozambique port accident deals blow to Vale coal project -sources
By Ed Stoddard – Reuters
A coal stacker has collapsed at the Mozambique port of Nacala, dealing a blow to Brazilian miner Vale’s effort to start coal shipments from the African nation in the third quarter.
http://jlne.ws/1SQhozZ
Gas Awakening From U.S. Shale Slumber as LNG Shipments Near
By Naureen Malik and Christine Buurma – Bloomberg News
After years of languishing in a shale-induced coma, the U.S. natural gas market is waking up.
http://jlne.ws/1MxM60Q
Power
Germany Just Got 78 Percent Of Its Electricity From Renewable Sources
ThinkProgress
On Saturday, July 25, Germany set a new national record for renewable energy by meeting 78 percent of the day’s electricity demand with renewables sources, exceeding the previous record of 74 percent set in May of 2014.
http://jlne.ws/1eD1wDj
Puffs of hope
The Economist
On the afternoon of July 25th renewable generators fulfilled about 78% of Germany’s domestic demand.
http://jlne.ws/1h9Iczs
SunEdison breaks ground at 110MW Chilean solar plant
By James Phillips – BusinessGreen
SunEdison has continued its recent expansion drive in Latin American with the announcement it has started the construction of a 110MW solar plant in the Chilean capital, Santiago.
http://jlne.ws/1MARK3f
Centrica Exits Wind Energy as It Reduces Power-Generation Focus
By Alex Morales – Bloomberg News
Centrica Plc, the biggest energy supplier to U.K. homes, said it’s exiting wind energy after deciding to pare back its power-generation activities to focus on its supply business.
http://jlne.ws/1JzMdbl
Missouri regulators looking into decoupling utility revenues and profits
By Karen Uhlenhuth – Midwest Energy News
While Missouri’s largest utility intimates that it may terminate its efficiency program, the state’s utility regulator has begun considering whether to institute a “decoupling” policy that could address utility concerns about shrinking power sales.
http://jlne.ws/1SQfRd9
Warming May Boost Wind Energy in Plains States
By Chelsey B. Coombs – ClimateCentral
Powerful winds are commonplace in the U.S. prairie states, which experienced walls of dirt swept into the air by these gusts during the Dust Bowl.
http://jlne.ws/1eEZgLO
***LB: Also in this story “A study published last month in the journal Renewable Energy suggests that climate change is likely to make these states windier than they’ve ever been before, which could be a boon to the nation’s renewable energy industry and the already thriving wind energy operations in those states.”
Texas Wholesale Power Surges as Grid Warns of Reserve Shortage
By Jonathan Crawford – Bloomberg News
Wholesale power prices in Texas soared as the state’s grid manager projected a shortfall in generation capacity amid surging demand and power plant outages.
http://jlne.ws/1MxMgp4
Water
GOP probes alleged internal problems with Obama water rule
By Timothy Cama – The Hill
The House Oversight Committee is looking into allegations that two Obama administration agencies had sharp disagreements over the development of a major water pollution rule.
http://jlne.ws/1gsfgm5
Dem objections block clean water bill
By Jordain Carney – The Hill
Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) blocked a push Thursday by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) to get a vote on a clean water bill, leading to a testy exchange on the Senate floor.
http://jlne.ws/1OS7A81
California senators introduce new drought relief bill
By Russell Brandom – The Verge
As California faces unprecedented water shortages, the state’s legislators are introducing a new bill to mitigate the damage.
http://jlne.ws/1MWUPrv