Summary
In today’s edition, a follow up from yesterday with 5 technologies that could help curb airplane emissions, as the EPA ponders on setting limits, and some good news: The climate meeting taking place in Germany ends with last-minute compromise on Paris climate text, while a surprise agreement has been reached on how to reduce deforestation in developing countries to help curb climate change.
Quote of the day
“While there’s an international legal basis that recognizes the rights of indigenous people, the success of REDD+ will depend on its actual implementation on the ground.”
Niranjali Amerasinghe, who monitors the talks for the Washington-based Center for International Environmental Law, in the Bloomberg News’ story Decade-Long UN Forest Climate Talks Reach Breakthrough
Lead stories
5 Technologies That Could Help Curb Airplane Emissions
By Wendy Koch – National Geographic
A new step by the Obama Administration toward limiting heat-trapping emissions from airplanes could get a lift from cutting-edge technologies such as non-stick coatings that stop bug guts from clinging to jet wings.
http://jlne.ws/1FMwMXG
Bonn meeting ends with last-minute compromise on Paris climate text
By Fiona Harvey – The Guardian
Climate change negotiators meeting in Bonn on Thursday came up with a last-minute compromise that observers hope will put the talks on track for a new global agreement on greenhouse gases.
http://jlne.ws/1KGlyJR
European commission hails ‘fiddled’ Serbian climate pledge
By Arthur Neslen – The Guardian
Serbia’s new climate pledge for the coming UN summit in Paris has been hailed by the European commission as an “exemplary” step towards EU accession, even though official figures show that it involves a 15% increase in the country’s emissions by 2030.
http://jlne.ws/1e6scwY
Decade-Long UN Forest Climate Talks Reach Breakthrough
By Stefan Nicola – Bloomberg News
A surprise agreement has been reached by envoys from about 190 nations after about a decade of talks on how to reduce deforestation in developing countries to help curb climate change.
http://jlne.ws/1C1naXs
Republicans’ leading climate denier tells the pope to butt out of climate debate
By Suzanne Goldenberg – The Guardian
Washington’s notorious snowball-thrower was at it again – even on a June day with forecast highs of 92 degrees – as the Senate’s most powerful environmental leader delivered a pep talk to activists who deny the science behind climate change.
http://jlne.ws/1B61azV
Paul Ryan Adds Amendment to Trade Bill to Block Climate Deals
By Clare Foran – National Journal
If House Republicans get their way, President Obama won’t be able to use any trade pact to strike a deal on climate change.
http://jlne.ws/1S8lPHJ
S.Korea plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 by 15-30 pct
By Meeyoung Cho – Reuters
South Korea said it plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 by 15-30 percent from business-as-usual (BAU) levels.
http://jlne.ws/1GhBejI
Events
Climate Strategies Forum
ACCO
Washington Marriott Hotel at Metro Center
Washington, DC
June 24-26, 2015
http://jlne.ws/1J3aeGO
EMA Annual Meeting
October 28-30, 2015
Omni Parker House Hotel
Boston, MA
http://bit.ly/192w3CR
Carbon
US biofuel plan rattles ethanol credits
By Gregory Meyer – Financial Times
New US biofuels targets have shaken markets from ethanol credits to Malaysian palm oil, underlining the far-reaching consequences of mandates to use foodstuffs for powering cars.
http://jlne.ws/1IxzjZ1
Price on carbon may be sweet spot for Midwest grid operator
By Rod Kuckro – E&E
Setting a price on carbon emissions could be the most effective way for operators of power plants in the Midwest to comply with U.S. EPA’s Clean Power Plan, according to a senior executive with the region’s grid operator.
http://jlne.ws/1MtDHcm
Blue Carbon Rising
By Dick Kempka – Triple Pundit
It’s likely most people have never heard the term blue carbon. When carbon is stored in coastal wetland ecosystems, including tidal marshes, mangroves and seagrass, it becomes known as blue carbon.
http://jlne.ws/1C1m9yB
Natural gas/coal
Shell pulls out of east Ukraine gas exploration project
By Mark Rachkevych – Kyiv Post
Ukraine’s government received a “Notice of Withdrawal” to abandon a potential $10 billion gas exploration project from Royal Dutch Shell, the Financial Times reported citing “sources familiar with the situation.”
http://jlne.ws/1FbIlX3
Power
Despite Hurdles, Solar Power in Australia Is Too Robust to Kill
By Jo Chandler – environment 360
When her latest electricity bill arrived, Melbourne homeowner Roslyn Guy framed it for proud display.
http://jlne.ws/1cOkYfx
Whirlpool windmill produces power without blades
By Jose Elías Rodríguez – Reuters
A 1940 clip of the Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge in the United States stretching like chewing gum in a gale captured the imagination of a Spanish engineering student who became obsessed with how he could turn that chaos into power.
http://jlne.ws/1I7lwG4
Water
California Court, Despite Drought, Questions Popular Water Pricing Tool
By Brett Walton – Circle of Blue
It was not the sort of tremor that Californians prepare for with flashlights, evacuation plans, and Hollywood scripts. But a state appeals court ruling on April 20 hit the state’s water utilities with earth-shaking force.
http://jlne.ws/1e6qBY1