Summary
Pledges from dozens of nations to rein in carbon emissions aren’t enough so far to avoid catastrophic climate change, say four European research centers in today’s edition. Also, another study states that better health would be a key benefit of renewables. And finally, the top executives at the largest publicly held fossil fuel companies in the United States have made nearly $6 billion in the last five years — enough to double the U.S. commitment to addressing climate change abroad.
Quote of the day
“It is clear that if the Paris meeting locks in present climate commitments for 2030, holding warming below 2 degrees Celsius could essentially become infeasible, and 1.5 degrees Celsius beyond reach.”
Bill Hare, chief executive officer of Potsdam, Germany-based Climate Analytics, in the Bloomberg News’ story International Efforts to Cut Carbon Pollution Won’t Be Enough
Lead stories
Obama plans to announce climate change strategy on last day in Alaska
By Amanda Holpuch – The Guardian
On the final day of his trip to Alaska, President Obama was set to announce a slate of initiatives to help remote Arctic communities beset by the effects of climate change.
http://jlne.ws/1hUzR3h
Obama: Shrinking Exit Glacier a powerful sign of warming climate
By Roberta Rampton – Reuters
President Barack Obama walked down a winding wooded path, past a small brown post marked “1926” and a glacial stream trickling over gravel that eons of ice have scraped off mountain peaks.
http://jlne.ws/1Ks4rNY
International Efforts to Cut Carbon Pollution Won’t Be Enough
By Alex Nussbaum – Bloomberg News
Pledges from dozens of nations to rein in carbon emissions aren’t enough so far to avoid catastrophic climate change, according to four European research centers.
http://jlne.ws/1NaTRLI
Better Health a Key Benefit of Renewables, Study Says
By Bobby Magill – Climate Central
Building wind and solar farms helps to reduce the human impact on climate change by displacing noxious emissions from coal-fired power plants.
http://jlne.ws/1hUxmxV
Fossil Fuel Execs Made Twice As Much As U.S. Pledged To Help Fight Climate Change Overseas
By Kate Sheppard – The Huffington Post
The top executives at the largest publicly held fossil fuel companies in the United States have made nearly $6 billion in the last five years — enough to double the U.S. commitment to addressing climate change abroad.
http://jlne.ws/1IKdEK6
Indonesia pledges to cut carbon emissions 29% by 2030
Reuters
Indonesia will pledge to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 29% by 2030 the environment and forestry minister said on Wednesday, but gave few details on how this would be done.
http://jlne.ws/1Us7Wn7
Fat cat pay at fossil fuel companies drives climate crisis – report
By Suzanne Goldenberg – The Guardian
Executive pay at fossil fuel companies rewards corporate behavior that deepens the climate crisis, and offers no incentive to shift towards renewable energy, a Washington thinktank said.
http://jlne.ws/1KIMBVJ
Dutch government to launch appeal against landmark emissions ruling
By James Phillips – BusinessGreen
The Dutch government intends to appeal a landmark legal ruling that ordered it to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions faster than it had originally planned.
http://jlne.ws/1N3acQZ
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
Scientists reveal there are 3tn trees in the world in latest count
By Adam Vaughan – The Guardian
Scientists have already calculated how many fish there are in the sea (230,000 species), and how many species there are on the planet overall (8.7m). Now they have had a crack at counting all of the world’s trees.
http://jlne.ws/1XhaU1Y
Tree loss slows, but covers area twice size of Portugal in 2014: study
By Michael Taylor – Reuters
The rate at which trees were cut down slowed globally for a third year in a row in 2014, but tree loss still covered an area twice the size of Portugal, an environmental research group said.
http://jlne.ws/1PLL40s
Fly or drive? Parsing the evolving climate math
By John Wihbey – Yale Climate Connections
The Environmental Protection Agency’s June 2015 first step toward regulating greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes comes amidst a drumbeat of analysis and criticism about air travel harm to the atmosphere.
http://jlne.ws/1Us7Go8
Natural gas / coal
Colorado Already Ahead of Announced Federal Rules to Limit Methane Leaks
By Leigh Paterson – Rocky Mountain PBS News
The EPA says it is targeting oil and gas because that industry is responsible for around 30 percent of all methane emissions. It is bad for the environment but is also a waste.
http://jlne.ws/1PLJ20d
China power firms return to profit as coal miners lose out
Reuters
Soaring first-half profits for China’s thermal power producers on the back of state-set tariffs and a collapse in coal prices that left miners with huge losses have led to fresh calls for power sector reform.
http://jlne.ws/1Ks4z0a
Ukraine gas hopes pinned on lower royalty rates
By Neil Buckley – Financial Times
One big casualty of Ukraine’s tensions with Russia has been its ambitions for independence in natural gas — and its attempt to end reliance on the Russian imports that Moscow has used as a political lever.
http://jlne.ws/1EBMcn0
Dutch Court Says Gas Producer Must Compensate Homeowners in Quake Zone
Reuters
A court in the Netherlands ruled on Wednesday that a natural gas company, a joint venture by Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil, must compensate homeowners for declines in the value of their properties because of earthquakes linked to production at the Groningen field.
http://jlne.ws/1EBNChw
Eggborough coal power plant may close next year
By James Phillips – BusinessGreen
The coal-fired Eggborough Power Station may be forced to close from the end of March next year, management has announced today, after a combination of market and regulatory conditions caused operators to conclude it has become financially unsustainable.
http://jlne.ws/1L5MpLY
Power
Scott Walker’s Record on Wind and Solar Power Leaves Renewables Industry Fuming
By Alex Nussbaum – Bloomberg News
Scott Walker’s up-and-down campaign for the Republican presidential nod has produced at least one constant: As far as wind and solar developers are concerned, the Wisconsin governor may be the worst man for the job.
http://jlne.ws/1KIPWUJ
Wind-Power Producers Find Profits as Elusive as a Summer Breeze
By Jim Polson and Mark Chediak – Bloomberg News
Power producers who invested billions in turbines are finding that making money off the wind can be as unpredictable as the energy source itself.
http://jlne.ws/1O9Jntl
***LB: Also in this story “NextEra Energy Inc., NRG Yield Inc. and Duke Energy Corp. all said a lack of sufficiently windy days cut into second-quarter sales. And neither power generators nor forecasters seem to know exactly why.”
Clean tech
Report: Tesla Letting Model X Buyers Customize Their Ride
By Stephanie Mlot – PC
Those who have reserved and are waiting for a Tesla Model X can pass the time with a new car customization dashboard.
http://jlne.ws/1L5PVpA
Water
Cities Are Finally Treating Water As A Resource, Not A Nuisance
By Erica Gies – Ensia
Memorial Day barbecues and parades were thwarted this year in Houston when a massive storm dumped more than 10 inches of rain in two days, creating a Waterworld of flooded freeways, cars, houses and businesses, leaving several people dead and hundreds in need of rescue.
http://jlne.ws/1LLC0aY
Global warming intensified the record floods in Texas and Oklahoma
By John Abraham – The Guardian
We know that as humans emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, it causes the Earth to warm.
http://jlne.ws/1Uny9bK
Climate change will alter ocean bacteria crucial to food chain – study
By Emma Howard – The Guardian
Climate change will have irreversible and unprecedented impacts on crucial ocean microorganisms that could trigger dramatic effects further up the food chain, according to scientists.
http://jlne.ws/1Us9vBj