Summary
In today’s edition, a new tactic to fight climate change: Sue your government! Also, for all the upbeat forecasts about the growth of solar power, this is a punishing year for the industry. And it won’t improve anytime soon. Finally, in the Carbon section, a ‘key moment’ this week for global aircraft emissions: High-level negotiations are getting under way in Montreal on how countries structure an agreement curbing carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft.
Quote of the day
“It is the first time a federal court has suggested that government may have a constitutional duty to combat climate change, and that individuals can sue to enforce that right.”
Michael B. Gerrard, the director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, in the New York Times’ story In Novel Tactic on Climate Change, Citizens Sue Their Governments
Lead stories
Powering French Homes with Cheese
By Tracy Moran – Ozy
Charles de Gaulle asked back in 1962, “How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?” But maybe the famed general — who led Free France during World War II and founded the country’s Fifth Republic — should have been pondering how fermenting fromage might help fire up his beloved France.
http://bit.ly/1ZBOwQ0
Riding the ‘Solarcoaster’ as Shares Plunge Even More Than Coal
By Joe Ryan – Bloomberg
For all the upbeat forecasts about the growth of solar power, this is a punishing year for the industry. And it won’t improve anytime soon.
http://bloom.bg/1WYFz4b
Headlines ‘exaggerated’ climate link to sinking of Pacific islands
By Karl Mathiesen – The Guardian
Links between climate change and the sinking of five islands in the Pacific Ocean have been exaggerated, the author of a widely reported new study has said.
http://bit.ly/1WYMavw
In Novel Tactic on Climate Change, Citizens Sue Their Governments
By John Schwartz – The New York Times
Global warming is already disrupting the planet’s weather. Now it is having an impact on the courts, as well, as adults and children around the world try to enlist the judiciary in their efforts to blunt climate change.
http://nyti.ms/24IUS3E
3 radical shifts required to hit the Paris climate goals
By Jules Kortenhorst and Thomas Koch Blank – GreenBiz
The climate agreement reached in Paris in December was an unprecedented global achievement. Delegates from 195 countries agreed to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 C.
http://bit.ly/1OfjtsN
Events
CARBON EXPO 2016
Global Carbon Market Fair and Conference
May 25-27, 2016
Cologne
http://jlne.ws/1mg8bqR
Cleantech Innovate Scotland
June 9, 2016
http://jlne.ws/1mg6nOG
Carbon
‘Key Moment’ for Global Aircraft Emissions This Week
By Anthony Adragna – Bloomberg
High-level negotiations getting under way in Montreal represent a “very key moment” for how countries around the world structure an agreement curbing carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft, environmental advocates said May 9.
http://bit.ly/1T7PyVv
Natural gas / coal
Trump’s unrealistic promises in coal country
By Daniel Cohan – The Hill
Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump pledged last week to revive coal mining employment in Appalachia.
http://bit.ly/1saSMvR
Clash between Trump and Clinton over coal foreshadows a tough fight for her in battleground states
By Michael Finnegan – Los Angeles Times
Voters in Appalachian coal country will not soon forget that Democrat Hillary Clinton told an Ohio audience in March that she would “put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.”
http://lat.ms/1T2E7wt
Power
Electric car drivers to sell power back to (UK’s) National Grid
By Peter Campbell – Financial Times
Owners of electric cars in the UK will be able to sell power from their batteries back to the National Grid under a scheme unveiled by Nissan.
http://on.ft.com/1TzhBr8
General Electric to Acquire Power Business for $250 Million
By Joshua Jamerson – The Wall Street Journal
General Electric Co. said Tuesday it has agreed to buy a heat recovery steam generator business for $250 million, expanding the company’s power assets as it shifts its focus back to industrials.
http://on.wsj.com/27bqQaQ
U.S. Utilities Boost Investments in Wind, Solar Power
By Cassandra Sweet – The Wall Street Journal
Large U.S. utilities are taking advantage of government subsidies to buy and produce more renewable energy in anticipation of tougher new regulations on carbon emissions.
http://on.wsj.com/1T7SvW5
Turning Low-Income Neighborhoods on to Solar Power
By Xiumei Dong – US News and World Report
In a Northeast Washington, D.C., neighborhood where you can still get a house for less than $100,000, one owner recently gave his two-story home an expensive upgrade: $30,000 worth of solar panels.
http://bit.ly/1T2Gyio
Clean tech
Tesla: The Cost of Elon Musk’s Model 3 Vision
By Charley Grant – The Wall Street Journal
Dreams of an electric future have historically mattered much more to Tesla Motors shareholders than current business reality. But Tesla’s relentless cash burn and emerging competition could yet flip that script.
http://on.wsj.com/1T9ttTs
Hyundai: “we are making electric plug-ins until hydrogen fuel cell vehicles take hold”
By Fred Lambert – Electrek
Just last month, we published an article arguing that automakers entrenched in fuel cell hydrogen vehicles, like Hyundai, Toyota and Honda, appear to be succumbing to physics and finally warming up to battery-powered vehicles. Now Hyundai is coming out saying that it is only temporary.
http://bit.ly/1WnQdmE
Water
California drought: governor makes certain water-wasting bans permanent
By Sam Levin -The Guardian
Governor Jerry Brown has ordered California to adopt permanent water conservation measures in response to a devastating five-year drought, including long-term bans on wasteful practices and mandatory reporting rules.
http://bit.ly/23FpznT