Monday, 16 Oct 2006

A Tip of the Cap

California will join Northeast greenhouse-gas reduction program

California will participate in the carbon cap-and-trade program being established in seven Northeast states, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) announced today. Linking in with the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative -- which we suppose won't be so regional anymore -- will help California's industries comply with an impending mandatory cap on greenhouse-gas emissions. "Gov. Schwarzenegger wants to build a large, robust carbon trading market that will dramatically reduce emissions. The more robust the market, the more effective we will be," says a Schwarzenegger spokesflack, who obviously disdains girlie markets. While large corporate emitters of GHGs still aren't happy about the new California law capping emissions, a spokesflack for the California Manufacturers and Technology Association grudgingly agreed that "implementing a cap-and-trade and allowing manufacturers to offset some of the substantial costs will help manufacturers deal with the greenhouse-gas mandate." He added, "hmph."


Initiatives on the ballot in Arizona, California, Idaho, and Washington state threaten to undermine the very foundation of environmental protections and land-use regulations, activists warn. Modeled after Oregon's Measure 37, which was approved by voters in 2004, the initiatives would require taxpayers to pay landowners if a zoning rule or environmental law reduces the speculative value of their property. In Oregon, nearly 3,000 claims totaling more than $5 billion have been filed under the measure -- and the state simply can't afford to pay them. Now property-rights activists are using duplicitous arguments as part of a coordinated campaign to spread that system to other states, Dan Whipple reports.

We Put the "Pro" in "Procrastinate"

Twiddling our thumbs on climate change could cost $20 trillion a year by 2100

Failure to fight global warming could cost $20 trillion a year by the end of the century, says a new study from Tufts University -- and that doesn't include costs of biodiversity loss or unpredictable events like the shutdown of the Gulf Stream. That enormous figure -- representing the cost of doing nothing while the global temperature rises about 7 degrees Fahrenheit -- is equal to about 6 to 8 percent of projected world economic output at century's end. But relatively moderate spending now of about $3 trillion a year to curb emissions could avoid $12 trillion in annual damages, and could keep warming to about 3.5 degrees F, thus avoiding the worst of climate chaos. That sounds like a smart investment, says Friends of the Earth, which commissioned the study. According to separate research by oil giant Shell, finding solutions to global warming could create $58 billion in annual business for British companies alone. "The cost-benefit equation of action to tackle climate change is favorable," says Shell Chair James Smith.


It's almost time for trick-or-treating, and do you know what those little goblins will get in their goody bags? Probably a sweet treat made possible by impoverished farmers and forced child labor in Africa. Advice maven Umbra Fisk unwraps the dark truths behind the world's cocoa trade, and offers a semi-sweet solution for the fair-minded.

We Ain't Got the Power

Electricity demand outpacing supply in North America

Demand for electricity in the U.S. is increasing three times faster than power plants and lines are being built, says a new report from the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC). U.S. energy demand is predicted to increase about 19 or 20 percent in the next decade; in the next two or three years, power generation and transmission capacities are likely to drop below ensured reliability levels on peak days in Texas, New England, the mid-Atlantic area, and the Midwest, NERC predicts. Conservation programs will need to at least double their reach and effectiveness to help close the gap between supply and demand, says NERC president and CEO Rick Sergel. The report suggests that utility companies use financial incentives to encourage customer energy efficiency during peak hours. "We can't continue this 'just-in-time' planning much longer," says Sergel, noting that grid officials forecast electricity use based on "normal weather" patterns -- not increasingly warm winters and hot summers.


Cheri Sugal has worked around the globe to protect threatened rainforests, but now she's concentrating her efforts on one special parcel -- the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Her group, Friends of Calakmul, makes payments to local communities that agree to give up logging rights. As InterActivist this week, Sugal chats about tracking jaguars in the wild, seeing the horrors of the bushmeat trade, hiking with her golden retriever, and more. Send Sugal a question by noon PDT on Wednesday; we'll publish her answers to selected questions on Friday.

Lutsel Make a Deal

Canadian government, Natives agree to create massive national park

The Canadian government and a tiny Native tribe have agreed to work together to create an 8.3 million acre national park in the Northwest Territories. Three decades ago, the Lutsel K'e Dene tribe turned down a similar proposal, fearing national-park designation would interfere with hunting rights for their main food source, caribou. Now, however, they welcome park protection, which will make the area, almost four times the size of Yellowstone, off-limits to burgeoning diamond and uranium mining interests. "The people of this community have a very, very close connection to the land," says tribal representative Stephen Ellis. The Dene hope to call the park Thaydene Nene National Park, meaning "land of the ancestors." Canadian Environment Minister Rona Ambrose also committed to pushing ahead with an expanded national park system in the larger surrounding area, which conservationists hope will mitigate the effects of an also-planned 800-mile gas pipeline in the region.