Friday, 29 Jun 2007

House Party

U.S. House works on energy bill, passes Interior appropriations bill

The House of Representatives is gettin' jiggy with eco-legislation this week. On Wednesday, it passed a bill declaring that -- gasp! -- global warming is a "reality," and mandated funding for climate research. The House hopes to pass comprehensive energy legislation by July 4; proposals on the table include tough efficiency standards for lighting and appliances, smart-grid incentives, expansion of biofuels research, and funding for carbon capture and storage (shockingly, and wonderfully, not applying to coal-to-liquid technology). However, the various proposals exclude any mention of fuel-economy standards or biofuel production mandates, both of which are prominent in the Senate energy bill; those controversial issues may be left to a separate climate-change bill to be debated in the fall. The House also passed a $28 billion Interior Department spending bill, disallowing oil-shale leases in 2008 and increasing spending on operation and maintenance of national parks. Whee! We almost feel patriotic.

Citgo Boom

Jury finds Citgo guilty of criminal Clean Air Act charges

In a legal first, oil refiner Citgo has been found guilty of criminal charges under the Clean Air Act. The case -- involving two open-air storage tanks in Corpus Christi, Texas, that released the carcinogen benzene into the air -- marks the first time criminal violations of the act have gone to trial; previous cases against refiners have been settled out of court. While the jury cleared Citgo of two charges that it knowingly released illegal levels of benzene, the refiner was nailed on two charges that it did not install proper pollution controls, also known as "roofs." (The company has since covered one tank and is in the process of roofing the other.) A Justice Department official called the convictions "a strong signal ... that emissions controls are not optional," and environmental-justice activists exulted. A second trial begins July 9 to address five more counts against Citgo, which is owned by Venezuela's state-run oil company. Ooh, the tangly nature of the oil biz never ceases to astound.


Heading back from their tour of Southern California, the teenage members of jazz band In Black are exhausted but excited. They've talked to audiences about climate change (and kept their own emissions to a minimum), played some darn good music, and made time to be InterActivists in the middle of it all. In answering reader questions, the youthful musicians speak with remarkable maturity about being active in fighting global warming, the band's future, and the infamous paper-or-plastic question.

Turned Offset

Leading banks suggest regulation of carbon-offset market

Not long ago, the phrase "carbon offset" was a kind of magic. Investing in far-off green projects, the thinking went, made up for emissions at the source. Poof! But complications arose, and now a group of more than 10 major banks wants to move toward regulating the market -- at least the voluntary offsets that aren't government-regulated. The standards floated by the cabal -- including Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Deutsche Bank -- would cover such basics as making sure emissions cuts are "measurable, verifiable, and permanent" and keeping credits from being sold more than once. "We need to prevent confusion and ensure that there is public confidence," says Imtiaz Ahmad, VP of European Carbon Investors and Services. The banks also need to get their act together before a U.S. carbon-trading market emerges, which many expect to happen post-Bush. Said one trader: "The E.U. emissions trading scheme is going to look like a sideshow to the U.S. and other embryonic programs in a few years' time."

John Ashcroft, Where Are You?

Bald eagle soars off threatened-species list, cockfighting banned

Two momentous avian occasions occurred this week: on Wednesday, the Louisiana legislature banned cockfighting, making it the last state in the U.S. to do so. And yesterday, federal officials confirmed the removal of Endangered Species Act protections for the iconic bald eagle. First, the cocks: by a unanimous vote in the state Senate and a nearly unanimous vote in the House, legislators agreed to give the cockfighting crowd one year to indulge in a little more fun, sell animals and equipment, and generally get over their distress about losing a treasured rural pastime. Maybe a visit to one of those drive-through daiquiri bars will help? The mood was much lighter in Washington, D.C., where Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne giddily announced the recovery of the eagle, whose numbers in the Lower 48 have surged from 417 breeding pairs 40 years ago to more than 10,000 today. "This is a great day," said Douglas Inkley of the National Wildlife Federation. "This is a man-on-the-moon moment for wildlife."