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| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
The carbon lobby is big enough already
Carbon trading creates perverse incentives |
Gar Lipow |
12 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I've said before that one problem with greenhouse-gas emissions trading (as opposed to a carbon price) is that it creates a whole new lobby with incentives to build the emissions market at the expense of actual emissions reductions. Speaking at the Carbon Expo trade fair in Cologne, Germany, Ken Newcombe, a pioneering carbon trader who currently works for Goldman Sachs provided an example: He described the concept of additionality -- the idea of proving that a projec ... |
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| Topics: carbon tax, carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation (all these topics) |
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McCain's targets
Emission reduction targets proposed by McCain are insufficient but squarely in the mainstream |
David Roberts |
12 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Here is the schedule of targets John McCain has proposed for his cap-and-trade program: 2012: Return emissions to 2005 levels (18 percent above 1990 levels) 2020: Return emissions to 1990 levels (15 percent below 2005 levels) 2030: 22 percent below 1990 levels (34 percent below 2005 levels) 2050: 60 percent below 1990 levels (66 percent below 2005 levels) The two things to note about these targets: They are insufficient based on the latest science. ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate change mitigation, greenhouse-gas emissions, John McCain, politics (all these topics) |
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McCain's climate plan
Republican candidate's climate proposals better than expected but still behind the curve |
David Roberts |
11 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| On Monday, John McCain will deliver a speech on climate change from Portland, Oregon. In it he will lay out the framework for climate policy under a McCain administration. After a primary spent shoring up his credentials among the Republican base, this is the beginning of his general election strategy: Operation I'm Not Bush. (One important note: the speech is not on energy. McCain will be delivering a major speech on energy in a few weeks, probably early June, wherei ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, John McCain, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Coal moratorium now!
Preventing dirty coal plants is the most urgent climate policy |
Joseph Romm |
07 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| A livable climate can (probably) survive the burning of almost all of the world's conventional oil and gas -- but not if we also burn even half the coal (see here [PDF] and figure below). So the top priority for any climate policy must be to stop the building of traditional coal plants -- which is why that has become the top priority of NASA's James Hansen (see here). The next priority is to replace existing coal plants with carbon-free power, which could include c ... |
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| Topics: carbon sequestration, carbon trading, climate, climate science, coal, energy (all these topics) |
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Carbon trading blasted by indigenous groups
Spoilsports don't appreciate all the World Bank has done for them |
Gar Lipow |
06 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Some of the world's poorest people seem to think carbon trading will destroy their way of life without actually contributing to solving global warming. The highly respected Institute for Policy Studies seems to think so, too [PDF]. Very odd of them to take such a position. Because, after all, there are no alternatives to carbon trading. |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation, climate equity (all these topics) |
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The Best Defense
An interview with Fred Krupp, author of Earth: The Sequel and president of EDF |
David Roberts |
05 May 2008 |
Grist Feature |
| Fred Krupp. Fred Krupp has been piloting Environmental Defense Fund since he left private law practice in 1984. It hasn't gone badly: Under Krupp's leadership, the group has become an influential player in the deepest halls of power, with an annual budget that's ballooned from $3 million to $71.8 million. A substantial measure of EDF's success and credibility stems fro ... |
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| Topics: books, business, carbon trading, climate, economy, Environmental Defense Fund, interview (all these topics) |
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Recycling a carbon tax into carbon fighting
Perpetual montion does not work any better in economics than it does in technology |
Gar Lipow |
30 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In David Roberts' post on the carbon policy dilemma, David defines an 'efficient' carbon policy as follows: First, in a given sector, you set up a system that transfers capital directly from those over-emitting to those reducing emissions, in an agnostic fashion -- that is, preferencing no particular set of technologies or practices. A ton of CO2 ought to be worth the same no matter how it is emitted or prevented, and there should be no net loss of capital in the sector ... |
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| Topics: carbon tax, carbon trading, climate, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics) |
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Markets vs. emission reductions
Why secondary carbon markets should be minimized in climate legislation |
Gar Lipow |
29 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| It is fine and necessary to put a price on carbon, via either a carbon tax or 100 percent auctioned cap-and-trade permits. But in the latter case, when those permits are not sold directly to polluters but are released into a secondary market (either via auctioning or, worse, via giveaways), those markets tend to prioritize maintaining their own existence over reducing emissions. In short, a price is fine; an actual market is not. Part of this is that creating such marke ... |
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| Topics: business, carbon tax, carbon trading, climate (all these topics) |
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The fossil bloc makes its play
New Senate alternatives to L-W would take climate policy backwards -- way backwards |
David Roberts |
29 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| George Voinovich. There's an important story in yesterday's edition of E&E (as always, $ub. req'd) about two alternatives to Lieberman-Warner that have recently been floated in the Senate. One comes from Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) and the other -- not so much a bill as a 'set of principles' -- from a coalition of the nation's biggest and dirtiest coal companies. Together they serve as an excellent primer on the conservative movement's latest approac ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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Me on a podcast
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David Roberts |
29 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I am on this week's podcast from PolticalAffairs.net. I'll confess when the PA guy called me I didn't know it was a record of 'Marxist thought online,' but hey, let a thousand flowers bloom. As it happens I was talking about a market-based carbon policy, kind of an odd subject for a Marxist podcast, but it was fun. If you listen closely, you can hear me stirring my lunch on the stove as I talk. Multitasking might explain why I was talking so damn slowly. It sounds like ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, climate science, greenhouse-gas emissions, politics, regulation, shameless self-promotion (all these topics) |
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Carbon policy dilemma, 1
You can't achieve the three goals of climate policy at once |
David Roberts |
28 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I've been thinking about carbon policy lately (shocker, I know), prompted by recent interactions with Monica Prasad, Peter Barnes, and our own Sean Casten. The more I think about it, the more one of the central tensions becomes clear to me. Here are three goals for good climate legislation: Simplicity: The bill should not be hundreds of pages long, packed with addenda, loopholes, provisos, and over-specifications. Complexity boxes out ordinary citizens and insure ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, coal, energy, legislation, messaging, politics (all these topics) |
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Fortune Brainstorm Green
Lomborg does his shtick |
David Roberts |
22 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| God knows why, but they invited Bjorn Lomborg for a short one-on-one interview. Somewhat embarrassingly for Fortune, they got about a third of the crowd that's come to most other sessions. Apparently people are tired of his shtick. For some reason, Adam Lashinsky from Fortune is kissing Lomborg's ass, asking him to "challenge our cozy consensus," granting him his self-proclaimed status as "skeptical," talking about how challenging he is, blah bla ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, climate change skepticism (all these topics) |
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Fortune Brainstorm Green
Peter Barnes sprints through cap-and-dividend |
David Roberts |
21 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Peter Barnes was given exactly five minutes (!) to explain cap-and-dividend to the audience. Everybody's so tired and frazzled that I don't think it sank in very much. However, I talked with Barnes for a good while outside, before the session, and I came out of it far more convinced of the wisdom of the idea that I was before. Much more on that later as well. |
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| Topics: cap-and-dividend, carbon trading, climate (all these topics) |
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McCain's climate policy
A conversation with McCain policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin |
David Roberts |
21 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Opinions differ on the quality of John McCain's domestic policy agenda, but you'd have trouble finding anyone in Washington who would disparage the man he's chosen as one of his top advisers. Douglas Holtz-Eakin has a dauntingly long resume and a reputation among policy wonks on both sides of the aisle for fair-minded number crunching. He has taught economics at top-notch universities, served as a senior economist in both Bush administrations, and run the Congressi ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, energy, interview, John McCain, legislation, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Fortune Brainstorm Green
A discussion of climate policy downplays cap-and-trade |
David Roberts |
21 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Now we're getting into the nuts and bolts climate policy, with the following folks: The Hon. Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr. Attorney General State of California John E. Bryson Chairman and CEO Edison International Alexander "Andy" Karsner Assistant Secretary, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy U.S. Department of Energy Jonathan Lash President World Resource ... |
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| Topics: business, carbon trading, climate, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
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By Our Power Combined
California utilities scuffle over cap-and-trade |
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21 Apr 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 8:42 AM on 21 Apr 2008 California is well aware that reducing greenhouse-gas emissions is easier said than done. The state's attempts to craft an effective cap-and-trade system are causing infighting among public utilities and their privately owned counterparts. Public utilities, which source more of their power from coal, protest that they're going to end up paying out the nose to the state and seeing the money red ... |
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| Topics: business, California, carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation, greenhouse-gas emissions, news, politics, regulation, state politics (all these topics) |
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Three-point plan
RFK Jr. advocates for cap-and-trade, renewables, smart grids |
Adam Browning |
20 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s got a three-point plan for the next president. I think it would work. |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, energy, politics, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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Sneak peek at Time's cover story
Mag's green issue exalts cap-and-trade |
Joseph Romm |
17 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I now seem to be on some media distribution list to gin up early PR. Green publicists of the world, bring it on! Here are links to key stories (plus some summaries, from Time): This Week's Cover Features a Green Border -- Only the Second Issue in TIME's 85-Year History Without the Trademarked Red Border (New York, April 17, 2008) -- In this week's issue, TIME managing editor Richard Stengel writes in his Letter to Readers, 'This is our latest environment ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, international politics, magazines, politics (all these topics) |
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An additional note on additionality
Carbon projects 'under attack' as U.N. clamps down |
Adam Stein |
15 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is timely. The Wall Street Journal ran a page 1 story on Sunday on the travails of the major developers of carbon reduction projects in the developing world, as standards for additionality and carbon accounting grow more stringent. Such projects are certified under guidelines established by the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism. As the U.N. has tightened its oversight with each succeeding version of the CDM, early entrants have found themselves squeezed ... |
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| Topics: carbon offsets, carbon trading, climate, greenhouse-gas emissions, Kyoto Protocol (all these topics) |
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When does additionality matter? Part 4
The carbon offset market needs additionality |
Adam Stein |
12 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This post is the slightly tardy conclusion of a series (see parts one, two, and three). Let's wrap this up by shifting gears a bit. Additionality is central and essential part of the carbon offset market. Additionality is also, in the long term, probably not relevant to the energy efficiency market. The reason hinges on the difference between carbon offsets and carbon allowances. Both are often lumped together under the term 'carbon credits,' but they're different in ... |
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| Topics: carbon tax, carbon trading, climate, energy (all these topics) |
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Note to Newsweek
McCain is closer to Bush than to the Democrats |
Brad Johnson |
07 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Originally posted at the Think Progress Wonk Room. Newsweek's cover story on the presidential candidates and global warming quotes UC Berkeley energy professor Dan Kammen, a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)'s presidential campaign: It's unusual to have a Republican candidate who openly disagrees with the Bush administration on the need for capping carbon emissions. There's more disagreement with the current administration than with each other. The idea t ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, George Bush, John McCain, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Maryland keeps getting greener
State's governor pursuing clean energy and GHG reductions |
Joseph Romm |
07 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Kari Manlove, fellows assistant at the Center for American Progress. ----- Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has prioritized clean energy policy and aims to reduce the state's energy consumption 15 percent by 2015. In addition, Maryland is a part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric utilities. With those goals topping the governor's agenda, Maryland's Senate chambers ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, Maryland, politics, renewable energy, state politics (all these topics) |
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When does additionality matter? Part 3
Almost always, but the reason is more subtle than you think |
Adam Stein |
03 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In two previous posts, I've attempted to establish that additionality is neither some strange concept relevant only to carbon offsets nor an awkward patch used to fix a defect in the design of carbon markets. Rather, the concept of additionality is applicable to any incentive system, whether subsidy, tax, or whatever. The real question is what degree of additionality is actually necessary or desirable in any given system. Put another way, when should we care enough about ... |
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| Topics: business, carbon offsets, carbon trading, climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics) |
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Carbon policy details: Part 5
The solution: Output-based standards |
Sean Casten |
03 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is the fifth and final post in a series on the details required to get carbon policy right. See also parts one, two, three, and four. So far, I've done a lot of complaining -- which, in and of itself, is just, well ... whiny. Here, then, is a solution. First, a very brief review: A test of good carbon policy is whether it encourages the private sector to invest capital in projects that will reduce GHG emissions. 'Additionality' confuses carbon policy, by ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, economy, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics) |
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Hoffert and Pielke: <del
Shame on Nature for quoting Hoffert on behalf of Pielke without noting they're colleagues! |
Joseph Romm |
02 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Suppose the prestigious journal Nature published an analysis of mine that they knew many people would disagree with. How would you feel if Nature then ran accompanying commentaries for and against my analysis, including another Senior Fellow from the Center for American Progress raving about how important and brilliant it was? You'd probably think that was kind of lame of them. Now suppose the Nature article never mentioned that I was a CAP Senior Fellow or that my m ... |
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| Topics: business, carbon trading, climate, climate change skepticism, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, IPCC (all these topics) |
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