tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11617305164074294742024-03-06T15:02:52.219-05:00Natural CapitalThinking of the environment as an asset. Follow us @_NaturalCapital, @dgromko, @nickcunningham1
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-39240613163153136562015-01-16T10:28:00.000-05:002015-01-16T13:09:32.129-05:00Out West: Redwoods, Zion, and Bryce<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>No, wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. </i><br />
-Edward Abbey, <i>Desert Solitaire</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Having spent far too long away from wilderness, my trip out west reminded me of its importance. Living in DC and working an office job, I spend a lot of time behind a computer and not nearly enough outside. I've really missed being in wilderness. I happened to be reading Edward Abbey's <i>Desert Solitaire </i>during the trip (thanks, Dave!), which helped to make that point even clearer for me.<br />
<br />
After one night in San Francisco, Aurora and I drove five hours north through the wineries and pastures in Sonoma County. Once at our destination in Arcata, we stayed three days with old Peace Corps friends Dave & Kristin LaFever and their two children, Madeline (now 4) and Juniper (<1). I hadn't seen Dave & Kristin for more than four years, meaning I'd never met Madeline! It quickly felt like we were back in Morocco and we were reminiscing about food, host families, and ill-timed bowel movements. I envy the two of them because, by living together and regularly talking about their shared experience in Morocco, their memories of the two years in Morocco are much sharper than mine. It could also be that my memory is shit. In addition to the pleasure of hanging out with them, it was also great to get to know their smart, thoughtful girls.<br />
<br />
In between food and beer, we found time for two hikes in the redwoods. The area around Arcata is home to some of the oldest, largest redwoods in the world. Only 5% of the original old-growth redwoods remain, harvested for their valuable wood in the 1800s and 1900s.<br />
<br />
It's so hard to take a good picture of redwoods because of their enormity. The size of the trees is their most immediately noticeable feature and that is just impossible to capture. Or at least I can't. Even in person it's difficult to get a feeling for how huge they are. When Dave was describing how redwood height is estimated - basically you need a clear line of sight of their base and peak - I realized that it is rare to see the top of a redwood. You see a gargantuan trunk and the beginning of the canopy, hundreds of feet above you, but...where is the top?<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSaZH5kV-HCp3DJVZmjvcdSDUvUcnYnGD34GcNhb6Ndz4_FWtS4dhS1HFOGY7ppRMIKce3jDiAGPwHJM1YEbzZbCvcwxw5sDovGY-bdwFb1UQYcc4bui75XJbj1DKEDcVRuRfc1Plo_Gk/s1600/redwoods.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSaZH5kV-HCp3DJVZmjvcdSDUvUcnYnGD34GcNhb6Ndz4_FWtS4dhS1HFOGY7ppRMIKce3jDiAGPwHJM1YEbzZbCvcwxw5sDovGY-bdwFb1UQYcc4bui75XJbj1DKEDcVRuRfc1Plo_Gk/s1600/redwoods.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Redwoods</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
......<br />
<br />
We parted from the LaFevers and drove 16 hours straight to Zion National Park. Highs and lows of the drive included: great vistas, a speeding ticket (77 in a 65), four cups of coffee, many hours on the road branded "the loneliest highway in the US," and John Grisham on book on tape.<br />
<br />
Stepping out of our motel room the next morning, I was shocked by Zion's towering canyon walls. We arrived after dark, so were unprepared for what a beautiful place we'd entered. Zion is the smallest national park I've been to, the main attractions are two incredibly steep canyons, formed by forks of the Virgin River, that meet near the entrance of the park. We had an amazing 4+ days in Zion, but a few hikes really stood out to me:<br />
<br />
The Narrows. The Narrows is at the end of Zion Park. Up until this point, the canyon is wide enough for roads, campgrounds, trails, etc. But at the Narrows, the canyon isn't much wider than the Virgin River itself, which has carved the Canyon. To hike up the canyon further you have to wade back and forth across the river (as deep as my waist at points); to enter the 40 degree water in the winter, you need dry suits! Aurora and I suited up and trekked through the water, hiking for maybe 4-5 hours before calling it a day. It was cold and exhausting to hike through the river. At its narrowest, the canyon is only a few meters across, with the red and black canyon walls shooting vertically out of the water. Spectacular!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-kFq0IDeNV1AfjJ8vFmphvdx71BWcOPOZpGQ_n1pzZDAYmZB8LU9oY01NxMizP1DUYbxKcZV1pLFXNBmwOo-H3oab5eI53zN22ux07sRIebl0Htx8Du2IOH8PJdOrvEPJ7q_FvdQHjW0/s1600/narrows.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-kFq0IDeNV1AfjJ8vFmphvdx71BWcOPOZpGQ_n1pzZDAYmZB8LU9oY01NxMizP1DUYbxKcZV1pLFXNBmwOo-H3oab5eI53zN22ux07sRIebl0Htx8Du2IOH8PJdOrvEPJ7q_FvdQHjW0/s1600/narrows.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Narrows</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Canyon Overlook. A nice short trail with an amazing view of the East Fork of the canyon.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm_UsGQMQj69h3SHIzUShqezJ3h2A1Od3Rm-_DwS2SHnauDKw0K4wwASqwTfqhR3wy65FFjm9aFvUSUhDuOqUx3n9lwuOk3CkrA4WtoCJqv_FpTvHjkh02N8HJ79LvbxMIsYTFVAbqkNI/s1600/zion+view.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm_UsGQMQj69h3SHIzUShqezJ3h2A1Od3Rm-_DwS2SHnauDKw0K4wwASqwTfqhR3wy65FFjm9aFvUSUhDuOqUx3n9lwuOk3CkrA4WtoCJqv_FpTvHjkh02N8HJ79LvbxMIsYTFVAbqkNI/s1600/zion+view.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canyon Overlook</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Sand Bench. We decided on Sand Bench trail on short notice after we found out that our planned trip for the day - a long trail in nearby Kolob Canyon - was closed due to snow. Sand Bench was maybe a five hour hike that slowly climbs from the canyon floor. It was by far the most solitary hike that we did and where we saw the most wildlife: mule deer, wild turkeys, and many other birds.<br />
<br />
Angel's Landing. A short (3 hours), but demanding hike that climbs 1,700 vertical feet to a spectacular vantage point. I did this on our last morning and the view from the top was a nice mental picture to leave the park with.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhstenBHEyFWhXcCEK4upj-zUlLt8EBYTbQ_euZLIn5QdvATe1MgOq1mlkIHrOKRk6BJH0nojugXl9MuLC3g4CQDNeQP-779Qi2rXK5O7enMGc8A6zr2a5IkOudTpmcIpXfiPXrXUG6k/s1600/Zion+view+from+AL.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhstenBHEyFWhXcCEK4upj-zUlLt8EBYTbQ_euZLIn5QdvATe1MgOq1mlkIHrOKRk6BJH0nojugXl9MuLC3g4CQDNeQP-779Qi2rXK5O7enMGc8A6zr2a5IkOudTpmcIpXfiPXrXUG6k/s1600/Zion+view+from+AL.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Angel's Landing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI76px_WQoguTvYtyiTDRSmeRkqIUIWDZYiLxH2W5rWPwOC89hjQyf6kbOoAzVFLGQ6jnYw4qSTavSYzMFjTsF7XGYwsTCJ2SkwyxMKqMb3CO8V7Yrjy_8eNr0yg8VDYsqNZNWouL4eNs/s1600/vertigo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI76px_WQoguTvYtyiTDRSmeRkqIUIWDZYiLxH2W5rWPwOC89hjQyf6kbOoAzVFLGQ6jnYw4qSTavSYzMFjTsF7XGYwsTCJ2SkwyxMKqMb3CO8V7Yrjy_8eNr0yg8VDYsqNZNWouL4eNs/s1600/vertigo.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down from Angel's Landing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
From Zion we drove to Bryce Canyon (which isn't a Canyon at all!), where we stayed two nights. Bryce is known for spectacular geological features called "hoodoos." Fractures in the earth form long plateaus that jut out perpendicular to the "canyon" wall. Erosion eats away at the plateaus until they become long narrow fins. Water seeps into cracks, freezes, thaws, freezes, thaws (200 thaw/freeze cycles per year at Bryce) until the fins become hoodoos: thousands of red monoliths in row after row.<br />
<br />
Our first morning we caught the sunset at Bryce Point. Then we drove south along the main road in the park, checking out every view point along the way. It took us 1.5 hours, round trip. Later that night I came to this passage in Edward Abbey's book.<br />
<br />
<i>Industrial Tourism is a threat to the national parks. But the chief victims of the system are the motorized tourists. They are being robbed and robbing themselves. So long as they are unwilling to crawl out of their cars they will not discover the treasures of the national parks and will never escape the stress and turmoil of the urban-suburban complexes which they had hoped, presumably, to leave behind for a while. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Abbey is furious with the park service for industrializing national parks by paving roads, improving campgrounds, and generally making the parks more accessible to tourists. Partly this is selfish: Abbey loves these parks in part because of the solitude. Partly this is snobby: Abbey looks down on the "motorized tourist." But there is one part I sympathize with:<br />
<br />
<i>A man on foot, on horseback or on a bicycle will see more, feel more, enjoy more in one mile than the motorized tourists can in a hundred miles.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
After our drive, Aurora and I did a 2-3 hour hike along Queen's Garden and Navajo Forest trail. By then, the clouds had cleared and we were left with blue sky, green and brown trees, white snow, and deep red hoodoos. It was one of my favorite hikes I've ever done. As we finished, climbing out of the hoodoo forest and onto the ridge, looking back over the vast open space of hoodoos and forest, I didn't want the moment to end. It was cold, but we were warm from hiking.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNUezLRsR90beExBu9lQ0efBirMQnHcIR3I2rIGf-crNrb8YyYxjj17sRq_nqLfDDyjcvtT2q8wiBqIENY1R-NQyu7mXf_CReN6DTa851rtf160ujMkbwe9Uab2NWpKS8ARpABOurPUII/s1600/hoodoos+and+tree.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNUezLRsR90beExBu9lQ0efBirMQnHcIR3I2rIGf-crNrb8YyYxjj17sRq_nqLfDDyjcvtT2q8wiBqIENY1R-NQyu7mXf_CReN6DTa851rtf160ujMkbwe9Uab2NWpKS8ARpABOurPUII/s1600/hoodoos+and+tree.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hoodoos and trees on Navajo Trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As we stood at an overlook, soaking it all in, dozens of tourists would rush up to the overlook, snap a quick picture, and run back to the car. On to the next Thing To See. Paving roads right up to the Thing To See makes national parks extremely accessible. You can see Grand Canyon, Old Faithful, and, as we found out, some of the best views of Zion and Bryce just a few steps from your car. Standing there at Bryce I wanted to shout at people: "if you walk just 1/2 mile down the path, you'll appreciate this more and even be happier!" Having the park car-accessible I think suggests to people that barely leaving the car is an acceptable and even encouraged way of visiting a national park.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQgzCD3KW1ws9JPPBTtclTVbyGARav0auchXDZlznX0kICKUmJb3wIbJ8llzWchEo07cdqn2jKJg9loF88fXS1UcqHxn_go4nfa0kbDU596RKP_pTFblkc06vVOJavnqXLLaoQO7n_LBY/s1600/Bryce+view.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQgzCD3KW1ws9JPPBTtclTVbyGARav0auchXDZlznX0kICKUmJb3wIbJ8llzWchEo07cdqn2jKJg9loF88fXS1UcqHxn_go4nfa0kbDU596RKP_pTFblkc06vVOJavnqXLLaoQO7n_LBY/s1600/Bryce+view.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overlook at Bryce</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One the other hand, the obvious benefit from accessibility is that it allows the most number of people to visit and appreciate our national parks. For some people this is the only way that they would ever see these parks. I also started to think about my sister and her husband and what they consider wilderness (for the uniformed, Franny and Mudd hiked the entire Pacific Crest Trail, 2,600 miles from Mexico to Canada). They probably would look at my 2-3 hour hike in Queen's Garden and say "Duncan, you're missing everything!"<br />
<br />
So I'm trying to come to terms with roads and cars everywhere in the parks.<br />
<br />
Before driving back to San Francisco (via an expensive night in Vegas), we had one last day in Bryce. We'd gotten a recommendation from a ranger on a full day hike, so, given my obsessive need to get away from the cars, I was raring to go. Unfortunately it was 18 degrees, plus some gusty moments, and snowing. I don't mind the cold so much, but it was too cold for Aurora. And, with the heavy snow, the amazing views of Bryce were harder to appreciate. After a full day freezing her face off, Aurora was grateful to see the car.<br />
<br />
From there we drove on to Vegas and San Francisco. Had a wonderful reunion and New Years with Swat friends Maria and Colton as well as a great afternoon with Sean and Justina. </div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-70558776308772490162014-02-11T14:58:00.001-05:002014-02-11T14:58:48.172-05:00Interview with The Forest Trust's Scott Poynton<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">by Duncan Gromko</span></i></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">I recently chatted with Scott
Poynton, Founder and Executive Director of </span></i><a href="http://www.tft-forests.org/"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Forest Trust (TFT)</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">, an NGO. TFT works with companies to make commodity production
more responsible by working on environmental and social issues in their supply
chains. TFT recently started working with Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) and Wilmar,
two companies in the pulp and paper and palm oil sectors that have been
responsible for significant deforestation across Southeast Asia. Can TFT help
companies eliminate deforestation from their supply chains? Does Scott worry
about green washing accusations, for working with companies that have had such
a negative impact on the environment?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Duncan Gromko: You're from
Australia, but a lot of TFT’s work is in Indonesia. What drew you to Indonesia?
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Scott Poynton: I actually started my work in Vietnam and I lived
there for six years on two occasions and have travelled extensively throughout
Southeast Asia. With deforestation being such a huge issue in Indonesia, we've
naturally been drawn here to try and work on that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">DG: What is TFT's mission?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">SP: I always say our mission is to stick to our values. People
expect us to say it's to save forests, but we have a fundamental set of values:
truth, respect, humility, compassion, and courage. If we act according to those
values, good things happen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTK3vWFLWbH4LQionqhrLlQlRBV1KjLYZaVIGtatm7aCouIYh7ArlRlmnQQCHCx7l9HjjTlmPnxDQqfftpQDWwwvJfC4Meq-ZYmYAvUfKJKyXJIjKBDnMaDTbo6N_l1r1zVoiRisJSRY/s1600/SP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTK3vWFLWbH4LQionqhrLlQlRBV1KjLYZaVIGtatm7aCouIYh7ArlRlmnQQCHCx7l9HjjTlmPnxDQqfftpQDWwwvJfC4Meq-ZYmYAvUfKJKyXJIjKBDnMaDTbo6N_l1r1zVoiRisJSRY/s1600/SP.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scott Poynton, TFT Executive Director</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">DG: Why did you decide to work with
companies?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">SP: If you talk about putting your finger firmly on the problem of
deforestation, the problem is global supply chains because they suck the
deforestation through them. We work with companies to help them make their
business operations more responsible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">DG: What does that work look like
in practice?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">SP: For example, with APP we helped them develop a policy to
remove deforestation from their supply chain. The policy is about 10% of the
work. 90% of the work is getting out into the bush, in their supply chains,
looking at where they get their products, how they're doing their business, who
they're buying from, and what those guys are doing. If the company is a
retailer, they say, “We don't want our furniture to cause deforestation.” We
help them make a policy and see where they get their wood from. And sometimes
they don't know. So we help them work that out and find responsible suppliers.
It's a very hands-on approach. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you go and talk to a company with compassion and respect, with the
courage to tell them the truth and the humility to act in a dignified way and not
pretend you're the bloody expert, we find that we can help people move forward to
find their own path to transformation because they're ready to talk to us.
That's where those abstract values come into play. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">DG: Why do companies want to work
with you? What is the benefit to the companies?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">SP: Some companies are getting beaten up by NGOs and turn to TFT.
Nestle was an example. There was this </span><a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/climate-change/kitkat/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Greenpeace video</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> with an orangutan’s finger in the
Kit Kat. I live just down the road from Nestle. They invited me to speak to
them, they understood that the problem they had was they didn't have full
visibility right out to what was happening in the plantations supplying their
raw materials. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJUHv2ft4i41F6J_k1nObSagyQft8SL1tGHySU2Sv5SwB5e6l2SlLQyZJHpTYtDnJFek9ObG2x8ruoApWb37EXdb0-s2Rli2AAxXOyioGPwsoAv6CKzNVN84vXJjFNdQfSU_yqkbseR0/s1600/palm-oil-plantation-picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJUHv2ft4i41F6J_k1nObSagyQft8SL1tGHySU2Sv5SwB5e6l2SlLQyZJHpTYtDnJFek9ObG2x8ruoApWb37EXdb0-s2Rli2AAxXOyioGPwsoAv6CKzNVN84vXJjFNdQfSU_yqkbseR0/s1600/palm-oil-plantation-picture.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Palm Oil Plantation and Deforestation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Other companies are not being attacked, but just want to change
their supply chain. They say, "We hear a lot about deforestation in palm
oil supply chains, and we don't want to be a part of that. We want to be
responsible." So they come to work with us to help them ensure that’s the
case.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">DG: It sounds like a good cop/bad
cop relationship with Greenpeace. Is that an explicit relationship, where you
put together a strategy or is it something that happens organically?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">SP: It's organic. Greenpeace is so active in this space that they
end up inadvertently pushing companies to us. It’s not a deliberate strategy. Over
time we've built a lot of trust with each other. We have a good reputation for
stepping into really complex situations where the company doesn't know what to
do. Nestle was a good example. Greenpeace had asked them not to cause deforestation
and Nestle had a policy not to. And yet you saw what happened [with the
orangutan advertisement]. We said, "You're speaking Nestle-ese and Greenpeace
is speaking Greenpeace-ese and you guys aren’t connecting." We act as
translators, to help the company understand Greenpeace's demands and to
translate those into a policy response for the company. We help the company
convey its serious intentions to Greenpeace. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">DG: A lot of the companies you work
with, like APP and Wilmar, have done some terrible things in the past and now
you come in and give them this stamp of approval. Are you worried that you're
legitimizing companies that aren't squeaky-clean?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">SP: I recognize that companies might have done some pretty grim
things in the past. You run the risk of letting people off the hook, but we say
to the company, "If you don't implement the policy, we will walk away.” It's
our credibility at stake. We have walked away from companies. We walked away
from a bank that asked to work with us. When I asked who they were doing
business with, they wouldn't tell us. I told them I couldn't do my job without
that information, but they said, "Don't worry about that, we just want to
give you a big donation to say we're working with you." So we decided
couldn't work like that and we walked away. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgybHOMVIIqR25Xr0LT_rkmD3niNiz4Kfh6Dv3rKmIKVR9K99-ds6NpvrisQSipePtaXJpj8Msb7xKDt-yTQyKGL4nHPw9LbTGglxvg_gWZ0Qkgdf3Uk-j7zWSDkZbgHpnbPE8KutK9iN8/s1600/TFT+Logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgybHOMVIIqR25Xr0LT_rkmD3niNiz4Kfh6Dv3rKmIKVR9K99-ds6NpvrisQSipePtaXJpj8Msb7xKDt-yTQyKGL4nHPw9LbTGglxvg_gWZ0Qkgdf3Uk-j7zWSDkZbgHpnbPE8KutK9iN8/s1600/TFT+Logo.gif" height="158" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">By getting Nestle, [Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) – a palm oil company],
APP, and Wilmar, we've got some big companies looking seriously at how they can
transform their processes. If these guys can change their operations, anyone
can. Inevitably, some people will accuse us of green washing. But there's no
company out there that has a stronger policy than a TFT member. And there's no
company implementing their policy like a TFT member. There are NGOs who don't
like us because we engage with companies. But those particular NGOs tend to complain
a lot and like to criticize; it’s their role. My view is that complaining can
make folk uncomfortable, and that’s good, it’s part of the change process, but
alone it doesn’t do much to change things. I'm not interested in complaining,
I'm interested in transformation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">DG: What are your thoughts on some
of the agribusiness certification standards?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">SP: The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil standard allows peat
and secondary forests to be cleared. Their standard allows deforestation and it
hasn’t slowed deforestation rates yet they claim RSPO certified means “sustainable.”
I think that amounts to green washing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">DG: Wilmar and APP have recently
made no deforestation commitments; does getting these huge companies on board
represent a bigger change in business?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">SP: I think so. More and more companies are looking at it and we're
seeing the start of the tipping point. What's happening in consumer countries,
led by Nestle, is that many more companies don't want to be linked to
deforestation. They provide the pull of the supply chain, to say "listen,
Wilmar and APP, we don't want to be linked to deforestation." So the
companies have jumped and they're implementing their policies. In Wilmar's
case, they're so big and dominating of the sector that everyone else is
thinking of changing too. I think we've started something together with these
companies and we're approaching a tipping point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">DG: What happened to make consumer
goods companies want these changes?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">SP: NGO campaigns have increased pressure. And there's been so
much in the media about climate change and the links between deforestation and
climate change. Sumatra [Indonesia] is almost bare. The Amazon has been
devastated. The Congo Basin is in trouble. People in America, in Australia –
mind you they just elected the most ridiculous government ever, that doesn't
believe in climate change – and people in Europe are starting to be affected by
climate change. When [the NGO community] was talking about saving the tiger or
saving the panda, people agreed with it, but it wasn't really in their daily
life. But look at what's happening now: the floods in the UK, the extreme
weather events in the US, and Australia is cooking. So it’s affecting them and
they’re responding by saying “We don’t want you to cause deforestation to
supply us products. Stop it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">DG: With the lack of government
action around the environment and climate change, can groups like TFT and other
civil society make a big difference?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">SP: We can achieve a lot more, but I'm not sure exactly how much.
Our theory of change is that governments are worried about making policy
changes that put people out of jobs, which in democracy will cost them their
job. We're trying to prove to governments that we can implement these
commitments without losing jobs. We need cases like APP, Wilmar, and GAR to
show to governments that No Deforestation commitments can actually increase
business from consumer countries. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">DG: Anything else to add? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">SP: It's a really interesting time now with the big companies
coming on board to provide the case study to government. The </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/wilmar-no-deforestation-commitment-food-production"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Wilmar announcement</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> can really change the way food is
grown and the way the world does business. If we can do it, there's no reason
why there should be deforestation in soy, in any commodity. We're at a game-changing
threshold. If we can cross it we'll be in a different place.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-46751219707497061582013-10-10T12:09:00.001-04:002013-10-10T15:52:16.041-04:00Book Review: Fevered<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>by Duncan Gromko</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
More than anything else I’ve read about climate change,
Linda Marsa’s new book, <i>Fevered</i>,
illustrates how the changing climate is already affecting people’s lives and how
much worse it’s going to get. By focusing on the Western world and primarily
the United States, Linda told me she is trying to send the message that climate
change “is not something that is going to happen in 20-30 years. It’s going to
affect you. I wanted people to wake up.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=52b1b5909d&view=att&th=141a06b92cdf4644&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_hmlfkras0&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8XzYVubE3QT-pWKgTE4CVV&sadet=1381420920933&sads=Dz6gXvhx-ocQiBfz59xSWE7Pn_k" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="212" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Linda Marsa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Linda makes climate change personal with her emphasis on its public health implications. She writes that climate change
“could lead to the collapse of our normally well-functioning public health
system.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For instance, she describes the outbreak of dengue fever in
towns along the Texas-Mexico border. In 2005, doctors diagnosed a patient in
Brownsville, Texas with dengue hemorrhagic fever, which was thought to exist
only in the tropics. This prompted health officials to investigate the extent of
dengue infections. They found that nearly 1,300 people were infected by dengue
fever at the peak of the outbreak. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of all the public health risks that climate change will
exacerbate, the one I found most surprising is the role of CO2 in trapping other
pollution. In cities, where CO2 levels can reach up to 600 parts per million
(compared to the global average of 400 ppm), CO2 acts as a “carbon canopy,”
preventing health-damaging pollutants from escaping. A Stanford University
study found that these “domes” might be responsible for up to 1,000 additional
deaths from respiratory diseases every year. Moreover, increasing temperatures
and the resulting increase in ozone levels, also increase the presence of
respiratory diseases. For every 2<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Symbol;">°</span>F
increase in temperature, respiratory-related hospitalizations increase by 4.5%.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s why Linda calls climate change a threat multiplier.
It doesn’t create new problems. It makes existing problems worse. We’ve always
had hurricanes and heat waves, but climate change will make them hurt more.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=52b1b5909d&view=att&th=141a06b92cdf4644&attid=0.2&disp=inline&realattid=f_hmlfmylp1&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8XzYVubE3QT-pWKgTE4CVV&sadet=1381421004186&sads=8cLSyv3WEzSQZr_HjZW5Z54JYEs" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=52b1b5909d&view=att&th=141a06b92cdf4644&attid=0.2&disp=inline&realattid=f_hmlfmylp1&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8XzYVubE3QT-pWKgTE4CVV&sadet=1381421004186&sads=8cLSyv3WEzSQZr_HjZW5Z54JYEs" style="cursor: move;" width="213" /></a>I thought <i>Fevered</i>
came up a little short in offering solutions. Linda writes that we need a
“Medical Marshall Plan” to reinvigorate our public health system and increase
our resiliency to the effects of climate change. But the book doesn’t
illustrate how more funding for the Center for Disease Control will allow us to
cope with the threats that Linda describes. I think one reason that people are
not motivated to support climate change action more enthusiastically is that
there is a feeling that climate change is inevitable and the situation is
hopeless. I wish Linda had brought to life the possibilities of a resilient
health system with the same vividness that she described the scariest threats
from climate change. The solutions she does propose are also limited to adaptation
strategies – there’s little mention of how we can reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Linda is most optimistic about how local governmental and
civic institutions have responded to threats. Even in conservative areas of the
country, local leaders recognize that adaptation to climate change is an
imperative. Orange County, for example, has become a world leader in water
management as they attempt to adapt to the desiccation of the South West.
Considering that the US government can’t even keep itself open, it’s no
surprise that Linda and others are looking to local institutions to pick up the
slack. Whether or not they can respond at the scale necessary to mitigate the
impacts of climate change is unclear.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m grateful that Linda wrote <i>Fevered</i>. It’s well researched, easy to read, and most importantly,
focuses on a dimension of climate change that has been under-reported. I hope that the public health angle of the book will draw the attention of new audiences to climate change.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-765845241042610842013-09-29T08:54:00.001-04:002013-09-29T08:59:56.108-04:00Fighting West Coast Coal Exports<i>By Nick Cunningham<br /><br />The following was cross posted with the DC Bureau's Bulldog Blog, which you can find by clicking <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201309269056/bulldog-blog/fighting-west-coast-coal-exports.html">here</a></i><br />
<div>
“There’s no way they’re going to run coal trains through the city of Seattle. There aren’t enough police to keep those tracks cleared day after day after day.” As reported by <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021871608_xlmckibbenxml.html">The Seattle Times</a>, environmental activist Bill McKibben headlined a protest in Seattle on September 21, 2013, vowing to block coal export terminals on the West Coast.<br />
<br />
Coal mining companies have proposed to build several export terminals in Washington and Oregon to ship coal to energy hungry countries in Asia. However, the projects have run into fierce local opposition. Plans to build six terminals in the Pacific Northwest have been scaled back to only three.<br />
<div>
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_9059" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: auto; line-height: 23.109375px; margin: 0px 0px 2px 18px; max-width: 96%; padding: 4px; text-align: center; width: 160px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><img alt="" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-9059 " height="150" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Bill-McKibben-150x150.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="150" /></span></div>
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 13px; padding: 2px 4px 5px; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Bill McKibben</span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
</div>
Trains would carry coal from the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming to the coast in Washington and Oregon. The trains would consist of <a href="http://housedemocrats.wa.gov/news/legislators-call-for-emergency-task-force-to-identify-statewide-impacts-of-coal-export-proposal-2/">150 uncovered cars full of coal</a>, stretching about 1.5 miles, with as many as nine trains making the trip each day. Two export facilities in Washington would ship a combined 90 million tons of coal each year, with <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201211268128/natural-resources-news-service/big-coal-targets-northwest-to-get-to-asian-markets-environmentalists-fight-back.html#more-8128">an Oregon port</a> shipping an additional 9 million tons annually. Local communities are concerned about increased traffic, accidents, and pollution blown off from the uncovered cars.<br />
<img alt="" class="alignleft wp-image-9061" height="165" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/trains.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline; float: left; margin: 10px; padding: 4px; text-align: left;" width="237" /><br />
<br />
Facing an increasingly unprofitable market within the United States, coal companies are looking overseas, but would need new export terminals on the West Coast. Domestic demand for coal will likely undergo a long period of decline. The <a href="http://www2.epa.gov/carbon-pollution-standards/2013-proposed-carbon-pollution-standard-new-power-plants">Environmental Protection Agency</a> released its proposed greenhouse gas limits on new power plants on September 20. The proposed rules would effectively make building a new coal-fired power plant impossible, without costly carbon capture technology. The EPA is expected to come out with much more significant regulations on existing power plants next year.<br />
<br />
Coal companies are trying to reach countries like China, which alone consumes almost as much coal as the <a href="http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=9751">rest of the world combined</a>.<br />
<div style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-9060 aligncenter" height="281" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/china-consumption.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: block; margin: 30px auto; text-align: left;" width="477" /></div>
Yet, there are signs that even the rapidly growing Chinese market for coal may be plateauing. According to a July 2013 report from Goldman Sachs, coal consumption in China will only grow by one percent a year from 2013-2017. That is a significant decline from the seven percent annual growth rate over the last five years. The recent slowdown in the Chinese economy is partly to blame, however. China is also making large investments in renewable energy and even hopes to kick off a greenhouse gas emissions trading program in 2015. These trends are colluding to close the window on the profitability of coal exports, according to Goldman Sachs.<br />
<br />
In Washington State, local opposition is the most immediate threat to the coal export terminals. Washington environmental groups and indigenous tribes have organized against the projects. Political leaders are also hardening against exports – the September 21 rally featured Mayor Mike McGinn, who has made opposition to coal exports a central pillar of his reelection campaign.<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_9064" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: auto; line-height: 23.109375px; margin: 0px 0px 2px 18px; max-width: 96%; padding: 4px; text-align: center; width: 160px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><img alt="" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-9064 " height="150" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Mike-McGinn1-150x150.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="150" /></span></div>
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 13px; padding: 2px 4px 5px; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Mayor Mike McGinn</span></div>
</div>
<br />
Opponents of coal export terminals scored a significant victory in July when the Washington Department of Ecology issued a wide range of requirements for the <a href="http://www.ecy.wa.gov/news/2012/itn03_coal.html">environmental impact statement</a> (EIS) for the projects. The EIS will include the impact of coal exports on global climate change, a higher level of scrutiny than the coal companies wanted. In June, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided not to include climate change impacts.<br />
<br />
The combination of environmental regulations, slowing demand for coal overseas, and strong opposition against coal exports in the Pacific Northwest have already scuttled half of the proposed six projects – and may yet kill off the remaining three.</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04287854178095130231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-51264040915216847802013-09-23T11:26:00.003-04:002013-09-23T11:27:01.259-04:00Is Growth Good for Biodiversity?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>by Duncan Gromko</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Growth is good for the environment. At least that’s the
headline from an Economist<a href="http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21585091-biodiversity-once-preoccupation-scientists-and-greens-has-become-mainstream">
special issue on biodiversity</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They argue that, <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21585100-contrary-popular-belief-economic-growth-may-be-good-biodiversity-long-view">in
the long run</a>, economic growth allows countries to invest in governance and
technological innovation that improve environmental conservation. This is the
idea behind the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuznets_curve">environmental
Kuznets curve</a> (EKC), which says that there is an inverse U-shaped relationship
between income and environmental degradation. The argument goes that, early on
in a country’s development, it exploits its natural resources to grow. However,
at some tipping point, the country stops degrading its resources as growth
continues.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://socialist.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/page-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://socialist.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/page-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Environmental Kuznets Curve. Source: Socialist.wordpress.com</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s a popular argument since everyone likes growth. If only
it were so easy! We could just focus on growth and the rest would sort itself
out. Unfortunately there are a lot of reasons to be skeptical.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The statistical, empirical case for EKC is questionable.
Some indicators of environmental degradation have peaked in developed
countries, but others have not. After a tipping point, deforestation does tend
to decrease as a country grows, but greenhouse gas emissions have not. Given
the projected impact of climate change on biodiversity, it’s hard to “leave
aside the huge unknown of climate change,” as <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21585095-growth-good-governments-need-continue-regulate-it-and-greens-learn">the
Economist suggests</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Any time scientific research gets condensed into a newspaper
headline, a lot of important nuance is lost. The nuance here is that growth
itself is not the reason that some environmental indicators have improved in
rich countries. Political, social, and technological changes – which often
accompany growth – tend to be the reason that environmental outcomes improve. The
Economist brings up agricultural intensification as one technological change
that reduces pressure on biodiversity. In this case it is not growth that
results in better environmental outcomes, but changing technology that leads to
increased growth and reduced pressure on the environment. This is a mistake of
confusing correlation with causation – growth itself is not the mechanism of
change.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another issue is that wealthy countries are able to “export”
their environmental production. A good example is Japan, which banned timber
harvest, resulting in a dramatic revival of the countries’ forests. However,
Japan remains a major consumer and producer of timber goods. It pulls this
trick off by importing timber products from Southeast Asia, where deforestation
rates are amongst the highest in the world. Wealthier countries tend to have
higher per capita <a href="http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/ecological_debtors_and_creditors/">environmental
footprints</a>. While developed countries have been able to export some of
their environmental degradation oversees, clearly this won’t work for every
country on earth. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last, the EKC theory does not account for the importance of
the environment in enabling growth. Ecosystem services are a major determinant
of a country’s productive capacity. If short-term growth leads to significant
environmental degradation, per capita income will stagnate and the tipping
point envisioned in the EKC will never be reached. The Economist is saying:
growth leads to biodiversity protection, but I think they have it backwards.
Managing natural resources responsibly can enable and protect growth.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-85235114429178336222013-09-20T09:39:00.004-04:002013-09-20T09:39:36.636-04:00Response to Swarthmore's Board's Decision Not to Divest from Fossil Fuels<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>by Duncan Gromko</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Swarthmore’s Board of Managers published <a href="http://www.swarthmore.edu/board-of-managers/an-open-letter-of-divestment.xml">an
open letter</a> on their decision not to divest from fossil fuels on Wednesday
this week, which argued that divestment would have no measurable effect on
halting climate change and would pose an unacceptable risk to the College's
finances. For a little context on the divestment issue, <a href="http://naturalcapital1.blogspot.com/2013/01/my-case-for-divestment.html">see my earlier post</a>. Students in Swarthmore Mountain Justice and other advocacy groups
first raised this issue and I applaud their commitment to social justice.
Interacting with them over the past several months has been inspiring.<span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The decision to divest is a serious one and I’m glad that
the Board is not taking it lightly. They are responsible for ensuring the
financial health of the school, which directly impacts the quality of education
that students receive. However, the Board’s arguments are problematic for a
number of reasons. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1. The Board argues that divestment is not an effective
means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions: “Symbolic action is not our only
option [for reducing greenhouse gas emissions], and we are convinced it is far
from our best option for mobilizing public opinion as well as for having real
impact on the fossil fuel industry. President Obama's recent initiative on
climate is just the latest-though the most dramatic-illustration that
government action to control greenhouse gas emissions is on the table. It seems
the time is right to pursue legislative change aggressively.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is strange that the Board uses Obama’s climate initiative
to argue that divestment is not an effective strategy because, when announcing
his initiative, Obama himself called for divestment: “Push your own communities
to adopt smarter practices. Invest. Divest.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The potential impact of divestment is much greater than the
effect that it would have on fossil fuel companies’ bottom line. The Board’s
letter calls divestment “symbolic” in a dismissive way, but symbols matter in
policy and politics. Policy is not made in a vacuum – real climate change
legislation will only happen if there is some political calculus pushing
politicians in that direction. Divestment would provide “<a href="http://grist.org/article/2011-08-02-doing-civil-disobedience-with-style/">social
proof</a>” that supporting climate change action is socially acceptable. Obama
asked for this help: “What we need in this fight are citizens who will stand up
and speak and compel us to do what this moment demands. Understand, this is not
just a job for politicians.” I argue that Obama only made such a bold speech
and policy initiative because green groups have put pressure on him, organizing
in large part around “symbolic” issues like divestment and the Keystone XL
Pipeline.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2. The Board dismisses the moral benefits of divestment: “Divestment's
potential success as a moral response is limited-if not completely negated-so
long as its advocates continue to turn on the lights, drive cars, and purchase
manufactured goods, for it is these activities that constitute the true drivers
of fossil fuel companies' economic viability-their profits.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ideally everyone would eliminate their use of fossil fuels,
but it is nearly impossible to do so as an individual. Individuals are so
constrained by our economic system that one cannot participate in society
without using fossil fuels – I’m using carbon-derived fuel to write this
response! Individuals changing their behavior would be a great step, but we
need systematic change to address climate change in any real way. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Divestment would not constrain Swarthmore’s endowment in the
same fundamental way that forgoing fossil fuels would constrain individuals.
Swarthmore’s endowment can fulfill its purpose with or without investments in
fossil fuel companies. Swarthmore Mountain Justice expressed the difference
between individual consumption and endowment investment eloquently in <a href="http://daily.swarthmore.edu/2013/09/13/letter-to-the-editor-mountain-justice-responds-to-board-divestment-statement/">their
response to the Board:</a> “Swarthmore is a relatively small consumer of fossil
fuels, but, given its size, holds a disproportionately large amount of moral
and financial capital as a prestigious and well-funded institution.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Moreover, whether or not divestment advocates eliminate
their personal carbon footprint has no bearing on the moral calculus of
divestment. If the Board believes that profiting from fossil fuel production is
immoral, it should divest regardless of what others do. “The moral man looks
for injustice first of all in himself” – Bayard Rustin.<span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3. The decision to invest in managed hedge funds seems to
preclude divestment from any company. Is there no company or sector that would
induce the Board to consider divestment? Hypothetically, suppose we found that
the College was investing in a company that produced chemical weapons? The
Board’s investment strategy makes it impossible to affect the social impact of
the investment. I’m not advocating that the endowment be transformed into a
social impact fund, but surely the Board would like to have some control over
its investments.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4. The best argument the Board has is the <a href="http://www.swarthmore.edu/Documents/administration/finance_investment_office/cost_of_divestment.pdf">cost
of divestment</a>. Swarthmore invests a significant portion of its endowment in
managed funds, which have historically provided the College with excellent
returns. The Board is claiming that these funds would not want to manage
Swarthmore’s money under the divestment restrictions, so the endowment would
have to be invested in poorer performing funds. Reducing Swarthmore’s endowment
and by extension, the services it is able to provide to its students, would be
a huge loss. It is not lost on me that my education, for which I received
substantial financial aid, enabled me to do the work I am today to combat
climate change and environmental degradation in my job. However, the Board’s cost
analysis does not consider a number of points.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First, the Board’s estimation of future returns from managed
funds investments are based on past returns. Past performance is no indication
of future results. Bloomberg recently published an article entitled “<a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-11/why-hedge-funds-glory-days-may-be-gone-for-good">Hedge
Funds Are for Suckers</a>,” in which they wrote: “…hedge fund performance
lagged the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index by approximately
10 percentage points this year, although most fund managers still charged
enormous fees in exchange for access to their brilliance.” Although this
statistic is cherry-picked and probably exaggerates the recent failures of
hedge funds, the increasing popularity of hedge funds has slowly squeezed their
competitive advantage, reducing their ability to generate profit.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Second, the Board’s analysis does not fully consider
alternative investment options. Articles by <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2013/07/29/divesting-from-fossil-fuels-means-a-cleaner-safer-and-more-resilient-future/2/">Forbes</a>,
the <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/09/10/hedge-fund-manager-mariner-looks-to-green-bonds/">Wall
Street Journal</a>, and <a href="http://gofossilfree.org/files/2013/05/Resilient-Portfolios-and-Fossil-Free-Pensions.pdf">HIP</a>
highlight the growing number of responsible investment funds. Swarthmore’s
significant financial muscle would strengthen these funds. It is also possible
that, by taking the lead on this issue, Swarthmore could bring other
like-minded colleges to the table. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Third, the Board fails to consider other costs and benefits
of divestment. A divestment announcement would generate good publicity for the
College, which would have a real monetary benefit. How many prospective students writing their
“Why Swarthmore” applications would list a decision like divestment as a reason
for attending? It would certainly reaffirm my decision. The Board also leaves
out the impact that divestment would have on alumni giving. I’m not willing to
give my money to a fund that invests in fossil fuels; I would start giving to
the College again if it divested. Younger generations of Swarthmore alumni are
not the largest donors to the College, but I believe that the divestment issue
is alienating many current students and recent alums, diminishing future
giving.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In rejecting divestment, the Board offers alternatives. I
thank them for doing so as it demonstrates their desire to continue the
dialogue on this issue. They have asked for other suggestions; I have a few:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->If divestment is a step too far, an intermediate
option could be assessing the environmental footprint of the existing
portfolio. MSCI has developed <a href="http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.viewpressrelease/id/312">a
portfolio analysis tool</a> that evaluates investments based on their
environmental and social impact. I also encourage the Board to review the
growing number of responsible investment options I mentioned above and whether
these might offer better returns than what the Board assumes in its cost of
divestment analysis. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Enable students to be effective political
actors. The Board argues that now is the time to push for comprehensive climate
change legislation; what better way to do so than through the power of
students? I witnessed immense passion amongst Swarthmore Mountain Justice and
other student groups in May. In its Peace and Conflict Studies and
Environmental Studies programs, Swarthmore has a number of capable professors
to lead these efforts. I’m sure that other schools in the region would be
thrilled to participate in a Swarthmore-hosted conference on political
activism. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->It seems that there is serious mistrust between
students and the administration. Although I am focused on divestment, I am
concerned by how alienated and hurt students feel regarding a number of other
issues. The lack of support for victims of sexual assault and minorities are
two issues that stick in my mind from the meeting with Board in May. I
encourage the College to pursue greater transparency and student engagement in
all of its decision-making – not just with divestment.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
While I disagree with the Board’s decision, I respect the
importance of protecting the financial health of the College. It is a difficult
decision. However, the urgency of the situation demands a reconsideration of
the divestment option. A decision to divest would send a powerful signal. The
Board is correct that the College should support climate change action in other
ways, but these two things are not mutually exclusive. The College can do both. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>This letter was first published at the Daily Gazette; <a href="http://daily.swarthmore.edu/2013/09/20/letter-to-the-editor-reply-to-the-board-of-managers/">check it out here</a>.</i></div>
</div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-58147159659263940282013-09-18T11:27:00.000-04:002013-09-18T11:27:10.898-04:00Showdown in the Ohio Valley: War Veterans Prepare to Fight Fracking<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>by Nick Cunningham and Duncan Gromko</i><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Drilling-Rig-Columbiana-County.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Drilling-Rig,-Columbiana-County (Photo: Ted Auch PhD, FracTracker, June 2013)</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_8987" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); height: auto; margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 96%; padding-top: 4px; width: 586px;">
<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;">
</div>
What could make a former Marine, retired cop, and self-described “ultra-conservative” oppose fracking in his home state of Ohio? At a diner off of Route 22 near Steubenville, OH, Ed Hashberger had the answer. Dressed in a red polo shirt emblazoned with the U.S. Marine Corps logo and carrying a Marine Corps notebook, Hashberger first described his bona fides.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/chesapeake-energy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/chesapeake-energy.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
He served three years in Panama. He recited half a dozen close relatives who served in World War II, the Vietnam War, Afghanistan, and Iraq. His son was badly injured from an improvised explosive device (IED) in Afghanistan and remains confined to a wheel chair as a result.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Hashberger is also a lifelong Republican. He campaigned on behalf of numerous Republican politicians, including both Bush presidents and Ohio Governor John Kasich. “You can look me up. There is probably nobody more conservative than me. I could be Sean Hannity’s brother, that’s how conservative I am,” he said. He was initially excited when oil and gas companies approached him about leasing his land for drilling. “I was one of these ‘drill baby drill’ people. Couldn’t wait.”</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
That all changed when he asked a Chesapeake Energy Corporation official at a public meeting what the company would do if landowners did not want to lease their land to natural gas companies, he remembers the official saying: “Simple. We’ll take it from them anyways.” That remarkably candid and cavalier response from the gas industry opened Hashberger’s eyes and he has spent the last two years investigating landowner rights, the environmental consequences of hydraulic fracturing, and the ways in which every level of government has bent over backwards to appease the oil and gas industry.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Hashberger believes that the values – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – for which he and his family have sacrificed are being trampled on by oil and gas companies. “The state of Ohio has done everything it can possibly do to make it easy for oil and gas companies to do business.”</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Unitization: The Seizure of Private Property</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The rapid expansion of drilling in southeastern Ohio has been facilitated by favorable laws for the industry.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Drilling-Rig-Columbiana-County-2-300x199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Drilling-Rig-Columbiana-County-2-300x199.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Drilling Rig, Columbiana County, OH</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Photo: Ted Auch PhD, FracTracker, June 2013</span><span style="font-size: small;">)</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
One law – unitization – encroaches on property rights by allowing oil and gas companies to extract gas from under a landowner’s property, even if he or she refuses to sign a lease.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Land that companies can drill on is divided up into “units,” which may encompass multiple properties and farms. Horizontal drilling requires that the entire unit be available for drilling – a company could not drill a patchwork of properties if only some people signed up to the lease. The unitization law says that if the company lines up 65 percent of the land in a unit for lease, they can compel landowners on the remaining 35 percent who are holding out to lease their land as well. Even if a landowner wants nothing to do with the gas industry, if most of the neighbors support drilling, he or she may not have a choice. The company can drill anyway.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The seizure of property for oil and gas development is not new, but it was recently expanded to take account of the advent of horizontal drilling. Senate Bills 165 (2010) and 315 (2012) became law and legalized unitization in Ohio. Tom Niehaus, State Senator from District 14, sponsored <a href="http://www.sierraclub.org/naturalgas/rulemaking/documents/Ohio.SB.165/2010.7.1.SB165.pdf">Senate Bill 165</a>. Senator Niehaus has received $117,770 in <a href="http://votesmart.org/candidate/campaign-finance/45729/thomas-niehaus#.Ugla2I21HpU">campaign contributions</a> from the energy industry. State Senator Shannon Jones from District 7 sponsored <a href="http://ooga.org/issues-advocacy/archive/substitute-senate-bill-315/">Senate Bill 315</a> at the request of Govenor Kasich. Senator Jones has received $72,966 in <a href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/campaign-finance/60091/shannon-jones#.Uglah421HpV">campaign contributions</a> from the energy industry.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The justification for the law is for “public use,” meaning that private property can be taken for the greater good. In this instance, the “public use” is the development of the resources for the benefit of the landowners who have already leased, as well as the economic benefit for the company. Martin Leehr, a representative from Gulfport Energy, says, “From an industry perspective, we feel that [unitization] is a necessity.” He believes that when it comes to unitization, the majority rules. “If the constituents, lessors and lessees of Ohio are in favor of forming a unit and they make up a majority, under a democracy, we should be afforded the rights that are allowed by law.”</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Although a majority of land is controlled by landowners within a unit, the majority of people might not agree to fracking. Yet unitization allows fracking to move forward. Moreover, while majority decision is the political system by which the United States decides its laws, it has not been a tool for deciding what is done with private property.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution allows for the taking of private property for “public use,” for which there must be “just compensation.” This concept is known as “eminent domain.” For many major infrastructure projects – high voltage transmission lines, pipelines, or highways – that traverse multiple properties, or even several county or state lines, eminent domain is commonly invoked.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
While taking contiguous properties that lie atop large fossil fuel reserves may seem obvious to gas drillers, Ed Hashberger, the ex-marine and retired police detective, sees something more insidious. He sees the erosion of the basic freedoms for which he and his family fought. “How can you guys come in and take from somebody to give to somebody else? I mean, it’s just un-American,” he says.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Hashberger also argues that the law is illegal. The definition of what constitutes “public use” is often left to the states. A 2006 Ohio Supreme Court decision seems to back up his claim that the unitization law may violate Ohio state law. In Norwood v. Horney, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled against a retail and commercial development project that wished to seize land from a group of homeowners, deciding that “economic benefits” do not meet the criteria of “public use.” In the ruling, Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor wrote:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Maureen-OConnor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Maureen-OConnor.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
“we have never found economic benefits alone to be sufficient public use for a valid taking. We decline to do so now…To justify the exercise of eminent domain solely on the basis of the fact that the use of that property by a private entity seeking its own profit might contribute to the economy’s health is to render impotent our constitutional limitations on the government’s power of eminent domain… any taking based solely on financial gain is void as a matter of law.”</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
No one has yet challenged unitization’s legality.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
But Hashberger is resisting vehemently. He is coordinating a group of veterans to build a case against the industry. “Ultimately, my goal is to get as many veterans together as we can. There are already nine of us. None of us have signed. You mention, or even think about unitizing us…we are going to court. And we are going to blow this thing out of the water.”</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
He hopes that the spectacle of a billion dollar industry taking away the property rights of war veterans will draw attention to the absurdity of the law. “What was the purpose of me even serving and defending my country to come home and have you tell us, ‘It’s O.K., John. You go off and fight that war. You keep up faith. You come home. You can have this land, but if you don’t want to give it to the gas company, we are going to take it from you anyways.’ They don’t want that fight.”</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>The Shale Revolution Moves into the Ohio Valley</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Steubenville was originally founded in the 18th Century to protect settlers of the Northwest Territory. Today, it is more infamously known for a 2012 incident in which two high school football players were convicted of sexually assaulting a girl at a party while others looked on.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Coal-plant-Ohio-River-300x225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Coal-plant-Ohio-River-300x225.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Coal plant on Ohio River</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Steubenville’s history is emblematic of the Rust Belt. By the mid-20th Century, the region was at the heart of American industrial might. The hometown of Dean Martin, Steubenville rode the wave of America’s post-World War II industrial rise. Agriculture, coal, steel, and other heavy industries were the biggest sources of employment.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In recent years, globalization and automation have left this rust-belt region a shadow of its former self. Machines have replaced armies of workers, while steel production has moved overseas. Once powered by hulking coal-fired power plants that sit nearby, shuttered steel mills now line the Ohio River.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Steubenville has a population of a little over 18,000, which is about half of what it was during its heyday in the 1940’s and 1950’s. From 1980 to 2000, Steubenville suffered the fastest rate of depopulation of any major urban area in the nation.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Although many factory doors have shuttered, the coal industry remains strong. Even in more rural parts of Ohio, signs of the coal industry abound. Coal washing plants and gob piles – enormous mounds of mining waste – litter the sides of local country roads.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Coal-mining-Barnesville-OH.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Coal mining site near Barnesville, OH</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
A reindustrialization is underway in the rural areas surrounding Steubenville. This time, the rush is for oil and natural gas from shale. Two of the biggest natural gas reserves, the Marcellus and Utica formations, lie beneath several Appalachian states, including West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and parts of Maryland and Virginia. Most of the drilling action has taken place in Pennsylvania and West Virginia up to this point, but drilling rigs have recently been migrating into the Ohio Valley.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/EIA-Shale-Gas-Resources-300x221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/EIA-Shale-Gas-Resources-300x221.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Shale Gas Resources. Source: EIA</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Whereas eastern and central Pennsylvania possess dry natural gas – essentially methane – western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio have crude oil and wet gas. In addition to methane, wet gas holds a variety of other gases, including ethane, butane, and propane. These tend to be more valuable and can be made into plastics and fertilizers.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The recent influx of rigs, pipelines, and trucks to rural areas of southeastern Ohio is leading to a transformation of old rust-belt towns. As the shale gas revolution shifts westward, it is bringing a jolt of activity to an economically depressed region, as well as the concern and unease that come with change.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Economic Boom for a Depressed Region</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Carroll County is the epicenter for this expansion, and in just a couple years there are already dozens of wells drilled and producing. In a county that makes up 400 square miles, there are plans to drill 200 to 300 wells – nearly one well per square mile. Other counties are racing to catch up.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
For an already poor region that was devastated by the collapse of heavy industry, the shale gas revolution has given a boost to landowners and businesses. <a href="http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120512/BIZ01/305130033/Fracking-rush-riches">Hundreds of farmers</a> have become overnight millionaires.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Dick and Kaye Clay decided to lease their 140 acre farm in Harrison County for drilling much earlier than many of their neighbors. They live on Route 22, about 40 miles southwest of Steubenville. Dressed in a cut off t-shirt and jean shorts, with sunglasses and a trucker hat, Dick has a booming voice and a sturdy build. Having worked for 20 years in surface coal mines, he is positively giddy about the fracking technology on his land. He is fascinated by all the machinery and is often on the drill site where he enjoys talking to the workers, asking questions, and learning about the powerful new technology.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/E-OH-W-PA-300x189.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/E-OH-W-PA-300x189.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania; gray streaks<br />
represent drilled wells. Source: ODNR.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Sitting on their back porch, the Clays begin to explain their decision to lease to Gulfport Energy, an oil and gas drilling company. Then a large dump truck rumbles up the driveway and around their house, heading toward the drill site. In mid-sentence, Dick jumps up and yells to greet the truck driver as he pulls by. “Hey!” Dick waves and the driver waves back. “I know all the guys on the drill rig right now,” he says confidently.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Kaye Clay worked as an agricultural extension agent for the Ohio State University and is now an accountant for a local company. After saving money for decades, the Clays were able to afford the down payment for their farm, where they started raising cattle and hogs and selling hay. As much as they preferred the farming lifestyle to coal mining, the size of the debt was overwhelming. “When we bought the farm, I was scared to death. I thought the farm wouldn’t be paid off by the time I died,” Dick says.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Then the oil and gas companies came in and offered money to lease the mineral rights on their farm, allowing the Clays to pay off their mortgage and other debts. Kaye is more ambivalent than her husband and spoke calmly and deliberately about both the risks that come with leasing as well as what the money means for them. “We’ve lived here for 29 years. Raised two children…We’ve tried to be good stewards of the land…That is important to us – that we leave the place better than we got it,” she says.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Lease offers from gas companies skyrocketed after the Clays signed; recent signing bonuses have topped $6,000 per acre. The Clays could have gotten more if they had held out longer, but they have no regrets: “We didn’t get as much as others, but we’ve never been greedy. We got enough to pay off our mortgage, so we’re happy,” Kaye Clay says.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Dick-and-Clay-300x225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Dick-and-Clay-300x225.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;">Dick and Kaye Clay near the drilling site on their property</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Not everyone is happy though. Some of the earliest deals were done with speculators who leased land for as little as $5 per acre, only to flip it for huge profits once the larger companies moved in. People lost out on hundreds of thousands of dollars.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Some people did not understand the fine print of the leases. For communities where deals are often made on a handshake, landowners were caught by surprise to learn that specifics of the deal did not make sense – the location of a drill site might be located on a farmer’s most productive acreage, for example. When trucks suddenly showed up and started tearing up farmland, some landowners were taken aback at the lack of control they had over how drilling was conducted on their land. Many felt deceived.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The millions of dollars pouring into the region raised eyebrows and made some landowners cautious.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Safety in Numbers</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Looking back on the development of coal, it is clear that much of the wealth from coal mining did not stay in the region. For decades, coal companies have extracted resources across Appalachia, leaving little but marred landscapes in their wake.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Larry Cain, a dairy farmer from Belmont County (just south of Harrison County), hopes things turn out differently this time. “Our forefathers made decisions with coal that we’ve been dealing with. We didn’t want to make the same mistake with gas,” he says.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Site-preparation-for-natural-gas-processing-plant-Columbiana-County-2-300x199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Site-preparation-for-natural-gas-processing-plant-Columbiana-County-2-300x199.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Site preparation for natural gas processing plant,<br />Columbiana County, OH (Photo: Ted Auch PhD,<br />FracTracker, June 2013</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Sitting in a diner in Barnesville, OH, Cain and Sue Pubal, the Fiscal Officer for Union Township, reflect on the impact that oil and gas money is having on Belmont County. They went to high school together and Cain’s son is married to Pubal’s daughter. When she was younger, Pubal spent a year working underground in a coal mine, one of the first women in the region to do so.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In 2010, after a meeting with a drilling company, Cain called up a few of his neighbors to get their thoughts on leasing. His farm has been in his family for four generations and he hopes to pass on it on to his son one day. Yet rising feed costs and the industrialization of dairy operations have made it hard for him and his family to get by on farming alone; they often take part-time construction jobs to make ends meet. Despite the immediate opportunity, he did not want to rush into a deal. “There was hesitation about whether to get involved or not. …It comes back to my background as a dairy farmer. Change is what we’re afraid of,” he says.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Cain heard of other landowners in a neighboring county who were also concerned. They started meeting together and researching the natural gas industry and ultimately formed a group known as the Smith-Goshen Land Owners Group that comprised more than 800 landowners. Nine landowners, including Cain, took the lead and formed a committee to educate themselves on the opportunities and pitfalls of drilling on their land.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Forming the group – with more than 30,000 acres under collective ownership – gave Cain and the other landowners leverage in negotiations with the companies. Ultimately, the group made a deal with Rice Energy in which they received a high signing bonus, a generous royalty percentage once wells start producing, and clauses that ensure compensation from companies in case of water contamination or other drilling damages.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In addition to these tangible terms, Cain and the group felt that Rice Energy was responsive and did a good job of listening to concerns of the whole group. Nearly every one of the more than 800 landowners ended up signing a similar agreement with Rice.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The income from the gas and oil leases has been transformative for Cain and others in the community. He says that people are mostly being good stewards of the money and are spending it to retool their farms or make other investments. “The money is more for future generations than for ourselves.”</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Public institutions have leased their land, too. With government budget cuts for villages and school districts, natural gas leases provide an opportunity to temporarily replace that spending. <a href="http://www.ohiogo.com/gas%20&%20oil/2013/05/01/barnesville-area-reaping-benefits">The Village of Barnesville</a> has signed two leases with Antero Resources for a combined 1,132 acres at $5,700 per acre. For a village with an annual budget of around $1 million, the $6.5 million signing bonus is a huge windfall. Royalties should provide income for years to come.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Drilling activity is also affecting other businesses. Subcontractors have sprung up to support drilling, and equipment is often bought or rented from local companies. Previously quiet establishments like diners, grocery stores, and restaurants are suddenly packed and are racing to keep up with new demand. A <a href="http://urban.csuohio.edu/publications/hill/OhioUticaShaleRegionMonitor_Mar2013.pdf">report</a> from Cleveland State University found that in counties with a heavy drilling presence, sales tax receipts have jumped by 21 percent between 2011 and 2012.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>The Shale Revolution – Fraying the Social Fabric</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Landowners have seen immediate benefits from the influx of investment, but not everyone has profited. Expectations and promises about new job opportunities on drill sites for locals have thus far not materialized. While temporary, lower-skilled positions can be filled locally, companies often bring in seasoned rig workers from as far away as Texas and Louisiana to handle the more technical aspects of drilling.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Such a sudden influx of cash into a poor region is welcome, but can also create new problems. Jealously has arisen between neighbors and there are stories of disputes within families over money. Some people have spent all of the signing bonus money quickly, without realizing that they will have to pay a significant portion of the bonus in taxes. With the money spent, they cannot afford the taxes.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/tree-clearing-300x224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/tree-clearing-300x224.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Trees cleared to make way for a pipeline</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Despite decades of tough economic times, people choose to stay in the region because they value the social dynamics of a small community. But change is already evident in increasing traffic congestion near small towns. Heavy trucks hauling water, chemicals, and equipment to drill sites clog rural county roads. Wellpads and drilling rigs dot the landscape. Thousands of trees have been felled to make room for pipelines that run up and down hilltops, which will increase soil erosion and sedimentation in local water sources.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The flurry of activity is transforming the countryside. Carroll County has only 73 people per square mile, compared to 282 for Ohio as a whole. Driving through the county, it is clear that an industrialization of rural Ohio is underway. And this is just the start. While much of the drilling activity is located in Carroll County right now, rigs are beginning to spread into other areas.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Perhaps the biggest losers in the shale boom are people who rent their homes; the rush for land and mineral rights has caused rent to double or triple. In a <a href="http://www.ohiohome.org/research/ShaleImpact.pdf">report</a> on the effects on shale development on housing, a Carroll County official discussed the consequences of rising rental costs:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
“I think the available supply of housing for low to moderate-income people is shrinking really fast and it is going to continue… Folks have to live somewhere. What happens to the moderate-income person? The person who works at Speedway and they get pushed out of their house and they’ve got to live in Canton; are they going to drive down here to work at Speedway? I think not. They are going to get a job in Canton. So we are going to warp the whole fabric of the community if we’re not careful.”</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Homelessness is on the rise, which is a challenge for rural communities that have not had to deal with the problem on a large scale in the past. Another interviewee in the same report said, “There’s no homeless shelter here [in Carroll County]. There is none in Harrison [County], so all of our people go to Tuscarawas County and they are way overloaded in their shelter.”</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Because of laws like unitization, many landowners believe oil and gas drilling is inevitable. The mere threat of unitization often coerces landowners into signing a lease. If property is forced into a unitization, the landowner loses the ability to negotiate lease terms, and usually receives worse terms.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Environmental Concerns</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The Ohio Valley is a gorgeous place, with lush forests, rolling hills, and bucolic agricultural landscapes. Regardless of political affinity, farmers recognize the importance of natural resources, particularly water and soil quality, in maintaining their farms’ productivity. And there are a number of reasons for people to be concerned.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The threat of water contamination from both the chemicals used in the drilling process, as well as the methane that may leak into aquifers, has made some landowners distrustful of the industry.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/turtlegapsthfork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/turtlegapsthfork.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Captina Creek</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In addition to effects on water quality, there is also concern over fracking’s effect on water quantity. Fracking requires between two and five million gallons of water, which are injected into the well. Water is taken from local streams, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. Although some landowners and municipalities have <a href="http://www.ohiogo.com/gas%20&%20oil/2013/05/01/barnesville-area-reaping-benefits">sold water rights to companies</a>, in most cases the water is withdrawn from public sources without payments.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/ODNR_logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/ODNR_logo.gif" /></a>Captina Creek, with some 55 species of fish and home to the rare hellbender salamander, is one of the best preserved creeks in Ohio. Nearby fracking sites draw water from Captina Creek, sucking in aquatic life in the process. Worse, the creek’s water flow drops to low levels in the summer and withdrawals for fracking threaten to completely empty the creek. In water-stressed places like Colorado and California, water quantity is a much greater concern.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/tabid/23941/Default.aspx">Regulations for water withdrawals</a> pose little burden for companies. Only if a company withdraws more than 2 million gallons per day does it have to apply for a permit, which is most often summarily approved. Withdrawing any amount of water under that limit does not require any permits.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) is the agency responsible for regulating water withdrawals and other activities related to fracking. ODNR’s mission statement is: “To ensure a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all.” However, financial pressures push ODNR to promote the “wise use” of natural resources at the expense of their protection. The Department receives money for every fracking well permitted. If ODNR slowed down fracking, it would directly impact their bottom line. When he came into office, Govenor Kasich appointed David Mustine, former Senior Vice President for American Electric Power, to head ODNR. Kasich has encouraged ODNR to support fracking, <a href="http://www.ohioenvironmentallawblog.com/2011/01/articles/federal-and-state-developments/kasich-names-new-directors-for-ohio-epa-and-odnr/">saying</a>: “[ODNR and Ohio EPA] are going to send a message to Ohio that we are open for business.”</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Two to five million gallons of water go down the well and after the shale is fractured about a million gallons come back up to the surface. Known as “brine,” the water is contaminated with chemicals and is unusable. Oil and gas companies pay subcontractors to inject the brine into disposal wells. More than <a href="http://www.ohiodnr.com/home_page/NewsReleases/tabid/18276/EntryId/2711/Ohios-New-Rules-for-Brine-Disposal-Among-Nations-Toughest.aspx">two billion gallons of brine</a> are dumped into 144,000 disposal wells throughout the United States each day. Due to its favorable geology, Ohio is a good place to store waste, and trucks from Pennsylvania often bring their brine to Ohio for storage. More than 14 million barrels of fracking fluids were injected in Ohio disposal wells last year.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In some cases, however, companies have illegally dumped brine into creeks, sewers, or private property in order to cut costs. For example, <a href="http://www.news-register.net/page/content.detail/id/586261/Brine-Dumping-Investigated.html?nav=515">Harch Environmental Resources</a>, contracted by Gulfport Energy Resources, is under investigation for illegal dumping of brine in ponds near St. Clairsville, OH.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There is also evidence that injecting water into disposal wells can increase seismic activity. Recent research has <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=drilling-and-pumping-wells-spawn-powerful-earthquakes">linked</a> earthquakes in Oklahoma and Texas to fracking. Youngstown, OH experienced earthquakes in late 2011 that have been linked to wastewater injection wells.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Ohio Taypayers Benefit Less From Fracking Revenues Than Any Other State</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Unlike <a href="http://www.oilandgaslawreport.com/2012/12/27/how-ohio-currently-stacks-up-on-taxes-on-oil-and-gas-operations/">other states</a>, Ohio does not charge a tax based on percentage of production, but instead the industry pays a flat 20 cents per barrel of oil. Assuming oil cost $85 per barrel, Ohio would be charging the equivalent of only 0.24 percent per barrel of oil.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This is one of the lowest rates in the nation.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
For example, North Dakota levies an 11.5 percent severance tax on each barrel of oil and Montana taxes oil at 9.26 percent. The story is similar for natural gas. Ohio’s 3 cent tax per thousand cubic feet works out to about 0.78 percent. Texas and Oklahoma charge 7.5 percent and 7 percent, respectively.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Governor John Kasich has proposed a new severance tax to raise revenues in exchange for a cut in income taxes. His proposal calls for a 4.5 percent severance tax on oil and natural gas liquids, and a one percent tax on dry natural gas – a significant increase, but still low compared to other states. The tax would <a href="http://innovationohio.org/2013/02/13/kasichs-oil-and-gas-tax-proposal-leaves-over-1-billion-on-the-table/">raise </a>$920 million between now and 2017.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Republicans in the state legislature fiercely oppose raising taxes on the oil and gas industry. According to the <a href="http://www.ohio.com/news/two-key-ohio-republicans-oppose-kasich-s-tax-proposal-on-drilling-1.380237">Akron Beacon Journal</a>, State Treasurer Josh Mandel spoke at a meeting of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, in which he spoke out against the governor’s plan. “Now is not the time for government to kill the golden goose and scare away the capital that could lead to a long-term recovery in our state,” he said. House Speaker William Batchelder (R-Medina) called the governor’s proposal “nonsense.”</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
According to an investigation by <a href="http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130717/NEWS01/307170022">The Cincinnati Enquirer</a>, the oil and gas industry has funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars into campaign coffers of the Ohio legislature. Speaker Batchelder received $227,000 from the industry, about $1 out of every $10 that he raised. He steadfastly opposes the severance tax and believes it will fail. In total, the industry has given $660,000 in campaign contributions since 2010, 91.5 percent of which went to Republicans.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The little revenue that is raised goes to the state, not the localities in which drilling actually occurs. That means that the state benefits, but counties and townships are left to pick up the tab. Heavy truck traffic, for instance, tears up country roads. These need to be fixed out of local budgets that do not see any revenue from drilling. Meanwhile, the state is cutting funding to counties and townships. Pubal explained that Union Township, where she is the Fiscal Officer, will have roads to repair, but the state has cut their operating budget by 75 percent.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Conflicted Over Fracking</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Although the oil and gas rush in southeastern Ohio has big proponents and fierce critics, many are conflicted.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
One of the remaining holdouts is Olney Friends School, a private Quaker boarding school in the region. Olney is deeply committed to environmental issues and its board initially announced that it would not lease its land for oil and gas.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
However, like much of the rest of the region, Olney’s budget is stretched thin. It faces the prospect of bankruptcy and closing its doors to students. By leasing its 68 acres, the school would bring in an immediate $476,000 (plus royalties once wells are productive) and allow Olney to regain its financial footing.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
People from the school struggle with a number of questions. How does the school compare its responsibility to students and to the environment? What message would changing its decision about leasing send to its students? The school depends on fossil fuels to run its building. Is it being hypocritical to reject fossil fuel extraction in its backyard? How much better is natural gas than coal?</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Leonard Guindon is a biology teacher at Olney. He was born and raised in Barnesville, OH and has a deep appreciation for the area. His wedding was held on the banks of Captina Creek. He built his house by hand – from felling the trees, to cutting them into lumber at his sawmill, to nailing the planks. Guindon joined the Smith-Goshen Group that collectively negotiated a deal, and he eventually decided to lease his land. Natural gas burns cleaner than coal and that appealed to him. Plus, the money will allow his wife to retire. But it was a difficult decision for him. “Sometimes I feel like I really sold out,” he says.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Leonard-Guindon-300x225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Leonard-Guindon-300x225.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leonard Guindon lives 20 minutes from the town of <br />
Barnesville, OH</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Every conversation about fracking eventually leads to a comparison with coal. Coal mining is deeply embedded in Appalachian culture. “When you attack guns and coal, you’re attacking what [Appalachians] consider their birth right. They’ll feel like you’re attacking their culture, “said <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/columns/on-the-trail/the-shift-of-king-coal-20130114">Jim Cauley, a Democratic strategist</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Despite a rich endowment of natural resources, extractive industry has a mixed legacy in Appalachia. Coal companies have long argued that coal mining is the key to economic development, but coal mining has been on going since the 19th Century and Appalachia remains one of the poorest regions in the country. Appalachia has been stripped of its coal to power a hungry American economy, and the profits have mostly left the region.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Researcher David Cattell-Gordon, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J059v01n01_05#.UgU4cZKcezO">wrote</a> that “the people of Appalachia have suffered…long periods of high unemployment, the destruction of their timberlands, the gouging of their mountains, and the stealing of their resources. And, after 200 years, the people of Appalachia have virtually nothing to show for it.” Exploitation by coal companies and the ruin that the industry has left behind have inflicted psychological damage on many communities. He says that the region exhibits some of the same clinical symptoms of “post-traumatic stress syndrome.” In other words, Appalachian culture suffers from a sort of collective PTSD because of the environmental destruction, long bouts of unemployment, and chronic poverty. Cattell-Gordon would argue that coal extraction has stripped people of the “agency” that they feel.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The word “inevitable” is often used by landowners to describe the shale gas revolution. This is due, in part, to laws like unitization that make it difficult or impossible for some landowners to protect their mineral rights. For example, Sue Pubal says that her mother did not want to lease, but decided she had little choice. If she refused, and was “unitized,” she would likely not receive a signing bonus and have her land drilled on anyway. Larry Cain, the dairy farmer, says, “It was coming anyways. We were going to see the negative effects, so we might as well see the benefits.”</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
What will the legacy of shale oil and gas be? One positive sign is landowner groups like the Smith-Goshen Group that Larry Cain helped to organize. Although Cain feels that more drilling is inevitable, by bargaining as a collective, he and other community leaders were able to get the best deal they could in their leases. Organizing is a clear sign of reaffirming agency and control over the situation. Compared to coal, the signing bonuses and royalty agreements mean that this time, with natural gas, more of the profits will go directly to landowners.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
These are still early days and it is impossible to know how fracking will have transformed the Ohio Valley in ten or 20 years. In Carroll County, the center of shale gas drilling in Ohio, rolling hills of family farms are quickly giving way to industrial sites. Rural areas are losing their quiet, peaceful atmosphere. And this is just the start. There will be a lot more fracking in the months and years ahead. Whether or not drilling can be done safely and with environmental safeguards is still up for debate. And as oil and gas development continues apace, people are anxious about losing the small town character in their communities. Larry Cain says, “We’re a quiet, leave-us-alone society – [natural gas] is going to change that<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, Nimbus Sans L, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;">.”</span></span></div>
</div>
<br /></div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-31531067317883864162013-09-05T17:59:00.000-04:002013-09-05T18:15:06.122-04:00Federal Government is Longtime Supporter of Fracking<i>The following is cross posted with www.DCBureau.org, which you can read <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201309058959/bulldog-blog/federal-government-is-longtime-supporter-of-fracking.html">here</a>. </i><br /><br />By Nick Cunningham, September 5, 2013<br /><br />Friday August 23 marked the end of the public comment period for the Department of Interior’s draft “<a href="http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wo/Communications_Directorate/public_affairs/hydraulicfracturing.Par.91723.File.tmp/HydFrac_SupProposal.pdf">fracking rule</a>” on public lands. The rule, originally proposed by Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in May 2013, has three main components: it would require drillers to disclose the chemicals used in fracking on public lands; it would setup standards for well integrity to safeguard against groundwater contamination; and it would require drillers to have a plan in place to deal with flow back.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dih-mKpwGXM/UikBpmikAII/AAAAAAAAAc8/LMEu66aQps8/s1600/Bill-Flores.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dih-mKpwGXM/UikBpmikAII/AAAAAAAAAc8/LMEu66aQps8/s1600/Bill-Flores.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br />The oil and gas industry have put up stiff resistance with cries that regulation will kill off any hopes of “energy independence.” House Republicans oppose the measure, and as Greenwire <a href="http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059985067">reported</a>, Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX) put forth legislation that would block BLM’s fracking rule. Flores, the former CEO of Phoenix Exploration, an oil and gas company, argued at a subcommittee hearing in July, “[t]he Bill before us today is about empowering local self-government in placing a check on the growth of an out-of-control, one-size-fits-all federal government.” Congressman Flores seemed to have not realized (or more likely willfully ignored) that BLM’s rule applies to federal lands, not state lands.<br /><br />Despite vociferous rhetoric from Republicans in Congress and the oil and gas industry to the contrary, the federal government has long-been in bed with the industry.<br /><br />In 2005 President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act into law (then Senator Obama supported the bill) with a provision that specifically exempted fracking activities from certain provisions in the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act. The provision is known as the “Halliburton loophole” as it was included at the request of then Vice President Dick Cheney. The loophole has successfully removed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to regulate fracking.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qNdbcRcEWmk/UikBzH7RIFI/AAAAAAAAAdE/tcy0U0QGt1A/s1600/Diana-DeGette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qNdbcRcEWmk/UikBzH7RIFI/AAAAAAAAAdE/tcy0U0QGt1A/s1600/Diana-DeGette.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><br />Some members of Congress have since fought to close the loophole, without success. Rep. Diane DeGette (D-CO) sponsored <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr1921/text">The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act</a> in 2009 that would have repealed the Halliburton loophole, but it died in committee.<br /><br />When Barack Obama took office in January 2009, there was new hope that the oil and gas industry would no longer receive such favorable treatment. In 2009 the EPA began sampling wells in Pavillion, WY in response to complaints from local residents near drilling sites that their well water appeared to be dark and dirty, and smelled of petroleum. EPA officials ran tests in areas fracked by Encana Oil & Gas in what would become a closely watched study because of its potential impact on future regulation of the industry.<br /></div>
<div>
In 2011 the EPA issued a draft report with results from Wyoming that discovered the presence of synthetic chemicals used in the fracking process. It also found benzene in quantities above what is considered safe, as well as high levels of methane. The report was the first significant and official link between fracking and groundwater contamination. The industry disputed the findings, arguing that the report was flawed, but the study was seemingly a watershed moment in the unfolding fracking narrative.<br /><br />Yet, on June 20, 2013, EPA dropped its investigation and handed it over to the state of Wyoming.<br /><br />The decision came only five days before President Obama laid out his plan to fight <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201306268826/bulldog-blog/obamas-climate-plan-an-ambitious-plan-that-isnt-ambitious-enough.html">climate change</a> in a major speech at Georgetown University, which relied heavily on natural gas. Environmental groups are outraged over what they see as a calculated political move by the White House, directing the EPA to stop work on the study.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IvIgoOgb38s/UikCLgY1udI/AAAAAAAAAdU/ba_5IHtCyl4/s1600/BLM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IvIgoOgb38s/UikCLgY1udI/AAAAAAAAAdU/ba_5IHtCyl4/s200/BLM.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />Because natural gas theoretically emits only half of the greenhouse gases compared to coal, President Obama made increased natural gas production a central pillar of his plan, stating, “Sometimes there are disputes about natural gas, but let me say this: We should strengthen our position as the top natural gas producer because, in the medium term at least, it not only can provide safe, cheap power, but it can also help reduce our carbon emissions.”<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VkR_NRI7Mqk/UikCAPkZJzI/AAAAAAAAAdM/nmm1MpQxey4/s1600/John-Barrasso.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VkR_NRI7Mqk/UikCAPkZJzI/AAAAAAAAAdM/nmm1MpQxey4/s1600/John-Barrasso.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<br />By favoring natural gas, the President seemed to be providing cover for other parts of his climate plan, which may over time force the shutdown of many of the nation’s existing coal plants. He is using natural gas to kill off coal.<br /><br />This is why, some think, the EPA was pressured into backing off its fracking study, handing over responsibility to the state of Wyoming. The study will be funded by Encana, the company that owns the wells in the area.<br /><br />Industry supporters cheered, as did Wyoming’s congressional delegation. In a press release, Senator John Barrasso (R) said, “EPA’s decision to not rely on premature conclusions in its 2011 draft report is a positive and wise step.” Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis (R) added, “Today they finally recognized that the very best place for their report on fracking in Pavillion is in the dust bin of history.”<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OHxTLvCafm4/UikCTNaNZvI/AAAAAAAAAdc/PZK9P1qnfMw/s1600/Cynthia-Lummis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OHxTLvCafm4/UikCTNaNZvI/AAAAAAAAAdc/PZK9P1qnfMw/s1600/Cynthia-Lummis.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><br />The fact that the administration seems to be fully embracing natural gas does not bode well for rigorous regulatory oversight. And for the first time, industry is looking to lease <a href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-06-08/national/35459547_1_dan-naatz-private-land-forest-service">Eastern national forests</a>. While the oil and gas industry may oppose BLM’s proposed fracking rule for fear of burdensome regulation, if history is any guide, they have little reason to worry.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04287854178095130231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-66897020228731950672013-08-19T11:51:00.000-04:002013-08-19T11:51:58.538-04:00Civil Disobedience and the Keystone XL Pipeline<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<i>by Duncan Gromko</i></div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://globalnews.ca/news/775786/critics-protest-keystone-xl-pipeline-outside-u-s-state-department/" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">More than 100 people</a> showed up at the State Department early Monday morning to protest the <a href="http://naturalcapital1.blogspot.com/2013/02/keystone-xl.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Keystone XL pipeline</a>. President Obama and the State Department have been considering the approval of the pipeline since 2011, repeatedly delaying their decision. In a recent speech, Obama said that the pipeline will not be approved if it has a significant impact on climate change.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class=" wp-image-8910 alignright" height="263" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/KeystoneXLPipeline.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline; float: right; margin: 10px; padding: 4px; text-align: left;" width="330" /></div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
The protestors were planning to block the entrance to the State Department and risk arrest from the Washington, D.C. metro police. In the past, Keystone critics have been <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/172884/more-civil-disobedience-white-house-over-keystone-xl" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">arrested </a>and these arrests brought attention to the environmental risks of the pipeline. However, on Monday, the police did not oblige and the protest received little attention.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
Nearly a month ago, <a href="http://swampland.time.com/2013/07/26/another-day-in-washington-about-50-arrested-at-keystone-xl-protest/" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">54 people were arrested</a> inside the lobby of the D.C.-based firm Environmental Resources Management (ERM). The group was protesting the consulting firm’s involvement in putting together the State Department’s report on the <a href="http://naturalcapital1.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-impact-of-blocking-keystone-xl.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">environmental impact of the Keystone XL pipeline</a>. The report found that the pipeline would not lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions, arguing that the tar sands moved by the pipeline would be extracted whether or not the pipeline is approved (here is the best analysis I’ve seen on the possible <a href="http://theenergycollective.com/jessejenkins/232591/climate-change-impacts-keystone-XL" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">impact of the pipeline</a>).</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
In addition to challenging the content of ERM’s report, the protestors claimed that ERM did not acknowledge a <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2013/0805/State-Department-watchdog-probes-Keystone-XL-review" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">conflict of interest</a>. Analysts that worked on the ERM report had previously worked for TransCanada – the company building the pipeline. The Department of State is now conducting <a href="http://www.ogj.com/articles/2013/08/dos-conducts-keystone-xl-eis-conflict-of-interest-inquiry.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">an inquiry</a> into whether or not that conflict exists.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="alignleft wp-image-8916" height="278" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/WNS_Cover.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline; float: left; margin: 10px; padding: 4px; text-align: left;" width="180" /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
As a supporter of more aggressive steps to address climate change, I’ve been thinking about the effectiveness of these actions while reading “<a href="http://www.wagingnonviolentstruggle.com/" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Waging Nonviolent Struggle</a>,” a tome by Gene Sharp on the history of civil disobedience. Sharp considers the history of nonviolent social movements, different tactics used, and their effectiveness. I think his key point is the following: “The persons who are at any point the rulers do not personally possess the power of control, administration, and repression they wield. How much power they possess depends on how much power society will grant them.” According to Sharp, nonviolent action is a movement’s way of taking back that power.</div>
<br />
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
These Keystone protests and the climate movement in general sometimes differ from many of the nonviolent case studies in Sharp’s book: the Russian Revolution, Indian Independence Campaign, California Grape Worker’s Strike and Boycott, Ending Bus Segregation in Montgomery, etc. The actions taken in Sharp’s examples tend to directly express the protestors’ vision of the change they would like to see. In India, for instance, people collected and traded salt in defiance of British law. Grape pickers in California refused to work. Pipeline opponents have been arrested for actively <a href="http://ens-newswire.com/2012/11/19/twelve-arrested-in-texas-keystone-xl-pipeline-blockade/" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">blocking the construction of the pipeline</a>. In comparison, the protestors at the ERM building were arrested for unlawful entry.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
Indians wanted independence from the British, so they protested their laws. The situation for climate advocates is more complicated. Their goal is not to overthrow Obama. Instead, they want to change a carbon-based energy infrastructure on which we all depend. To get to the climate protests, activists drive, take trains, and even fly – all acts that emit carbon and work counter to their end goal. These actions do not undermine their cause. They simply illustrate our country’s total dependence on energy from carbon sources and the absence of alternative transportation choices.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
The ideal climate nonviolent struggle would be an economic boycott of carbon (like the <a href="http://naturalcapital1.blogspot.com/2013/01/my-case-for-divestment.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">divestment</a> push), where participants refused to use energy from carbon sources. Doing so would directly reduce emissions and take away power from fossil fuel interests that profit from carbon consumption. Some people have chosen this route, and I’m sure that most of the arrestees consciously reduce their carbon impact. But it’s nearly impossible to participate in American society without using carbon. For the millions living in suburbia and rural areas, cars are a necessity. Every time I turn on a light (or the computer used to write this blog), the electrons come primarily from carbon generating sources. In most cases, giving up carbon would mean withdrawing from society. Plus – and perhaps more importantly – no one would notice the act of <em>not</em> emitting carbon.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
So climate advocates are left with options for nonviolent action that are less illustrative of their goals than those in Sharp’s book. A lunch counter sit-in actively demonstrates the change the protestor wishes to see by breaking the law he or she wants to remove. Being arrested at ERM shows protestors’ anger at the company’s role in encouraging the pipeline to move forward, but the act itself doesn’t illustrate what the protestors want. The law being broken – unlawful entry – isn’t the one they want repealed.</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_8912" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: auto; line-height: 23.109375px; margin: 0px 0px 2px 18px; max-width: 96%; padding: 4px; text-align: center; width: 161px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<img alt="" class=" wp-image-8912 " height="150" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/David-Roberts.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="151" /></div>
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 13px; padding: 2px 4px 5px; text-align: left;">
David Roberts</div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
Climate change advocates are working in a complicated, complex setting. <a href="http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/the_elusive_craft_of_evaluating_advocacy/" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A great article</a> I read last week expressed how nearly impossible it is to evaluate advocacy. Change from advocacy is non-linear – little or nothing might happen for decades, followed by a huge breakthrough (see marriage, gay). <a href="http://grist.org/article/2011-08-02-doing-civil-disobedience-with-style/" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">David Roberts</a> writes a lot about the importance of social proof – demonstrating to the general public that it is socially acceptable to have a particular opinion – and these protests provide that proof. Keeping climate in the news cycle changes minds and generates interest.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
And advocates have made huge strides. The pipeline decision still sits on Obama’s desk, years after it became an issue. The President released an <a href="http://naturalcapital1.blogspot.com/2013/06/obamas-big-climate-plan-and-speech.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">ambitious climate plan</a> in a speech where he explicitly encouraged climate advocates (by using the word “<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/06/25/2213341/invest-divest-obama-goes-full-climate-hawk-in-speech-unveiling-plan-to-cut-carbon-pollution/" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">divest</a>”). The integration and importance of carbon in our lives means that it’s likely to be a long, uphill fight. But in Sharp’s words, advocates are slowly taking back power from the fossil fuel industry.</div>
</div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-43228494613714306452013-07-15T16:22:00.000-04:002013-07-15T20:03:00.070-04:00Population Projection Revised Upwards...Again<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>by Duncan Gromko</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<i style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">The following was cross-posted with the Public Education Center's DC Bureau, which you can find by clicking <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201307158842/bulldog-blog/8842.html">here</a>.</i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Documentation/pdf/WPP2012_Press_Release.pdf">The UN now estimates</a> that there will be 9.6 billion people by 2050, which is a revision upwards from their 2010 estimate of 9.3 billion. For some environmentalists, this is a scary thought. A simplistic take on natural resource use suggests that more people mean more consumption and more pollution.</div>
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
Estimating global population, let alone projecting population two generations from now, is a tricky business. While some groups estimated that the world passed seven billion people on October 31, 2011, others thought that the milestone was passed in March of 2012. Even the world’s best censuses have a 1-2 percent margin of error.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.dssresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/world_population_1050_to_2050.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="436" src="http://blog.dssresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/world_population_1050_to_2050.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">Source: </span><a href="http://blog.dssresearch.com/?p=229" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">DSS Research</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The 2050 projections have been revised upwards because of changing demographic trends in the developing world. Projections assume that global fertility rates will converge to 2.1 children per woman and a stable population. However, fertility rates have remained higher than projected in many countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Below is a chart showing the countries with the largest upward projections (as a percentage of their population).</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Upward-Projections.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="375" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Upward-Projections.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">Source: </span><a href="http://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2013/06/population-projections-released-pockets-high-fertility-drive-increase/#.UeNU_mQ5xD_" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">New Security Beat</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
Accurately predicting population decades from now is difficult, but the multiple upward revisions in recent years make for a worrying trend. While growth in some countries is more or less reflecting demographers’ predictions, population growth in other countries continues to spiral upwards. Nigeria, which doesn’t even make the above chart, has had its 2050 projections revised from 289 million in 2008 to 390 million in 2010 to 440 million this year. What will the next projection be?<br />
<br />
Most of this growth is happening in developing countries, as fertility rates have mostly stabilized in the developed world.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="432" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Population-Trends.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">Source: </span><a href="http://www.learner.org/courses/envsci/unit/text.php?unit=5&secNum=4" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">Learner</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
As a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco, I worked on family planning projects. Many of the women with whom I spoke struggled to access birth control on a consistent basis. What’s more, doctors often did not take the time to explain how to use birth control. One woman with whom my colleague spoke asked why the birth control pill <i>her husband was taking</i> wasn’t keeping her from getting pregnant.</div>
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
While use of contraceptives has increased, access to birth control remains a huge barrier in many parts of the world. <a href="http://www.unfpa.org/public/home/mothers/pid/4382">The United Nations Population Fund estimates</a> that 215 million women want to delay or cease childbearing – about one in six women of reproductive age – but do not have the means to use birth control. Helping these women would be a huge win not only for them, but also for the environment.<br />
<br />
Slowing population growth could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 1.1 billion tons per year by 2050. Family planning is an inexpensive way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Climate scientists normally talk about the “<a href="http://petrolog.typepad.com/climate_change/2009/09/the-cost-of-abating-greenhouse-gases.html">abatement cost</a>” of a particular technology or behavior change, i.e. how much each ton of greenhouse gas reduced will cost. For instance, the abatement cost of solar PV was estimated at around $15-20 per ton of CO2 by McKinsey in 2009. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/31/stemming-population-growth-climate-change">Tom Lovejoy estimates</a> that the abatement cost of reducing carbon emissions through family planning is $4.50 per ton. If carbon pollution is all you care about, reducing population growth through family planning is cheaper than reducing per capita greenhouse gas emissions (although both are needed).<br />
<br />
It’s important to note, however, that despite increasing populations in developing countries, these countries are largely not responsible for historical or future greenhouse gas emissions. The United States, China, and the European Union all have relatively stable populations, but are responsible for most of global emissions. The USA’s per capita emissions was around 17.2 tons per year in 2009, while Nigeria’s was 0.6 tons per year.<br />
<br />
Of course, impact on climate isn’t the only environmental consequence of a growing world population. The areas with the highest rates of population growth also tend to have the greatest pressures on local natural resources. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are already facing challenges from water scarcity and deforestation with their existing populations. What’s more, much of this growth is happening in urban areas where infrastructure is overwhelmed by the growth explosion. Slums and urban poverty are the result.<br />
<br />
Support for family planning and educating women – which is associated with lower fertility rates – has benefits for local populations and the earth. Giving women the tools and knowledge they need is an important goal that I think is often overlooked by many environmentalists.</div>
</div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-19364891985714483182013-07-10T12:16:00.000-04:002013-07-10T12:19:37.065-04:00Indiana Regulators Let BP Pollute Lake Michigan<i>By Nick Cunningham</i><br />
<i>The following was cross-posted with the Public Education Center's DC Bureau, which you can find by clicking <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201307108833/bulldog-blog/indiana-regulators-let-bp-pollute-lake-michigan.html">here</a>. </i><br />
<br />The Indiana state government recently extended a deal with BP that allows it to continue to dump toxic waste into Lake Michigan. Back in 2007, it gave BP permission to increase discharges of toxic pollution into Lake Michigan as part of a $3.8 billion expansion of its Whiting, IN refinery. BP wanted to upgrade the facility to be able to process heavier crude oil, as Canadian tar sands began to flow southward in significantly larger volumes. Originally constructed in 1889 under John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company, BP’s Whiting facility is one of the nation’s largest oil refineries, a massive complex located in Indiana near Chicago.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dlDGJT-2Lo4/Ud2Jc6hbw9I/AAAAAAAAAWU/C0XKKg0ogQY/s1600/BP-BDBlog-300x156.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dlDGJT-2Lo4/Ud2Jc6hbw9I/AAAAAAAAAWU/C0XKKg0ogQY/s1600/BP-BDBlog-300x156.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Indiana’s Department of Environmental Management granted an exemption from federal water protections to BP as part of its permit, which allowed to company to dump 54 percent more ammonia and 35 percent more toxic sludge into Lake Michigan. The permit also <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-bp-mercury-20130623,0,2967660,full.story">allowed</a> BP to discharge 23.1 parts per trillion of mercury – 20 times the amount of mercury allowed under federal law. BP also consistently dumped other toxic chemicals such as benzene, lead, nickel and vanadium.<div>
<br />Mercury is known to cause brain damage, especially in children. However, Indiana regulators <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/chi-pollute_15jul15,0,823234.story">justified</a> the exemption because the refinery expansion would provide “important social or economic benefits” – in this case, the project would <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/chi-mercury_27jul27,0,6726083.story">create</a> a few thousand temporary construction jobs and 80 permanent jobs.<br /><br />Then Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels <a href="http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/gov-daniels-bp-permit-will-stand/article_6b7f7678-b3e7-527c-9173-b2e928a5229f.html">defended</a> the decision. When asked if the giveaway would move forward, Daniels replied, “Yes. We’ve checked it and rechecked it. They’re in complete compliance with Indiana law, which is tougher than the federal law. The EPA has checked and rechecked it, and they have approved that permit more than once. To me, the public interest says it should go forward.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-csQDEIOqH0Q/Ud2Jf7nnbXI/AAAAAAAAAWc/lFLrAQ7HPz0/s1600/Mitch-Daniels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-csQDEIOqH0Q/Ud2Jf7nnbXI/AAAAAAAAAWc/lFLrAQ7HPz0/s1600/Mitch-Daniels.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Former IN Gov. Mitch Daniels</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><br />“We’ve got thousands of jobs that will be at risk if it doesn’t go forward. And I would only point out that people who are upset about $3 gas now know why it’s that high. Reported as recently as last weekend, the No. 1 reason for $3 gasoline is the lack of refinery capacity in this country, and here’s one of the biggest steps forward for the Midwest and really the whole nation. And I don’t think it should be held up without a good scientific reason, and none has been provided.”<br /><br />The 2007 deal exempted BP from federal water pollution limits for 5 years. Under the agreement, BP was required to conduct research into technology that would reduce mercury pollution it discharged into Lake Michigan. It worked with the Argonne National Lab to explore new technologies.<br /><br />However, in 2011, as the original five year exemption neared expiration, Indiana regulators extended it because BP argued it would not be able to implement pollution control technology in time. Despite these assurances, pilot tests of new technologies found that mercury could be reduced to below federal limits. Yet BP asserts that the $21-$147 million price tag was too high – even though it <a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/103116/BP-Whiting-Refinery-Comes-Online">expects</a> to haul in an additional $1 billion in annual cash flow from the facility.<br /><br />To make matters worse, a <a href="http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/opinion/article_93d98a26-e6f8-11e2-be81-001a4bcf6878.html">recent</a> draft permit would once again extend the allowance – this time indefinitely. The permit would not require BP to actually implement mercury-reducing technology. Instead, BP said it would continue to do research and would merely report back in 2015 on its findings.<br /><br />Meanwhile, BP finished its upgrade, allowing it to process an additional 250,000 barrels of crude per day. And it continues to pollute.</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04287854178095130231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-33883257212722122522013-06-26T10:22:00.004-04:002013-06-26T12:29:36.180-04:00Obama's Big Climate Plan and Speech<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i>by Duncan Gromko</i></div>
<br />
President Obama gave a major climate change speech (<a href="http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/06/25/19137568-obama-we-dont-have-time-for-a-meeting-of-the-flat-earth-society?lite">full video and transcript here</a>) and released a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/25/read-the-white-houses-big-new-climate-change-plan/">Climate Action Plan</a> on Tuesday. It’s just one speech and there is a lot to work to implement the plan that he has laid out, but the plan and the speech far surpassed my expectations. There isn’t much more that the Executive Branch can do on climate change without help from Congress.<br />
<br />
<img border="0" src="file:///C:/Users/duncang/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.png" /><br />
Here’s the biggest climate news from the plan and the speech: “I'm directing the Environmental Protection Agency to put an end to the limitless dumping of carbon pollution from our power plants, and complete new pollution standards for both new and existing power plants.” The rhetoric here – “dumping of carbon pollution” – is amazing because he’s talking about carbon in the same way that we normally talk about local pollutants. This is the single biggest step the administration can take without Congress; <a href="http://pdf.wri.org/can_us_get_there_from_here_full_report.pdf">WRI estimates</a> that such regulation can make up 48% of the emissions gap between business as usual and the administration goal of reducing emissions by 17% by 2020. So it’s a big deal. However, neither Obama’s speech nor his plan specifies how strict these new standards will be or how they will be implemented and there is sure to be legal and political challenges to the new standards. The specifics of the plan will end up determining the final climate impact, and Obama has not yet made this clear; all the plan says is: “The President has asked the Environmental Protection Agency to build on state leadership, provide flexibility, and take advantage of a wide range of energy sources and technologies including many actions in this plan.” If you’re curious on more details of how power plant regulation could work, here is an <a href="http://www.nrdc.org/air/pollution-standards/">NRDC report</a> on how this could work.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Official_portrait_of_Barack_Obama.jpg/440px-Official_portrait_of_Barack_Obama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Official_portrait_of_Barack_Obama.jpg/440px-Official_portrait_of_Barack_Obama.jpg" width="235" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/new_official_portrait_released/">change.gov</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Regulating carbon pollution from power plants is just the start. For a full list of initiatives contained in the plan, see <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/25/obama-tries-the-kitchen-sink-approach-to-global-warming/">Wonkblog</a>, <a href="http://grist.org/politics/no-drama-obama-unveils-series-of-modest-sensible-steps-on-climate-change/">Grist</a>, or <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/06/25/2207371/president-obamas-second-term-plan-to-address-climate-change/">Climate Progress</a>; I’m just going to list a few of the most important.<br />
<br />
Supporting existing efforts, the plan promises to better measure methane emissions from natural gas extraction via the EPA. However you feel about how fracking could destroy local water sources, any climate benefits from switching from coal to natural gas (coal is much more carbon intensive than natural gas) could be lost if methane leakage is not controlled.<br />
<br />
Obama declared a goal of doubling electricity fueled by renewable energy by 2020. This is tough for the President to affect with Congressional support, but Obama promised to approve permits for renewable energy on public lands that would supply 20 gigawatts of additional energy. He also said the federal government would set a new target of sourcing 20% of its energy from renewable sources (up from 7%).<br />
<br />
Adaptation to climate change is another large component of the plan. Most of the concrete steps relate to planning continued research for specific vulnerabilities to climate change: learning from Hurricane Sandy and other tropical storms, resilience in the health sector, assessing agricultural vulnerability, managing drought, reducing wildfire risks, and preparing for future floods. Climate change is happening and the plan recognizes this reality.<br />
<br />
Last (of the points that I’ll discuss) is a renewed effort to promote international action on climate change. One proposed way to do this is to combat short-lived climate pollutants such as methane and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which have sever climate impact and are much more prevalent in developing countries. Another focus point is reducing emissions from deforestation, which amount to as much as 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Last, Obama also said that the USA will not support coal fired power plants in developing countries (which would appear to be at odds with current World Bank policy). <br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Really Surprising Stuff</span></b><br />
<br />
In addition to these more mainstream actions, Obama discussed a few issues that are near and dear to the hearts of climate advocates. First, regarding the Keystone XL pipeline, Obama said: “Our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.” I never expected him to mention Keystone and his statement Tuesday will make it difficult (but not impossible) for him to ultimately approve the Pipeline. Second, he spoke directly to climate advocates in the following sentences: “Convince those in power to reduce our carbon pollution. Push your own communities to adopt smarter practices. Invest. Divest. Remind folks there’s no contradiction between a sound environment and strong economic growth…Make yourself heard on this issue.” Divestment from fossil fuels and the Keystone XL Pipeline have been two of the major issues adopted by 350.org and other climate advocates. With these remarks, Obama is speaking directly to those involved in advocacy and encouraging their actions. I think the subtext here is that he needs support to continue his climate initiatives. I was surprised.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">A Couple Caveats</span></b><br />
<br />
The big caveat is the lack of specificity as to how the plan will be implemented, particularly with EPA regulation of power plants. There are no specific standards mentioned and, although this aspect of the plan could have enormous impact, it could also have little impact if standards aren’t strict enough.<br />
<br />
The other issue in the speech that makes me uneasy is the President’s full embrace of natural gas: “And, again, sometimes there are disputes about natural gas, but let me say this: We should strengthen our position as the top natural gas producer because, in the medium term at least, it not only can provide safe, cheap power, but it can also help reduce our carbon emissions.” I think the climate benefits of natural gas (and fracking) are debatable. And I think that there isn’t enough information about the impact of fracking on local water sources. Increased fracking will likely hurt some people. Nick and I are planning a big story on fracking and all its ambiguities, so I won’t get into them just yet.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">All in All…</span></b><br />
<br />
I was amazed by the ambition of the plan and the speech. It comes about five years later than I wanted and still isn’t going to be enough to allow the USA to meet emissions guidelines from the Kyoto Protocol (20% reduction of emissions from 1990 levels by 2020), but in the current political climate, I couldn’t have hoped for any more. I guess that’s a sign of how far expectations have fallen that I see doing less than the minimum as exceeding expectations. <br />
<br />
I’m torn. On the one hand, this is a big step and Obama (as well as all the advocacy groups that have been pushing him for years now) deserves credit for making decisions that another president (e.g. Romney) wouldn’t have. I hope that he feels support from environmental groups to counterbalance all the negative things that will be said in the coming weeks by fossil fuel advocates. This speech and this plan should be celebrated. On the other hand, the devil is in the details with this plan and implementation will determine just how much it ends up cutting emissions. Obama needs to hear from green groups that climate can’t be something that he simply makes a big speech about every several months and then ignores. It’s also hard not to be disappointed that it’s come to this; that Obama had to work around Congress because Congress refused to address the issue. I can’t imagine a more ambitious plan, but it still isn’t ambitious enough. </div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-49910490960712594972013-06-26T00:04:00.004-04:002013-06-26T00:04:38.012-04:00World Bank Climate Predictions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<i>by Duncan Gromko</i></div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
With President Obama’s <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/06/22/obama-to-announce-tuesday-he-will-regulate-existing-power-plants-as-part-of-climate-strategy/" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">announcement</a> of new climate change action on Tuesday, the World Bank has just released a <a href="http://climatechange.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/Turn_Down_the_heat_Why_a_4_degree_centrigrade_warmer_world_must_be_avoided.pdf" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">report</a> (written by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics) that projects how the climate will change over the coming century and how people will be affected. Spoiler alert: the news is pretty bad. How bad will depend on whether or not we get serious about limiting greenhouse gas emissions.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
One big uncertainty is how much greenhouse gases humans will emit over the next century. The World Bank is basing its projections on “Representative Concentration Pathways” (RCPs), which are different scenarios for global greenhouse gas emissions levels and predicted impact on global temperature rise, shown below. RCP8.5 is the worst-case scenario, where there is no effort to decrease emissions. The other scenarios show moderate efforts to reduce emissions (RCP6 and RCP4.5) and successful effort to reduce emissions (RCP3).</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="alignleft wp-image-8817" height="472" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/temperature-increase-421x590.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px 18px 2px 0px; padding: 4px; text-align: left;" width="337" /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;">If the world meets all the climate pledges it has currently made, there is a 20 percent chance of exceeding a four degree (centigrade) global temperature rise by 2100. If emissions continue as they are today, then the chances of exceeding four degrees by 2100 increases to 40%. Unless there is drastic and immediate reductions in emissions, it looks certain that we will top a two degree rise, with a reasonable chance of going over four degrees.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
Compared to temperature rise, ocean acidification is something that gets much less attention. Considering the importance of coral reefs as nurseries for global fisheries, I think this is a huge oversight. As carbon is emitted into the atmosphere, the ocean also absorbs it, increasing ocean acidity. Under RCP8.5 and RCP6, there will be nearly complete die-off of coral reefs and a devastating impact on fisheries.</div>
<h3 style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
How will this affect us?</h3>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
Temperature increase and ocean acidification will have many consequences for human well-being, including: rising sea levels, increased intensity of tropical storms, increased precipitation extremes (more droughts and floods), decreased agricultural productivity, and increase in vector-borne diseases (e.g. malaria and dengue fever).</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
One big takeaway from the report is how different parts of the world will be affected in very different ways. For instance, while drier conditions are projected for most regions close to the equator, including southern Europe, Africa, and much of North and South America, wetter conditions are projected for places at northern high latitudes: northern North America and northern Europe. Monsoon rains are expected to be more intense. Amazingly, even sea level rise is not uniform; in general, equatorial regions are likely to have higher sea level rise.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
Close to the equator, crop productivity is expected to decrease, but at most northern latitudes, productivity will increase. Given that tropical countries tend to have the most food insecurity, this is just about backwards from the way you’d like the changes to happen. Globally, food production will increase as long as temperatures stay below a three degree increase, but at that point productivity will decrease.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
But it’s not just the physical change that will be different across different world regions. Current and future wealth and investments will play an enormous role in who is most impacted by climate change. Wealthier nations will have a much easier time adapting to climate change. Wealthy cities like New York City can build sea walls to delay the negative impacts of sea level rise and increased storm intensity, but Dhaka Bangladesh will have a much harder time adapting, likely leading to millions of climate refugees.</div>
<h3 style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
Uncertainty</h3>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
Even beyond all the uncertainty about emissions and how they will impact the climate, the models used in this report cannot capture “non-linear” events. There are feedback cycles, tipping points, and interactions between different variables that are just about impossible to model precisely. The problem is that non-linear events are exactly the kind you’d want to be able to predict. In the financial world, it was a similar kind of tipping point that ended up throwing the world into a financial crisis in 2007 and 2008.</div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="alignright wp-image-8816" height="140" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/world-bank-300x200.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline; float: right; margin: 10px; padding: 4px; text-align: left;" width="210" /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;">The non-linear effect that is nearest and dearest to my heart is Amazon rainforest die-back The rainforest is so enormous that it generates and recycles much of the rain that falls in the Amazon basin. As deforestation continues, decreased tree cover may lead to less rainfall. A 2010 drought, which led to the death of billions of trees and an estimated release of 2.2 billion tons of greenhouse gases, may have been caused by decreased tree cover in the rainforest. Deforestation leads to drought, which leads to more deforestation. On top of this feedback loop, increased temperature in the Amazon due to climate change will exacerbate this effect: “there is a significant risk that the rain forest covering large areas of the Amazon basin will be lost” due to climate change. The Amazon is currently a global carbon sink, absorbing more carbon than it emits. If this die off occurred, it would very quickly become an enormous source of greenhouse gas emissions and completely outside of our control to stop.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
This is just one example of a very harmful “non-linear” system and there are many others. The challenge for the World Bank and other policy and investment planners is that they would like to take steps now to adapt to climate change. While the projections in this report and other modeling can guide adaptation, the uncertainty makes it hard to plan. We know, for instance, that coastal cities will need protection when sea-levels rise. But should we plan for 1 meter of sea-level rise (the median estimate for 2100 under four degree warming) or more?</div>
<br /></div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-9439059037005606892013-06-18T15:42:00.003-04:002013-06-18T15:44:47.995-04:00Trapped Tar Sands or Coal: Obama to Decide<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>By Nick Cunningham</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;">The following was cross-posted with the Public Education Center's D.C. Bureau, which you can find by clicking <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201306188771/bulldog-blog/trapped-tar-sands-or-coal-obama-to-decide.html" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">here</a>.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On June 14, Bloomberg Businessweek reported that the Obama
administration is planning on rolling out a climate package in July, which may
or may not be coupled with his answer on the Keystone XL pipeline. President
Obama reportedly told a group of donors at a closed-door fundraiser that he
will unveil a series of climate proposals in the coming weeks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In his State of the Union address earlier this year, the
president vowed to take executive action to reduce greenhouse gases if Congress
failed to act. Congress has predictably done nothing, and so environmental
groups have been urging President Obama to live up to his commitment.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ulHwijRCGr4/UcC349OA8_I/AAAAAAAAAVM/CUdOBM-zEBA/s1600/president-Obama-220x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ulHwijRCGr4/UcC349OA8_I/AAAAAAAAAVM/CUdOBM-zEBA/s1600/president-Obama-220x300.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<o:p></o:p>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Executive action would likely come through the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). However, earlier this year, the EPA missed a deadline
to finalize greenhouse gas limits for new power plants, which would have
effectively banned new plants using coal. The EPA argued that it needed time to
revise the rule in order to withstand legal challenges.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Businessweek reports that the upcoming climate proposals may
include not only the previously proposed limits on new power plants, but also
greenhouse gas limits for existing power plants – a much bolder course of
action. After all, the EPA limits for new power plants would essentially
confirm a <i>fait accompi</i>: it is
increasingly difficult for utilities to build new coal-fired power plants
anyway – even without EPA greenhouse gas limits – due to their cost.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although new coal plants are expensive, the same is not true
for existing power plants. Nearly three-quarters of all coal plants in the
United States are at least 30 years old. Many of these plants are paid off, and
so operating them is cheap. This creates the incentive for the utilities to run
the plants as long as possible. Left to their own devices, the utilities would
retire these plants gradually over time. EPA limits on existing plants could
quickly and dramatically alter this equation by forcing many coal plants to
shut down earlier than scheduled.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AB3fqNZB_YU/UcC3_wbc-9I/AAAAAAAAAVU/R_XAPBfwn2w/s1600/Huntington-Power-Plant-300x225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AB3fqNZB_YU/UcC3_wbc-9I/AAAAAAAAAVU/R_XAPBfwn2w/s1600/Huntington-Power-Plant-300x225.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huntington Power Plant, Utah (Photo: Utah Gov.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><o:p></o:p>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The other sticky issue is the Keystone XL pipeline.
Environmental groups have ratcheted up the pressure on the president to reject
the pipeline. A recent report from Goldman Sachs concluded that the pipeline
was key to the Canadian tar sands being economically viable. Without the
pipeline, the tar sands could be “trapped in the province of Alberta.” In this
scenario, RBC Capital Markets predicts that $9 billion in future investment
over the coming decade would be deferred.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is a no-win situation for the White House. Should the
president approve the project, he will do irreparable harm to his support from
environmentalists, but blocking it will raise the ire of the energy and gas
lobby and its allies in Congress.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Based on the President’s comments to private donors, it
seems his administration is leaning towards approving the pipeline but coupling
it with the EPA limits on greenhouse gases. He may somehow seek to make one
conditional on the other. However, this will likely spark a firestorm in
Congress, as a group of 24 Republican senators sent a letter to the president
in May warning against such a move. “We are concerned by recent proposals that
you pair approval of the Keystone XL pipeline with enactment of new
environmental regulations and energy taxes,” they wrote.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On balance, if the EPA can actually implement limits on
carbon dioxide, the benefit to the climate may considerably outweigh the
downsides of approving the pipeline.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Still, after years of putting climate change on the
backburner, the president may be ready to make these issue a priority, or at
least take some action to address them.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04287854178095130231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-71650511869040594512013-06-12T15:58:00.001-04:002013-06-12T16:01:27.341-04:00Ecosystem Services and the Panama Canal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<i>by Duncan Gromko</i></div>
<div style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">
<i>The following was cross-posted with the Public Education Center's D.C. Bureau, which you can find by clicking <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201306128741/bulldog-blog/expanding-the-panama-canal-a-series-of-environmental-tradeoffs.html">here</a>.</i></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gatun_Lake-300x199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Gatun_Lake-300x199.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Gatun, Panama</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When ships cross the Panama Canal, a series of locks raise them a full 26 meters. Letting water in and out of the locks uses a lot of water from Gatun Lake – more than 55 million gallons for each ship. As cargo ships become larger, the Canal is being expanded, which would create even more demand for water. Rainfall in Panama varies significantly depending on the season – during the dry season, water withdrawals from the Canal make a significant impact on water levels. Each year, there is a one in fifteen chance that water levels will drop so low that Canal operations are restricted.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Since the Canal generates an annual $1.8 billion in fees for the government of Panama, there is a very real economic reason to ensure continued water flow for the Canal and the expansion of the Canal makes that need even more pressing. As I’ve written about before, forests and other ecosystems play an important role in <a href="http://naturalcapital1.blogspot.com/2013/02/putting-price-on-nature.html">providing a dependable water supply</a>.<br />
<br />
The Canal watershed is 55 percent forested, a 40 percent decline since 1974. In order to maintain water supply to the Canal, Panamanian policymakers have created protected areas for two-thirds of the forested Canal watershed. A 1997 land-use plan aims to increase forest cover in the watershed through reforestation in order to increase water flows to the Canal, particularly during the dry season.<br />
<br />
However, <a href="http://phys.org/news/2013-05-reforestation-trade-offs-carbon-timber.html">a recent study</a> by Silvio Simonit and Charles Perrings (sorry, the full article is behind a pay wall) says this reforestation initiative may be slightly misguided. The relationship between ecosystems and local hydrology is much more complicated than it may seem at first glance. “The net impact of vegetation change on water flows depends on its effects on surface runoff, infiltration, and evapotranspiration. Transitions between vegetation types alter all three.” Forests increase the infiltration of water into the soil, allowing for groundwater recharge. They also increase an ecosystem’s leaf index (the surface area of all green surfaces for a region), which increases evaporation. These two forces counteract each other and local circumstances determine which one dominates.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/panama-canal-construction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/panama-canal-construction.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canal expansion</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The specific results of the study are too complicated for a blog post, but the important takeaway is that reforestation in some places will increase water flow, but in other places will decrease flow. “…Only where there are high precipitation rates, flat terrain, and soil types with high potential infiltration is reforestation likely to enhance dry-season flows.” Only 37 percent of currently forested area increases dry-season water flows; reforestation of the entire area would reduce dry-season flows by 8.4 percent.<br />
<br />
In addition to specific recommendations for the Canal watershed, this study has broader implications for policymakers. As the term “<a href="http://naturalcapital1.blogspot.com/2013/01/intro-post-what-are-ecosystem-services.html">ecosystem services</a>” becomes a part of people’s vocabulary, it’s important to understand that the relationship between an ecosystem and the benefits it provides to people is not a simple one. Not all forests directly increase water supply. Some coastal reefs will provide greater storm protection than others. Some biological diversity is more valuable to people than other.<br />
<br />
Allow me to indulge in a slight tangent: this brings up two important issues with the push to include ecosystem services into decision-making. First, it means that careful study is needed to be sure that investments in ecosystems lead to the desired benefits. Panama can increase dry-season water flow to the Canal through reforestation, but only if it targets the right areas. It’s even more complicated than the article describes; ecosystems are complex systems that are probably impossible to fully model. For instance, although evaporation from increased tree cover decreases water recharge, it also contributes to cloud formation, likely increasing precipitation elsewhere. Second, reducing the value of nature to the benefits it provides people is, well, very anthropocentric. Is improving human welfare the only reason to protect the environment?<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/panama-canal-expansion-300x213.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panama Canal shipping routes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Coming back to Panama, the article points out that there are many other benefits to forest restoration. Although the impact on water supply is ambiguous, reforestation will unequivocally increase carbon sequestration and timber supply. This is where the decision gets really complicated. Does Panama prioritize: a) timber production, which would have a local economic impact, b) water supply, which would also have an economic impact, but on a different population, or c) carbon sequestration which provides global benefits (since it reduces the impact of climate change). And there are other tradeoffs as well: reforestation might increase ecotourism, but will likely require the displacement of agriculture.<br />
<br />
All in all, planning based on ecosystem services is complicated. Simonit and Perrings’ study improves our understanding of how the environment impacts people. However, we still have a lot to learn. And the expansion of the Panama Canal is setting off a series of environmental challenges at ports throughout Latin America that need to be addressed.</div>
</div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-60122393639554177892013-06-02T18:59:00.001-04:002013-06-03T09:56:12.915-04:00Renewable Portfolio Standards provide economic benefits at ‘little or no’ cost<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1161730516407429474" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1161730516407429474" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1161730516407429474" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1161730516407429474" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><i>By John Hensley</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Trailblazing
the renewable energy frontier, in 1983 Iowa became the first state to implement
a renewable portfolio standard (RPS).
Though modest – the RPS only required the state’s two biggest utilities
to procure 105 megawatts (equivalent to about 50 modern-day wind </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gIez5k8uiLI/UavN3zn-TjI/AAAAAAAAAU4/dPqeXL2GomA/s1600/wind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gIez5k8uiLI/UavN3zn-TjI/AAAAAAAAAU4/dPqeXL2GomA/s320/wind.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">turbines) of
renewable generation capacity – the policy positioned Iowa to become a
renewable energy leader. Fast forward to
today and you will find that 29 states and the District of Columbia have </span><a href="http://dsireusa.org/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RPS
policies</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
in place.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In concept, an RPS is
a simple policy designed to provide renewables, which have historically been
more expensive than fossil fuels and thus unable to be competitive, with a
guaranteed market. Renewable energy is
an infant industry facing an uphill battle against well-established
conventional fuels that have enjoyed decades of government support. As such conventional fuels are relatively
cheap, especially since they do not have to account for external costs such as
pollution. In this setting, RPS programs
provide renewables an opportunity to establish themselves and quantify the
environmental benefits they offer including reducing greenhouse gas emissions. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Basically,
an RPS requires electric utilities to gradually increase the amount of
renewable energy that they deliver to customers. By design, an RPS does not hand-pick a
technology; rather all renewables are forced to compete, incentivizing cost
reductions and efficiency gains. Over
time, the more efficient renewables close the gap with conventional fuels and
are capable of competing directly in the open-market.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
guess what? It’s working. Since Iowa
began requiring renewables, RPS policies have successfully driven renewable
energy demand, bringing down costs and providing economic benefits to rural
communities across America. A new report from the Union of Concerned
Scientists, </span><a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/clean_energy/Renewable-Electricity-Standards-Deliver-Economic-Benefits.pdf"><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">How Renewable Electricity Standards Deliver Economic
Benefits</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">captures these cost
savings and economic benefits, concluding that “utilities are successfully
meeting their renewable energy requirements with little or no additional costs
to consumers, while supporting rapidly growing renewable energy industries that
provide substantial economic benefits.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1161730516407429474" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1161730516407429474" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1161730516407429474" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1161730516407429474" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">According
to UCS, RPS policies apply to approximately 50% of the total U.S. electricity
demand and will drive the development of more than 87,000 MW of new electricity
generating capacity from renewable energy sources through 2025 – enough
electricity to meet the annual needs of more than 24 million American homes. To date, compliance with the renewable requirements
has been high – over 96 percent of RPS requirements were met through 2010 – with
many states, including Colorado, Kansas, and Minnesota, “several years <i>ahead </i>of schedule.” High levels of compliance in future years are
also expected, with many utilities continuing to bring substantial renewable
energy capacity online.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_2"
o:spid="_x0000_i1026" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/images/ce/Projected-Renewable-Energy-Development-from-State-RES-Full-size.jpg"
style='width:367.5pt;height:237.75pt;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square'>
<v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\Nick\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image003.jpg"
o:title="Projected-Renewable-Energy-Development-from-State-RES-Full-size"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Not
only are utilities successfully complying with the renewable energy laws, they
are doing so with “little or no additional costs to consumers.” Examining 2009
and 2010 RPS cost data, </span><a href="http://www.cleanenergystates.org/assets/2012-Files/RPS/RPS-SummitDec2012Barbose.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
researchers found that out of 14 states only one experienced cost increases of
more than 1.6 percent. UCS points to
eight states – Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Illinois, North Carolina, Kansas,
Wisconsin, and Rhode Island – where consumers’ electricity rates have been
minimally impacted, exemplifying the cost-effectiveness of RPS programs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
fact, in some states, building renewable electricity generation is saving
customers millions of dollars. Just
yesterday, Xcel Energy, the major utility in Colorado, announced that the
company’s plan to add 550 MW of new wind capacity will save customers $300
million over the life of the projects.
As renewables continue to become cheaper – wind costs have fallen 20
percent since 2010 and solar PV costs dropped 33 percent from 2011 to 2012 alone – consumers will enjoy further reductions in their electric bills.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Moreover,
because renewable electricity sources have zero “fuel costs” – the wind and the
sun are free – they serve as a hedge against future fossil fuel price
volatility. As UCS concludes,
“increasing renewable energy also helps stabilize electricity rates and provide
long-term savings. Once a wind or solar facility is installed, the ‘fuel’ is
free. Fossil fuels, on the other hand, are subject to potentially volatile
prices that can lead to significant fluctuations in electricity rates.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
addition to minimally impacting consumer’s electricity rates, RPS policies
create a range of economic benefits, summarized by UCS:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The renewable
energy industry supports American jobs.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> More than 119,000 people
worked in solar-related industries in 2012, while wind energy development
employed 75,000 full-time workers across the U.S., including 30,000 jobs at
manufacturing facilities throughout the country.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Renewable energy
development promotes investments in the U.S. economy.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> In 2012,
wind power made up 42 percent of all new U.S. electric capacity additions,
representing a $25 billion investment in the U.S. economy.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Renewable energy
development outperforms fossil fuels</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> in two important ways when
it comes to driving job growth: 1) Renewable energy development is
relatively labor intensive, so it creates more jobs per dollar invested
than fossil fuel resources and 2) Installing renewable energy facilities
uses primarily local workers, so investment dollars are kept in local
communities.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Local landowners
benefit from renewable energy development.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> When wind
turbines are installed on privately owned land, the land owners typically
receive payments in the form of lease, royalty, or right-of-way payments.
These payments can be an important source of income for rural families.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Renewable energy
projects pay property and income taxes that help support states and local
communities. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For example, wind projects in Iowa, which now
generates more than 20 percent of its electricity with wind, provided more
than $19.5 million in annual property tax payments to state and local
governments in 2011.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Unfortunately,
despite the success of RPS policies there has been an onslaught of legislative
bills attempting to diminish or repeal renewable requirements in more than </span><a href="http://www.cleantechfinance.net/2013/rps-attack/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">two dozen states</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">. Support for these attacks come from
conservative organizations like the American Legislative Exchange Council
(ALEC), Beacon Hill Institute, and the Heritage Foundation, which all support a
fossil fuel dominated status-quo. To
their dismay, the dominance of fossil fuels is increasingly undermined by cheap
renewable energy, so they are desperate to eliminate key drivers such as RPSs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Luckily,
bipartisan support for RPS policies remains strong and most of the attacks have
been successfully defended. Even </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/08/north-carolina-renewable-energy-standards-under-fire_n_3231652.html"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">North Carolina’s</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> legislature where
Republicans enjoy a super-majority refused to retract its RPS – and not once,
but twice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">RPS
policies have proven their effectiveness, and lawmakers have shown they are
aware of the positive economic benefits accompanying renewables. But it’s important not to stop here; we need
to continue to educate lawmakers to prevent future attacks from happening. The UCS report is a great addition to the
growing mountain of evidence in favor of renewables. </span><br />
<br />
<i>John Hensley is a policy analyst at the American Wind Energy Association where he provides market analytics, focusing on wind energy’s economic impact at the state-level. A native of Wyoming, he is passionate about renewable energy as a mechanism to promote rural electrification and mitigate climate change impacts. Opinions in this article are his alone. You can follow him on twitter @WYOhensley.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div>
<div id="edn2">
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04287854178095130231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-17499096859446897932013-06-01T16:12:00.001-04:002013-06-01T16:12:12.777-04:00Coal Makes A Comeback<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<i>By Nick Cunningham</i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<i>The following was cross-posted with the Public Education Center's D.C. Bureau, which you can find by clicking <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201305318671/bulldog-blog/coal-makes-a-comeback.html">here</a>.</i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
In recent years, policymakers have put their faith in the shale gas revolution, which is supposed to create a whole host of benefits, which include bringing manufacturing back to the United States, reviving rust belt communities, and providing alternative fuels for transportation.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<img alt="" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-8675" height="226" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Natural-gas-plant-300x226.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline; float: left; margin: 10px; padding: 4px;" width="300" />One of the key selling points, however, is that natural gas will help America meet its climate commitments by dramatically reducing greenhouse gases. Natural gas emits about half of the greenhouse gas emissions as coal, so a shift from coal-fired power plants to natural gas, the thinking goes, would make significant progress toward meeting our climate challenges.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
This argument was politically potent because it disarmed and divided climate hawks and provided political cover for inaction. After all, if the market was solving our climate problem, and the natural gas industry was the hero leading the way, then there was little to do but sit back and wait for cleaner days to arrive.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently released data that puts the lie to that thinking. EIA’s data show that coal is recapturing some of the market share it lost over the last two years. In the spring of 2012, coal and natural gas generated <a href="http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=6990" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">roughly the same</a> proportion of electricity in the United States, both accounting for 32 percent of the total. This was a dramatic shift, as coal historically made up half of the electric power sector, dating back decades. Greenhouse gas emissions dropped as utilities switched to natural gas, and politicians celebrated.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<img alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-8674" height="225" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Coal-crushing-300x225.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline; float: right; margin: 10px; padding: 4px;" width="300" />Now, coal has regained some lost ground,<a href="http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=11391" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">surging</a> this year to 40 percent of the total. Why has this happened? The answer is that natural gas prices have rebounded from historic lows. In 2012, natural gas prices dropped under $2 per million Btu (MMBtu), which made it unprofitable for companies to continue to drill. Some drilling rigs shifted to oil, which is more lucrative. The low prices were unsustainable as a result, and this year they have jumped to over $4/MMBtu, double what they were a year ago. With higher natural gas prices, coal has made a comeback.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
It is also important to note that the benefit of natural gas over coal may not be as big as is commonly believed. Methane, a greenhouse gas over 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide, can escape during the drilling process. It may be that methane is escaping at such a rate that it outweighs the lower carbon dioxide profile that natural gas has over coal – but the data is yet unclear.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
The lesson from this trend is that the climate gains were never locked in and emissions reductions were temporary. There have been several policy initiatives in recent years that have made tangible progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions – fuel economy standards for the nation’s auto fleet, and state renewable portfolio standards are two of the most notable examples. Renewable energy has also made significant strides recently in reducing costs (also due to policy), but much more is needed.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<img alt="" class="alignright size-full wp-image-8676" height="168" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/organizing-for-america-logo.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px; padding: 4px;" width="300" />Instead, the Obama administration has thus far deferred action. It even decided to indefinitely<a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201304248456/bulldog-blog/new-coal-plants-rush-completion-to-beat-epas-postponed-emission-rules.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">delay</a> a rule that was scheduled to be finalized this spring that would have placed limits on greenhouse gases from new power plants. Obama’s campaign arm, Organizing for America, has been slow to build support for any environmental issues, even though it has been quite active in pushing the President’s agenda on other policy fronts. OFA has <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/05/24/186098607/obama-groups-climate-push-puts-president-under-scrutiny" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">signaled</a> that this will change soon, but environmentalists have expressed <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/green-environment-pipeline-ofa-keystone-91597.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">anger</a> at what appears to be the President dragging his feet.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
What is clear is that significant action is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and relying on another fossil fuel – natural gas – is not the solution.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04287854178095130231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-72296432155172884502013-05-22T16:59:00.000-04:002013-05-22T16:59:35.948-04:00Book Review: Corporation 2020<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<i>by Duncan Gromko</i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<i>The following was cross-posted with the Public Education Center's D.C. Bureau, which you can find by clicking <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201305228596/bulldog-blog/book-review-corporation-2020.html">here</a>.</i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
A recent <a href="http://www.teebforbusiness.org/js/plugins/filemanager/files/TEEB_Final_Report_v5.pdf" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">TEEB for Business report</a> estimated that the world’s 100 largest corporations do $7.3 trillion in damages each year to the global environment. These “externalized” costs are not borne by the business itself, but by society as a whole. Changing the way that corporations do business is critical to solving global environmental crises such as climate change. In the book <em>Corporation 2020</em>, Pavan Sukhdev presents a vision of how corporations can make this change.</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_8598" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: auto; line-height: 23.109375px; margin: 0px 0px 2px 18px; max-width: 96%; padding: 4px; text-align: center; width: 180px;">
<img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-8598 " height="254" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Pavan-Sukhdev.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px !important;" width="170" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 13px; padding: 2px 4px 5px;">
Author of Corporation 2020: Pavan Sukhdev</div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
A 1919 Michigan Court ruling formalized the role of a corporation: “A business corporation is organized and carried on primarily for the profit of the stockholders.” As long as this norm holds, corporations will continue to pursue private profit at the expense of the public good. Sukhdev writes: “According to urban legend, Willie Sutton, the immaculately dressed bank robber who robbed more than a hundred banks over a forty-year career, was once asked why he robbed banks and succinctly replied, ‘Because that’s where the money is.’” Since corporations don’t pay for pollution and other socialized costs from their activities, there is a profit motive to pursue polluting activities.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Sukhdev says that the modern corporation has four distorting characteristics: size, leverage, advertising, and lobbying. The number of “large” (greater than 0.1% of global GDP) corporations has grown from under 20 in 1970 to over 120 in 2010. Being large allows corporations to reduce transaction costs: rather than trading with other corporations, a corporation can simply redistribute resources internally. Sukhdev calls the modern corporation a “price arbitrageur <em>par excellence” </em>because it obtains labor, capital, and resources wherever they are cheapest to be sold wherever demand is highest.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
The second characteristic, leverage, is related to size. Taking on debt allows a corporation to grow. Debt is available to larger corporations at a cheaper price, creating an advantage for large corporations while squeezing out smaller ones. When corporations with lots of debt become very large, they can be “too big to fail” because they pose a systemic risk to the economy. As we saw in the financial crisis, the government may have to prop up a failing big corporation – another benefit of size.</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_8601" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: left; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: auto; line-height: 23.109375px; margin: 0px 18px 2px 0px; max-width: 96%; padding: 4px; text-align: center; width: 310px;">
<img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-8601 " height="200" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Save-the-World-300x200.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="300" /><div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 13px; padding: 2px 4px 5px;">
Save the World (photo credit Victor Grigas)</div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Advertising “converts wants into needs, sometimes creating new needs that are nothing more than brand desires, with no functionality.” Even though advertising makes up a relatively small part of global spending, it has an enormous impact on creating demand for consumer products. Greater consumption, in turn, puts more pressure on natural resources.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Last, corporate lobbyists persuade government to create preferential laws, regulations, taxes, and public investments; the goal is to realign public institutions to benefit private interest. For example, when the Waxman-Markey “cap-and-trade” climate change bill was being considered by Congress, energy-intensive industries spent over $100 million on public relations and hired 2,340 registered lobbyists to protect the fossil-fuel industry. A watered down version of the bill was able to pass the House, but not the Senate. Lobbying in natural resources sectors is a clear case of redistributing public goods to private interests; in the United States, mining companies are given <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201305178578/bulldog-blog/unknown-amount-of-wealth-extracted-from-public-land.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">rights to mining resources at below market rates</a>.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
When a corporation is large, it has advantages in leverage, advertising, and lobbying. This creates a positive feedback loop where the efficiencies and power of a large corporation allow it to become even larger. As a corporation grows and grows, it has (in most, but not all cases) larger and larger negative externalities. The legal structure of the modern corporation and the tools it has to make profits are incompatible with addressing environmental crises.</div>
<h2 style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
So what’s to be done?</h2>
<div class="img alignright wp-image-8600" style="background-color: white; display: inline; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin: 0px 0px 2px 18px; padding: 4px; width: 240px;">
<img alt="Greenpeace.svg" height="45" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Greenpeace.svg_-300x56.png" style="border: 0px;" width="240" /><div style="background-color: #ececec; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-size: 0.9em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-top: 5px; padding: 6px; text-align: center;">
Greenpeace.svg</div>
</div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;">A big part of Sukhdev’s message is how and why corporations voluntarily reduce the negative externalities associated with their business. One of the largest destroyers of tropical forests in the world, the Indonesian pulp and paper company APP, announced </span><a href="http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0212-app-april.html" style="background-color: white; color: #085283; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 23.109375px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">a new “no deforestation” policy.</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;"> The commitment came after a long campaign by Greenpeace successfully vilified APP. APP saw that the costs to its brand name and reputation were greater than the benefits from continued deforestation. APP is one of many companies that have taken steps to reduce its environmental impact in order to improve its public image.</span><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<div class="img alignleft" style="background-color: white; display: inline; float: left; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin: 0px 18px 2px 0px; padding: 4px; width: 192px;">
<img alt="Asia_Pulp_&_Paper_logo" height="73" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Asia_Pulp__Paper_logo.jpg" style="border: 0px;" width="192" /><div style="background-color: #ececec; border-bottom-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(214, 214, 214); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; font-size: 0.9em; line-height: 1.6em; margin-top: 5px; padding: 6px; text-align: center;">
Asia_Pulp_&_Paper_logo</div>
</div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;">Other corporations are taking a more holistic perspective and starting to account for the damage they do to the environment. In 2011, PUMA, the shoe company, measured their supply chain’s impact on water, land-use change, air pollution, and climate change. These negative externalities were valued at $188 million and were concentrated early in the company’s supply chain. PUMA says it will use this information to reach its goal of reducing its impact across its supply chain by 25 percent by 2015. Measuring externalities is the first step for companies to reduce them – “you cannot manage what you do not measure.”</span><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<img alt="" class="alignright" height="202" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Corporate-Pollutions.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline; float: right; margin: 10px; padding: 4px;" width="300" />However, shaming companies into better behavior and improved environmental accounting tools will only get us so far. Sukhdev argues that “despite the correlations between sustainability and corporate success, endogenous change (the idea that corporations can and should drive sustainability ‘from within’ because it is good for them) may not be enough.” The <em>raison d’etre</em> of a corporation is to make its shareholders profits, regardless of other costs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Sukhdev calls for a number of solutions. Ending subsidies for companies that do environmental harm is a first step towards leveling the playing field. Next, taxing goods according to the damage they do to society would discourage harmful economic activities. A coal power plant, for instance, would have to pay for the social cost of the carbon emissions (amongst other damages) associated with power production. Finally, Sukhdev makes the case that the structure and objective of a corporation needs to be completely reformed. Rather than pursuing profit for shareholders, corporations should serve the public benefit – a social corporation. Increased regulation and creative taxation can help to reduce corporations’ impact on the environment, but Sukhdev argues that current corporate model is fundamentally incompatible with sustainability.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
While I mostly agree with Sukhdev, he doesn’t provide a convincing road map of how we’re to get from the shareholder, profit-driven model of the corporation to his social corporation. As Corporation 2020 recognizes, large corporations have an enormous amount of economic and political power that they are unlikely to give up voluntarily. In addition to increasing a corporation’s size, advertising and lobbying also give it immense influence. Bold leadership, both in the public and private sectors, is a good start, but won’t be enough to get to the radical changes that he is proposing. My feeling is it will require pressure from millions of people who have never heard of Sukhdev or his book.</div>
</div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-87971455571206839442013-05-17T12:42:00.000-04:002013-05-22T16:59:51.199-04:00Unknown Amount of Wealth Extracted from Public Land<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;">By Nick Cunningham</i><br />
<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;"><br /></i>
<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;">The following was cross-posted with the Public Education Center's D.C. Bureau, which you can find by clicking <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201305178578/bulldog-blog/unknown-amount-of-wealth-extracted-from-public-land.html">here</a>.</i><br />
<br />
<h2 style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
Uncle Sam gets Nothing</h2>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
The U.S. government controls an enormous amount of land, particularly in the western half of the country. The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) <a href="http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/About_BLM/subsurface.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">manages</a> an estimated 700 million acres of public lands, with much of it open for development by oil, gas, mining, and renewable energy development. When these various industries come into conflict, hardrock mining interests – gold, silver, copper, and other minerals – have traditionally won out due to laws favoring them, which date back to the 19th century.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<img alt="" class="alignright size-full wp-image-8586" height="160" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/BLMLOGO.png" style="border: 0px; display: inline; float: right; margin: 10px 0px 5px 10px; padding: 4px;" width="180" />Mining on public lands is principally governed by the <a href="http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/regulations/mining_claims.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">General Mining Law of 1872</a>. Back then, the U.S. government actively supported the settlement and development of public lands in the largely unpopulated western United States. The General Mining Law allowed for private citizens to lay claim to public lands for mining prospects, with the intent of protecting an individual’s gold or silver prospects from being taken by others. It essentially allowed a free-for-all: once someone staked a claim on a parcel of land, they could gain ownership. The law would protect that claim from being taken by anyone else.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
While that may have made sense in the 19th century, the General Mining Law has not been substantially updated since President Ulysses S. Grant signed it into law. There have been legislative tweaks since then, but mining companies still enjoy essentially free access to the nation’s public lands.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
On two fronts, however, mining interests may begin to lose that advantage: royalty payments and the preferential treatment given to mining on claiming public lands.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
One relic of outdated mining laws is the lack of royalties. Mining companies do not pay federal royalties for extracting hardrock minerals on public lands. In contrast, oil and gas companies pay a 12.5% royalty rate. Giving away public assets to mining companies for free is a significant corporate subsidy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) has supported implementing royalties on hardrock mining. “It’s astounding in this time of trillion-dollar deficits that we aren’t looking more closely at revenue off of public lands,” Sen. Udall stated in January, as <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-16/miners-may-pay-u-s-more-in-royalties-under-1872-overhaul.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">reported</a> by Bloomberg. He went on to say, “It’s a lot of money that’s on the table, and it’s money that we should have been getting a long time ago.”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Along with Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Sen. Udall sent a <a href="http://grijalva.house.gov/uploads/Grijalva%20Udall%20GAO%20Letter%20on%20Extraction%20Sept%207.pdf" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">letter</a> to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2011, requesting a review of the amount of minerals extracted from public lands. GAO issued a <a href="http://www.gao.gov/assets/660/650122.pdf" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">report</a> in November 2012, but could not determine how much mining companies are taking from public lands because the data are not collected –in part because the government does not assess royalties on mining. At the same time, GAO stated that royalties paid by oil, gas, and coal operations amounted to $11.3 billion in 2010.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has been a roadblock to mining reform because his state is home to large mining operations. A spokesperson <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/12/us-mining-reform-royalties_n_2283953.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">said</a> that he remains open to reform, but only if revenues collected from royalties are shared with the states.</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: 302px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin: 10px 0px; width: 602px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; padding: 4px 8px;" valign="bottom"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_8583" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); height: auto; margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 96%; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; width: 190px;">
<img alt="" class=" wp-image-8583 " height="220" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Senator-Tom-Udall-D-NM.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="180" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 13px; padding: 2px 4px 5px;">
Senator Tom Udall (D-NM)</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; padding: 4px 8px;" valign="bottom"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_8584" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); height: auto; margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 96%; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; width: 190px;">
<img alt="" class=" wp-image-8584 " height="240" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Congressman-Raul-Grijalva-D-AZ.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="180" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 13px; padding: 2px 4px 5px;">
Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)</div>
</div>
</td><td style="border-bottom-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; padding: 4px 8px;" valign="bottom"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_8585" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); height: auto; margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 96%; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; width: 190px;">
<img alt="" class="wp-image-8585 " height="236" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Senator-Harry-Reid-D-NV.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="180" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 13px; padding: 2px 4px 5px;">
Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
While the lack of royalties on hardrock mining is an anachronism – and evokes a kind of robber baron-era way of managing resources – another major problem with mining governance is how companies gain access to public lands.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
BLM recently <a href="http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/newsroom/2013/april/nr_04_29_2013.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">finalized</a> an interim rule already in place that attempts to level the playing field for renewable energy on public lands. The rule, called the “<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/04/30/2013-10087/segregation-of-lands-renewable-energy" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Segregation of Lands-Renewable Energy</a>,” blocks mining claims to public lands if renewable energy applications are under review.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Prior to this rule, if a specific tract of land was in the review process for a renewable energy project, a mining company going after hardrock minerals could still stake a claim on that land, and wouldn’t need BLM approval. The renewable energy projects would not get priority, even if their applications were filed before the mining claim.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
This special treatment for mining interferes with renewable energy development. BLM <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/04/30/2013-10087/segregation-of-lands-renewable-energy" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">stated</a> in the Federal Register that mining companies often file claims on land under review for renewable energy not because they wish to mine the land, but only with the intent to “compel payment” from the renewable energy company in exchange for relinquishing the claim.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
The new “Segregation” rule attempts to prevent resource conflicts by blocking mining claims if a “right-of-way” application is under review. The need to implement such a rule is illustrative of the outdated nature of U.S. mining laws.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
There is no indication that Congress is willing to bring mining law into the 21st century. While levying royalties on the extraction of minerals from public lands faces an uphill battle in the Congress, hopefully BLM’s recently issued rule can begin to roll back the long established preferential treatment for hardrock mining on public lands.</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04287854178095130231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-64258763149456732792013-05-13T13:59:00.003-04:002013-05-13T14:00:11.560-04:00The Expanding Sahara: Desertification in Morocco<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;">by Duncan Gromko</i><br />
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
<i>The following was cross-posted with the Public Education Center's D.C. Bureau, which you can find by clicking <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201305138562/bulldog-blog/the-expanding-sahara-deforestation-in-morocco.html">here</a>.</i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
In Morocco and elsewhere, growing environmental challenges are likely to decrease standards of living, particularly for the poor. Among the harmful impacts of climate change is increased desertification – the expansion of deserts. Globally, climate change will increase average precipitation, but in certain areas, rainfall will decrease. Because of changing precipitation patterns, the Sahara Desert is likely to expand into bordering countries, reducing their agricultural productivity. In many countries, this global change is in addition to local environmental pressures, quickening the growth of the Sahara.</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_8564" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: auto; line-height: 23.109375px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 96%; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; width: 590px;">
<img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-8564 " height="306" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/The-Sahara-Desert.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px !important;" width="580" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 13px; padding: 2px 4px 5px;">
The Sahara Desert (Source: Enviro-Map)</div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
The Atlas Mountains of Morocco have always been a marginal environment, as poor soil quality has hindered productive agriculture. Living in those mountains for two years, I experienced the negative impact that desertification is having on people’s lives. Poor and rural people are more dependent on the environment for generating incomes; 47% of the “<a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/47-of-the-GDP-of-the-poor-comes-from-natural-resources-UN-report/Article1-946178.aspx" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">GDP of the poor</a>” comes from natural resources. Since the environment is fragile, even small changes in climate or use of resources can result in noticeable declines in standards of living.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Industrial logging, expansion of agriculture, extension of grazing land, and collection of firewood put increasing pressure on the forests of the Atlas. Economic growth and growing populations mean that Moroccans are extracting more and more from the forests that support the country. As a whole, the country loses an average of <a href="http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/features/2007/03/25/feature-02" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">30,000 hectares of forest per year</a>. Fewer trees mean weaker root systems to protect soil. <a href="http://iahs.info/redbooks/a245/iahs_245_0233.pdf" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Erosion rates</a> in both the Atlas and Rif mountains are among the highest in the world.</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignnone" id="attachment_8565" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: auto; line-height: 23.109375px; margin: 10px 0px 0px; max-width: 96%; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; width: 590px;">
<img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-8565" height="436" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Erosion-in-the-Atlas-Mountains.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px !important;" width="580" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 13px; padding: 2px 4px 5px;">
Erosion in the Atlas Mountains (Photo credit: author)</div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
The people I lived with felt the immediate consequences of the creep of the Sahara in several ways. The most obvious impact was the decrease in supply of fuel wood. Although most of Morocco is warm, the Atlas Mountains are at high altitude, creating the need for wood to heat homes during the winter. Large snowstorms often hit my village, dumping more than a foot of snow at a time. In one nearby village, the small forest cover had been completely removed; people were reduced to burning scrub bushes to keep warm. In my village, the nearest remaining trees were over an hour away by donkey ride. Every week, my host father would go out to collect firewood to heat our home. He would ride his mule for an hour to the west, where the forest still grew, to find a tree and cut down its branches to bring back home. My host father was 73 years old and the weekly wood collections tested his health and physical abilities. One day he was several hours late coming home; my host mother and I went out into the darkness, yelling his name until we found him, limping and delirious with exhaustion.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Another obvious impact of desertification is the decline in productivity of agriculture and grazing. Many people in the Atlas Mountains rely on raising goats and sheep for income. Herders feed animals in the mountains and bring them to cities to sell to bigger markets. However, as the soil runs off the mountains and into the rivers, grass does not grow as quickly and the land cannot support large herds without further expanding grazing areas.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Reduced forest cover also increases the frequency and severity of floods since rainwater runs directly off of the soil into riverbeds instead of slowly percolating through ground cover. Even mild rainstorms lead to significant floods. Several times a year, floods would make roads impassable, isolating our mountain communities from the rest of the world. Floods would also wash out fields and damage farmers’ crops.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
The people of the Atlas Mountains and Morocco can contribute little to mitigating climate change.<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/datablog/2012/jun/21/world-carbon-emissions-league-table-country" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Morocco ranked 71st</a> in greenhouse gas emissions in 2010, responsible for about 0.1% of global emissions.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
If Morocco is to adapt to climate change and the expansion of the Sahara, it must invest in natural ecosystems that can reduce its impact. Instead, <a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/morocco/urban-population-growth-annual-percent-wb-data.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">a growing population</a> and standards of living are putting increased pressure on the environment, escalating its degradation. For instance, the price of meat is high, creating an incentive for herders to increase the size of their flocks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
As a Peace Corps volunteer, I was tasked with finding solutions to my communities’ problems and environmental concerns. As much as people wanted to protect natural resources, they depended on activities that harmed the environment for their short-term well being. There were also significant problems organizing collective action. Even if my host family reduced the size of their flock or the amount of wood they harvested for fuel, these sacrifices would mean nothing if others did not make similar commitments. Without strong environmental institutions, it is nearly impossible to change behavior.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Another Peace Corps volunteer and I worked on reducing deforestation driven by local businesses. Public baths – <em>hammams</em> – were responsible for approximately 30% of deforestation as they used wood to heat their water. This may seem like a lot of wood just for public baths, but <em>hammams</em> are an important communal institution in Morocco.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
We tried to appeal to the economic interests of the <em>hammam</em> owners. An ultra-efficient boiler developed by the Germany Agency for Technical Cooperation would reduce fuel wood consumption by up to 80% compared with existing <em>hammam</em> boilers. Since fuel wood was expensive relative to the cost of the boiler, we estimated that <em>hammam</em> owners would recoup their investment within 6-12 months. This seemed like a winning strategy for reducing pressure on forests, but we had a surprisingly hard time convincing <em>hammam</em> owners that they should invest in the efficient boilers. There was skepticism over the new technology and, as already successful businessmen, <em>hammam</em> owners had little incentive to upset a profitable business model. After a year of talking with owners, we convinced one <em>hammam</em> owner to purchase the boiler as a demonstration project for other owners.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
It was a start, but hardly a solution. I am not optimistic about Morocco’s ability to improve environmental management and respond to desertification. With its already fragile environment, it is particularly vulnerable to the changing climate. Increasing local pressures will only exacerbate the problem. To really respond to this challenge, Morocco will need to increase the capacity of the institutions that manage natural resources; without collective action, private, short-term interests will continue to drive desertification and undermine the country’s long-term viability.</div>
</div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-44423009516301105532013-05-03T09:41:00.003-04:002013-05-03T09:49:21.105-04:00Brazil’s Atlantic Forest Faces Many Environmental Challenges<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>by Duncan Gromko</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<i style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;">The following was cross-posted with the Public Education Center's D.C. Bureau, which you can find by clicking <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201305038493/bulldog-blog/brazils-atlantic-forest-faces-many-environmental-challenges.html">here</a>.</i><br />
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Ask Americans to name a Brazilian forest and most would say, “the Amazon.” But the Atlantic Forest – or Mata Atlântica as it is known locally – stretches from southern Brazil up along the Atlantic coast as far as Rio Grande do Norte and Piauí. This southern Atlantic coast of Brazil is home to large population centers, including mega cities Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Roughly 62% of the nation’s population lives in the Atlantic Forest biome, accounting for <a href="http://www.ibge.gov.br/english/" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">80% of its GDP</a>.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Rich in biological diversity, the Atlantic Forest is one of the world’s top four biodiversity hotspots. The forest has numerous endemic species – species that are found nowhere else – including the charismatic Golden Lion Tamarin. In addition to supporting flora and fauna, the forest has supplied key resources to Brazil’s growing economy.</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_8498" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: auto; line-height: 23.109375px; margin: 0px 0px 2px 18px; max-width: 96%; padding: 4px; text-align: center; width: 269px;">
<img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-8498 " height="300" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Extent-of-the-Mata-Atlantica-259x300.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="259" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 13px; padding: 2px 4px 5px;">
Extent of the Mata Atlantica<br />
(Source: Encyclopedia of the Earth)</div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
But Brazil’s economic growth has also almost decimated the forest. Exploitation of the forest began in the 16th and 17th centuries, with Portuguese colonization, and continues to this day. It once covered 120 million hectares, but is now reduced to fewer than <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000632079800130X" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">10 million hectares</a>. Even more problematic for animals still living in the biome is that, of the remaining forest, more than 80% is contained in forest fragments smaller than 50 hectares. Animals have a difficult time surviving <a href="http://naturalcapital1.blogspot.com/2013/03/rebuilding-golden-lion-tamarin.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">in such small habitats</a>.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
This degradation has taken place despite environmental regulations that prohibit deforestation. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17851237" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Brazil’s Forest Code</a> – most often in the news for its impact on the Amazon – also governs the Atlantic Forest biome. The Code previously required that property owners maintain natural forest on all riparian areas and preserve an additional 20% of their land. Controversial<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/18/us-brazil-forest-law-idUSBRE89H1IL20121018" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">changes to the Code</a> have reduced the amount of land that a landowner has to retain as natural forest, reforms seen by many as concessions to the country’s powerful farm lobby.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Obviously, if less than 10% of the original forest remains, the Code is not being strictly enforced. If it were, landowners would be forced to reforest their property to meet the minimum requirements.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
By far the greatest use of land in the biome is cattle grazing, which occupies <a href="http://www.mma.gov.br/" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">an estimated 30.5 million hectares</a> – an area greater than the state of Nevada. The primary driver of deforestation has been the expansion of agriculture. Soy, sugarcane, coffee, bananas, cassava, and other crops have competed with the forest for land. Extraction of timber and plantations to support pulp and paper operations are other important contributors to deforestation.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
While protecting the existing forest is a clear priority for Brazilian environmental officials, forest restoration has also emerged as a primary concern. The Pact for Restoration of the Atlantic Forest – or <a href="http://www.pactomataatlantica.org.br/" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">PACTO</a> – was established to increase forest cover in the biome. PACTO is a group of nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions, private companies, and local governments committed to restoration of the Atlantic Forest.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
In most cases, reforesting land used for productive agriculture provides the owner with much less financial return, making forest restoration costly. However, in the case of the Atlantic Forest, there are opportunities that would make the cost lower. Cattle grazing, as practiced in the Atlantic Forest and throughout much of Brazil, is inefficient, with an average of only <a href="http://www.lcb.esalq.usp.br/publications/articles/2012/2012uv63n239p25-34.pdf" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">0.82 cattle per hectare</a>. This represents a very low economic return: only $70-100 per hectare per year. Since forests provide a number of <a href="http://naturalcapital1.blogspot.com/2013/01/intro-post-what-are-ecosystem-services.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">non-market benefits</a> (water regulation, carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, etc.) there is a strong case for restoring forests, especially on land used so unproductively.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
But there are other obstacles that add to the costs. In the Northeastern United States, forests have made a significant come back without active restoration. As the Midwest and the Great Plains became the bread basket of the United States, fields became fallow and the forest has naturally returned. In the Atlantic Forest, however, natural restoration is almost impossible. Several invasive species, in particular an African grass species of the <em>Brachiaria </em>family, has come to dominate the biome. These species were introduced to the Atlantic Forest because they provide cattle with a fast growing food. They spread like weeds and the grass grows high and crowds out native species</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_8497" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: left; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: auto; line-height: 23.109375px; margin: 0px 18px 2px 0px; max-width: 96%; padding: 4px; text-align: center; width: 310px;">
<img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-8497 " height="200" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Golden-Lion-Tamarins-300x200.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="300" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 13px; padding: 2px 4px 5px;">
Golden Lion Tamarins (Source: stvehdc)</div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Ecologists trying to encourage restoration are forced to actively destroy the grasses using lawn mowers and herbicides. Herbicide is often applied several times throughout the restoration process. Local tree species are grown in nurseries and then transplanted to restoration sites. While this method has proven effective, it is also expensive. Restoration costs range from $3,000 to $20,000 per hectare. Under current incentives, these costs are prohibitively high for the widespread adoption of forest restoration. Without change, restoration will likely remain restricted to small areas.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Surprisingly, a conservation law may be discouraging forest restoration. The Atlantic Forest law, enacted in 2006, restricts harvest of native timber species. It was designed to halt deforestation. Many native Atlantic Forest species, such as the Pau Brasil, are extremely valuable for their timber. Without this law, one can imagine landowners planting native species with the intent of harvesting them in the future. But the law has also slowed forest restoration. Because of the law, only exotic species can be planted for timber harvest. As a result, much of the landscape is dominated by monoculture eucalyptus plantations. In a properly managed situation, the profit from harvest would lead to partial forest restoration.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Large companies are responsible for supporting the largest areas of forest restoration. While large businesses have played a role in deforestation in the past (and continue to do so in other parts of the countries), that is no longer the case in the Atlantic Forest. Pulp and paper companies, which harvest eucalyptus, are more visible than small to medium landowners. A higher profile brings both more scrutiny from regulators enforcing the Forest Code and the financial resources to respond. Companies like Veracel and Fibria have made significant investments in restoration in order to be incompliance with the Forest Code. Veracel has committed to restoring 400 hectares per year, while the larger Fibria has committed to restoring 23,000 hectares by 2023. In these cases, environmental regulations seem to be driving positive changes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
The Atlantic Forest is in need of continued protection and increased restoration. Under business as usual, it is difficult to imagine a significant comeback for the forest. Without restoration, there are continuing threats to biodiversity and important ecosystems that support Brazilian population centers. Floods and mudslides have recently demonstrated the dramatic human consequences of environmental degradation. However, by tweaking a few laws and enforcing others better, significant progress could be made in restoring this critical ecosystem.</div>
</div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-88906267069087303042013-04-30T14:22:00.000-04:002013-05-22T17:00:01.270-04:00New Coal Plants Rush Completion to Beat EPA’s Postponed Emission Rules<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;">The following was cross-posted with the Public Education Center's D.C. Bureau, which you can find by clicking <a href="http://www.dcbureau.org/201304248456/bulldog-blog/new-coal-plants-rush-completion-to-beat-epas-postponed-emission-rules.html">here</a>.</i><br />
<div class="post-headline" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;">By</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px;"> </span>Nick Cunningham</i></div>
<div class="post-bodycopy clearfix" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 23.109375px; min-width: 0px;">
<h3 style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
Politics Trumps Clean Air? Climate Change Can Kicked Down the Road</h3>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
On April 12, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/13/science/earth/epa-to-delay-emissions-rule-at-new-power-plants.html?_r=0" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">announced</a> that it would delay regulations on greenhouse gases from new power plants after hearing complaints from the electric power industry. The much anticipated rules would have effectively prohibited the construction of new coal-fired power plants and remains one of the few major tools the Obama administration could use to address greenhouse gas emissions, given the current gridlock in Congress.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
The proposed rule, published in March 2012, would have <a href="http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0660-0001" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">limited</a> emissions from new power plants larger than 25 megawatts to 1,000 pounds of CO2 per megawatt-hour (CO2/MWh). With the average coal-fired power plant <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/04/12/its-official-epa-delays-climate-rule-for-new-power-plants/" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">emitting</a> 1,768 pounds of CO2/MWh, future coal plants would not meet the standard without carbon capture and sequestration.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
According to the Energy Information Administration, there are 13 <a href="http://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/html/epa_04_05.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">proposed</a> coal projects over the next four years, totaling 8,336 megawatts of capacity. These facilities would be subjected to emissions limits if the EPA finalizes its rule, potentially killing many of these projects. On April 3, The <em>Macon Telegraph</em> <a href="http://www.macon.com/2013/04/03/2423196/clock-ticking-on-plant-washington.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">reported</a> that developers of an 850-megawatt coal plant in Sandersville, GA were in a “dead sprint” to complete the project before EPA solidified the rule. Now that EPA delayed the rule, when the plant finishes construction, it will qualify as an “existing” power plant, avoiding greenhouse gas limits.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
EPA decided this month to revise the rules, ostensibly to firm them up in order to withstand legal attacks. The utility industry opposes the rule and threatened litigation because they argue the rule violates the Clean Air Act.</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_8461" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: right; height: auto; margin: 0px 0px 2px 18px; max-width: 96%; padding: 4px; text-align: center; width: 137px;">
<img alt="" class=" wp-image-8461 " height="167" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Senator-James-Inhofe.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="127" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 13px; padding: 2px 4px 5px;">
Senator James Inhofe</div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
The rule is an outgrowth of the 2007 Supreme Court ruling in<em>Massachusetts vs. EPA</em>. The court found that under the Clean Air Act, the EPA must regulate greenhouse gases if found to be an endangerment to public health. This ruling led to EPA’s December 2009 “<a href="http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/endangerment/" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">endangerment finding</a>,” which declared greenhouse gases to, in fact, be a threat to public health.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Using this legal foundation, last year the EPA proposed limits on greenhouse gases for new power plants. However, under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is required to set standards so that industry can meet them using the “best system of emission reduction.” The industry argues coal plants cannot meet the proposed limits of 1,000 pounds of CO2/MWh because carbon capture and sequestration is not yet available. Thus, the industry claims, EPA’s regulation is illegal.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Fearing the rule would not hold up in court, the EPA decided to revise the rule to provide separate emissions limits for coal and natural gas. (Natural gas plants emit only about 800 pounds of CO2/MWh.) However, rewriting the rule will significantly delay implementation. The EPA Press Secretary, Alisha Johnson <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/13/science/earth/epa-to-delay-emissions-rule-at-new-power-plants.html?_r=0" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">stated</a> that “no timetable has been set,” for issuing the rule.</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_8460" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin: 0px 18px 2px 0px; max-width: 96%; padding: 4px; text-align: center; width: 114px;">
<img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-8460 " height="154" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Robert-Perciasepe.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px !important;" width="104" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 13px; padding: 2px 4px 5px;">
Robert Perciasepe</div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
More importantly, by delaying the rule on new power plants, limits on greenhouse gases from <em>existing</em> power plants – something Acting EPA Administrator <a href="http://www2.epa.gov/aboutepa/acting-administrator-bob-perciasepe" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Robert Perciasepe</a> stated the agency would like to roll out within 18 months – could be pushed back as well. While rules on new power plants may stop a dozen or so coal plants from being considered, there are<a href="http://www.eia.gov/electricity/data.cfm#gencapacity" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">currently</a> over 1,400 existing coal generating stations, adding up to 343 gigawatts of power. Together, these power plants <a href="http://www.c2es.org/energy/source/coal" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">account</a> for about 28% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. If the United States is to deal with climate change in a meaningful way, it will need to shut down the vast majority of the coal plants already operating.</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_8459" style="background-color: #f3f3f3; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: right; height: auto; margin: 0px 0px 2px 18px; max-width: 96%; padding: 4px; text-align: center; width: 114px;">
<img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-8459 " height="154" src="http://www.dcbureau.org/dcb2/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Gina-McCarthy.jpg" style="border: 0px none !important; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px !important;" width="104" /><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text" style="color: #666666; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 13px; padding: 2px 4px 5px;">
Gina McCarthy</div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
While the EPA claims that it is rewriting the rule to ensure it can withstand a legal challenge – which necessarily means watering them down – there remains the possibility that political calculation played a role. President Obama has nominated Gina McCarthy for EPA Administrator, but she had not yet been confirmed by April 13, the deadline EPA was required to meet to finalize the rule. During her confirmation hearing, Republicans raised<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324695104578417092738241964.html" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">little opposition</a> to her nomination, focusing their ire on the lack of transparency at the EPA.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Despite the general congeniality between Senate Republicans and McCarthy, who has previously worked for Republican governors, the prospect of issuing a final rule on limits of greenhouse gas emissions for power plants might have changed that equation. In fact, Senator James Inhofe, who has long called climate change a “hoax,” <a href="http://www.inhofe.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/inhofe-mccarthy-vote-contingent-upon-response-to-concerns-with-war-on-fossil-fuels" style="color: #085283; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">sent a letter</a> to Gina McCarthy on April 16, 2013 asking whether or not she will agree to withdraw the rule on limiting greenhouse gas emissions on new power plants if confirmed as EPA Administrator. From the letter:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
“If confirmed, will you agree to withdraw the current rule so the Agency can deliberate on the path forward it plans to take without unnecessarily impacting the immediate construction of new [electricity generating units]?”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
One has to wonder whether or not the administration anticipated the rule becoming a political firestorm. After the contentious nomination process for Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense, it’s possible the administration did not want to revisit a fight with Senate Republicans until McCarthy is safely confirmed.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;">
Meanwhile, the decision by the EPA to delay the rules means that for the time being there will continue to be no limits on greenhouse gases from power plants. With zero prospect of legislative action from Congress, EPA authority under the Clean Air Act to address greenhouse gases remains one of the few avenues to rein in carbon pollution. However, the administration has punted once again.</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04287854178095130231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-36293057565007092402013-04-26T12:04:00.001-04:002013-04-26T12:04:56.357-04:00DC Tree Canopy Gets a "B-" from Casey Trees<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>by Duncan Gromko</i><br />
<i></i><br />
<i></i>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Spiers_-_commemorative_tree_planting.jpg/800px-Spiers_-_commemorative_tree_planting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Spiers_-_commemorative_tree_planting.jpg/800px-Spiers_-_commemorative_tree_planting.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tree Planting (Source: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Rosser1954">Rosser1954</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Every year, Casey Trees grades progress on protecting Washington DC's tree cover. Based upon four criteria (tree coverage, tree health, tree planting, and tree protection), the city received<a href="http://caseytrees.org/resources/publications/treereportcard/"> a B- for 2012</a>.<br />
<br />
Before I get into the details of the report, a little background on trees in urban areas and Casey Trees.<br />
<br />
While forests in remote areas are hugely important, urban trees play a critical role in improving well-being for city dwellers. From Casey Trees: "Most Washingtonians know that trees cool streets and our homes, but energy savings is just the start. Trees slow storm water, clean our air, increase property values, and create a less stressful environment that benefits human health. In short, trees make cities more livable." Among these many benefits, mitigating the <a href="http://www.epa.gov/hiri/">urban heat island effect</a> is probably one of the most important contributions that trees make. On average, cities are 2-5 degrees (Fahrenheit) warmer than rural areas. For DC residents that have experienced our brutal summers, imagine how much worse they would be without trees in the city! Another benefit that I want to highlight is absorbing water, particularly during storms. In Washington, for anyone who lives in Bloomingdale (or other low lying areas), the flooding you experience is directly related to the lack of tree cover (and high proportion of impervious surfaces).<br />
<br />
There's <a href="http://www.itreetools.org/index.php">a lot of research</a> done to put a dollar sign on all these values. <a href="http://www.itreetools.org/news/articles/PNW_scifi126_Sept2010.pdf">In New York City</a>, the 600,000 street trees provide an annual benefit of $122 million, which is five times the cost of maintaining them. In Portland, trees increase property values by $1.1 billion - maintenance costs are an annual $4.6 million. Presence of street trees in east Portland added an average $8,870 to the sale price of a home.<br />
<br />
In Washington, the total tree coverage is 36%. A large portion of tree canopy coverage comes from Rock Creek Park, but this statistic also counts the many street trees and smaller parks throughout the city. While more than one third may seem high, in the 1950s the canopy was 50%. The loss in tree canopy is mostly due to urban development and pests and diseases that kill trees.<br />
<br />
Compared to other cities, 36% is pretty good. Of the 20 biggest US cities, only Albuquerque, Atlanta, Nashville, and Pittsburgh had greater canopy coverage than DC. Surprisingly, Denver, with less that 10%, has the least canopy coverage. Another important statistic is a city's impervious surface cover because it predicts how much storm water will be absorbed into the ground and how much ends up in the sewer system. Roads, sidewalks, roofs...basically anything concrete is impervious. 41% of DC is impervious. New York City has the most impervious cover with 61%, while Nashville has the least, with 18%.<br />
<br />
One more background paragraph before I get into the report. Casey Trees is a non-profit in the city with the goal of increasing tree canopy to 40% (this goal has also been endorsed by <a href="http://sustainable.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/sustainable/page_content/attachments/DCS-008%20Report%20508.3j.pdf">Mayor Gray's Sustainable DC Plan</a>). In addition to producing reports like the Tree Report Card, Casey Trees does actual tree plantings and lobbies the city to protect trees. Participating in the tree plantings is how I first got involved with Casey Trees and, on a personal level, digging in the dirt on a beautiful DC day is one of the most pleasurable ways to spend a Saturday morning. If you live in DC, I recommend checking out Casey Trees.<br />
<br />
Now for the report. I'll go through the four categories one by one. Casey Tree gives each category an individual grade, which adds up to the overall grade.<br />
<br />
For tree coverage, the city got an A-. 36% coverage is pretty good, and not far away from Casey Trees's goal of 40%.<br />
<br />
For tree health, Washington got a B-. The biggest threat to trees' health is invasive insects, and mostly the Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB). Up to 35% of Washington's trees are vulnerable to the ALB. The beetle has plagued Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York, but has not yet been found in Washington. However, given the proximity to other infected areas, it's likely that the city will be infected. The city currently has no plan to deal with ALB, which is a primary reason for the lower grade.<br />
<br />
In tree planting, the city got an A+. 10,404 trees were planted in Washington in DC in 2012. Considering that, in order to meet its goal of 40% total tree cover coverage, the city must plant 8,600 trees per year, this is one area for celebration. Of those 10,000+ trees, Casey Trees planted 15%. The National Park Service planted 27% and the Urban Forestry Administration, of the Department of Transportation, planted 26%.<br />
<br />
By far the worst grade is in tree protection, for which the city received an F. Clearly, this is Casey Trees' main gripe with the city government. There are three reasons for this poor grade. 1) It's too easy for property owners to remove trees. Under the Urban Forest Preservation Act (UFPA), a property owner has to give a convincing reason to remove a tree. Yet most property owners that applied to remove trees were granted the request. 2) Lost trees are not being replaced. The UFPA requires that trees that are removed be replaced. However, Washington does not monitor the survival of replacement trees so there's no way of knowing how successful this effort is. 3) Money from the Tree Fund is not being used well. When a property owner illegally removes a tree, he/she must pay a fine to the Tree Fund (which is used to plant more trees). Again, the city is not monitoring the health of trees planted through the Tree Fund.<br />
<br />
What's to be done? Washington faces a challenge to preserve its tree canopy while population growth in the city places greater pressure on trees. If the Mayor's Sustainable DC plan is properly implemented, then 40% tree canopy is a possibility. However, there are few specifics supporting the Sustainable DC plan - it's more of an aspiration statement than an actual policy - and it's likely that tree cover in Washington will continue to decline, unless Casey Trees' recommendations are adopted.<br />
<br />
It's a tough balance for the city, which wants to increase its tax revenues and provide space for incoming residents. While the rest of the country struggles with the recession, the federal government makes Washington relatively recession-proof; Washington has received <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/05/real_estate/where_to_relocate/index.htm">more new denizens</a> than any other US city for four straight years. This places huge pressures on the city and its tree cover. But if Washington and Mayor Gray want to protect quality of life and the long-term attractiveness of the city, they must balance these pressures against protecting the canopy.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-46859342082054636882013-04-25T14:54:00.001-04:002013-04-25T15:11:59.655-04:00Divestment Push Gaining Momentum<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>by Duncan Gromko</i><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.refuelourfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/swat-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.refuelourfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/swat-logo.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swarthmore Mountain Justice Logo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i></i><br />
<i></i><a href="http://350.org/media/city-divestment">10 cities</a> committed to divesting from the 200 largest fossil fuel companies today. Mayors from Seattle WA, San Francisco CA, Boulder CA, Madison WI, Bayfield WI, Ithaca, NY, State College PA, Eugene OR, Richmond VA, and Berkely CA joined together to make the <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/bbe0c300-ad86-11e2-a2c7-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2RUNAgAt1">announcement</a>.<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px;"> </span>In a movement that has been slowly gaining momentum over the last months and years, this is a huge step forward.<br />
<br />
Mayor Mike McGinn of Seattle said: “Divestment is just one of the steps we can take to address the climate crisis. Cities that do so will be leaders in creating a new model for quality of life, environmental sustainability and economic success. We’ve got a head start on that here in Seattle, but there’s a lot more work to do.”<br />
<br />
Here's a brief history of the divestment movement:<br />
<br />
In November last year, Unity College announced it was divesting. I recommend reading all of <a href="http://sustainabilitymonitor.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/unity-college-board-of-trustees-votes-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels/">President Mulkey's call to divest</a>, but here is an excerpt: "Higher education is positioned to determine the future by training a generation of problem solvers. As educators, we have an obligation to do so. Unlike any time in the history of higher education, we must now produce leading-edge professionals who are able to integrate knowledge from multiple disciplines, and understand social, economic, and resource tradeoffs among possible solutions. Imagine being a college president and looking in the mirror twenty years from now. What would you see? Would you be looking at a professional who did his or her best to avert catastrophe? For me, the alternative is unacceptable."<br />
<br />
Other schools have joined Unity. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-lash/college-investment-endowment-_b_2006569.html">Hampshire college</a> has an investment strategy to only invest in socially responsible corporations. <a href="http://www.sterlingcollege.edu/divestment.html">Sterling College in Vermont</a> announced on February 2 that it was divesting. <a href="http://www.sfai.org/images/pressreleases/2013/Oil%20Divestiture%20PR.pdf">The Santa Fe Art Institute of New Mexico</a> announced divestment on February 15. <a href="http://newsworthy.coa.edu/2013/03/coa-divests/">The College of the Atlantic</a> made its announcement on March 11. The divestment push has also gone international, with the Australian National University announcing that it would <a href="http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/anu-sells-shares-metgasco/1770383/">divest from the natural gas giant, Metgasco</a>. Additionally, several schools are seriously considering divestment. Most recently, the Brown University oversight committee, which is charged with ensuring that the University's investments are in line with its with its ethical principles, voted unanimously to to recommend that the <a href="http://browndivestcoal.org/press-release-accrip-44/">University divest from fossil fuels</a>.<br />
<br />
In addition to divestment commitments, discussion of the issue has led to continued discussions of universities' role in supporting fossil fuels. Most notably, Harvard's student body has pushed its administration to divest. This led to <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/173796/harvard-vice-president-reluctantly-accepts-signatures-fossil-fuel-divestment#">an awkward moment for Harvard</a>, where its Vice President reluctantly accepted 1,300 student and alumni signatures supporting divestment. At NYU, students and alumni met with administration officials to <a href="http://nyulocal.com/city/2013/04/18/nyu-divest-meets-with-senior-administrators-calls-for-climate-justice/">demand divestment</a>. Similar discussions are happening at <a href="http://www.thedp.com/article/2013/04/students-continue-to-pressure-university-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels">UPenn</a>, <a href="http://www.stanforddaily.com/2013/04/23/earth-day-and-fossil-fuel-divestment/">Stanford</a>, the <a href="http://www.michigandaily.com/opinion/03daily-divest-best26">University of Michigan</a>, the <a href="http://www.vermontcynic.com/news/faculty-senate-says-yes-to-divestment-1.2817222#.UXey_is5y0B">University of Vermont</a>, the <a href="http://www.browndailyherald.com/2013/03/07/risd-faculty-votes-supporting-divestment/">Rhode Island School of Art and Design</a>, and the <a href="http://www.ucsdguardian.org/news-and-features/campus/item/26440-council-votes-to-pull-funds-from-fossil-fuels#.UXe01Cs5y0A">University of California, San Diego</a>. At Swarthmore College, there was a planning meeting for students urging for divestment, which received <a href="http://www.mtvu.com/shows/students-gather-at-swarthmore-to-promote-climate-action/">TV coverage from MTV</a>.<br />
<br />
Over 300 universities and municipalities have public campaigns to shame the fossil fuel industry. The series of op-eds and articles cited above represents considerable involvement from young adults. While the 2008 push for cap-and-trade was <a href="http://grist.org/climate-energy/what-theda-skocpol-gets-right-about-the-cap-and-trade-fight/">dominated by industry insiders</a>, this is clearly an "outsider" movement.<br />
<br />
Divestment (and the Keystone XL pipeline) is the opportunity to create that passionate base and send a message that there is a political cost to inaction on climate. It can turn fossil fuel companies into social pariahs. Even if the only thing that comes from the divestment push is a conversation about the <a href="http://climatechange.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/Turn_Down_the_heat_Why_a_4_degree_centrigrade_warmer_world_must_be_avoided.pdf">irreparable harm that fossil fuel companies are doing to our livelihoods</a>, that is a great outcome.<br />
<br />
AND, there is a moral case to be made here. Tobacco, apartheid, fossil fuels, etc. whatever. Personally, I don't want to profit from things that cause others harm. Universities should be moral examples for the young adults they are shaping.<br />
<br />
A final, new angle to the divestment campaign is that there is a "carbon bubble:" fossil fuel investments are incompatible with mitigating climate change. The fossil fuels reserves counted on as assets by companies will become <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2013/apr/19/pension-6-trillion-climate-gamble?CMP=twt_gu">worthless if climate change is to be mitigated</a>. If you believe in climate change and have faith that there will be a response to mitigating it, investing in fossil fuels is a bad business decision.<br />
<br />
So what is to come of this? <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-fossil-fuel-resistance-20130411">Bill McKibben</a> brings up the immense powers that the divestment movement is up against:<br />
<br />
"We've watched great cultural shifts and organizing successes in recent years, like the marriage-equality and immigration-reform movements. But breaking the power of oil companies may be even harder because the sums of the money on the other side are so fantastic – there are trillions of dollars worth of oil in Canada's tar sands and the North Dakota shale."<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Despite this challenge, divestment advocates are optimistic about turning <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/18/divestment-campaign-fossil-fuel-industry">fossil fuel companies into social pariahs</a>:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
"The fossil fuel initiative may be more akin to divestment campaigns targeting tobacco companies. Just as those campaigns tried to link tobacco companies with the health effects of smoking in the popular consciousness, the current campaign wants to tie fossil fuel companies' reputations to droughts, rising sea levels, and the obstruction of climate action."<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In sum, the divestment movement has quickly changed the conversation and involved young people in advocating for climate change action. The announcement today is a huge victory for the campaign and hopefully just the start.</div>
</div>
Duncan Gromkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02571368771101953081noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1161730516407429474.post-71308137893404287282013-04-24T10:08:00.002-04:002013-05-22T17:00:10.380-04:00Court Rules that EPA Can Veto Mountaintop Removal Permits<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>By Nick Cunningham</i><br />
<div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-doZIjoUvIdE/UXflVzP-LMI/AAAAAAAAAUY/R5CfY2iMbfQ/s1600/mountaintopremoval.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-doZIjoUvIdE/UXflVzP-LMI/AAAAAAAAAUY/R5CfY2iMbfQ/s320/mountaintopremoval.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mountaintop removal site (photo: <a href="http://teeic.anl.gov/er/coal/restech/tech/index.cfm">Library of Congress</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Big environmental news this week - On April 23, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the EPA has the authority to veto mining permits for mountaintop removal, a significant win for the environment. The <a href="http://www.wvgazette.com/mediafiles/document/2013/04/23/SpruceMineVetoAppealRuling_I130423110351.pdf">ruling </a>overturned a 2012 District Court decision that declared the EPA did not have the statutory authority to do so.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Let's back up. As discussed <a href="http://naturalcapital1.blogspot.com/2013/03/us-coal-industry-reeling.html">previously </a>on this blog, one particularly nasty way of mining coal is through mountaintop removal. This is where you blow up a mountain to gain access to the coal seams beneath. When you destroy a mountain, there is a lot of left over dirt, mining waste, chemicals, etc., and you have to put that stuff somewhere. Coal companies like to dump it in nearby ravines, creeks and rivers, I suppose because that's the easiest thing to do. In order to do that, under the Clean Water Act, coal companies must first get a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Back in the late 1990's, a subsidiary of Arch Coal, a major mining company, planned to expand an existing mountaintop removal site, called the "Spruce No. 1." The expansion would be truly massive - 3,113 acres - the largest mountaintop removal site ever. It was subsequently scaled down a bit in a compromise, but would still be an enormous project. For this reason, it became a focal point for environmental and local activists. In 2007, the Army Corps of Engineers <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Spruce_1_Mine">issued </a>the permit that allowed the company to "fill" in rivers and creeks near the mine - effectively green lighting the mine. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In 2011, the EPA <a href="http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/cwa/dredgdis/upload/FINAL_Spruce_Factsheet_011311.pdf">revoked </a>the permit, a historic move, using its authority under the Clean Water Act. This made the mining industry and Republicans in Congress apoplectic. Arch Coal appealed, and in March 2012, the U.S. District Court <a href="http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2012/appalachians-vow-to-continue-supporting-epa-s-effort-to-protect-waterways-and-communities-from-mountaintop-remov">struck down</a> EPA's decision, stating that EPA did not have such authority.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Which brings us back to the present. EPA appealed <i>that </i>decision, sending it to the higher U.S. Court of Appeals. The Appeals Court decided on April 23, that yes, the Clean Water Act "does indeed clearly and unambiguously give EPA the power to act post-permit." In other words, if the Army Corps of Engineers issues a permit that is going to lead to the destruction of rivers, streams, and mountain sides, the EPA can overrule them and veto the permit. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It is hard to overemphasize the importance of this ruling. The Army Corps of Engineers has consistently failed to protect the environment. Over the years it has issued permit after permit, allowing the decimation of Appalachia to proliferate. Whether willfully colluding with industry or simply not having the resources to adequately assess the damage (there is much evidence for the former), it is important for the EPA to have policing power over such a destructive practice.</div>
<div>
<br />
The industry predictably issued trite statements about the loss of jobs and "uncertainty." But, there is nothing redeeming about mountaintop removal. It actually provides very few jobs - it requires just a bunch of machines and explosives. And without that good, you are just left with the bad - it destroys mountains, deforests vast swaths of forest, buries streams, and contaminates local water supplies. All to get a product that, when burned, fouls the environment once again and is a leading driver of global climate change. If the recent court ruling leads to more coal being left in the ground, then it is indeed a big win - not just for the global and local environment, but for the people living in Appalachian communities as well. </div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04287854178095130231noreply@blogger.com0