“Last week, the House of Representatives completed work on a bill known as a H.R. 1, a Continuing Resolution (CR) designed to make sure the U.S. government stays open for business for the rest of the 2011 fiscal year. Instead of focusing on spending, however, the House engaged in a polluter feeding frenzy designed to gut and filet any semblance of action to address climate change and to update our air pollution standards…It is directly seeking to prevent the federal government’s ability to limit the carbon pollution belching unchecked from our nation’s coal fired power plants, oil refineries, and industrial smokestacks.”

- Joe Mendelson, director of policy for National Wildlife Federation’s climate and energy program, in a post to Wildlife Promise on the spending bill which was passed by the House with no Democratic support.  

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Economic Story of the Week

Study: Climate Change Risks Trillions in Investments

A new study from global investment consultancy Mercer has found that without international action on climate change, institutional investors are at risk of losing trillions of dollars over the next 20 years.  The study calculated that climate change could make up as much as 10 percent of portfolio risk in the same time-frame.  

“Climate change brings fundamental implications for investment patterns, risks and rewards,” said Andrew Kirton, chief investment officer at Mercer. “Institutional investors should be factoring long-term considerations, such as climate change, into their strategic planning.” 

The report, Climate Change Scenarios – Implications for Strategic Asset Allocation, also found that climate change would open up more than $5 trillion in investment opportunities in low carbon pollution technologies by 2030. 

Meanwhile, the Investor Network on Climate Risk is reporting that a record number of (66) shareholder resolutions relating to climate and other environmental issues have been filed in the 2011 proxy season, credited to the significant impact on shareholder value that climate issues can have. 

More on this story: Reuters, Mercer Press Release, NYT  

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Editorial of the Week

The Dirty Energy Party

(The New York Times)

President Obama has decided that the failure of last year’s comprehensive climate bill does not have to mean the death of climate policy. Instead of imposing a mandatory cap and stiff price on carbon emissions, as the bill would have done, the president is offering a more modest approach involving sharply targeted and well-financed research into breakthrough technologies, cleaner fuels and more efficient cars and trucks. Yet even this retailored approach is sure to whip the Republicans into a fresh frenzy of opposition. They have already made clear their determination to cut off financing and otherwise undermine the Environmental Protection Agency, which plans to regulate carbon emissions from power plants and other industrial sources using its authority under the Clean Air Act. But basic scientific research? Energy efficiency? Cleaner fuels? The House Republican budget resolution gives the back of its hand to even these worthy and unobjectionable strategies, which until now have enjoyed reliable bipartisan support….(More…)  

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Climate Change May Cause “Massive Disruptions” to Global Food Supply

Climate change will create serious disruptions in the global food supply, yet another leading figure in the field has stated. Food prices are expected to jump which in turn translates to a spike in worldwide hunger. 

“The fact is that climate around the world is changing and that will cause massive disruptions,” said Sunny Verghese, chief executive officer at Olam, a leading global supplier of rice and cotton. 

A recent report from the International Food Policy Research Institute found that climate change will greatly exacerbate a steady rise in food prices this century, becoming a “threat multiplier” that could double certain food prices by 2050, lower crop yields, and leave millions more people malnourished around the world 

More on this story: Bloomberg, E&E (sub. req.)   

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Greenforce Initiative Summits in Virginia and Michigan a Success

Last week, National Wildlife Federation and Jobs for the Future’s Greenforce Initiative held summits in Virginia and Michigan. The initiative is a joint effort  to strengthen the capacity of community colleges to develop, enhance or refine green career pathway programs in six regions of the U.S.

In Michigan, 90 participants from more than 15 community colleges gathered to gain a better understanding of the state’s green jobs initiatives and showcase strong partnerships between community colleges and business/industry. In Virginia, economic development leaders, community colleges, and the chancellor of Virginia’s community college system convened to discuss the state’s emerging green economy.

For more on the Greenforce Summit in Virgina, click here.

For more on the Greenforce Summit in Michigan, click here. 

More on this story: Greenforce Initiative, Wildlife Promise, Public News Service

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Happening this Week

Thursday, February 24

 Briefing: “Beyond Green Awards Program”, Two educational briefings featuring winning case studies from the 2010 Beyond Green High-Performance Building Awards, Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, 11:30AM-1:00PM, Rayburn B-369. RSVP: sbic@sbicouncil.org . 

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For more global warming news on Wildlife Promise click here.

“The Continuing Resolution’s Clean Air Act prohibitions would place an unprecedented blindfold and gag order on the Environmental Protection Agency.  It requires EPA to turn a blind eye to carbon dioxide pollution from smokestacks, in defiance of the Clean Air Act, a Supreme Court order and sound science. EPA’s responsible enforcement and updating of the Clean Air Act are a big part of the legislation’s 40-year successful track record protecting public health and wildlife from pollution.”

- Jeremy Symons, senior vice president for National Wildlife Federation, rebuffing the attacks on the Clean Air Act in the Continuing Resolution spending plan released by House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY)     

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Economic Story of the Week

Wikileaks Cables Reveal Concerns Over “Peak Oil”

Diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks have called into question Saudi Arabia’s ability to increase oil production above current levels if needed to stabilize oil prices, stating that the country’s crude reserves may have been overestimated by up to 40 percent. Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest exporter of oil and plays a key role in setting global oil prices.    

If Saudi Arabia is reaching its point of “peak oil,”  that is to say that the country’s oil production has reached its maximum, concerns are growing that global oil prices up will be forced up over time with no way to drive them down.    

Even without “peak oil” looming Americans are demanding a clean energy future, a recent Gallup poll finding that 83 percent of individuals want Congress to push forward on an energy bill that provides incentives for using solar and other alternative energy.    

More on this story: The Guardian, NYT, NPR, TIME     

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Editorial of the Week

The GOP’s War on the EPA

(FrumForum)

The right to pollute is getting a big push from pals of the fossil fuel industries, most of them aiming at curtailing the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to limit greenhouse gas emissions. West Virginia’s senior Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller would call a two-year timeout on EPA regulations. House and Senate committee leaders Fred Upton (R-MI) and James Inhofe (R-OK) would strip EPA’s authority to limit CO2 and methane under the Clean Air Act. Wyoming Republican Senator John Barrasso would hurl Congress off the deep end. His legislation would forbid federal greenhouse gas limits under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act…Let’s hope Congress, in a shortsighted venture into EPA-bashing, doesn’t behave similarly with carbon pollution – stubbornly letting it build up, like the national debt, until a crisis forces action more drastic than anyone would like. (More…)      

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Obama Administration Advances on Offshore Wind

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Department of Energy (DOE) recently unveiled a strategic plan to accelerate the development of offshore wind energy, including more than $50 million in new funding for research and development. The agencies also identified four high-potential, low-impact areas in the Mid-Atlantic to speed up the construction of offshore wind power.    

“Offshore wind holds great potential to create jobs, cut pollution, and reduce our reliance on dirty fossil fuels,” said Catherine Bowes, senior policy representative at National Wildlife Federation. “It is time for America to move forward boldly and responsibly with clean energy, and we applaud the administration showing leadership to accelerate offshore wind development.”    

National Wildlife Federation along with a coalition of state and national groups recently released the report Offshore Wind in the Atlantic: Growing Momentum for Jobs, Energy Independence, Clean Air, and Wildlife Protection (pdf), which found more than 212 gigawatts of potential offshore wind energy in the Atlantic.    

More on this story: NWF Media Center, USA Today, Reuters     

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Report: Mass Climate-Related Migration on the Horizon

A new report from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is warning that extreme weather caused by climate change will displace millions of people over the next half-century.   

The report, Migration Due to Climate Change Demands Attention, predicts that between 50 and 300 million people will be forced to relocated within and across borders.   

“Protection and assistance schemes remain inadequate, poorly coordinated, and scattered,” said the report. ”National governments and the international community must urgently address this issue in a proactive manner.”  

Reports from the National Wildlife Federation highlight how global warming brings an increasing amounts of extreme weather events such as droughts, hurricanes, floods and heat waves.   

More on this story: ADB Press Release, Reuters, NYT, E&E(sub. req.)   

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Happening this Week

Tuesday, February 15

Hearing: “Environmental Regulations, the Economy, and Jobs,” House Energy and Commerce Subcommitte on Environment and the Economy, 1:00PM, Rayburn 2322.   

Hearing: “Green Jobs and Trade,” Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Green Jobs and the New Economy, 2:30PM, Dirksen 406.   

Wednesday, February 16 

Briefing: Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Development, Environmental and Energy Study Institute, House Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Caucus, California Fuel Cell Partnership, and Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association. 3:00-4:30PM, HVC 201 Capitol Visitors Center. No RSVP required.

Summit: “Virginia Greenforce Community College Summit: Preparing the Virginia Workforce for New Green Jobs,” National Wildlife Federation and Jobs for the Future’s Greenforce Initiative, 9:00AM-4:00PM, Germanna Community College, Daniel Technology Center, 18121 Technology Drive, Culpeper, Virginia 22701, To attend email Jen Fournelle at fournellej@nwf.org.

Thursday, February 17 

Summit: “Michigan Greenforce Learning and Action Network Summit: Advancing Greener Careers and Campuses in Michigan,” National Wildlife Federation and Jobs for the Future’s Greenforce Initiative, 9:00AM-4:00PM, Lansing Community College, West Campus Conference Center, rooms M119-122,  Register online here.

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For more global warming news on Wildlife Promise click here.