The 25x'25 Alliance today issued a list of proposed amendments to the American Clean Energy and Security Act (HR 2454) that the organization said are needed to maximize the benefits that agriculture and forestry can provide in the cap-and-trade program outlined in the measure.The amendments, which were aired during a Farm Foundation forum at the National Press Club this morning by Carbon Work Group Chairman Nathan Rudgers, a former New York state agriculture commissioner and a member of the 25x'25 National Steering Committee, address multiple areas within the Waxman-Markey bill, including:
- Domestic offsets must have identical characteristics and risks, i.e. fungibility, with each other and with allowances.
- Sequestration offsets must be for a contracted duration, with a suggested "permanence" of fifty years.
- The risks of unintentional reversals and leakage must be fully managed at a program-level, not at a project level. (At the same time, offset providers must be held accountable for any and all intentional reversals.)
- Biological sequestration offsets must be credited at a discounted rate so that the difference between the value of the full offset and a discounted offset is the source of funds to manage all risks of reversal, such as from a forest fire.
- The measure must recognize the abundant offset protocols and methodologies that have been previously developed under other programs by allowing the program administrator to quickly establish a list of pre-approved project types.
- The bill must direct the program administrator to devise protocols, methodologies, procedures, registry requirements, verification requirements, and any other relevant process issues to be as operationally lean as possible and reduce overhead costs of compliance.
- USDA should be the lead agency to assume responsibility for the majority of farm and forestry offset functions.
- Domestic offset providers from the agriculture and forestry sectors should be treated equally under the Strategic Reserve, a price management mechanism, which sets aside extra permits that can be allocated to prevent unexpected allowance-price fluctuations.
- Agriculture and forestry stakeholders currently engaging in land management practices that provide offsets - "early actors" - should be recognized under the cap-and-trade program and specifically protected against any bias that could accrue relative to other offset providers.
In Canada, scientists at the Indian Head Research Farm in Saskatchewan, studying the impact of corn straw removal on soil nitrogen and soil organic carbon, found that "The results would support the recommendation that some straw could be removed from fields providing that the frequency of removal was less than 66% and that no more than 40% of the aboveground residues other than grain are removed. From a crop management perspective, proper nitrogen fertility combined with no-till would further reduce the possibility of net losses in SOC and SON."
The researchers studied the impact of soil removal over a 50 year period.
A recent study conducted by Iowa State University found that "removing corn cobs from fields for use in cellulosic ethanol production appears to have no substantial impact on soil nutrient content."
House Republicans introduced their version of an energy bill, the American Energy Act, touting it as an "all of the above" approach. In a statement issued yesterday House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) explains the bill as "the fastest route to a cleaner environment, lower energy costs, and more American jobs . . . by producing more American Energy in an environmentally safe way, promoting the use of alternative fuels to reduce carbon emissions, such as clean coal and nuclear, and encouraging increased efficiencies and cutting edge technologies to maximize America's energy potential."An outline of the bill can be found at ACORE.
The full list can be found here.
In Brazil, a comprehensive report report in Biodiesel magazine on deforestation and soy cultivation quotes Greenpeace in saying that "Biodiesel demand for soy oil is not seen as a significant driver of Amazon deforestation. Most of the soya grown in Brazil including what is grown on illegal plantations is for animal and human consumption, and right now the Brazilian government is investing in other feedstocks for the development of its biofuels program."
Greenpeace said that a 2006 moratorium by ADM, Cargill and Bunge against trading soy grown on newly deforested areas has had a material impact, and that Greenpeace hopes the moratorium can be extended through 2010.
In addition, DTN is reporting that US corn and bean exports are remaining steady or increasing while Brazilian corn and soybean acreage is holding steady or shrinking.
The number of jobs in America's emerging clean energy economy grew nearly two and a half times faster than overall jobs between 1998 and 2007, according to a report released by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Pew developed a clear, data-driven definition of the clean energy economy and conducted the first-ever hard count across all 50 states of the actual jobs, companies and venture capital investments that supply the growing market demand for environmentally friendly products and services.
Pew found that jobs in the clean energy economy grew at a national rate of 9.1 percent, while traditional jobs grew by only 3.7 percent between 1998 and 2007. There was a similar pattern at the state level, where job growth in the clean energy economy outperformed overall job growth in 38 states and the District of Columbia during the same period. The report also found that this promising sector is poised to expand significantly, driven by increasing consumer demand, venture capital infusions, and federal and state policy reforms.
From the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA):
NOAA scientists have teamed up with experts from the University of Maryland and North Carolina State University to form the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites. The new institute will use satellite observations to detect, monitor and forecast climate change, and its impact on the environment, including ecosystems.
"To help us understand climate change, we have to find ways to best leverage all of our available resources, including the information we get from satellites," said Mary Kicza, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Science. "Bringing together some of the best minds to study satellite imagery and data will shed more light on how our climate is changing."
The institute will have two centers - one in College Park, Md., adjacent to the site of the planned NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction, and the other at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.
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