Recently in Policy papers Category

From the 25x'25 blog:

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.

From ACORE:

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.

Grist provides a detailed bullet list of what's actually in the House's Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill. The bill was passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on May 21.

The full list can be found here.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently analyzed the potential impacts of three federal renewable electricity standards. The report found that the "differences between average national electricity prices in the RES cases and the base case are less than 1%... and no state sees an increase of more than 5% compared to the base case in 2022, th eyear of peak impact on prices."

The report states that Southeast states would generally rely on biomass co-firing and the purchase of renewable energy credits to reach the mandate. John Wilson of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy disputes this finding. "The technical report's regional perspective is at odds with similar studies by others, and with our own investigation into the potential for renewable energy in the Southeast," Wilson wrote on his blog. "The three major problems with this report are: biopower is poorly analyzed, or at least poorly documented; transmission is assumed to be built quickly; and distributed generation is not adequately considered." To read more of Wilson's comments visit the SACE energy blog.

EPA has released its notice of rulemaking regarding the national renewable fuels standard. Fact sheets and the full document can be found here. Stakeholders have 60 days to comment following the submission of the rule to the Federal Register. A brief review of the proposed EPA rules has been developed by SAFER Steering Committee member Nathan McClure of the Georgia Forestry Commission. The document can be found here.

From the report, Southeast Energy Opportunities, by the World Resources Institute, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and Southface:

Southeast states seeking solutions to current and future energy challenges have a major opportunity to use existing technology to harness local renewable energy resources. Our regional assessment, drawing on recent government and regional studies, suggests sufficient renewable energy resources to meet as much as 30 percent of the Southeast's electric power needs within the next 15 years.

The full report can be found here.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released the report: The Impact of Ethanol Use on Food Prices and Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Key findings of the report include:

• Between April 2007 and April 2008, an increase in ethanol production accounted for 10 to 15 percent of the 5.1 percent increase rise in food prices during the same time period. Therefore, ethanol was responsible for .5 to .8 percentage points of this 5.1 percent increase.

• During the same period, higher prices for energy directly increased the price of food by 22 percent, or 1.1 percentage points of the 5.1 percent increase.

• The production, distribution, and consumption of corn ethanol creates 20 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than the equivalent process for gasoline. The CBO analysis considered the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere when the corn is grown.

• While the report states that most plants use natural gas, when coal is used instead, the greenhouse gas emissions exceed those of gasoline.

• Ethanol made from plants, trees, or waste, known as biomass, could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 to 95 percent relative to gasoline.

From DOE:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed finding last week, concluding that greenhouse gases contribute to air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare. The finding opens greenhouse gas emissions to regulation under the Clean Air Act, although the Obama Administration has indicated a preference for comprehensive legislation to address climate change and to create the framework for a clean energy economy. The proposed finding identified six major greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. Carbon dioxide is the dominant greenhouse gas emitted in the United States, and it is primarily emitted through the combustion of fossil fuels. Efforts to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide will largely involve reducing the emissions from fossil fuel use, either by minimizing energy use through energy efficiency; switching to cleaner energy sources, such as renewable energy; or capturing and sequestering the carbon dioxide emissions.

Once the findings are published in the Federal Register, the comment period will be open for 60 days.

In response to the restrictive definition of "biomass" that was used in the federal renewable fuels standard (RFS), Southern state legislatures are passing resolutions asking Congress to expand the definition of biomass to include additional forest biomass resources from private and federal lands. The states are asking Congress to change the definition in the RFS as well as to use an expanded definition in future energy legislation, such as a renewable electricity standard (RES).

Both the House and Senate of the Georgia state legislature passed resolutions asking that the definition of "renewable biomass" include "any organic matter available on a renewable or recurring basis." The current biomass definition disqualifies 15 million acres of private forestland in Georgia for being used in biomass energy production. The Alabama House and the South Carolina House and Senate have passed similar resolutions.

For more information on the biomass definition visit: http://www.eesi.org/renewable_biomass_def.

The Institute for Emerging Issues' Business Committee on Energy has made two recommendations to North Carolina governor Beverly Perdue and the North Carolina General Assembly. The two recommendations were made to "ensure an energy future that enhances North Carolina's short-term and long-term economic competitiveness and maximize the number of green jobs created and retained in our state." The two recommendations are as follows:

• North Carolina needs energy leadership with authority and a clear mission statement for the state. This requires: a) appointment of an executive level energy official in the Governor's office; b) development and implementation of a comprehensive energy strategy; c) reform of the existing Energy Policy Council; d) redesign and relocation of the State Energy Office.

• North Carolina must coordinate the actions of state government in order to resolve policy and regulatory conflicts that impede development of North Carolina's green economy

Members of the committee include investor owned utility companies, renewable source companies, large industrial consumers of energy, and private capital investors. The two-page document can be found here.