State air board releases draft plan to reduce greenhouse gases.
| Changes to European Chemical Standards Affect US Companies As reported by Lyndsey Layton of the Washington Post, new regulations in Europe about the use of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals are affecting US manufacturers, if those manufacturers want to maintain exports to European countries. It is no surprise that the Bush administration and US chemical manufacturers oppose these new laws, which require companies [.] |
| State air board releases draft plan to reduce greenhouse gases. A draft greenhouse gas reduction plan released by the state Air Resources Board relies heavily on an emissions cap-and-trade program, energy efficiency improvements and already planned standards for low-carbon fuels and clean cars. |
| Corn soars to record high, set to climb further; Ethanol Producers Halt Operations Strong demand for corn from U.S. biofuel producers has contributed to supply tightness in the corn market. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has forecast about a third of this year’s crop will be consumed by the biofuel sector. |
| Press Release: Statement in Response to White House Opposition to the Climate Security Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: From Steve Cochran, Environmental Defense Fund Climate Campaign Director: The White House today put itself on a road to the wrong side of history by opposing a bipartisan bill that will fight climate change, reduce our oil dependence, and restore America’s competitiveness.
They might as well have said, ‘Let’s do more of what we’ve been doing for the economy and the environment. We think its working really well.’
We urge the Senate to choose a better path.
The question for Senators now is whether they stand with those defending the status quo of failed environmental and economic policies, or whether they plan to answer the call of Americans who want real action on climate change and a real solution to rising gas prices.
In opposing the Climate Security Act being debated in the Senate this week, the White House today complained that the cost of gasoline could go up 53 cents over the next 22 years if we finally deal with climate change. They apparently missed the fact that under our current oil-addicted energy policy, gas went up $1.10 in just five months last year – and continues to climb.
The only answer to high gas prices is to break our over-dependence on oil, which is exactly what the Climate Security Act will do. Analysis based on data from MIT shows that the Climate Security Act would reduce oil imports by at least half a trillion dollars through 2030.
The White House also claims that economic output would be reduced by 7% if we took action to reduce emissions – a number at the very extreme end of all analysis that’s been done. All credible academic studies show we can grow our economy and address climate change at the same time – most saying the impact will be 1% or less over twenty years. That’s a far lower cost to our economy than the impact of unchecked climate change. This is a modest investment we need to make for a problem the President himself has recognized as important.
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Environmental Defense Action Fund
Founded in May 2002, Environmental Defense Action Fund is at the forefront of educating legislators about developing new solutions that protect the natural world. Through grassroots and direct lobbying, EDAF amplifies Environmental Defense Fund’s ability to champion laws that are based on science, economic incentives, and, above all, the protection of our environment.
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| Major technological progress needed to make renewable energy affordable. Dramatic progress in renewable energy technology is needed if the United States desires to produce 25 percent of its electricity and motor vehicle fuel from renewable sources by 2025 without significantly increasing consumer costs, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today. |
| U.S. Ecosystem Report Indicates Trouble Years of industrial and agricultural growth have left an indelible imprint on many formerly vibrant U.S. ecosystems. While nature is adept at resilience, the depletion and contamination of natural resources, especially water, may affect human health and wellbeing, a new report suggests. |
| Climate change pushes plants out of their comfort zone. Plant species migrate to escape climate change, but at different speeds, causing the entire makeup of mountainside communities to change and potentially head toward extinction, researchers conclude. |
| How river engineering is tied to US floods. In the past 7,000 years, the Mississippi River’s really big floods came at times of rapid climate change, whether warming or cooling - a pattern researchers see in the “anomalous high frequency of large floods since about 1950.” |
| Grow your own Buried in the news a few weeks ago was an announcement by a small Californian firm called Amyris. It was, perhaps, a parable for the future of biotechnology. Amyris is famous in the world of tropical medicine for applying the latest biotechnological tools to the manufacture of artemisinin, an antimalarial drug that is normally extracted from a Chinese vine. |