Climate 411

After the longest walkout in Oregon’s history, the state’s climate progress hangs in the balance

By Kjellen Belcher / Published: June 16, 2023

For the past six weeks, Oregon’s legislative session has been held hostage. On May 3, a small group of state Senators fled the Capitol instead of fulfilling their core responsibility as elected officials: to represent their constituents by casting votes in the legislative process. Yesterday, those legislators finally returned to the Capitol—but with only ten days left in the legislative session, Oregon’s continued climate progress is at risk.

By boycotting the legislative session, these obstructionist lawmakers halted the basic functioning of government by denying the Legislature “quorum,” a Constitutional requirement that two-thirds of all members be present to hold a vote. This walkout tactic has been used to block climate action in the past, and we cannot let it be used again to delay our progress towards a healthier, safer climate future.

Also posted in Carbon Markets, Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Policy / Comments are closed

California and Quebec have a major opportunity to raise the ambition of their linked carbon market

By Caroline Jones / Published: June 12, 2023

When the California Air Resources Board (CARB) finalized its Scoping Plan last year, it marked a critical milestone in charting an ambitious – but achievable – path toward a safer, climate future for communities across the state. Now, it’s time for CARB to put that plan into action.

The good news is that air regulators are taking a key step forward with a new joint workshop between California and Quebec on June 14 that will focus on potential amendments to the linked cap-and-trade program. The workshop will discuss the status of the current regulation and, critically, the scope of potential updates to bring the regulation in line with CARB’s 2022 Scoping Plan, which sets a goal of 48% emissions reductions by 2030 – an essential target to ensure California reaches its long-term reduction goals.

Also posted in California, Carbon Markets, Economics, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, News, Policy / Comments are closed

Washington state’s second cap-and-invest auction shows strong demand

By Caroline Jones / Published: June 7, 2023

Photo Credit: Wendy Olsen Photography

Blog co-authored by Kjellen Belcher, Manager, U.S. Climate

Today’s results from Washington’s second cap-and-invest auction – most notably selling 100% of allowances – continue to signal strong demand for allowances and confidence in the program, bringing significant revenue for the state to reinvest in Washington communities. This is only the second auction held for the cap-and-invest program, following on a strong debut auction which also sold-out and raised almost $300 million in revenue which will be put towards efforts to further decrease Washington’s climate pollution and increase resilience to climate change.

Also posted in California, Carbon Markets, Economics, Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Policy / Read 3 Responses

The lowdown on linkage: Why Washington and California should link their carbon markets

By Caroline Jones / Published: June 1, 2023

It’s been two months since the debut auction of Washington’s cap-and-invest program — the nation’s most ambitious climate program to date — which puts a firm, declining limit on climate pollution across the state’s economy. Since then, state leaders have turned their attention to the next major decision facing the program: whether to link up Washington state’s carbon market with California-Quebec’s market, a.k.a. “Linkage.” Put simply, linkage refers to joining carbon pricing systems — like cap-and-invest or cap-and-trade systems — across borders, whether those borders are state or national. In a linked market, all participating jurisdictions pool their supply of allowances, and conduct shared auctions.

Washington’s Department of Ecology recently concluded their public comment period on the issue of linkage, the first step required for pursuing linkage as laid out by the state’s Climate Commitment Act, with a goal of linking Washington’s carbon market with the joint California-Quebec carbon market by 2025. After Washington decides whether or not to pursue linkage — likely later this summer — California and Quebec will need to undertake their own processes to decide whether to link.

Washington, California and Quebec have a lot to gain from linkage. It can drive deeper cuts in climate pollution, lower prices and increase the stability of the carbon market. The programs in these jurisdictions are already aligned in the central ways needed to function as a linked market — but to unlock the greatest benefits of linkage, leaders need to align key aspects of these carbon markets in their respective processes.

Here’s what you should know about linkage and four key opportunities Washington and California-Quebec have to align their programs.

Also posted in California, Carbon Markets, Economics, Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Policy / Comments are closed

New report aims to help Massachusetts put the “public” back in public utilities

By Jolette Westbrook / Published: May 5, 2023

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s office just released a new report that EDF – and I – are proud to have helped create, titled Overly Impacted & Rarely Heard: Incorporating Community Voices into Massachusetts Energy Regulatory Processes.

The report details specific ways to make sure that energy regulatory decision-making processes in Massachusetts are more inclusive and more equitable, and that they align with recent legislation and policy initiatives.

The report is the result of a Stakeholder Working Group convened by the Office of the Attorney General to identify barriers to participation in proceedings at the Commonwealth’s Department of Public Utilities (DPU) and Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB), and to propose solutions. The DPU oversees investor-owned electric power, natural gas, and water companies in Massachusetts. The EFSB is an independent state board that reviews proposed large energy facilities including power plants, electric transmission lines, intra-state natural gas pipelines, and natural gas storage tanks. These agencies are little known to the public, but their decisions have an outsized impact on residents’ everyday lives.

I represented EDF on the Stakeholder Working Group, which also had representatives from community-based organizations and consumer advocacy organizations with expertise in environmental justice, climate, and environmental issues, and people with experience and expertise in proceedings at the DPU and the EFSB.

After a more than 18-month stakeholder process, our report recommends seven areas where improvements are necessary:

Also posted in News, Partners for Change, Policy / Comments are closed

How our clean energy laws can support a fair transition for workers and communities

By Derek Walker / Published: May 1, 2023

Our country is going to rapidly deploy and manufacture clean energy technologies to a scale never seen before, thanks in large part to historic laws passed by the Biden-Harris administration and Congress.

This shift is already unleashing new jobs and economic opportunities around the country, but many communities reliant on fossil fuel production – coal, oil and gas – are rightfully concerned about how it will affect their lives and their futures.

Last month, the Biden-Harris administration announced a sweeping set of new investments under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act aimed at revitalizing communities dependent on coal and fossil fuels. It’s a recognition that the clean energy transition cannot succeed unless it’s fair and equitable.

For over 150 years, coal and other fossil fuel workers have worked to power our economy. As natural gas and clean energy outcompeted coal in the last decade, hundreds of coal plants and mines across the country have shuttered, while the communities that depended on them have often been left behind – facing job loss, with funding for schools and roads running dry, and a legacy of local pollution to reckon with.

Recognizing the challenges facing fossil fuel communities in transition, the administration responded with a “whole-of-government” approach, bringing 12 different agencies together through the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization. In the past two years, the group has driven $14 billion in targeted investment to these communities.

The latest set of actions takes that support to new levels, not just by dollar amount, but in how it deploys a suite of different policies to help make communities whole – from job and benefits programs for individual workers to large-scale economic development that can sustain communities. While more support will be needed, this kind of comprehensive approach has been recommended by many groups, including joint research from EDF and Resources for the Future, as well as by the BlueGreen Alliance and Just Transition Fund.

Here’s a quick look at how some of these new investments take aim at critical challenges facing energy communities, and what needs to happen next:

Also posted in Cars and Pollution, Economics, Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, Innovation, Jobs, News, Policy / Comments are closed

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