Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Moving Forward

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) sold 32 million emission allowances this week for $106.5 million ($3.38 per allowance). This auction follows the first that occurred in September. RGGI's executive office reported that demand for allowances exceeded supply by 3.5 times.

Under RGGI participating states (New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Connecticut, Delaware, Vermont and Rhode Island) will cap their emission at current levels through 2014. At that time total emissions will be cut by 10% through 2018.

A boston based research firm ENE, estimated that RGGI regional emissions levles are 16% below the prescribed 2009 cap due to high coal, oil and natural gas prices this summer.

Alaskan Sea Otters Protected

As reported in E&E News today:

"The Fish and Wildlife Service released plans today to declare much of southwestern Alaska's coastline as critical habitat for sea otters, a move that environmentalists say could add regulatory hurdles to proposed oil and gas development there.

The habitat designation is part of a legal settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity, which successfully sued in 2005 to list Alaskan sea otters under the Endangered Species Act and again in 2007 to force FWS to declare critical habitat by October 2009. Studies show that species with critical habitat are twice as likely to recover as those without, the advocacy group said."

Obama Energy and Environment Team Announced

Yesterday the Obama transition team made official what has been floating around for a while:

Carol Browner was named Assistant to the President on Energy and Climate Change
Steven Chu will be Energy Secretary
Lisa Jackson will head EPA
Nancy Sutley will chair the CEQ

Ken Salazar is rumored to head the Interior Department

Coal, coal, coal....

There was lots in the news this last week about coal.

There is an all out assault on the concept of "clean coal" by some heavy hitters on the environmental advocacy side of the ledger: see this video here where the League of Conservation Voters head Gene Karpinski explains clean coal is an oxymoron.

NPR presented an interesting pro/con discussion and interview last week on the same topic. This one features Al Gore and Joe Lucas of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.

NPR also did a good story on mountaintop mining that gives the goal industry a victory just as the Bush administration leaves office.

New Mexico Cooperative Conservation Agreements

A new collaborative conservation agreement was put into place this week to protect the lesser prairie chicken and the sand dune lizard, according to the Land Letter. Both species are located in the Permian Basin-- one of the biggest oil gas producing regions in the West.

The initiative pulls together the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, private landowners, energy companies and ranchers. USFWS has determined that both species qualify as listed species. The conservation agreement is designed to avoid lengthy consultation measures if the signatories take specific measures or pay into a fund to support the conservation of the species.

Habitat for the species spans multiple jurisdictions and the agreement depends upon broad participation by all participants in the region. It is unclear how energy company involvement will be affected with the current fall in energy prices.

Everglades Restoration

Charlie Christ, Governor of Florida, has put into motion a $1.34 billion plan to purchase US Sugar lands to move the Everglades restoration effort forward. The money will be raised through a bond issued by the South Florida Water Management District. US Sugar's shareholders approved the measure this week, according to an article in the Economist.

US Sugar will hand over the land with the right to lease it back for seven years. Christ is hopeful the Florida effort will stimulate the federal government to make good on its promises to match funding for the restoration project.

Community Based Initiatives Bloom

A new report by the Urban Institute identifies smaller, local environmental organizations as the primary driver of the environmental movement. Using tax data from 1989 to 2005, the report found that smaller, volunteer organization that form to meet specific challenges comprise the largest portion of environmental groups nationwide. These groups are scattered throughout the US.

In 2005, the IRS listed more than 26,000 groups, ranging from neighborhood-based groups to the Nature Conservancy, which reported almost $1 billion in 2005 revenues. 80% of these groups listed revenues under $600,000. Most of the larger groups (Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, the National Wildlife Federation, Conservation International) are concentrated in the Washington, DC area.

Overall, the environmental movement is growing faster than other nonprofit sectors, the report says. Between 1995 and 2007, the number of environmental and conservation groups registered with the IRS grew by 4.6 percent annually, while the rate over that period for all nonprofits was 2.8 percent per year, it says.

Duke Energy Clliffside Analysis

A summary judgment issued by US District Court Judge Lacy Thornburg sent Duke Energy back to do some additional analysis on its proposed Cliffside expansion plans. To comply with the Clean Air Act permitting process, the company must complete a "maximum achievable control technology" analysis.

The proposed $2.4 billion project would add 800 megawatts of new coal-fired generation in Cleveland and Rtherford counties. Environmental groups have complained that Duke Energy has avoided complying with key provisions of the Clean Air Act since the project was initiated. Environmentalists are worried about how much hazardous air pollutants will be emitted as part of the project.

Duke Energy sought to comply with the ruling, while also appealing the decision. The Cliffside plant is approximately 20% complete and scheduled to go on-line in 2012.

I am the walrus

The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne last week for missing a May 8 deadline to decide whether a petition seeking protection for walruses under the Endangered Species Act had merit.

Walruses are threatened by melting Arctic sea ice as a result of global warming, said the group, which has also filed petitions to protect Arctic seals.

Obama Environmental Appointments

It looks like Lisa Jackson-- from NJ Department of the Environmental Protection-- may be tapped to be the next head of EPA. She gets good marks for consensus based approaches but has been criticized for not being more firm on enforcement.

John Salazar-- Congressman from Colorado-- is being considered for USDA Secretary.

The Secretary of Interior remains a mystery with several names being mentioned. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), chairman of the House National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee has been most talked about in the news. However Obama said he wants a sportsman in the job, a background Grijalva lacks. In this vein, Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) has been mentioned. Several other Western Democrats -- including former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber and Washington Rep. Jay Inslee -- have also been mentioned as potential Interior heads

Falling Oil Prices

Last week the price of oil fell to $47 per barrel. Demand for oil is falling due to the slowdown in the world economy. An article in the Economist suggests that global oil demand may fall for the first time since 1993.