Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 29/8/17
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(ACC Mentioned) Reporting Tool Will Aim to Quantify Chinese Ban Impact
Aug 29, 2017 | resource Recycling
By Colin Taub
A common complaint about China’s restriction on scrap materials imports is the lack of solid information about what exactly the upcoming ban will target. A Canadian plastics group is taking data-gathering into its own hands. -
(ACC Mentioned) Polyurethane Innovation Award Winners Announced
Aug 29, 2017 | Adhesives & Sealants Industry
The Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) recently announced BASF, The Chemours Co., and Covestro as the three finalists for the Polyurethane Innovation Award. This award will be presented during the Polyurethanes Technical Conference, which takes place Oct. 2-4 in New Orleans. -
NRDC and Partners Force Action, At Last, on Toxics in Toys
Aug 29, 2017 | National Resources Defense Council
By Avinash Kar
It took a lawsuit to force the agency to decide, by October 18 of this year, whether to ban several toxic phthalates in children’s products—a decision the CPSC was obligated to make by January 2015 (at the latest). -
German Electroplating Trade Group Defends REACH Restriction Process
Aug 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Leigh Stringer
The German electroplating trade association, ZVO, has criticised areport by NGO the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) which accuses Echa of holding back the REACH restriction process. -
Harvey’s Widespread Destruction Tests U.S. Shale
Aug 29, 2017 | The Wall Street Journal
By Lynn Cook, Bradley Olson and Alison Sider
Tropical Storm Harvey, the most powerful storm to hit Texas in half a century, has shut a significant portion of the state’s shale production, cutting off as much as 15% of U.S. oil supplies. -
Harvey Takes More Texas Energy Production Offline
Aug 29, 2017 | Politico Pro - Energy Whiteboard
By Ben Lefebvre
The heavy rain and flooding in southeast Texas have forced an 11th oil refinery to close and shut down most of the oil production from one of the nation's biggest oil regions, the Department of Energy said this morning. -
Shell, Environmentalists Reach Cracker Plant Pollution Deal
Aug 29, 2017 | AP (in Penn Energy)
Shell Chemical Appalachia and environmental groups have reached a deal for pollution controls on a planned $6 billion petrochemical, or ethane cracker, plant in western Pennsylvania. -
CSB Issues Alert to Oil and Chemical Facilities about Safe Restarting Post-Hurricane Harvey
Aug 29, 2017 | Safety and Health Magazine
Responding to ongoing damage in the Gulf Coast region caused by Hurricane Harvey, the Chemical Safety Board has issued a safety alert warning oil and chemical facility workers to follow special precautions when restarting in the wake of the storm. -
Williams Cos. Says Its Pipeline Was Source of Chemical Leak during Harvey
Aug 29, 2017 | Fuel Fix
By Jordan Blum and Andrew Kragie
Oklahoma's Williams Cos. says it was its pipeline that leaked dangerous chemicals Monday at La Porte and triggered an emergency shelter-in-place warning amid floodwaters. -
Harvey Adds New Urgency to Climate Change Debate
Aug 29, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Climate scientists looking to assign blame for Hurricane Harvey say that climate change is not likely to be a direct cause of the devastating storm. -
Tillerson Moves to Scrap Top Envoy Position
Aug 29, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Hannah Northey
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is planning to eliminate the top climate envoy position at the State Department as part of a wider overhaul that could further aggravate the Trump administration's contentious relationship with the scientific community.
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(ACC Mentioned) Reporting Tool Will Aim to Quantify Chinese Ban Impact
Aug 29, 2017 | resource Recycling
By Colin Taub
A common complaint about China’s restriction on scrap materials imports is the lack of solid information about what exactly the upcoming ban will target. A Canadian plastics group is taking data-gathering into its own hands.
The Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) is developing an online tool where plastics exporters can report when their shipments are rejected by Chinese customs agents. The system, which will be available to companies throughout North America, will take information confidentially.
Chinese officials announced last month the country will prohibit imports of certain recovered materials by the end of the year. Specifics have trickled in since the ban was announced, with officials most recently indicating most post-industrial plastics will still be allowed for import.
The CPIA has already received phone calls from collectors who have material they can’t move because their permit to ship to China has not been renewed, said Joe Hruska, vice president of sustainability for the CPIA. Sources with close ties to China say authorities have not issued new import permits since June.
The objective behind the database is to compile figures on the impact and get the metrics behind the export disruption.
“The whole idea is to quantify how many tons are affected,” Hruska said. “That will tell you the shortage that we might have in market capacity.”
Industry players can look at that information. Some operations might determine, based on the volume rejected by China, whether it’s feasible to expand processing capacity domestically.
Hruska said it will be important for municipal programs to communicate the problems of contamination to residential customers during the ban. But it will take leaders in many sectors coming together to figure out alternative markets.
“We’ve got to find a way to help them and keep that material in the curbside, but we can’t do that without data,” he said. “So we need more information, and that’s the way to do it.”
Ultimately, Hruska said the Chinese regulations are a reminder for materials recovery facilities to produce a higher-quality product to access domestic markets.
“We need to look at our own backyard, produce quality material and feed our economy,” Hruska said. “I’m not talking about restricting trade, but quite frankly, here’s an example where we placed our confidence in another marketplace, and now it’s coming back to bite us.”
CPIA is part of the North American Plastics Recycling Alliance, alongside the Association of Plastic Recyclers, the American Chemistry Council, the Plastics Industry Association and others.
“There’s what I would call a collaborative action by the North American plastics industry to address this challenge, and opportunity,” Hruska said.
https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2017/08/29/reporting-tool-will-aim-quantify-chinese-ban-impact/
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(ACC Mentioned) Polyurethane Innovation Award Winners Announced
Aug 29, 2017 | Adhesives & Sealants Industry
The Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) recently announced BASF, The Chemours Co., and Covestro as the three finalists for the Polyurethane Innovation Award. This award will be presented during the Polyurethanes Technical Conference, which takes place Oct. 2-4 in New Orleans.
The innovations as described by the 2017 finalists are:BASF’s Irgastab® PUR 70: A novel amine-free, aromatic solvents-free, anti-scorch system for polyol and PUR foams, which can reportedly reduce VOC, s-VOC, and aldehyde emissions in automotive interiors;Chemours’ Opteon™ 1100: A hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) blowing agent that can address critical PU industry needs including formulation stability and flexibility with existing components, excellent materials compatibility, exceptional long-term insulation performance, and a sustainable solution to meet changing regulatory requirements for low-GWP products; andCovestro’s PUReWall™: A new, highly structural spray polyurethane foam (SPF) formulation that can allow for residential wall panel production, using polyisocyanurate (polyiso) rigid foam board and SPF instead of oriented strand board sheathing for structure.
“When we think about the best aspects of the polyurethanes industry, we mean our commitment to developing and advancing technologies that enhance the quality of life” said Lee Salamone, CPI senior director. “And the Polyurethane Innovation Award aims to honor companies in that pursuit. CPI congratulates BASF, Chemours and Covestro on their innovations, and we look forward to their presentations during the Polyurethanes Technical Conference’s opening session.”
For more information, visit www.americanchemistry.com.
http://www.adhesivesmag.com/articles/95723-polyurethane-innovation-award-winners-announced
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NRDC and Partners Force Action, At Last, on Toxics in Toys
Aug 29, 2017 | National Resources Defense Council
By Avinash Kar
Finally.
Finally, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) has to make a decision it should have made more than two years ago. It took a lawsuit to force the agency to decide, by October 18 of this year, whether to ban several toxic phthalates in children’s products—a decision the CPSC was obligated to make by January 2015 (at the latest).
NRDC and its partners — Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform and Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (formerly Breast Cancer Fund)—reached a settlement with CPSC. The agreement set a deadline for the agency to decide which phthalates to ban from children’s products, but it does not dictate the result.
Still, the CPSC should heed the science, follow the advice of its experts, and finalize its proposal to ban several phthalates from toys and other children’s products.
Phthalates are commonly used as a plastic softener in children’s toys and child care products, such as teething rings. Several studies of children have linked phthalates exposure to interference with hormone production and reproductive development. In 2008, Congress banned a number of phthalates in children’s products. It also directed the CPSC to form an expert scientific panel to assess other phthalates and recommend action. In late 2014, based on the advice of those scientific experts, the CPSC proposed to ban five types of phthalates in children’s products due to the health risks. But the agency never finalized that rule, despite a deadline under the law that has long passed.
Much of the delay can be laid at the feet of chemical companies, like Exxon Mobil, that manufacture phthalates, and trade groups like the National Association of Manufacturers. Companies that manufacture and import phthalates have pursued profits at the expense of the health of children and pregnant women. They moved repeatedly to delay CPSC action. They even tried to block the settlement NRDC and its partners made with CPSC on a deadline for action.
We are pleased that the District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected the National Association of Manufacturers’ efforts to block the settlement. The Court saw through industry’s baseless claims that people are no longer exposed to the phthalates CPSC has proposed to ban, and agreed with the evidence NRDC and our partners presented, showing that people, including pregnant women and children, are still exposed to these dangerous chemicals.
The CPSC proposed in 2014 to ban five phthalates to eliminate serious risks of reproductive health harm, especially in baby boys. Its proposal is fully supported by existing science.
We hope and expect that when the agency makes its final decision by October 18, it will finalize the rule on phthalates as proposed.
https://www.nrdc.org/experts/avinash-kar/nrdc-and-partners-force-action-last-toxics-toys
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German Electroplating Trade Group Defends REACH Restriction Process
Aug 29, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Leigh Stringer
The German electroplating trade association, ZVO, has criticised areport by NGO the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) which accuses Echa of holding back the REACH restriction process.
The trade body says it is disputing the report’s claims and voicing its opinion because a number of restrictions – either in place or proposed – are of concern to its members, including those for nickel, cobalt and PFCs such as PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS.
EEB’s report from June 2016 says Echa's Risk Assessment and Socio-economic Analysis Committees (Rac and Seac) fail to scrutinise industry studies, while dismissing evidence from independent researchers. It criticises Rac for "privileging" studies that comply with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) – a set of principles covering the organisational process and the conditions under which laboratory studies are planned, performed, monitored, recorded and reported.
Contacting Chemical Watch, ZVO vice chair Dr Malte Zimmer says, without this baseline standard, "we risk sliding into pseudoscience like astrology or alchemy, where assumptions are considered of more value than reproducible scientific work.
"Pseudoscience just reacts to any kind of observation, where they believe in some cause and effect. GLP is a common set of rules to document properly and to give other scientists the opportunity to check the results," he says.
In her reply to Chemical Watch, EEB’s senior chemicals policy officer, Dolores Romano, says that GLP is not a measure of scientific quality or correct interpretation of data, it is "simply a way of organising data.
"You cannot dismiss a study as pseudoscience because it does not follow GLP." Echa, she says, needs to take into account all robust, verifiable, peer-reviewed scientific evidence – including those using the GLP methodology.Cost versus benefit
The report also says that Seac puts too much emphasis on whether the benefits of a restriction outweigh the costs and argues that there is no legal requirement for Echa to do so under REACH.
Ms Romano says that the agency is relying on a far too narrow understanding of cost-benefit assessment. It "assumes that monetised benefits, which are widely underestimated, must outweigh the cost", she says.
As an example, she says Seac only considers the healthcare costs associated with an illness caused by exposure to a chemical. "But it does not take into account the costs linked to caring for someone with the illness, environmental costs and others related to the adverse effects associated with the substance being considered for restriction."
However, Dr Zimmer says that Echa is only giving an opinion to the Commission, which it can then decide to follow or not. "Some kind of cost-benefit analysis with a benchmarking system is useful at that stage of analysis," he adds.
If this benchmarking system is not taken into account, he continues, the results and decisions will become dependent on personal feelings and opinions – which "may differ from person to person, even day to day". He says that any decision "has to be based on measurable variables".
Earlier this year, industry groups and NGOs called for improvements to the restriction process in comments submitted to the European Commission’s consultation on the second REACH Review. The review's findings are expected later this year.
https://chemicalwatch.com/58355/german-electroplating-trade-group-defends-reach-restriction-process
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Harvey’s Widespread Destruction Tests U.S. Shale
Aug 29, 2017 | The Wall Street Journal
By Lynn Cook, Bradley Olson and Alison Sider
Tropical Storm Harvey, the most powerful storm to hit Texas in half a century, has shut a significant portion of the state’s shale production, cutting off as much as 15% of U.S. oil supplies.
Now, in what is the first major storm to test U.S. shale, the big question is how quickly the sector can make a comeback.
Before Harvey made landfall as a hurricane Friday, many big shale producers in the Eagle Ford shale fields near Corpus Christi, Texas, shut down their oil and gas wells, and initial estimates for lost production were between 400,000 and 500,000 barrels a day.
As the hurricane’s widespread devastation has become clearer, several analysts say it is almost certain that much, if not most, of the region’s 1.4 million barrels a day of output is shut down.
Shale producers also rely on a vast, multibillion-dollar network of energy infrastructure—from ports to train tracks to pipelines—that has developed in recent years along the Texas coast. Many pieces of that network appear to be swamped too. U.S. oil prices fell more than 2.5% Monday to $46.57 a barrel, largely because so many refineries are closed down in the wake in the storm and don’t need to buy any crude.
The need for infrastructure may slow shale’s ability to bounce back. In the past, hurricanes have dealt a blow to the Texas energy industry by knocking out offshore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico; but in many cases, once storms passed, those big installations could quickly return to pumping crude.
“The effect to shale could linger given the extent and catastrophic level of forecasted flooding which interferes with shale logistics,” said Benny Wong, an analyst with Morgan Stanley.
The fracking-induced boom in Texas has heightened the state’s role in the U.S. economy, which means that if the oil fields and surrounding infrastructure are out of service for long, it could have outsize economic impacts on the state and shave $20 billion or more off U.S. gross domestic product, said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist with RSM US LLP, an accounting and consulting firm.
The Eagle Ford shale in South Texas produces 1.4 million barrels of oil a day, second in output in the state only to the Permian Basin of West Texas. There hasn’t been a storm of this magnitude since shale drilling took off about a decade ago.
Companies were trying Monday to sortie out and assess the damage to their facilities in the Eagle Ford shale, which took a direct hit from Harvey. But the sprawling nature of the storm—it was downgraded from hurricane status on Saturday—and continued rain in some areas hampered those efforts.
Wind and water damage and outages from the storm have doused tens of thousands of square miles with torrential rainfall and ravaged a wide swath of coastline, halting the flow of up to $800 million a day in energy industry revenue, analysts said.
Corpus Christi and Houston are the two major exit points for U.S. oil, which is now shipped to the four corners of the globe.
“The biggest contribution of shale is that it has given the U.S. a much bigger foothold in the global picture as a supplier of oil, gas, petrochemicals and refined products all over the world,” said Uday Turaga, chief executive of consultancy ADI Analytics.
As the hurricane’s widespread devastation unfurled and companies confirmed their operations came to a standstill, it is now certain that much—if not most—of the region’s oil production has been halted.
ConocoPhillips , one of the biggest producers in the area, shut its wells ahead of the hurricane. The company normally pumps 130,000 barrels a day in the Eagle Ford. As of Monday, it wasn’t producing oil but said it hoped to restart in some areas.
Other big producers in the area, including EOG Resources Inc. andChesapeake Energy Corp. , stopped fracking, curbed production or suspended operations completely, analysts said.
EOG wouldn’t quantify how much of its production is shut down, but the company said it is working to resume operations “where it is safe to do so.”
Chesapeake said that “while it is premature to speculate on the ultimate impact to our production, we anticipate volumes will be restrained until Gulf Coast and Houston refineries are back online.”
Restarting wells may not guarantee that they flow at the same rate as before the storm, said Tony Sanchez, chairman of Eagle Ford operator Sanchez Energy Corp. , in an interview before the storm.
While Mr. Sanchez said he didn’t expect the outages to be too extensive or last too long, he said that on a technical level he fears that shale wells, once shut off, could lose pressure.
“It’s not just a matter of flipping a switch,” he said. “There is significant risk in those wells not coming back to previous levels.”
The oil also needs a home. Nearly 15% of U.S. refining capacity is closed in the wake of the storm, which means those plants aren’t buying crude. If they stay shut, or if the ports where they are located sustained damage that takes weeks to repair, producers won't be able to turn their spigots back on.
The market may be underestimating Harvey’s impact because nothing like this flood has ever happened to the shale industry before, said Giovanni Staunovo, a commodities analyst at UBS Wealth Management.
“There is no historical comparison,” he said.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/harveys-widespread-destruction-tests-u-s-shale-1503999005?mod=e2tw
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Harvey Takes More Texas Energy Production Offline
Aug 29, 2017 | Politico Pro - Energy Whiteboard
By Ben Lefebvre
The heavy rain and flooding in southeast Texas have forced an 11th oil refinery to close and shut down most of the oil production from one of the nation's biggest oil regions, the Department of Energy said this morning.
Oil infrastructure along the Gulf Coast has been deluged with several feet of rain since the weekend, and with the closure of another facility in the Houston-Galveston area, 2.4 million barrels per day of refining capacity is now offline, or about a quarter of the Gulf Coast's total, according to the latest DOE status report.
Exxon Mobil and Motiva had been mulling whether to shut their refineries in Beaumontand Port Arthur, respectively, according to news reports. Neither company immediately replied to questions.
The storm has also forced oil producers in south-central Texas to shut in production as pipelines that shipped the oil close down. Up to 500,000 barrels a day of oil output could be offline in the Eagle Ford shale, the DOE report estimates, up from earlier estimates of 300,000 barrels a day. The Eagle Ford has emerged in recent years as one of the most productive regions, and was producing 870,000 barrels a day before the storm.
Nearly 20 percent of the oil and natural gas produced at offshore rigs in the Gulf of Mexico also remains offline.
Texas is also reporting 272,271 customers without power in the state.
WHAT’S NEXT: Harvey is forecast to dump up to another 13 inches of rain on Texas through Friday with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph.
https://www.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard
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Shell, Environmentalists Reach Cracker Plant Pollution Deal
Aug 29, 2017 | AP (in Penn Energy)
Shell Chemical Appalachia and environmental groups have reached a deal for pollution controls on a planned $6 billion petrochemical, or ethane cracker, plant in western Pennsylvania.
Shell, the Clean Air Council, and the Environmental Integrity Project say the agreement ends the groups' appeal of an air pollution permit granted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection more than two years ago.
The deal calls for "fenceline" monitoring, meaning it will use pollution detectors— and make that information public on a website — and respond if its emissions are linked to air pollution above certain thresholds. The plant's flares, which burn off volatile emissions, must also destroy at least 98 percent of those pollutants.
Shell says the plant in Potter Township will create 6,000 construction jobs, and 600 permanent jobs once the plant opens.
http://www.pennenergy.com/articles/pennenergy/2017/08/petrochemical-shell-environmentalists-reach-cracker-plant-pollution-deal.html
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CSB Issues Alert to Oil and Chemical Facilities about Safe Restarting Post-Hurricane Harvey
Aug 29, 2017 | Safety and Health Magazine
Responding to ongoing damage in the Gulf Coast region caused by Hurricane Harvey, the Chemical Safety Board has issued a safety alert warning oil and chemical facility workers to follow special precautions when restarting in the wake of the storm.
Released Aug. 27, the alert emphasizes the importance of following established safety protocol before restarting because of simultaneously occurring activities. Many of the facilities that shut down during the hurricane will be restarting at the same time.
Facility operators should use appropriate management-of-change processes before modifying startup procedures, equipment or staffing arrangements, and should ensure staff are adequately available and trained. Nonessential personnel, including workers in trailers, should be evacuated from the vicinity of units starting up, the alert states.
CSB recommends facility operators check the following process equipment for damage or evidence of floating displacement: Large bulk storage tanks Pressure vessels and small storage tanks Insulation systems for piping, vessels and tanks Sewers, drains and furnace systems Electric motors and drives Switchgear, conduit, electrical boxes, electronic and pneumatic instrumentation, emergency warning systems, and emergency equipment
“Restarting a refinery poses a significant safety risk,” CSB Chairperson Vanessa A. Sutherland said in an Aug. 27 press release. “When operators follow established startup procedures and checklists, it reduces the risk to a catastrophic accident that could cost lives and incur substantial product disruptions.”
http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/16098-csb-issues-alert-to-oil-and-chemical-facilities-about-safe-restarting-post-hurricane-harvey
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Williams Cos. Says Its Pipeline Was Source of Chemical Leak during Harvey
Aug 29, 2017 | Fuel Fix
By Jordan Blum and Andrew Kragie
Oklahoma's Williams Cos. says it was its pipeline that leaked dangerous chemicals Monday at La Porte and triggered an emergency shelter-in-place warning amid floodwaters.
The leak was stopped Monday evening by emergency personnel. No injuries were reported after residents of La Porte, Shoreacres and Baytown were warned to close their windows and turn off their air conditioning. The Fred Hartman Bridge was closed over the Houston Ship Channel but has since reopened.
Williams Cos. said it will investigate the cause of the accident. The chemical that leaked just north of the interchange between Texas 225 and Texas 146 was anhydrous hydrogen chloride, "which presents symptoms of eye, throat, and nasal irritation," according to a statement issued by the city of La Porte.
A federal safety guide identifies hydrogen chloride as a corrosive poison gas that "can cause serious or permanent injury." The guide describes the chemical as a "colorless gas with a sharp, pungent odor." The nonflammable substance is part of the manufacturing process for "rubber, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and in gasoline refining and metals processing."
The Tulsa-based Williams pipeline giant said the leak occurred at an "instrumentation rack" along a 14.5 mile pipeline system of 18-inch pipe that transports anhydrous hydrogen chloride gas.
"Williams appreciates the quick and professional response provided by local emergency responders to this situation. Williams will review the incident to determine its cause," the pipeline company said in a prepared statement.
http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Williams-Cos-claims-pipeline-that-caused-12123985.php
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Harvey Adds New Urgency to Climate Change Debate
Aug 29, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Climate scientists looking to assign blame for Hurricane Harvey say that climate change is not likely to be a direct cause of the devastating storm.
But global warming has undoubtedly played a role in the storm and its historic precipitation, since warmer seas fuel higher-volume storms, scientists say.
“Harvey was almost certainly more intense than it would have been in the absence of human-caused warming, which means stronger winds, more wind damage and a larger storm surge,” Michael Mann, an atmospheric scientist at Penn State University, wrote in the Guardian on Monday.
Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research who has extensively studied the link between warming oceans — caused in large part by human activity through greenhouse gases — and extreme weather, said researchers generally don’t try to answer whether a particular event was caused by climate change.
“Is climate change contributing to the intensity, and especially the magnitude of the precipitation? Yes,” he said.
In the days leading up to Harvey’s landfall in southeast Texas, scientists and climate activists quickly started to ask whether there was a link between human-induced climate change and the Category 4 storm.
The attribution question has been at the forefront of numerous major weather events in recent years, including California’s drought, Superstorm Sandy and the 2013 polar vortex.
But it’s taken on a new meaning in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, thanks in large part to President Trump’s doubts about climate change science and his efforts to roll back nearly every Obama administration policy meant to combat climate change.
Most recently, Trump signed an executive order to stop Obama’s initiative that called for federally funded infrastructure to be built to withstand the expected effects of climate change, including frequent floods.
While Trump’s policy changes are too recent for their effects to be seen in the response to Harvey, some climate activists see the storm as a reminder of the effects of not taking the strong action they want against global warming.
“Once the storm has passed, the Trump administration must rethink its dangerous denial of how climate change is increasing threats to people along America’s shorelines,” said Kassie Siegel, directly of the climate law institute at the Center for Biological Diversity.
“Harvey’s destruction shows the danger of Trump’s recent order to disregard flood risks to federal infrastructure along our coasts. As climate change drives up damage from flooding and storm surges, the president is blocking efforts to protect bridges and highways from future hurricanes.”
Barry Rabe, an environmental policy professor at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy, said past extreme weather events have not moved the needle much on the public’s perception of climate change.
“People are extremely confident, increasingly so, one way or the other on this. And it’s not clear that past singular weather disasters have had an enduring effect,” Rabe said, citing polling data from past disasters.
Harvey’s unprecedented power, rainfall and impact could buck the trend, Rabe said.
“With something this scale and magnitude, nationally or internationally significant, hitting a major urban area … it may change the thought or perception in some way.”
But not all scientists are ready to make any connection between Harvey and climate change.
Joe Bastardi, a meteorologist at WeatherBell Analytics who doubts the mainstream science about human contribution to climate change, said Harvey is within what he would expect, given recent weather patterns.
“I could give you 100 examples of how Harvey has occurred all over the world in other places,” he said.
Bastardi believes that the climate is changing, but human activity is not the main cause.
He said Harvey is only the seventh-highest-magnitude hurricane on record to hit the Texas coast, though no other storm of this magnitude has stalled over Texas, which drives up rainfall totals.
“While this stalling and heavy rain is unprecedented in the Houston area, you have hundreds of places across the globe where tropical cyclones have stalled,” he said.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/348317-scientists-global-warming-drove-up-harvey-rainfall-totals
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Tillerson Moves to Scrap Top Envoy Position
Aug 29, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Hannah Northey
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is planning to eliminate the top climate envoy position at the State Department as part of a wider overhaul that could further aggravate the Trump administration's contentious relationship with the scientific community.
Tillerson alerted Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) in a letter first obtained by CNN of his intent to reorganize, shift or scrap almost half of the agency's nearly 70 special envoy positions, including removing high-profile representatives on the issues of climate change, the Arctic, Syria and cybersecurity. The letter was also sent to ranking member Ben Cardin (D-Md.).
"I believe that the department will be able to better execute its mission by integrating certain envoys and special representative offices within the regional and functional bureaus, and eliminating those that have accomplished or outlived their original purpose," Tillerson wrote.
The aim, Tillerson said, is to eliminate duplicative or unnecessary positions and empower regional bureaus.
The role of special envoy for climate would be "removed" and associated functions, staff and funding shifted to the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. Also on the chopping block are the positions of U.S. special representative for the Arctic and coordinator for cyber issues.
Tillerson's move was not unexpected, given that the Trump administration has for months pledged to slash the special envoy positions created by executive fiat under the Obama administration. And Tillerson has for months spoken in support for reducing his agency's footprint.Reaction on the Hill
The letter appeared to gain support from Corker but is already touching a nerve among Democrats concerned about the dissipating focus on climate science and action under the Trump administration.
Corker in a statement yesterday applauded Tillerson's reorganization plan, saying too many special envoy roles had allowed people to work around the "normal diplomatic processes in lieu of streamlining them." Corker noted that his committee last month passed legislation to require Senate confirmation for special envoys.
At a hearing last month, Cardin acknowledged Tillerson's authority to reorganize the agency and said there are many special envoys at the State Department that do not need Senate confirmation. But Cardin also said certain issues deserve special attention.
"There's a lot of support within Congress for particular envoys and we don't want to diminish the importance of a particular area," Cardin said.
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations panel, firmly pushed back today on Tillerson's letter. "The elimination of this critical position is just one more example of the Trump administration ceding American climate and clean energy leadership to countries like China and Germany," Markey said in a statement. "Secretary Tillerson must retain this position so that the United States keeps a seat at the table."Vacancies and shrinking rosters
Tillerson's letter arrives within days of the highly publicized departure of one of the State Department's seven Obama-era science envoys.
A California professor, Daniel Kammen, resigned over the president's positions on climate change and race.
Kammen, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, blasted the President Trump's decision to exit the Paris climate accord in a letter that spelled out the word "IMPEACH" using the first letter of each paragraph (Greenwire, Aug. 23).
The State Department has already seen a number of high-profile officials head for the exit.
The department's science adviser, Vaughan Turekian, stepped down in July rather than seek renewal of his position, and the Trump administration has yet to appoint a science adviser or select anyone for the special coordinator for international energy affairs position.
And the agency's Office of Global Change and Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change has for months seen shrinking rosters and only two of seven science envoys at the agency have had their positions extended (Climatewire, Aug. 24).
Vacancies across the government and executive branch have raised eyebrows on both sides of the aisle. Trump waded into the prickly issue this morning, shooting down a conservative commentator who criticized the administration for failing to fill key roles.
".@foxandfriends We are not looking to fill all of those positions," Trump tweeted. "Don't need many of them - reduce size of government. @IngrahamAngle."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/08/29/stories/1060059381
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