Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 10/12/18
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(ACC Mentioned) ACC: US Chemical Output Set to Exceed Global Growth in 2019
Dec 10, 2018 | Chemical Week
By Robert Westervelt
The US chemical sector will grow faster than the global market again in 2019 thanks to solid conditions in key end markets as well as continuing benefit of advantaged feedstock supply, according to ACC’s “Year-End 2018 Chemical Industry Situation and Outlook.” -
NRDC: DOE Hasn’t Spend 79 Percent of Its ARPA-E Funding
Dec 10, 2018 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Eric Wolff
The Department of Energy hasn't spent 79 percent of the money Congress appropriated last year for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, according to the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council. -
Swedish Study Finds That Living in a House with Vinyl Floors Increases Levels of Phthalates in Pregnant Women
Dec 10, 2018 | Treehugger
By Lloyd Alter
When we recently discussed 6 different kitchen floors that are healthy and green, we noted that vinyl was off the menu, even though it was functionally almost the perfect floor. -
U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas Export Capacity to More Than Double by the End of 2019
Dec 10, 2018 | American Journal of Transportation
EIA projects that U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world behind Australia and Qatar. -
Winter Spikes May Pull LNG into Natural Gas Market’s Balancing Act
Dec 10, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jeremiah Shelor
Between structural shifts in supply/demand balance and historically lean stockpiles, natural gas prices face major upside risks this winter, but even after recent gains, Henry Hub bulls should have room to run before U.S. liquefied natural gas exports start to become uneconomic, according to analysts. -
BP, Shell to Face New Shareholder Challenge Over Climate in 2019
Dec 10, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Kelly Gilblom
The activists who rankled Royal Dutch Shell Plc by filing climate change resolutions for three straight years now are targeting other oil majors. -
UK Product Database to Address Chemical Safety Issues
Dec 10, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Leigh Stringer
Chemical safety issues in the UK are to be covered by a product database that the government’s department for business, energy and industrial strategy (Beis) is developing. -
What’s Happening in Poland Right Now to Fix Climate Change — And Why You Should Be Paying Attention
Dec 10, 2018 | The Washington Post
By Chris Mooney
Delegates from nearly 200 countries have assembled this month in Katowice, Poland — the heart of coal country — to try to move the ball forward on battling climate change. -
UN Climate Summit Stalls as US Backs Dispute Over Science Report
Dec 10, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Emily Birnbaum
The United Nations climate summit in Poland stalled over the weekend as the U.S. joined Russia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in declining to "welcome" a landmark study on worldwide climate change. -
Sunrise Movement Hits Pelosi Again
Dec 10, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Nick Sobczyk and Mark K. Matthews
Hundreds of protesters swarmed the offices of House Democratic leaders this morning, the latest in a series of progressive moves to push the party to act on climate change. -
Former Advisers Slam Trump EPA Over Review of Soot Standards
Dec 10, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
A key EPA advisory committee should reject the agency's playbook and timetable for handling a high-stakes review of standards for airborne particulate matter, a group of former panel members said in a sharply worded letter released today.
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(ACC Mentioned) ACC: US Chemical Output Set to Exceed Global Growth in 2019
Dec 10, 2018 | Chemical Week
By Robert Westervelt
The US chemical sector will grow faster than the global market again in 2019 thanks to solid conditions in key end markets as well as continuing benefit of advantaged feedstock supply, according to ACC’s “Year-End 2018 Chemical Industry Situation and Outlook.”
US volumes are forecast to grow 3.6% in 2019, up from 3.1% in 2018. Global chemicals output is set to rise 3.0% next year after growth of 2.8% this year, according to ACC.
While most major economies have slowed, US economic growth remains dynamic and chemicals output continues to improve. “Expansion across a broad band of industrial sectors is supporting American economic growth this year,” says Kevin Swift, chief economist at ACC. “Housing, business investment, and their supply chains have momentum. Light vehicle sales have likely peaked for this cycle but remain at elevated levels.” Industrial activity should continue to expand in 2019 but the slowdown overseas is likely to affect to the United States and rising trade tensions present a risk, ACC says.
US GDP and chemical output continues to accelerate and remains an outlier as synchronized global expansion has “unravelled” as the world’s major economies have slowed, Swift says. China’s growth outside of the technology sector has slowed considerably and concerns around tariff disputes has “muted” growth prospects, Swift says.
American chemical output, meanwhile, is set for significant growth as new production capacity comes online and demand strengthens in key end-use markets,” says Martha Moore, senior director of policy analysis and economics at ACC. “Provided that access to export markets remains open to our producers, expanding global demand will be met by shale-advantaged chemistry sourced from the United States.”
Stronger export markets and gains in business investment have boosted demand in key end-use markets such as light vehicles and housing, Moore adds. Light vehicle sales have declined from the robust pace of 2015–16 but remain at elevated levels. US housing activity is improving, with 1.27 million starts in 2018 and 1.34 million in 2019 before the level gradually returns to its long-term underlying demand pace of 1.5 million units per year by 2023, Moore adds.
In specialties, production will pick up 2.2% in 2019 after a 3.7% gain this year. Gains in specialty chemicals were led by oilfield chemicals, electronic chemicals, coatings, adhesives, cosmetic chemicals, and flavors and fragrances, according to the report. Demand for specialty chemicals is expected to grow in line with industrial and construction sector gains in the years ahead.
US expansion will boost exports and industry’s trade surplus, particularly for resins. The US chemical industry will post a $39 billion surplus in chemicals this year as exports rise 10%, to $143 billion, and imports rise 7.8%, to $105 billion. Two-way trade between the United States and foreign partners will reach $248 billion this year, a 9.1% increase from 2017. Assuming no major trade disruptions, there will be a $69 billion trade surplus in chemicals by 2023, ACC says. “Access to export markets will be critical since export growth will drive industry gains over the next decade,” ACC adds.
Since 2010, 333 US chemical projects cumulatively valued at $202 billion have been announced thanks to US feedstock advantage, according to ACC. US chemical industry capital spending increased by 7.9% this year, to $37 billion, and will average 4.7% in 2019 and 3.4% in 2020 as early projects reach completion. “By 2023, US capital spending by the chemical industry will reach $43 billion—nearly over two times the level of spending at the start of this prolonged cycle in 2010,” Swift says.
https://chemweek.com/CW/Document/100237/ACC-US-chemical-output-set-to-exceed-global-growth-in-2019
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NRDC: DOE Hasn’t Spend 79 Percent of Its ARPA-E Funding
Dec 10, 2018 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Eric Wolff
The Department of Energy hasn't spent 79 percent of the money Congress appropriated last year for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, according to the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council.
The Trump Administration proposed eliminating funding for ARPA-E, which doles out cash for energy research, but was been rebuked by Congress. Appropriators gave the office $353 million for the fiscal year that ended Oct. 1, but DOE hasn’t spent $280 million, according to the NRDC's analysis. While some of the money is allocated for upcoming grants, there is no formal plan for $162 million, or 45 percent of the appropriated funds.
“The Trump administration may be intentionally ignoring the will of Congress by allowing hundreds of millions of dollars to collect dust instead of fulfilling its responsibilities,” NRDC wrote on its website.
DOE also hasn’t spent $110 million of the $242 million in funding for solar research, and it left behind a quarter or more of the funding set aside for research into water, wind, buildings and manufacturing.
DOE says it plans to obligate all of its 2018 ARPA-E appropriation by the end of the 2019 fiscal year. Much of DOE’s research money is considered “no-year,” meaning the agency can still spend it after the funding year is up.
“Because of the time it takes to review, select, and negotiate projects, funds normally do not obligate in the same year as appropriated,” a DOE spokesman said.
DOE said the levels of unspent money for other research is “consistent with historical averages.”
NRDC is calling for an investigation by the GAO and Congress.
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard
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Dec 10, 2018 | Treehugger
By Lloyd Alter
When we recently discussed 6 different kitchen floors that are healthy and green, we noted that vinyl was off the menu, even though it was functionally almost the perfect floor. One of the reasons was that it was softened with phthalates, which are suspected to be endocrine disruptors and according to some studies, related to the rate of miscarriages. Another study related phthalates to lower IQ levels.
Now a new study out of Sweden, PVC flooring at home and uptake of phthalates in pregnant women, concludes that pregnant women who live in homes with vinyl floors in the kitchens or bedrooms have higher levels of phthalates in their urine.
The study authors remind us that phthalates are not chemically bound to the products they are in, but are mixed in, "and may therefore migrate from the material into the surrounding environment." IKEA sells square miles of vinyl flooring so it is pretty common in Sweden.
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The extensive use of PVC flooring in Sweden—in combination with the fact that people spend most of their time indoors (about 90% of the time during winter) whether at home or in work places32—raise the question to what degree such materials contribute to human uptake of phthalates. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to investigate whether residential PVC flooring is related to the urinary levels of phthalate metabolites in pregnant women in the Swedish Environmental Longitudinal, Mother and child, Asthma and allergy (SELMA) study.
The study concluded:
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This study has found significantly higher urinary levels of the BBzP metabolite (MBzP) in pregnant women living in homes with PVC flooring as compared to other flooring materials. Since BBzP is a regulated phthalate, our findings may bring the awareness of the usage of BBzP.
60s Armstrong flooring ad/Promo image
It should be noted that many manufacturers of what is now called Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) claim that they are phthalate free. That's why they are tiles instead of sheet goods, they do not need as much plasticizer to soften it up. We are still not fans of vinyl because it is still PVC, but being phthalate-free is a step in the right direction.
But we have one study that says phthalates cause miscarriages and another that says vinyl floors increase the amount of phthalates in pregnant women. It's not a stretch to suggest that this stuff doesn't belong in our homes.
Here's our list of alternatives.
https://www.treehugger.com/plastic/swedish-study-finds-living-house-vinyl-floors-increases-levels-phthalates-pregnant-women.html
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U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas Export Capacity to More Than Double by the End of 2019
Dec 10, 2018 | American Journal of Transportation
EIA projects that U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world behind Australia and Qatar. Currently, U.S. LNG export capacity stands at 3.6 Bcf/d, and it is expected to end the year at 4.9 Bcf/d as two new liquefaction units (called trains) become operational.Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, company investor presentations
The United States began exporting LNG from the Lower 48 states in February 2016, when the Sabine Pass liquefaction terminal in Louisiana shipped its first cargo. Since then, Sabine Pass expanded from one to four operating liquefaction trains, and the Cove Point LNG export facility began operation in Maryland. Two more trains—Sabine Pass Train 5 and Corpus Christi LNG Train 1—began LNG production this year, several months ahead of schedule, and are expected to ship their first cargos within the next few weeks.
Two more LNG export facilities—Cameron LNG in Louisiana and Freeport LNG in Texas—are currently being commissioned. Commissioning of liquefaction facilities involves introducing natural gas feed into the train and ultimately producing LNG. For liquefaction terminals, which use refrigeration to cool natural gas into liquid form, commissioning also includes getting the equipment and refrigerants down to sufficiently cold temperatures. The first LNG production from these facilities is expected in the first half of 2019. The developers of these projects expect all three trains at Cameron LNG and two trains at Freeport LNG to be placed in service in 2019.
The Elba Island LNG facility near Savannah, Georgia, is also scheduled to become fully operational by the end of 2019. Elba Island LNG consists of 10 small modular liquefaction units with a combined capacity of 0.33 Bcf/d. Project developers expect LNG production from the first train to begin early next year and from the remaining nine trains to commence sequentially through the rest of 2019. The second train at Corpus Christi LNG is scheduled to be placed in service in the second quarter of 2019. The final two trains of the U.S. liquefaction projects currently under construction—Freeport Train 3 and Corpus Christi Train 3—are expected in service in the second quarters of 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Four additional export terminals—Magnolia LNG, Delfin LNG, Lake Charles, Golden Pass—and the sixth train at Sabine Pass have been approved by both the U.S. Federal Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Department of Energy, and they are expected to make final investment decisions in the coming months. These proposed projects represent a combined additional LNG export capacity of 7.6 Bcf/d.Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, company investor presentationsNote: Each square represents one LNG train, with the exception of Elba Island, which will deploy 10 small-scale modular liquefaction units sequentially in two phases.
U.S. LNG exports continue to increase with the growing export capacity. EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook forecasts U.S. LNG exports to average 2.9 Bcf/d in 2018 and 5.2 Bcf/d in 2019 as the new liquefaction trains are gradually commissioned and ramp up LNG production to operate at full capacity. The latest information on the status of U.S. liquefaction facilities, including expected online dates and capacities, is available in EIA’s database of U.S. LNG export facilities.
https://www.ajot.com/news/u.s.-liquefied-natural-gas-export-capacity-to-more-than-double-by-the-end-of-2019
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Winter Spikes May Pull LNG into Natural Gas Market’s Balancing Act
Dec 10, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jeremiah Shelor
Between structural shifts in supply/demand balance and historically lean stockpiles, natural gas prices face major upside risks this winter, but even after recent gains, Henry Hub bulls should have room to run before U.S. liquefied natural gas exports start to become uneconomic, according to analysts...
Access to full text unavailable – subscription required. Full story can be found here:
https://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/116729-winter-spikes-may-pull-lng-into-natural-gas-markets-balancing-act
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BP, Shell to Face New Shareholder Challenge Over Climate in 2019
Dec 10, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Kelly Gilblom
The activists who rankled Royal Dutch Shell Plc by filing climate change resolutions for three straight years now are targeting other oil majors.
Follow This, a Dutch group that accumulates shares in oil companies in order to press them over greenhouse gas emissions, has filed another resolution against Shell for 2019. It also filed its first resolution against BP Plc and could target Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. in the same way.
The group, led by former journalist Mark van Baal, has been a source of frustration for Shell management, even though its resolutions have gone down to defeat. Van Baal stood up at the Anglo-Dutch supermajor’s May 2018 shareholder meeting and said Shell was misleading its investors by saying it was on track to meet global climate targets, prompting CEO Ben van Beurden to angrily retort that wasn’t the case.
Last week, seven months after the exchange, Van Beurden softened his tone. He said Shell should do more on climate change and that the company will set public, short-term targets on emissions reductions starting in 2020, which could impact how the company deploys capital.Paris Agreement
“We’ve seen how effective climate resolutions are in the case of Shell,” Van Baal said in a statement. “However, we need the entire oil and gas industry to go along.”
The resolutions will ask companies to align their investments with the 2016 Paris Agreement, in which countries agreed they would try to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Global carbon emissions need to fall 25 percent by 2030 to reach the goal, while some oil companies, mostly in the U.S., haven’t even indicated they’ll cut greenhouse gases to that extent within their own operations.
Along with customer usage, the energy sector accounts for about two-thirds of global emissions, according to the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change.
BP said in a statement that it received the resolution and was considering it carefully, while also pointing to near-term targets to cut emissions from its own operations and its energy transition report. Shell said the resolution was “unnecessary” given its announcement on short-term targets last week. Exxon spokesman Scott Silvestri declined to comment.
“Chevron is taking prudent, practical and cost-effective actions to address potential climate change risks, including managing emissions, testing new technologies and increasing efficiency,” Sean Comey, a Chevron spokesman, said in an email. “We actively engage with investors to encourage thoughtful dialogue that produces meaningful solutions to climate change.”Competing Goals
Shareholder pressure has already taken a toll on Big Oil. Last year, as pension funds in Shell’s home country of the Netherlands expanded their criticism of the company, it became the only supermajor to start seeking emissions cuts from customers. That is on top of the work Shell does to limit pollution from its operations. Follow This wants BP and others to do the same.
Companies have now acknowledged they should contribute to climate solutions. Oil bosses also said they’re worried about hindering economic growth or disrupting other goals, such as giving everyone in the world access to electricity. Additionally, when Big Oil has ventured into low-carbon businesses in the past, it lost money.
Shell and BP are both expected to have annual general meetings in May 2019. Follow This hasn’t yet filed resolutions against Exxon and Chevron and will do so only if it doesn’t duplicate the work of other activist shareholders, Van Baal said in a statement.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/bp-shell-to-face-new-shareholder-challenge-over-climate-in-2019
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UK Product Database to Address Chemical Safety Issues
Dec 10, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Leigh Stringer
Chemical safety issues in the UK are to be covered by a product database that the government’s department for business, energy and industrial strategy (Beis) is developing.
The UK government established the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) in January, following recommendations of the Working Group on Product Recalls and Safety. Part of the OPSS's strategy is to develop a product safety database. While an exact date is not specified, Beis expects the public to have access to this next year.
In a statement to Chemical Watch, the department confirmed that the database will include any consumer products that are recalled because of a product safety issue, including if a chemical component makes the product unsafe.
"The new database will ensure we are able to continue to identify threats, mount coordinated and rapid responses to those threats and target the interception of high risk products, including imports," its statement reads.
Beis added that the OPSS will seek to put in place a system that enables exchange of key data with all relevant parties in the UK and internationally.
"The Office for Product Safety and Standards will enable the UK to meet the evolving challenges of product safety by responding to expanding international trade, the growth in online shopping and the increasing rate of product innovation."
As the UK prepares to leave the EU, negotiations continue on how product safety data will be shared. However, Beis said, whatever the result of these, the UK will need a new dedicated infrastructure to exchange secure data between enforcement authorities within the UK internal market. Safety data
According to the OPSS's strategy, access to datasets has been "identified as an acute problem within the product safety landscape".
The office plans to work with with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa) and the College of Medicine to explore the collection of accident data and facilitate better information of injury types and product hazards.
It will also aim to continue gathering data from European and international databases, such as the EU’s Rapex and the OECD’s Global Recall Portal. This will allow it to share cross-boundary product issues and build a broader picture of product risk and industry compliance.
However, there remains a "challenge in collating and sharing information to enable a robust intelligence picture to be formed, as well as local authority access to external datasets," the strategy statement continues.
It plans to produce an assessment of the "product safety landscape" by the end of March 2019. This will "enable an objective assessment of the current situation and help to identify priorities for further data capture and operational intervention," it says.
Last week, the UK government published additional guidance on UK REACH in the event Britain leaves the EU on 29 March without a deal.
https://chemicalwatch.com/72697/uk-product-database-to-address-chemical-safety-issues
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What’s Happening in Poland Right Now to Fix Climate Change — And Why You Should Be Paying Attention
Dec 10, 2018 | The Washington Post
By Chris Mooney
Delegates from nearly 200 countries have assembled this month in Katowice, Poland — the heart of coal country — to try to move the ball forward on battling climate change.
It’s now the 24th annual meeting, or “COP” — conference of the parties — under the landmark U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which the United States signed under then-President George H.W. Bush in 1992. More significantly, it’s the third such meeting since nations adopted the Paris climate agreement in 2015, widely seen at the time as a landmark moment in which, at last, developed and developing countries would share a path toward cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
But the surge of optimism that came with Paris has faded lately. The United States, the second largest greenhouse gas emitter, said it would withdraw from the agreement, though it has not formally done so yet. Many other countries are off target when it comes to meeting their initial round of Paris promises — promises that are widely acknowledged to be too weak to begin with. And emissions have begun to rise after a brief hiatus that had lent some hope of progress.
The latest science, meanwhile, is pointing toward increasingly dire outcomes. The amount of global warming that the world already has seen — 1 degree Celsius, 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit — has upended the Arctic, is killing coral reefs and may have begun to destabilize a massive part of Antarctica. A new report from the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), requested by the countries that assembled in Paris to be timed for this year’s meeting, finds a variety of increasingly severe effects as soon as a rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius arrives — an outcome that can’t be avoided without emissions cuts so steep that they would require societal transformations without any known historical parallel, the panel found.
It’s in this context that countries are meeting in Poland, with expectations and stakes high.
So what’s on the agenda in Poland?
The answer starts with the Paris agreement, which was negotiated three years ago, has been signed by 197 countries and is a mere 27 pages long. It covers a lot, laying out a huge new regime not only for the world as a whole to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, but for each individual country to regularly make new emissions-cutting pledges, strengthen them over time, report emissions to the rest of the world and much more. It also addresses financial obligations that developed countries have to developing countries and how technologies will be transferred to help that.
But those 27 pages leave open to interpretation many fine points for how it will all work. So in Poland, countries are performing a detailed annotation of the Paris agreement, drafting a “rule book” that will span hundreds of pages.
That may sound bureaucratic, but it’s key to addressing many of the flash points. For instance, it will be hard for countries to trust that their fellow nations are cutting emissions without clear standards for reporting and vetting. Not everybody is ready to accept a process like the one followed in the United States, which not only publishes its emissions totals but also has an independent review of the findings.
“A number of the developing countries are resisting that kind of model for themselves. They see it as an intrusion on their sovereignty,” said Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists and one of the many participants in Poland this week. “That’s going to be a pretty tough issue at the end of the day.”
It’s hardly the only one. Also unclear is what countries will do after the time frames on their current emissions-cutting promises are up, which for many is 2025 or 2030. Will all countries then start reporting newer and more ambitious promises every five years? Every 10 years?
That really matters when five years of greenhouse gas emissions — currently about 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually — are capable of directly affecting the planet’s temperature.
With the clock ticking, will countries do anything to increase their ambition at this meeting?
If negotiating the Paris rule book sounds disappointingly technical, well, you’re not the only one feeling that way. Pressure is mounting for countries to accomplish something more than that in Poland — to at minimum give a strong signal that they understand that the science is looking worse and worse, and the world’s progress isn’t matching that outlook.
“The bigger issue is how we’re going to get to an outcome on greater ambition,” said Lou Leonard, senior vice president for climate and energy at the World Wildlife Fund, who is in Poland observing the talks. “And I think the first week was not kind on moving that part of the agenda forward.”
Most countries are not likely to make new emissions-cutting promises this week. But there are two ways that the meeting could give a strong statement that countries should — or will — come up with new promises at least by 2020. That’s when extremely dramatic emissions cuts would have to start, according to the recent report on 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming.
The first is the “Talanoa dialogue,” a two-day process in which countries' ministers will assemble to share stories about what is working, what is not and to assess where the world as a whole is on achieving the required greenhouse gas emissions reductions. It’s possible that the outcome of the dialogue could be a statement acknowledging that the world isn’t nearly far enough along and calling for much stronger steps.
There will also be a decision text released for the meeting as a whole, which could potentially send a signal. Leonard said he hopes that would include details for the next steps that will put the world on a better course.
“We have to create milestones, and the politics around it that will pressure countries to do something that quite frankly they don’t want to do,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy. That’s why we need a process that will help make it happen. And make the most of the IPCC report that was designed to come out right now so it could do this for us. That’s why we have it, and it needs to serve that role.”
The United States says it will withdraw from the agreement, so what role is it playing in Poland?
Despite President Trump’s pledge to withdraw, the United States remains in the Paris agreement (for now) and has sent a delegation of 44 people to Poland, largely from the State Department but also from the Environmental Protection Agency, Energy Department and even the White House. Many of these career government officials remain deeply engaged in hashing out details of the agreement.
Still, the country as a whole is being cast in an antagonistic role in the talks.
The United States is promoting a session Monday focused on fossil fuels and nuclear energy, the second year in a row that it’s hosting a meeting on the topic. Last year, protesters disrupted the event in the middle by busting into song. This year’s event is likely to be similarly controversial.
The United States also teamed up with Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait on Saturday in an effort that seemed aimed at minimizing the import of the dire IPCC report on 1.5 degrees Celsius. Debating in a technical working group whose efforts flow into the overall Poland outcome, these countries merely wanted the meeting to “note” the existence of the report, rather than “welcoming” it, as many other nations preferred.
This now sets the stage for a bigger battle as the meeting shifts, in its second phase, from one guided by government negotiators to one in which ministerial leaders arrive and push forward. And it seems likely that the tension over the IPCC report will now be revisited at a higher level.
“The technocrats have tried,” said Yamide Dagnet, a project director at the World Resources Institute who is in Poland for the talks. “The negotiators have tried, using the process. And that was not concluded. But now the ministers have an opportunity to still get us on track to endorse the IPCC report.”
Is there any outcome that would make this meeting a success?
That’s a matter of interpretation. Clearly, though, with a litany of bad news about climate change arriving just before the meeting, the world will be watching to see how leaders assembled in Poland can respond to it.
The real question is whether the technical process playing out right now — complicated by the dynamics of developed and developing countries and by the existence of several countries, like the United States, that are resisting sharp emissions cuts — is capable of delivering something more than just a rule book.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/12/10/whats-happening-poland-right-now-fix-climate-change-why-you-should-be-paying-attention/?utm_term=.ba527455fbff
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UN Climate Summit Stalls as US Backs Dispute Over Science Report
Dec 10, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Emily Birnbaum
The United Nations climate summit in Poland stalled over the weekend as the U.S. joined Russia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in declining to "welcome" a landmark study on worldwide climate change.
All four oil-producing nations are calling for the report to be "noted" rather than "welcomed," a semantic difference that the State Department said draws a line between a U.S. acknowledgement and a full-out endorsement, The Associated Press reported.ADVERTISEMENT
"The United States was willing to note the report and express appreciation to the scientists who developed it, but not to welcome it, as that would denote endorsement of the report,” the State Department said in a statement, according to the AP.
The report, released in October by the the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warns that the world might be on a path toward catastrophic climate change if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t cut dramatically by 2030.
“As we have made clear in the IPCC and other bodies, the United States has not endorsed the findings of the report," the State Department continued.
Negotiators attending the nearly 200-nation conference took Sunday off after the four countries declined to endorse the report the day before, according to the AP.
“I think it was a key moment,” Alden Meyer, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, told the AP. “The fact that a group of four countries were trying to diminish the value and importance of a scientific report they themselves, with all other countries, requested three years ago in Paris is pretty remarkable.”"Welcoming" the IPCC report would have meant accepting some of its findings as suggestions for future policy.
The U.S.'s decision to distance itself from the report comes as Trump administration officials, including the president, have continued to cast doubt on the reality of global warming and whether climate change is human-made.
A federal climate change report released last month concluded that 92 percent of climate change is caused by human activity. President Trumphas continued to undermine the report, which was authorized by 13 federal agencies, saying it was produced based on dubious modeling techniques.
The scientists who contributed to the report, many of whom work in the federal government, have insisted they used multiple models in order to conclude that climate change is poised to to slash the U.S. economy and substantially diminish the day-to-day lives of all Americans.
The IPCC report suggests phasing out fossil fuel use by 2050, the AP reported.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/420484-un-climate-summit-stalls-as-us-backs-dispute-over-science-report
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Sunrise Movement Hits Pelosi Again
Dec 10, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Nick Sobczyk and Mark K. Matthews
Hundreds of protesters swarmed the offices of House Democratic leaders this morning, the latest in a series of progressive moves to push the party to act on climate change.
The Sunrise Movement brought its volunteers back to Capitol Hill for sit-ins in the offices of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Rules Committee ranking member Jim McGovern (D-Mass.).
The demonstrations were preceded by a lobby day in at least 46 offices, during which volunteers pushed members and staff to support Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's proposed Select Committee on a Green New Deal.
While Democrats didn't pay climate change much attention on the campaign trail this year, progressive mobilization over the past few weeks "has changed the political weather in the country" and put the "Green New Deal" on the map, said Stephen O'Hanlon, communications director for the Sunrise Movement.
"A few months ago, it was a niche policy idea, and now it's something that's gaining support," O'Hanlon told reporters this morning.
Ocasio-Cortez, the rising progressive star from New York, wants the select committee to craft legislation by 2020 that would fulfill a long climate wish list, including getting to 100 percent renewable energy in 10 years and building a national "smart" grid (see related story).
It wasn't immediately clear whether any new members signed on to the proposal today, though the coalition has grown in recent weeks. At least 22 members and 140 organizations now support the select committee, and several senators have embraced the idea as well.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a longtime climate hawk, became the latest with a tweetyesterday.
This morning, those lofty goals drove demonstrators, who told stories in the Democratic offices about how they and their families are affected by climate change, as reporters and Capitol Police looked on from the hallway.
Organizers lined up volunteers in the basement of the Cannon House Office Building as they trickled out of meetings in congressional offices, before heading upstairs to protest at around 11 a.m.
It was a raucous scene but a clearly organized effort. Several volunteers said before the protests began that they were told not to speak to reporters, instead pointing to designated communications officers, who offered crisp messages about the day's events and the climate movement.
Pelosi's office alone drew several hundred demonstrators, easily more than the last time the Sunrise Movement occupied her office last month (Greenwire, Nov. 13).
Nicole Catania, 23, joined the crowd in Cannon outside Pelosi's office. She said she was spurred to join the movement after watching Hurricane Irma rip through Florida last year — putting her grandparents at risk.
A Capitol Police officer escorting a protester out of the Cannon House Office Building today. Mark Matthews/E&E News
"They couldn't evacuate because they're both in wheelchairs," she said. "I was horrified the entire night [the storm hit] because I didn't know they were OK."
Her grandparents ultimately were fine — other than having to deal with a loss of power for two weeks — but Catania said the episode forced her to face the growing dangers of global warming. And to take action.
"Democrats are supposed to be on our side. They believe in the science. They give us words of support," she said. "But they aren't taking the action that is bold enough to actually scale to this crisis. And that's why we're here."
Capitol Police began arresting activists around noon. Organizers said this morning that nearly 200 protesters planned to risk arrest, but final figures were not immediately available.
At the last Pelosi protest, more than 50 activists were arrested.
Meanwhile, McGovern's and Hoyer's offices drew smaller crowds. McGovern is an obvious target for the Sunrise Movement. He's in line to chair the Rules Committee, which will help decide whether the select climate change committee is formed.
During the protest, a long line of activists streamed into the Massachusetts Democrat's office to drop off notes or share stories.
One teacher from Virginia said she was there for her students. Another activist from Massachusetts said she feared how global warming would harm the world's forests. A third protester from California said he was protesting on behalf of marginalized communities on the front lines of climate change.
Hoyer will be Pelosi's No. 2 next year, and he hasn't taken a public position on the proposed select committee.
Still, O'Hanlon said activists are "concerned" about Hoyer — generally considered a business-friendly centrist — because he has taken contributions from fossil fuel interests.
"We want to make sure that's not getting in the way of the Green New Deal becoming part of the Democratic agenda in 2019," O'Hanlon said.
In any case, all three protests were peaceful, with little interaction between demonstrators and staff. Hoyer put out a statement of support on Twitter as protesters homed in on his office this morning.
"I welcome visitors from @sunrisemvmt to my office today, and I'm happy to hear from them about one of the most pressing issues of our time," Hoyer tweeted. "Speaking out is exactly what our democracy is all about, and I appreciate their passion. The new Dem Majority will #ActonClimate."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/12/10/stories/1060109203
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Former Advisers Slam Trump EPA Over Review of Soot Standards
Dec 10, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
A key EPA advisory committee should reject the agency's playbook and timetable for handling a high-stakes review of standards for airborne particulate matter, a group of former panel members said in a sharply worded letter released today.
The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) "should not agree to the review process or to the schedule proposed by EPA," the letter says.
The letter also urges EPA to reconstitute an auxiliary panel that was originally created to bring added expertise to the review. Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler dismissed the panel two months ago. All 15 signers to today's letter had been members.
"We remind CASAC and EPA ... that it has been long-standing practice, for four decades, to augment the 7-member CASAC with additional independent expert consultants, and this augmentation is essential to a high-quality review," they wrote.
The letter is addressed to CASAC Chairman Tony Cox, a Denver consultant.
In an email this afternoon to E&E News, Cox said the letter offers "several useful opinions and recommendations that overlap with those of numerous other commentators and that I believe may be quite useful to EPA." But he suggested previous EPA assessments have given too little attention to the "crucial" question of how many deaths or illnesses can be prevented by reducing exposure to particulate matter, or soot, as opposed to the "easier but less relevant questions of how many deaths or illnesses per year are associated with or attributed to PM exposures."
"It is time to start informing policy deliberations about the quantitative health consequences caused by alternative choices," Cox said.
The letter was released ahead of the committee's scheduled meetings on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss a draft roundup of the latest scientific research on the health and environmental effects of particulate matter. More than two dozen people, including some signers of today's letter, are scheduled to address the committee.
The draft roundup acknowledges evidence that the existing standards for fine particulates are too weak to adequately protect public health.
The meeting will include a presentation by EPA staff, followed by a chapter-by-chapter discussion by individual CASAC members that is supposed to address specific questions posed by the agency, according to the agenda. The meeting will close with the committee's "summary of major findings and recommendations" on the draft roundup, the agenda says.
Like a recently launched appraisal of the national ground-level ozone standards, the particulate matter review is supposed to play out along fast-track procedures imposed this spring by then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. Both reviews are set to conclude by late 2020.
All of the CASAC's seven current members were appointed by either Wheeler or Pruitt. Most have little direct background in scientific research on air pollution's health effects.
At a recent public teleconference related to the ozone standards review, several voiced qualms about meeting the 2020 deadline (E&E News PM, Nov. 30).
Cox is expressing hope the committee could both meet an "aggressive schedule" and do a top-notch job on the ozone review. If that's not possible, Cox said he would request whatever changes might be needed "so that we guarantee that we end up with a quality product."
This week's meeting could also focus more attention on Cox's work for industry trade groups such as the American Petroleum Institute (Climatewire, Dec. 10). Cox has previously said that he has come to no conclusion on whether changes to existing particulate matter standards are warranted.
Under the Clean Air Act, EPA is supposed to assess and — if needed — revise the standards for ozone, particulate matter and four other criteria pollutants every five years to ensure that they adequately protect public health and the environment based on what's known about their effects.
Wheeler, a former coal company lobbyist, has shown no sign he plans to retreat from Pruitt's policy.
"Under President Trump, EPA has reformed the way we set and implement national standards for ground-level ozone," Wheeler said in an announcement last week on a final rule spelling out a status quo approach to meeting the law's "good neighbor" obligations. "These reforms are helping states meet these standards and avoid additional costly requirements" (Greenwire, Dec. 7).
But in a statement accompanying today's letter, former CASAC Chairman Chris Frey accused EPA of attempting to "short-circuit scientific review" of the air pollution standards.
In regard to both the assessments of the ozone and particulate matter limits, "I expect this to be a rushed process that inappropriately intermixes science and policy and elbows out the public," Frey, a North Carolina State University environmental engineering professor, said in the statement.
Frey and many of the signers of today's letter had previously leveled a similar critique of the review of the ozone threshold (Greenwire, Nov. 26).
Fine particulates are technically known as PM2.5 because they are no more than 2.5 microns in diameter, or one-thirtieth the width of a human hair. Researchers have linked inhalation to an array of heart and lung problems, including an increased risk of premature death.
Following its last review of the particulate matter standards, EPA in 2012 decided to tighten the annual PM2.5 standard from 15 micrograms per cubic meter of air to 12 but left the 24-hour standard unchanged at 35 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/12/10/stories/1060109207
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