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3. New Mexico Quietly Adopts Country’s Most Comprehensive Greenhouse Gas Rules

In a decision posted on the China central government website on Monday, the Chinese government said all airlines were barred from taking part in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme ETS.L - unless they received government approval to do so.

The Chinese government has both forbid China's airlines from paying a tax on carbon emissions for planes flying in and out of Europe but also forbid the airlines from raising its ticket prices for doing so.

Airlines refusing to participate in the EU airlines emissions scheme face fines or even a potential ban from using European airports.
But negotiators on both sides of the issue believe the situation will not reach that point, whether the issue is mitigated diplomatically or in international court.

“I believe all sides will negotiate again and find a solution,” said Chai Haibo, vice president of the China Air Transport Association. “I can’t imagine that the worst case, such as the EU grounding Chinese flights, could happen.”

The Chinese decision on Monday comes at a particularly critical moment in China-Europe relations with a high level summit scheduled for next week between the two; the main purpose of which is to discuss the possibility of China bailing the EU out of its gripping debt crisis,

Appearing last week in a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said his government was weighing the possibility of an expanded role in the European Financial Stability Fund.

“China is considering greater involvement in resolving Europe’s debt crisis by participating in the European Financial Stability Fund and the European Stability Mechanism,” Premier Wen said, noting the EU was China's biggest trade partner.

Although not on the official agenda for next week's summit, the airline carbon emissions issue will most likely be raised.

The governments of the United States, India and Russia have also voiced opposition to the EU carbon scheme for commercial air travel, as have several global airlines.

Although the new fees technically took effect in January, airlines will not see any actual "bills" until 2013. And even then, those bills are expected to be rather limited at this early stage. It is estimated that 85 percent of air travel will be covered by allowances with the remaining 15 percent of air travel facing an emissions fee.

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by chinaoffseason

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1. China, South Korea Affirm Commitment to Nuclear at Energy Summit
2. China, India, Brazil and S. Africa Draw Line in the Sand at Cancun Climate Talks
3. China and Europe Steaming Ahead on Clean Energy, not the U.S.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Director Tommy P. Beaudrea announced on Thursday that an environmental assessment found that there would be "no significant environmental or socioeconomic impacts from wind energy development" on the Outer Continental Shelf off the Mid-Atlantic Coast states of Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Delaware.

“Offshore wind holds incredible potential for our country, and we’re moving full-steam ahead to accelerate the siting, leasing and construction of new projects,” Secretary Salazar said.

The greatest offshore wind energy potential in the U.S. lies off the Atlantic Coast, which holds 1,000 gigawatts of electricity, or one quarter of national demand, according to a 2009 Interior Department report.

“Today’s announcement opens up the ‘sweet spots’ off the mid-Atlantic coast for development of our nation's remarkable offshore wind resource,” said Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes.

Facing the expiration of the wind energy Production Tax Credit at the end of 2012, a policy tool that has been crucial for commercial-scale wind energy development in the U.S., the wind industry welcomed Thursday's announcement with open arms.

Calling the announcement a "significant milestone," Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association, said developing offshore wind energy "will help us capture a new American manufacturing opportunity and create thousands of new American jobs."

Transmission infrastructure in the Mid-Atlantic could ultimately be provided by the Google-backed Atlantic Wind Connection, an undersea transmission cable stretching from northern New Jersey to southern Virginia. First announced in 2010, the transmission project is currently being reviewed by the Interior Department.

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Vattenfall

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3. New Obama Administration Rule Paves Way for Offshore Wind Power

While the two GOP frontrunners in Florida, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, both recognize human-caused climate change as a legitimate concern, no GOP candidate is sincerely addressing the critical climate and energy issues facing Florida, and the rest of the U.S. In fact, the GOP presidential field is largely avoiding energy issues altogether.

Granted, I am not so naive to expect any of the remaining GOP candidates to be barnstorming the lower 48 on biofueled-buses stumping on clean energy or climate change, but if the ultimate GOP presidential nominee hopes to have a shot in Florida, there are some key energy and climate issues that all Floridians really do care about — whether Gingrich, Romney or any of the other GOP hopefuls care to acknowledge them or not.

Offshore oil and gas
Long before the 2008 Republican Convention and the emergence of the "Drill, baby, drill" catchphrase, Republicans have urged the expansion of oil and gas development in just about every fossil fuel-rich corner of this country. But Florida is different. Because of the state's massive tourism industry, and the political and economic clout it brings with it, a two-decade-old ban on drilling in state waters remains in effect and extends out about 10 miles from the coast into the Gulf and three miles out into the Atlantic. And outside of the ban in state waters, federal law prohibits drilling within 125 miles of the Florida coast.

But geologists believe there are substantial oil and gas deposits in the Federal Outer Continental Shelf off of Florida’s western coast. And for this reason, bipartisan opposition to oil and gas exploration off the Florida coast is not the solid block it used to be.

But the 2010 BP oil spill tempered enthusiasm for drilling in Florida waters and public support for offshore oil drilling in Florida has waned in recent years. The recent uptick in opposition to offshore oil and gas development in Florida, spawned a ballot initiative to put the question of offshore oil drilling on the November 2012 ballot. Should the issue get on the ballot and pass, it would put a constitutional ban on drilling in state waters.

While this would not sit well with some Republicans, the new oil drilling trend in Cuban waters which could get within about 45 miles of Florida, doesn't sit well with virtually all Republicans, especially when a deepwater blowout like the one that spewed oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 would send oil into the Straits of Florida and onto hundreds of miles of Florida beaches.

Clean energy & energy efficiency
Florida’s per capita residential electricity demand is among the highest in the country and the amount of petroleum-fired electricity generated in Florida is second to note. With a population of 18.5 million and climbing, energy demand will continue to tighten in the state, driving up the cost of electricity and just about everything else. Although energy efficiency has not really been part of the Florida lexicon to date, if efficiency is ignored for much longer, Florida will join California and the New England states in the uppermost tier of state electricity prices.

In terms of clean energy, just 2 percent of Florida's electricity generation comes from renewable sources, with the overwhelming majority of that coming from landfill methane capture and from the burning of wood/wood waste. But Florida's potential as a renewable energy powerhouse is staggering. The state's abundant solar, wave and tidal resource, combined with its untapped biogas and biofuel potential could be the basis of a clean energy boom in the state, given the right mix of policy drivers and political support. The City of Gainesville notwithstanding, Florida has fallen by the wayside in terms of policy support for renewable energy and moved into the minority of states without a renewable energy standard (RES).

If a national RES is ever passed by the federal government, which it certainly could even under Republican control, Florida is going to be way behind other states and will be forced to play catch-up during a time where national demand could temporarily drive the cost of renewables higher.

Drought and rising sea levels

The biggest elephant in the room when talking about energy and climate in Florida is the projected sea level rise given increased air and water temperatures. The Center for American Progress reports that almost half of Florida’s beaches, are already eroding enough to have an impact on existing development and recreation areas. That erosion already costs $100 million annually for beach nourishment projects, not to mention the threat it presents for real estate. According to an analysis by the American Security Project, real estate losses are projected to cost Floridians $11 billion by 2025, potentially doubling to $23 billion annually by 2050.

Rising sea levels also means salt water intrusion into inland waters, threatening to contaminate the state's already shaky freshwater supplies. And as of just this week, South Florida is officially in a drought. Again.

As I wrote at the outset, I don't expect climate and energy to be front and center of the political debate in Florida. But once this shooting match to see who can be the most conservative is over, someone is going to have some explaining to do to the millions of independent voters who ultimately control which candidate takes the state's 29 electoral votes.

Image credits: 1. Cartoon by Jeff Parker at Florida Today (courtesy of PoliticalCartoons.com);  2. Fire on Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig (U.S. Coast Guard); 3 Solar Panels (First Solar) ; 4. Map of predicted sea-level rise (EPA)

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"Renewable energy is the future," Richardson said at the outset of a 45-minute chat upstairs at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Richardson, along with Nick Aster of Triple Pundit and Brian Merchant of TreeHugger, and talk about renewable energy, energy policy and the environmental movement's strategy given the current political stalemate in Washington.

Encouraging action at the government level

Richardson compared the inactivity and sluggishness in the United States, in terms of clean energy development, to the aggressive moves by the emirate of Abu Dhabi to reinvest and remake its own economy into one centered on clean energy.

"Politically, it is a very smart move and it is going to be considered a master stroke," Richardson said.

Richardson was very clear about government's role in igniting a clean energy revolution in the United States.

"Government should be a catalyst. It can't sit back and not be engaged," he said. "The role of government is to establish with the private sector, with NGOs, with environmental organizations, public-private partnerships. I'm a strong believer in that."

Driving action at the grassroots level

But the biggest difference between what is happening in Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates and what is (not) happening in the United States (of the several), is that the UAE is a monarchy, the US is a democracy -- and democracy is much messier. For that reason, getting governments to adopt pro-renewable energy policies takes a coordinated ground game.

"The message is going to be from the American voters: 'Democrats, Republicans you guys have to start working together.' And that means a jobs program, an energy policy for America," says Gov. Richardson. "The message will be clear: Voters will reward those legislators and policymakers that develop consensus around American's problems. And I think you're seeing an evolution that climate change is becoming more accepted in America. The importance of renewable energies is becoming more accepted."

And the movement needs to be about more than just technology and clean energy, according to Richardson, who calls himself "a traditionalist."

"Don't just talk about solar and wind, talk about protecting land and water," he said. "You can't just say the environment is jobs and the economy. It's also about protecting our land and water."

When I asked Richardson about the strategic direction of the environmental movement should the federal government fail to act with either a comprehensive energy policy, he said, "states should act if the federal government won't"

"If your federal government is not acting, is not being responsible to the environment—like in the Bush Administration, when they said, well, we're not going to abide by the Kyoto Treaty—defy the federal government. And set up your own standards. We approved a renewable portfolio standard. We mandated the Kyoto Protocol targets. There's nothing illegal about that; I just think that's progressive government."

In terms of the "how" question, Richardson said that young people need to send strong messages via social media channels.

"There has to be a way that young people, through social media, send dramatically strong messages to not just policymakers, but to institutions, demanding the protection of air and wildlife," Richardson said.

"It'd be sort of like an 'Arab Spring' for the environment."

Related posts:

1. Obama to Focus on Energy in State of the Union – Not Just the Clean Kind
2. Obama Invites 5 Clean Energy Guests to State of the Union
3. Obama Campaign Picks Up Where It Left Off: Clean Energy Jobs

Best line of #SOTU so far: "We've subsidized oil companies for 100 years. That's long enough!" Straight outta @350 #EcoSOTU

— bcmerchant (@bcmerchant) January 25, 2012

As was expected by many and predicted by some, President Obama's State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress last night contained a considerable amount of references to energy and the environment. But even though we predicted clean energy would play a role in the speech and that juggling support for clean energy and fossil fuels would prove difficult to pull off for President Obama—and difficult to swallow for environmentalists—no one predicted energy would play as big a role as it ultimately did in the speech. And because the energy themes were front and center, the #EcoSOTU Twitter chat (which we first organized in 2010) was buzzing all night.

After running the numbers and cross-checking on several statistics platforms, the results are in, and they are pretty spectacular.

Well, by any metric, that was the most successful #ecoSOTU chat yet. You all totally rocked it! Chat recap coming tomorrow.

— ecopolitology (@ecopolitology) January 25, 2012

According to a report generated by HashTracking.com late Tuesday night, the #ecoSOTU hashtag was used in 1,083 tweets, consisting of 428 original tweets, 625 retweets and 30 @mentions. All this tweeting and retweeting reached an impressive total audience of 1,071,937 followers and generated an astounding 4,693,637 impressions.

Granted, these numbers are inexact and tabulating reach on Twitter is always a bit nebulous because it is doubtful that every twitter user counted was presented for every tweet published. Nonetheless, the aggregate results are striking. A few of the highlights are below.

Stay tuned for another recap of the #EcoSOTU chat later today when we'll link the various energy and environment components of President Obama's State of the Union to popular, insightful and/or pithy corresponding tweets.

Related posts:

1. State of the Union Energy and Environment Twitter Chat at #ecoSOTU
2. Follow the State of the (Green) Union on Twitter with #ecosotu
3. The 2010 State of the Union Address [w/video]

Two years ago, I tweeted that I was waiting for the day that our environmental heroes are honored during the little shout-out portion of the State of the Union. Well, if the list of Mrs. Obama's guests released by the White House before Tuesday's State of the Union are any indicator, that day may be today. Of the 21 named guests, 5 are directly involved in the clean energy industry. And while the guests may not consider themselves heroes — more than anything they will help President Obama tell a story and highlight some of the major themes of the speech — they are the closest we've come to having environmental heroes recognized in a State of the Union in a long time. Those 5 named guests are:

Alicia Boler-Davis, plant manager, General Motors Orion Assembly Detroit. Responsible for overseeing the production of the first new small car program from General Motors to be manufactured in the United States.

Jackie Bray, process operator at the Siemens Charlotte Energy Hub King's Mountain, N.C. A single mother who got laid off and then attended community college to qualify for her present job.

Mayor Julian Castro, San Antonio, Texas. Mayor Castro (has) announced that CPS Energy, a municipally owned utility, has entered negotiations to bring at least 800 jobs and $100 million in capital investment to San Antonio. This is expected to be one of the nation's largest solar projects resulting in 400 megawatts of zero-emissions solar energy.

Dr. Hiroyuki Fujita, founder, president and CEO of Quality Electrodynamics Cleveland, Ohio. Fujita is creating high tech, advanced manufacturing jobs in the healthcare and energy sectors in the United States.

Bryan Ritterby, lab technician, Holland, Mich. A lab technician for Energetx Composites conducting material tests in the company's laboratory verifying materials to be used in wind turbine blades, as well as working on blade validation tests for all of the community scale wind blades Energetx is manufacturing.

On twitter? Use the #ecoSOTU hashtag to follow and participate in the energy and environment discussion about the State of the Union.

Related posts:

1. Obama to Focus on Energy in State of the Union – Not Just the Clean Kind
2. The State of the Union and the State of American Energy
3. State of the Union Energy and Environment Twitter Chat at #ecoSOTU