John Kerry interview: US Senate energy and climate bill preview

Posted on 19. Apr, 2010 by Joshua Wiese in U.S.A., bits | View Comments

With word that Senators John Kerry, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham will drop their climate and energy bill on the Monday, April 26th, domestic interest is growing fast. Politico just released a 3-part video series interviewing Kerry on what the bill will contain.

Getting domestic legislation on energy and climate passed will allow the US to play a more credible and constructive role in the talks. However, Like the House-passed bill and Obama administration policy, it would set a target of 17
percent reductions in emissions of CO2 equivalent by 2020, from 2005 levels – a number many of our friends in the TckTckTck coalition have argued is too little too late.

PART 1
PART 2
PART 3

According to Politico, the bill is still being negotiated. However, here’s an interesting little preview of what Kerry could confirm would make it through negotiations:

• The measure will put a price on carbon emissions but not through a cap-and-trade system, which would impose specific limits on harmful emissions and allow businesses to sell or trade carbon credits to meet them.

• It aims to cut U.S. dependency on foreign oil by 50 percent over the course of the legislation, a time span that Kerry declined to reveal.

• It will include a host of refunds to taxpayers to prevent spikes on energy costs for consumers.

• And it will include “huge assistance” for coal and other industries that the authors hope will help frame the measure as a jobs bill that could boost and sustain an economic recovery.

Read more in Politico’s story by Jeanne Cummings – John Kerry sees an energy ‘moment’.

Washington, DC: Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas

Posted on 18. Apr, 2010 by Joshua Wiese in U.S.A., bits | View Comments

On April 15th and 16th, energy ministers from across the Western Hemisphere gathered in Washington DC for the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA), convened by Secretary Chu and Secretary Clinton. Here is Secretary Clinton addressing the crowd on Thursday.

During the event, the US announced a few initiatives:

* Advancing a Caribbean Electrical Grid Interconnection: In support of a Caribbean Sustainable Energy Working Group, the Department of Energy will provide technical support, including hosting a workshop to begin exploring the potential for a Caribbean-wide transmission system that would provide the region with access to electricity from renewable energy sources. By connecting electricity systems across Caribbean nations, the region can develop economies of scale and larger electricity markets, which can help to facilitate the transition to renewable energy, reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels and make the island economies more secure. During the workshop, DOE technical experts, including specialists from the National Laboratories, will facilitate a discussion on ways to develop policies, regulations and standards to ensure the use of safe, reliable and efficient power.

* Launching an IDB Innovation Center: The Department of Energy and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) signed an agreement creating an Energy Innovation Center that will allow DOE and IDB to coordinate resources to facilitate regional projects and activities. The Center will serve as a focal point for project development and financing in the region and will be able to access the IDB’s annual energy financing pipeline of approximately $3 billion. The Center will be staffed by both DOE and IDB employees and will include week-long trips by subject matter specialists to the region to assess potential projects. The IDB Innovation Center is the latest in a series of Regional Clean Energy Centers throughout the Hemisphere, including a Costa Rican Energy Efficiency Training Center, a Wind Center in Mexico, an Energy Efficiency Center in Peru, and a Renewable Energy Center in Chile.

* Developing Biomass Resources in Colombia: Under its Low Carbon Communities of the Americas initiative, the Department of Energy announced a project titled “Forming a Research, Development and Innovation Hub with Expertise in the Sustainable Energy Use of the Biomass in Colombia.” The project will partner DOE and National Laboratory experts with scientists and technology experts in Colombia that are involved in on-going research on sugarcane, palm oil and petroleum to help identify, evaluate and promote technologies for sustainable biomass use in Colombia. The project, which is being developed by the government of Colombia and supported by DOE, is focusing on developing a technological plan for power generation through heating sugarcane and palm residues at very high temperatures. This combined heat and power process will be able to be used for high efficiency gas-fired engines or gas turbines.

* Hosting an Earthquake Preparedness Workshop: In response to recent earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and Mexico that highlighted vulnerabilities to energy infrastructure, the Department of Energy announced that it will host an earthquake preparedness workshop, bringing together leaders in the region to hear from experts, including U.S. National Laboratories, on hazard characterization, risk-informed structural seismic design standards, advanced simulation capabilities for both ground motion estimation and structural response. DOE’s effort will build on a U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) initiative focused on the deployment of suitable communications and monitoring system technologies for earth.

* Affirming Commitment to Clean Energy Cooperation: The Department of Energy and Argentina’s Ministry for Federal Planning, Public Investment, and Services signed a Memorandum of Understanding that promotes cooperation between the Department of Energy and the Argentine Energy Secretariat on clean energy technologies. The new Binational Energy Working Group is developing additional areas for cooperation.

Confidential document reveals US climate talk strategy

Posted on 18. Apr, 2010 by Joshua Wiese in U.S.A., bits | View Comments

According to reports in The Guardian, a document accidentally left on a European hotel computer and passed to the newspaper may reveal the US government’s communications strategy in the global UN climate talks. Titled “Strategic Communications Objectives and dated 11 March 2010″, it outlines the key messages that the Obama administration wants to convey to its critics and to the world media in the run-up to the next Conference of Parties in Cancun, Mexico in November.

Top of the list of objectives is to: “Reinforce the perception that the US is constructively engaged in UN negotiations in an effort to produce a global regime to combat climate change.” It also talks of “managing expectations” of the outcome of the Cancun meeting and bypassing traditional media outlets by using podcasts and “intimate meetings” with the chief US negotiator to disarm the US’s harsher critics. But the key phrase is in paragraph 3 where the author writes: “Create a clear understanding of the CA’s [Copenhagen accord's] standing and the importance of operationalising ALL elements.”

Our lead man, Jonathan Pershing, claimed to have no knowledge of the document, but agreed with the idea that the Accord should be taken as a whole instead of in parts.

According to the Guardian, here’s the text of the leaked document:

Strategic communications objectives

1) Reinforce the perception that the US is constructively engaged in UN negotiations in an effort to produce a global regime to combat climate change. This includes support for a symmetrical and legally binding treaty.

2) Manage expectations for Cancun – Without owning the message, advance the narrative that while a symmetrical legally binding treaty in Mexico is unlikely, solid progress can be made on the six or so main elements.

3) Create a clear understanding of the CA’s standing and the importance of operationalising ALL elements.

4) Build and maintain outside support for the administration’s commitment to meeting the climate and clean energy challenge despite an increasingly difficult political environment to pass legislation.

5) Deepen support and understanding from the developing world that advanced developing countries must be part of any meaningful solution to climate change including taking responsibilities under a legally binding treaty.

Media outreach

• Continue to conduct interviews with print, TV and radio outlets driving the climate change story.

• Increase use of off-the-record conversations.

• Strengthen presence in international media markets during trips abroad. Focus efforts on radio and television markets.

• Take greater advantage of new media opportunities such as podcasts to advance US position in the field bypassing traditional media outlets.

• Consider a series of policy speeches/public forums during trips abroad to make our case directly to the developing world.

Key outreach efforts

• Comprehensive and early outreach to policy makers, key stakeholders and validators is critical to broadening support for our positions in the coming year.

• Prior to the 9-11 April meeting in Bonn it would be good for Todd to meet with leading NGOs. This should come in the form of 1:1s and small group sessions.

• Larger group sessions, similar to the one held at CAP prior to Copenhagen, will be useful down the line, but more intimate meetings in the spring are essential to building the foundation of support. Or at the very least, disarming some of the harsher critics.