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Biofuel producers support EPA’s reconsideration of 2011 cellulosic obligation

by Posted on April 5, 2013

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Your ‘sustainable’ fish may not actually be sustainable, like, at all

by da3xs1z Posted on February 12, 2013

Your ‘sustainable’ fish may not actually be sustainable, like, at all

By Susie Cagle

Deckhand

Here’s the Marine Stewardship Council label, FWIW.

Never mind knowing what kind of fish you’re eating — even when you do know, you still probably don’t have all the deets on just how green it is.

Nearly 90 percent of the world’s fisheries are either overexploited or almost overexploited. At some point this year, we’ll eat more farmed fish than wild fish worldwide, a milestone for fish farms and a scary prospect for the food system and eviscerated oceans.

In a recent poll commissioned by NPR, nearly 80 percent of respondents said it’s important or very important to them that the seafood they buy is sustainably caught. But how can they really know? There are dozens of different sustainable seafood guides, advisory lists, labels, and certifications.

When McDonald’s recently switched to fish products approved by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), it celebrated the change with packaging proclaiming sustainability. But the Alaskan pollock McDonald’s is serving isn’t considered a best choice by all fish-watch groups, and some environmentalists say the whole MSC rating system isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. From NPR’s three-part series on the topic:

“We’re not getting what we think we’re getting,” says Susanna Fuller, co-director of marine programs at Canada’s Ecology Action Centre. She says the consumer, when purchasing seafood with the blue MSC label, is “not buying something that’s sustainable now.”

If the label were accurate, Fuller says, it would include what she says is troubling fine print: The MSC system has certified most fisheries with “conditions.” Those conditions spell out that the fishermen will have to change the way they operate or study how their methods are affecting the environment — or both. But they have years to comply with those conditions after the fisheries have already been certified sustainable.

The MSC seems to expect the best of everyone. For example, the organization won’t flat-out condemn dredging, “a method of dragging giant rakes across the ocean floor,” as NPR describes it. Even though many dredging operations rip up sea ecosystems, MSC argues that some boats dredge carefully.

Since it was founded in 1997, the MSC has become the most influential organization in the world that tells consumers which seafood is supposed to be good or bad for the environment. Today, MSC-certified fisheries account for roughly 8 percent of the world’s seafood catch, worth more than $3 billion, according to the MSC website.

[MSC CEO Rupert] Howes and the MSC’s supporters say the organization has helped push fishing companies to use better, more ecologically sound methods. Many environmentalists and scientists agree that the MSC has made progress, but they say it’s deceiving consumers into thinking that the choices they make at the market have a bigger impact than they really do.

Here’s the kicker: Walmart’s seafood buyer is concerned about problems with the MSC’s ratings system while the Whole Foods buyer is all, “Whatevs.” This makes me feel a lot of feelings, and none of them are very good.

If you like journalism that gives you a stomachache too (I mean, you’re reading this, right?), check out the final part of NPR’s series on sustainable fish this evening on All Things Considered.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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Huge paper company promises to stop being deforesting jerks

by rikkiqlyons Posted on February 5, 2013

Huge paper company promises to stop being deforesting jerks

By Susie Cagle

Over the last 20 years, a third of the forest cover on the Indonesian island of Sumatra — home to endangered tigers and orangutans — was destroyed. The clear-cutting of the rainforest helped make Indonesia the world’s fourth-biggest carbon emitter. And much of it was done in the name of paper — Asia Pulp & Paper, to be exact. But not anymore. From The Washington Post:

Asia Pulp & Paper, the third-largest pulp and paper company in the world, announced Tuesday that it is halting operations in Indonesia’s natural rain forests, a victory for advocates who have been negotiating with the company for the past year.

The Singapore-based company, which controls logging concessions spanning nearly 6.4 million acres in Indonesia, said it also has agreed to protect forested peatland, which stores massive amounts of carbon, and to work with indigenous communities to protect their native land. …

Aida Greenbury, the firm’s managing director for sustainability, said that a coalition of environmentalists, customers and some of the firm’s own employees had pushed for an end to native forest logging.

“We heard very loud and clear what they want us to do,” she said. “It is an investment for the sustainability of our business, not only an investment in the environment and the social impact we’re creating.”

Here’s more from the righteous rabble-rousers at Greenpeace, who worked with the World Wildlife Fund and the Rainforest Action Network to shove APP’s clear-cutters out of the forests:

Today’s victory was an amazing milestone in a 40-country, ten-year campaign. In the U.S., Greenpeace and WWF cut over 75% of APP’s market, largely through persuading Mattel, Hasbro, Lego, K-Mart, Staples, Kroger, and other companies to cancel their contracts with APP or refuse to enter into business with the company. RAN topped it up, persuading Disney to dump APP as well. In total, over 100 companies pulled away from APP. APP struck back, forming front groups to attack Greenpeace and WWF for our work together.

So a deal is great news, right? Well, maybe. As The Washington Post notes, it all depends on APP’s ongoing level of commitment.

Christopher Barr, executive director of the U.S-based forestry research firm Woods and Wayside International, said people should approach “what APP does with a healthy dose of skepticism. They have a history of setting sustainability targets that either get pushed back or don’t get met.”

Barr noted the firm is seeking to build a third pulp mill in Sumatra.

When asked whether she believed the new policy would boost the firm’s chances of getting the permit, Greenbury replied, “We hope so,” but she added that the company was doing it for broader reasons.

“It is our intention to set a new benchmark for the pulp and paper mill industry globally,” she said

By not destroying pristine rainforest and habitat for endangered animals? That would be a new benchmark indeed, APP.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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Energy Secretary Steven Chu to resign

by publik23 Posted on February 1, 2013

Energy Secretary Steven Chu to resign

Center for American Progress Action Fund

In a letter posted at the Department of Energy website, Secretary Steven Chu announces plans to resign his post.

I’ve always been inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, who articulated his Dream of an America where people are judged not by skin color but “by the content of their character.” In the scientific world, people are judged by the content of their ideas. Advances are made with new insights, but the final arbitrator of any point of view are experiments that seek the unbiased truth, not information cherry picked to support a particular point of view. The power of our work is derived from this foundation. …

I came with dreams, and am leaving with a set of accomplishments that we should all be proud of. Those accomplishments are because of all your dedication and hard work. …

While I will always remain dedicated to the missions of the Department, I informed the President of my decision a few days after the election that Jean and I were eager to return to California. I would like to return to an academic life of teaching and research, but will still work to advance the missions that we have been working on together for the last four years.

In the short term, I plan to stay on as Secretary past the ARPA-E Summit at the end of February. I may stay beyond that time so that I can leave the Department in the hands of the new Secretary.

We’d previously mentioned that a Chu resignation was likely — but we didn’t mention how hard he’ll be hard to replace. This is a Nobel Prize winner who lamented that he couldn’t ride his bike to work once he ascended to the Cabinet. The resignation also means that all three major agencies that deal with energy and environmental issues — Energy, the EPA, Interior — will need a new head.

The Hill has more about Chu and potential replacements:

The 64-year-old, with White House support, backed a larger federal role in R&D and commercialization of renewable, energy efficiency and battery technologies.

But part of the effort — grants and loans to help specific green energy companies take flight — brought big political headaches for Chu and President Obama when a handful of them failed or struggled. …

The long list of potential nominees to replace Chu includes former Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.); former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D); Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman; and Sue Tierney, a managing principal at the Analysis Group who was DOE’s assistant secretary for policy under President Clinton. …

Chu also focused on two programs that were authorized before his arrival but really got rolling under the current administration.

One was the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, which funds so-called high-risk, high-reward research into breakthrough technologies. The agency was created in 2007 legislation but did not receive funding until 2009.

The other was the green technology loan guarantee program, which had not finalized support for any companies before Chu’s arrival.

More to come from us soon.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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Sandy aid passes the House, no thanks to a few states

by greenenergy4 Posted on January 16, 2013

Sandy aid passes the House, no thanks to a few states

Brian Birke

I was a bit pessimistic yesterday when considering what action the House was likely to take on Sandy aid. While it was obvious that members of the House Republican caucus would throw up roadblocks to the full funding proposal, I didn’t expect that those roadblocks would actually be overcome. But, thanks to the new House majority of every-Democrat-and-a-few-rational-Republicans, they were.

From the Times:

The $50.7 billion — along with a nearly $10 billion aid package that Congress approved earlier this month — seeks to provide for the huge needs that have arisen in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and other states since the hurricane struck in late October.

The emergency aid measure would help homeowners whose homes have been damaged or destroyed, provide assistance to business owners who experienced losses as well as reinforce shorelines, repair subway and commuter rail systems, fix bridges and tunnels, and reimburse local governments for emergency expenditures.

Though the package does not cover the entire $82 billion in damage identified by the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, leaders from the storm-ravaged region expressed relief over the action in the Republican-controlled House, where storm aid had become ensnared in the larger debate over spending and deficits.

The most heartening thing about the vote, however, was that it showed how the nation was willing to come together to demonstrate support for states torn apart by disaster. To wit:

Or, in map format, as presented by the New York Times:

If it’s red and striped, it was a Republican representative voting “no.” Notice that stretch of states running up the middle of the country. A lot of them are home to farmers who will enjoy the USDA’s $16 billion farm insurance payout.

The good folks at Wonkette put it best. “Gracious House Of Representatives To NJ, CT And NY: Fine, Here’s Your Stupid Hurricane Money”. As a resident of New York, I echo that sentiment. Thanks, everyone. So very sorry to be such a nuisance.

And don’t blame us when it happens again and we need tens of billions more to recover from another climate-change-fueled storm. You’re the ones that didn’t want to invest in preventative measures.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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Adorable little Michigan town has big plans for cutting carbon emissions

by Myrna Posted on December 18, 2012

Adorable little Michigan town has big plans for cutting carbon emissions

Ann Arbor is a small town in Michigan that, like so many small towns across the Midwest, has been hard-hit as industry has increasingly moved away or overseas. A pleasant place with small hills and tree-lined streets, Ann Arbor has never had any distinguishing characteristic: no classic architecture, no famous music hall, no museums of note. Just a standard small town with a little main street, like so many other thousands littering the region.

But now, at last, Ann Arbor has done something to help it stand out, something of which — after so many years! — it might rightly be proud.

mike_miley

This is the town’s train station! Adorbs.

From AnnArbor.com (it doesn’t even have a real newspaper!):

The Ann Arbor City Council took action Monday night to adopt a Climate Action Plan, a 188-page document that outlines dozens of ways to reduce the community’s carbon footprint.

Building on previous environmental goals set by the City Council, the new plan recommends three targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades.

That includes a goal of reducing the entire community’s emissions by 8 percent by 2015, by 25 percent by 2025, and by 90 percent by 2050 — all relative to 2000 baseline levels.

I mean, first of all it’s cute that such an insignificant town has a city council! Just goes to show you that democracy can take root in even the driest soil.

But, second, this is a good idea. The city’s plan includes improved energy efficiency, transitioning to renewable energy production (right now, I believe they use an old coal furnace out back of Doc Bridge’s), increasing food labeling so that residents know how much carbon dioxide was produced for each item, and reducing recycling and garbage pickup. Interesting steps that could probably only fly in such a small backwater.

The city has already seen a drop since 2000 in the amount of carbon dioxide produced in its commercial and industrial sectors — a success that it hopes to increase across the board.

“This is one more step in a long history of action that we’re taking and recognizing that a global problem like climate change is more than we can handle on our own,” [Council Member Chuck] Warpehoski said.

I mean, how great is that? It’s like when they have a big pledge drive on TV and a little kid sends in a quarter from her piggy bank because she wants to help. Ann Arbor, you are the cutest little thing. Let’s hope that this, if nothing else, gives you something to be proud of.

P.S.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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Climate negotiators are betting on improbably deep emissions cuts

by Myrna Posted on November 30, 2012

Climate negotiators are betting on improbably deep emissions cuts

It’s the strategy of every bad gambler: If you just keep betting more than you lost, you’ll eventually come out ahead. Lose $10, bet $20. Lose that, bet $30. In a rigged game, though, a game where the odds are tilted however slightly against you, eventually you’ll go broke, making one or two huge bets that don’t pay off.

Which is the situation the U.N. finds itself in during its current climate negotiations in Qatar. When it comes to the carbon dioxide levels we need to maintain in order to avoid catastrophic temperature rises of 2 degrees Celsius, we’re deep in debt, meaning that we’d need steeper and steeper bets in order to win.

From Reuters:

“The possibility of keeping warming to below 2 degrees has almost vanished,” Pep Canadell, head of the Global Carbon Project at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization, told Reuters. …

Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas, have risen 50 percent since 1990 and the pace of growth has picked up since 2000, Canadell said. In the past decade, emissions have grown about 3 percent a year despite an economic slowdown, up from 1 percent during the 1990s.

Based on current emissions growth and rapid industrial expansion in developing nations, emissions are expected to keep growing by about 3 percent a year over the next decade.

For the talks to have any chance of success in the long run, emissions must quickly stop rising and then begin to fall. Temperatures have already risen by 0.8 C (1.4 F) since pre-industrial times.

If we can just slash emissions by 3 percent, by 5 percent, by whatever percent next year, we can avoid disaster. Avoid coming up broke.

The Washington Post‘s Brad Plumer makes the same point, using the graph below.

Climate Action Tracker

Click to embiggen.

The graph is from a report by Climate Action Tracker [PDF] that outlines the various mechanisms and strategies under which we could stay below the 2 degree Celsius mark. In other words: the bigger bets we need to make. Ignore the boxes in that graph. Focus on the lines. Steeper and steeper lines mean bigger and bigger bets.

My analogy breaks down in one way. If you’re sitting at a roulette table, trying to break even, to save your shirt, you actually make the bet. In the case of taking action to slow climate change, the world isn’t even in the game.

Source

Is there still time to avoid 2°C of global warming? Yes, but barely, Washington Post
As nations haggle, global carbon cut targets get impossibly deep, Reuters

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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EPA: No new contracts for you, BP (but keep the old ones)

by Myrna Posted on November 28, 2012

EPA: No new contracts for you, BP (but keep the old ones)

If you walked into your place of employment one day and — oops — were to blame for a massive explosion that killed a number of employees and which led to a months-long toxic spill killing an uncountable number of animals and crippling the local economy — how long do you think it would take for you to be fired? Fourteen seconds? Fifteen?

Well, if you’re an oil company who does business with the government, you’ll be fine for years. But then you should expect a severe slap on the wrist.

“Hey, sorry. My bad.”

From Bloomberg:

BP, which pleaded guilty to criminal charges after the worst U.S. oil spill in 2010, will be temporarily suspended from winning new contracts from the federal government, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement today.

The EPA said the ban was imposed because the company’s conduct during the Deepwater Horizon disaster showed a lack of integrity. The action, which doesn’t affect existing contracts, will stand until BP can demonstrate it meets business standards set by the government, the EPA said.

BP is one of the largest suppliers of fuel to the U.S. Department of Defense.

So, the government didn’t really fire BP as such, it just blocked new business. That massively lucrative contract with the DoD isn’t touched.

The Hill has a longer quote from the EPA:

“EPA is taking this action due to BP’s lack of business integrity as demonstrated by the company’s conduct with regard to the Deepwater Horizon blowout, explosion, oil spill, and response, as reflected by the filing of a criminal information,” EPA said in a Wednesday statement.

This is the key point. It’s not the explosion and deaths and the spill and the economic damage — it’s how the company responded to those events. The motivation for this action appears to be the deception and spinning during the spill and attempts to gloss over that behavior during the criminal trial.

Which is like you going into work, bearing responsibility for those deaths and that destruction, and then not getting a promotion because you tried to downplay it. Harsh.

Update: Here is the full statement from the EPA.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.