Investors tell SEC to include climate risk...again

Some of the nation's largest investors have been calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission to require companies to disclose climate risks and other environmental, social, and governance risks. This is not new; see here, here, here, and here for other efforts to require disclosure by large investors. The strategies employed by investors keeps getting more sophisticated, and the urgency seems greater in light of the financial crisis. Note that Maryland is on the vanguard of the disclosure efforts. From a press release at Ceres:

Investors call on SEC to require better disclosure on climate change and other risks

October 23, 2008

WASHINGTON D.C. – Fourteen of the nation’s largest institutional investors called on the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday to require improved corporate climate risk disclosure and—for the first time—address a broader range of environmental, social and governance risks, or so-called “ESG” issues, in disclosure requirements.

The letter was sent in response to the SEC’s request for public comment on its 21st Century Disclosure Initiative, File No. 4-567, which proposes to modernize the current SEC disclosure system to enhance its usefulness to investors. The 14 signatories to the letter include asset managers and leading U.S. institutional investors such as CalPERS, CalSTRS, and the Maryland, New Jersey, New York City and New York State public pension funds or treasurers. (See full list below)

Citing investors’ previous attempts to engage with the SEC on climate risk disclosure, and the growing number of businesses that are disclosing climate risks and climate change impacts on their financial performance and competitiveness, the letter lays out a need for deeper engagement with the SEC on disclosure issues. It also cites the 21st Century Disclosure Initiative as an ideal venue for such engagement. “What we seek is not radical, but rooted in the SEC’s duty to follow the most fundamental investor protection principle there is: the right to know,” said California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer. “The consensus recognizing the need for businesses to fully assess and disclose climate risks is growing by the day. It’s time for the SEC to update its regulations to account for these risks, and the broader panoply of environmental, social and governance issues.”

“Climate change, like subprime mortgages, poses far-reaching hidden financial risks that investors cannot ignore,” said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres and director of 70-member Investor Network on Climate Risk. “A modernized SEC disclosure system must address investors’ strong and growing need for better corporate disclosure of climate risks.”

The investor letter also includes a first-time request for the SEC to consider how material environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) data could be integrated into registrant’s SEC filings. While many companies disclose ESG information in their sustainability reports and on their web sites, investors say that isn’t always enough given the financial risks ESG factors can create. For example, ESG information can disclose material risks such as water-related risks from growing water scarcity, as well as labor and supply chain risks such as reduced availability of a trained workforce or a suppliers’ failure to follow environmental regulations.

“Action by the SEC to require disclosure of climate risks—as well as additional environmental, social and governance risks—would result in better, more informed decisions for investors, ” said Nancy Kopp, Maryland State Treasurer. In addition to asking the SEC to improve climate risk disclosure in SEC filings, and examine how environmental, social and governance data can be integrated into SEC filings, the letter asks the SEC to appoint an investment professional as a member of the Federal Advisory Committee to ensure that investor views on climate risks are represented.

More specifically, the investor calls on the SEC to:

• Include the goal of improving climate risk disclosure in SEC filings as part of the Federal Advisory Committee’s charter;
• Appoint an investment professional as a member of the committee in order to ensure that investor views on these issues are represented; and
• Create a subcommittee of the Advisory Committee to consider how material environmental, social and governance (ESG) data can be integrated into registrants’ SEC filings.

Signatories include:

• Anne Stausboll, Interim Chief Investment Officer, California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS)
• John Chiang, California State Controller
• Jack Ehnes, CEO, California State Teachers' Retirement System
  (CalSTRS)
• Bill Lockyer, California State Treasurer
• Mindy S. Lubber, President, Ceres & Director, Investor Network on Climate Risk
• Karina Litvack, Director, Head of Governance & Sustainable Investment, F&C Management
• Nancy K. Kopp, Maryland State Treasurer
• Lance E. Lindblom, President and CEO, The Nathan Cummings Foundation
• Orin Kramer, Chair, New Jersey State Investment Council
• William C. Thompson, Jr., New York City Comptroller
• Thomas P. DiNapoli, New York State Comptroller
• Julie Gorte, Senior Vice President for Sustainable Investing, Pax World Management Corporation
• Frank T. Caprio, Rhode Island General Treasurer
• Jeb Spaulding, Vermont State Treasurer
  

Climate Legislative Policy Lobbying Job

New DC-based job opportunity - Director of Government Relations, Ceres (Check out their website)

URL for position description: http://www.ceres.org/Page.aspx?pid=417

POSITION DESCRIPTION Director of Government Relations Ceres is soliciting applications for the new position of Director of Government Relations. This position will be located in Washington, D.C. This opening is designed for a highly motivated, self-starter looking to help communicate and be an advocate for Ceres’ message on energy and climate change. The position reports to the President of Ceres; s/he will also work in a team with Ceres’ Director of Communications, Director of Governance Programs, and Director of Investor Programs. Specific duties include, but are not limited to the following:

• Monitor existing and emerging federal energy and climate policy issues and legislative initiatives of relevance to Ceres
• Generate policy positions, fact sheets, and approaches to advocacy for review by Ceres’ policy and management teams
• Work with Congress and federal policymakers to advance Ceres climate and energy policy objectives
• Provide regular update to Ceres’ Boston-based policy team
• Organize meetings with key Congressional staff
• Create content updates for Ceres climate and energy policy webpage
• Facilitate investor and business outreach to policymakers on energy and climate change issues
• Collaborate with Ceres Communication team to reach business and opinion leader press Qualifications
• 5+ years experience on energy and/or climate change policy issues, including 3+ years working closely with Congress or federal agencies
• Master’s degree or equivalent education preferred in public policy, law (J.D.), environmental policy or related field
• Knowledge of energy and climate change issues, including an understanding of business, the investment community, policy debates, and NGOs
• Able to organize and track multiple projects and thrive in a fast-paced environment.
• Highly developed writing skills
• Excellent personal, political, communication and government-relations skills.
• Ability to work independently and travel to Boston office on monthly basis. Other Information
• This is a full-time position based in Washington, D.C.
• Compensation is competitive and commensurate with experience.
• Ceres provides a generous benefits package which includes medical and dental insurance, matching 403(b) contributions, and annual leave.

How to Apply
We encourage all applicants to review our website to familiarize themselves with Ceres before applying: http://www.ceres.org/. Applicants should submit a resume, two writing samples, a list of three references, and a letter describing their qualifications, interests, and potential contribution to our organization. Address all correspondence to:

Careers at Ceres – Government Relations
ATTN: Hilary Forbes
Email (preferred): careers@ceres.org
99 Chauncy Street, 6th Floor
Boston, MA 02111
Fax: 617-267-5400

John McCain in Cedar Falls, environment, blah

You know, the other night in the debate with Senator Obama, I said his
eloquence is admirable, but pay attention to his words. We talk about offshore
drilling and he said he would quote, consider, offshore drilling. We talked
about nuclear power, well it has to be safe, environment, blah, blah, blah.

Safe, environment, blah, blah, blah.

MD Climate Activists allowed attorney, copies

According to NPR, the 53 activists including three climate activists that were wrongly placed on the Maryland State Police terrorist watch list will have the ability to view the list with their attorneys and will be allowed to make copies. For more information, visit the Maryland ACLU site. Yes, I am a card carrying member of the ACLU. This is a perfect example of why. From the 10/25 MD ACLU newsletter:

"Stop police spying on peaceful activists!" is the message to the Maryland General Assembly from the ACLU of Maryland, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, several other environmental organizations and some state legislative leaders. The groups rallied this week for legislation against wrongful police spying after leaders of CCAN received letters from the state police telling them that they had been listed as suspected terrorists in MSP's database.

"This revelation raises even more questions about the true scope and targets of State Police spying," said David Rocah, Staff Attorney for the ACLU of Maryland."Clearly, the State Police’s surveillance went well beyond infiltrating the meetings and communications of anti-death penalty activists ahead of an upcoming execution, as has been cited by MSP as the impetus for their surveillance. The full story must come out, and legislation must be passed to protect the First Amendment rights of Marylanders for the future."

Mike Tidwell, the founder and executive director of CCAN, and Joshua Tulkin, a former deputy director of CCAN, were among the 53 activists who have received letters from MSP informing them that they had been wrongly named and tracked as suspected terrorists in MSP’s Case Explorer criminal intelligence database. Among its myriad organizing, educational, and lobbying activities, CCAN has organized two acts of peaceful civil disobedience to highlight the dangers of global climate change. In 2004 (prior to when the MSP has stated any surveillance began), several CCAN protestors, including Mr. Tidwell, were arrested for briefly sitting in the road blocking the entrance to a coal-fired power plant in Dickerson, Maryland. In October 2006 (after the date by which the MSP has asserted that surveillance ended), two CCAN protestors hung a banner from a ledge at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Although he was present during the NOAA demonstration—as a media relations officer who remained outside the protest area, Mr. Tulkin has never been arrested or detained in his life.

More information about MD ACLU’s challenge to MSP spying:http://www.aclu-md.org/Index%20content/NoSpying/NoSpying.html

In case you were wondering, YES, YOU ARE STILL IN THE UNITED STATES

Maryland Morning discusses GW and Chesapeake

Today's Maryland Morning discusses global warming's impact to Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay. It also discusses cuts to MTA services in the face of increasing demand. Audio links will be available tomorrow for this program at this location. Here is the info about today's show:

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

Election Issues: Climate Change

We've been looking at how the presidential candidates' platforms differ, and how those differences might affect Maryland. Today we talk climate change with Nathan Hultman, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the University of Maryland.

Web Extras: Professor Hultman explains where McCain and Obama stand on the Kyoto Protocol and future international agreements on climate change.

Professor Hultman on the candidates' plans for creating green jobs.

External Links:

• Maryland and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Study
• Nathan Hultman
• NYTimes site comparing candidates

A Little Conversation about Public Transportation

More and more Marylanders are using public transportation these days; the MTA is seeing ridership rise across the board, from busses, to light rail, to MARC trains. The uptick in ridership is primarily a result of the sky-high gas prices we saw earlier this year - prices that changed the way many Marylanders looked at their daily commute. But at the same time that people are getting out their cars and onto public transit, the MTA is facing a major loss of funding. Michael Dresser, the transportation reporter for the Baltimore Sun, joins Nathan to talk about what transit riders in Maryland can expect in the near term.

External Links:

• MTA Public Hearing Schedule (PDF)
• Michael Dresser's article on MTA overtime limits
  

Global warming will hurt Chesapeake Bay

From the Baltimore Sun:

Global climate change could undermine efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay by flooding coastal areas and washing more pollution into the water, a new scientific report warns. The report, issued yesterday by the federal bay program office in Annapolis, notes that scientists have detected significant increases in sea level and bay water temperature over the past century. Further changes are likely, the report says, especially if current emissions of greenhouse gases continue unabated.

Coastal flooding is likely if sea level rises 2 to 5 feet, as climate-change models project, the report says. More algae growth could result from warmer temperatures and increasing carbon dioxide levels in the air.

Also likely, though less certain, the report notes, are heavier rains and stream flow in winter and spring, which could wash more sediment and nutrients into the water, worsening the bay's "dead zones" of low- or no-oxygen water.

Maryland and other bay states and the federal government are far short of their goals for improving the bay's degraded water quality, despite spending billions of dollars over the past 25 years. Climate change could make it harder to reach those goals, the report's authors said.

The report was produced by 13 scientists from bay-region universities, federal research laboratories and a private consulting firm.

Updated: the report can be found at http://www.chesapeake.org/stac/Pubs/climchangereport.pdf.

Save water, save greenhouse gas emissions

I am going to do some simple math with the following EPA quote to show how much greenhouse gas reduction you can get from water conservation:

New WaterSense Factoid
If every home in the United States installed WaterSense labeled faucets or faucet aerators in the bathrooms, it would save 60 billion gallons of water annually, saving households more than $350 million in water bills and about $600 million in energy costs to heat their water. Additionally, water and waste water utilities would save 200 million kilowatt-hours of electricity normally used for supplying and treating that water. The WaterSense website has a complete list of WaterSense labeled products, http://www.epa.gov/watersense/pp/index.htm.

Now for the math (stay with me- I'll get you through to the end).

• If the average cost per kWh is 11 cents (April 2008), then households will also save 6.6 billion kWh in heating water, which equates to 8.84 billion pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent, using the national average of 1.34 pounds CO2e emitted per kWh.
• 200 million kilowatt-hours equates to 268 million pounds of CO2e.
• So in other words, EPA estimates that you indirectly emit 0.00447 pounds of greenhouse gases per gallon of water (or 4.5 pounds per 1000 gallons) used, just for supply and wastewater treatment, and an additional 0.1437 pounds per gallon for hot water heating (or 147.3 pounds per 1000 gallons).
• Total, that is 0.148 pounds per gallon or 148 pounds per 1000 gallons. If you get a bill with your water usage on it, you can estimate your emissions from water use.
• You can also estimate how much you will save with water conservation. Water conservation = greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Math is fun!

Next Maryland CRAG meeting November 16

The next meeting of the Maryland Carbon Reduction Action Group (CRAG) will be Sunday November 16, 2-3:30 at the C. Burr Artz Library in Frederick Maryland, in the conference room past the circulation desk. This meeting, Zayn Bradley will give a presentation about installing photovoltaics (solar panels) at your home. His last presentation on solar hot water heating was awesome (he even talked about payback periods and costs) and I am sure this one will also be great. As usual, I will have door prizes to give out (last time I gave away various kinds of insulation and people were surprisingly way into it) . I'll also be presenting a little about greenhouse gas emissions and recycling from a talk I gave recently to the Recycling Task Force in Boonsboro. Here's a link to a copy of the handout from that talk. The meeting is open to the public.

Frederick County MD reduces fuel use 6%

According to the Frederick City Gazette, Frederick County Government in Maryland this week announced that it had reduced fuel consumption between August 11 and October 5 by 6%. This amounts to 9,400 gallons of fuel and $33,000. The County projects it will save 100,000 gallons and $300,000 per year with its fuel saving measures:

• purchasing more fuel-efficient vehicles
• limiting the number of county vehicles that employees may take home
• decreasing idling of vehicles (no fast-food lines!)
• reducing warehouse deliveries
• downsizing vehicles
• decreasing the number of county vehicles employees use to attend certain functions and job sites

The County also "plans to inspect its current fleet to determine which vehicles can be replaced for more fuel-efficient models." According to an article in the Frederick News-Post, "TransIT Services will also conserve fuel by minimizing vehicle idling, continuing the practice of selecting the most fuel-efficient buses for front-line service, and adjusting bus and shuttle maintenance to improve vehicle performance." The county uses about 1.1 million gallons of fuel per year.

Let's convert some of these numbers to greenhouse gas emissions. I don't have numbers on the proportion of diesel versus unleaded gas saved, but let's assume it's 50-50. Each gallon of diesel fuel burned emits 22.38 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Each gallon of unleaded gas emits 19.56 pounds. That averages to about 20.97 pounds per gallon of fuel.

For the 9,400 gallons of gas saved so far, I estimate that the County has reduced 197,118 pounds of CO2e. If it saves 100,000 gallons per year, it will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 2,097,000 pounds CO2e per year. The 1.1 million gallons of fuel used by the County emits about 23,067,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

Some of the fuel reductions make great sense, such as reducing idling. You can also practice this: if you are going to idle your car for more than 15 seconds, turn it off. It takes about 15 seconds worth of gas to start a car. Other fuel practices may not make as much sense, at least according to some staff I have heard complain. If field staff have to drive their own cars out of the way to pick up and drop off a county vehicle every day, or there are additional miles driven to get the vehicle from the lot to the job site, then this may save the county gas but cost the employee, or it may not save the county money. My guess is that this is being carefully considered.

The City of Frederick (not County) is considering a program to provide $25K zero interest home loans to "city employees, firefighters, emergency medical personnel and teachers to buy houses in the city". This would not only reduce commuter trips to work, but could also reduce the miles driven by employees with take-home vehicles. "A proposal presented at Wednesday's meeting by Mike Spurrier, director of the Frederick Community Action Agency, would match city money with state money for a $15,000 home loan that could be used for down payments or closing costs."

CCAN Activists on terrorist watch list

Remember our civil rights? Me too. I miss them. Especially the First Amendment. The scandal surrounding the Maryland State Police database of suspected terrorists in anti-war, anti-biological weapons, anti-nuclear, and anti-death penalty groups has expanded to climate activist groups.

The Maryland State Police recently revealed that it had placed Maryland activists on its terrorist watch list in 2005-6. This includes three staff from the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. This despite the fact that the MSP had no evidence any of these people were involved in violent crime. According to Dot Earth, this group has participated in some direct action and civil disobedience, though only one of the three listed has ever been arrested, Mike Tidwell. According to Andy Revkin, of Dot Earth:

Josh Tulkin, who just moved to the Energy Action Coalition after working for the Chesapeake group for several years, also received a letter, along with a third person at the organization who does not want to discuss the incident. I met Mr. Tulkin during the stretch when he was on the “terrorist” list, at the 2005 climate-treaty talks in Montreal.

To all appearances, he was a sincere and passionate member of a contingent of hundreds of young people sifting among delegates to press the idea that today’s “fossils,” the generation running countries and companies now, were hijacking their climate. The closest thing to civil disobedience that I saw was a cluster of youth activists camped out in a cavernous hallway singing a repurposed Beatles tune: “All we are saying, is give youth a chance.”

Here is a statement from Josh Tulkin:

My name is Josh Tulkin. I am currently the Field Director of the Energy Action Coalition and Power Vote. And I am a suspected terrorist.

On October 21st, I received a letter from the Superintendent of the Maryland State Police. The letter informed me that from March of 2005 to May of 2006, I was under surveillance under suspicion of terrorist activities. The letter further explains that the program is no longer under operation, and that I am among a list of people whom they have “no evidence whatsoever of any involvement in violent crime.”

The letter goes on to explain that I have the option of viewing my record once, without a camera or lawyer present, before it is purged permanently. So what was I up to? During this time, i worked as Deputy Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. I helped pass the Maryland Healthy Air Act, which is reducing dangerous pollution from Maryland’s coal-fired power plants.

I served as a youth delegate to the United Nations. I organized a coalition of faith leaders, students, nurses, doctors, and every day citizens to clean up Maryland’s air and protect her shores from sea level rise and global warming.

I have never been arrested. I have no police record. I am standing with the A.C.L.U. of Maryland to defend my rights. I deserve to know why I was being monitored and what is in my file. And we need legislation passed so that this type of infringement of privacy will not happen again.

But I won’t be intimidated. Like so many young people, I understand that global warming will have severe impacts on my future, and we are working together to address this problem. I am proud of the action of my peers, and we should be supported, not suspected.

This gives us all more cause to defend our rights and our future by voting this November 4th for candidates that will help fight global warming and will honor the importance of civic engagement, rather than fear it.

Al Gore is calling for young people to engage in civil disobedience. Does this make him a terrorist? It seems to me that the ability to label some people in our country terrorists is a tool the far right uses to destroy people who disagree with right wingers on social issues. Just look at the current election.

Weren't we warned that if we gave people the ability to spy on ordinary citizens that the power would be abused? Well it didn't take very long. In the words of Barry Kissin, a local activist in Frederick who was also on the list, "The word terrorism is precisely used for the express purpose of making it more difficult and more dangerous to exercise our Democratic rights, which, in this case, clearly were being exercised the in the interests of the majority of people." VIVA LA CONSTITUTION!

Maryland Climate Action Plan: Impacts

Did I happen to mention that the Maryland Climate Action Plan is 4 bajillion pages long? Seriously. It is also chock full of information that you will never read because it is 4 bajillion pages long. So here is what I am going to try to do: distill my favorite parts from the plan. Want to get all of the information? Read it yourself.

Part I: Predicted changes to Maryland from climate change

I have spent several years compiling a list of predicted global warming impacts to Maryland from various sources. My standard paragraph:

In Maryland, conservative impacts based on IPCC predictions over the next century include increased drought and water shortages; more intense storms and hurricanes; increased flooding; harm to the Chesapeake Bay including more dead zones and damage to the crab, oyster, and sportfishing industries; loss of native brook trout populations; wetlands loss; harm to fisheries and waterfowl; accelerated beach erosion; dangerous heat waves; loss of duck hunting; forest loss, especially to hemlocks; increased gypsy moths; loss of the maple syrup industry in Western Maryland; loss of the Baltimore Oriole and black-eyed Susan, Maryland’s state bird and flower; extinction of species in subarctic habitats in Western Maryland; loss of skiing industry income; loss of the honey industry in Maryland; changes to USDA hardiness zones for agriculture and gardening; worse acid rain and more ground-level ozone; more code red air quality days; and a loss of significant land mass especially coasts and wetlands, including Blackwater Refuge, Ocean City, Baltimore's Harborplace, and Smith, Hoopers and Bloodsworth Islands. These changes would have enormous consequences for the economic vitality and health of our communities.

I am happy to report that my list is now dwarfed by Chapter 2: Comprehensive Assessment of Climate Change Impacts in Maryland. I paraphrase:

• Climatic regimes will continue to vary across Maryland. Western Maryland has cooler winters and summers and less precipitation during the winter than the rest of the state. Changes will occur on top of these regional differences, perhaps with some greater warming during the summer to the west than on the Eastern Shore.
• Temperature is projected to increase substantially, especially under higher emissions.
  Average temperature is projected to increase by about 3°F by mid-century and is likely unavoidable. The amount of warming later in the century is dependent on the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, with summer temperatures projected to increase by as much 9°F, and heat waves extending throughout most summers.
• Increased precipitation in winter and spring, summer droughts;
• Increased peak flooding in urban environments exacerbated by an increase in impervious surfaces where water can not percolate;
• Increased precipitation would supply reservoirs but not alleviate overdraft of aquifers.
  Water supplies in the greater Baltimore area should not be diminished, but the adequacy of summer water supplies in the greater Washington region is less certain. Any increases in precipitation are unlikely to alleviate the present over-withdrawal of groundwater and summer droughts may increase groundwater demand for irrigation.
• Rapid increases in stream temperatures, limiting habitat suitability for native fishes and other organisms;
• Higher peak flows and degraded streams would also transmit more nutrients and sediments to the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries, contributing to water quality impairment in the estuaries...higher temperatures and stronger density stratification in the estuaries would tend to exacerbate water quality impairment, the alleviation of which is the prime restoration objective;
• Very significant changes are also likely to occur that affect sediment delivery and sedimentation in the estuaries, but are difficult to quantitatively predict. These include potential increases in sediment loads from rivers as a result of increased runoff and more erosive extreme discharge events, including those caused by hurricanes, and from shoreline and wetland erosion as a result of accelerated sea-level rise;
• Crop production may increase initially, but then decline later in the century if emissions are not reduced. The longer growing season and higher carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are likely to increase crop production modestly during the first half of the century. Later in the century, crop production is likely to be reduced due to heat stress and summer drought under the higher emissions scenario. Milk and poultry production would be also reduced by heat stress;
• The maple-beech-birch forest of Western Maryland is likely to fade away and pine trees to become more dominant in Maryland’s forests;
• Forest productivity in terms of timber produced is likely to decline late in the century under the higher emissions scenario as a result of heat stress, drought, and climate-related disturbances such as fires and storms;
• The biodiversity of plants and animals associated with Maryland’s forests is likely to decline. Habitat alterations resulting from climate change may force out 34 or more bird species, including the emblamatic Baltimore oriole, although southern species may replace them;
• A lengthening of the growing season from a current average 239 days to as many as 278 days by the end of the century.
• Sea-level rise is very likely to accelerate, inundating hundreds of square miles of wetlands and land. Projections that include accelerating the melting of ice would increase the relative sea-level along Maryland’s shorelines by more than 1 foot by mid-century and 3 feet by late century if greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow. If sea level rises by 3 feet, most tidal wetlands would be lost—about 200 square miles of land would be inundated. New tidal wetlands developed on newly flooded land would not offset the loss of existing wetlands and significant negative effects on living resources dependent on these wetlands would result. Moreover, if sea level were to rise by 3 or more feet, this would mean that rapid and probably uncontrollable melting of land-based ice was underway and that sea level would rise at an even greater rate during subsequent centuries;
• Rains and winds from hurricanes are likely to increase, but changes in their frequency cannot now be predicted. The destructive potential of Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes has increased since 1970 in association with warming sea surface temperatures. This trend is likely to continue as ocean waters warm. Whether Maryland will be confronted with more frequent or powerful storms depends on storm tracks that cannot yet be predicted. However, there is a greater likelihood that storms striking Maryland would be more powerful than those experienced during the 20th century and would be accompanied by higher storm surges—made worse because of higher mean sea level—and greater rainfall amounts;
• Large decreases are projected in winter snow volume (25% less in 2025 to 50% less in 2100 regardless of emission scenario). While Maryland does not receive large amounts of snowfall compared with states to the north7, these reductions are large enough to reduce the spring river discharge associated with melting snow. Also, snow accumulation is very likely to be less common in western Maryland, thus affecting winter recreational activities.
• In the Chesapeake Bay, Northern species such as soft shell clams and eelgrass are likely to be eliminated later in the century, almost certainly if greenhouse gas emissions are not mitigated. Southern species are very likely to increase in abundance because the milder winters would allow or enhance overwintering populations.
• As ocean water becomes more acidic, shellfish production could be affected.
• Health risks due to heat stress are very likely to increase...heat waves are projected to greatly increase risks of illness and death before the end of the century, with an average of 24 days per summer exceeding 100°F. Respiratory illnesses are likely to increase, unless air pollution is greatly reduced. More ground-level ozone, responsible for multiple respiratory illnesses, is formed under prolonged, high temperatures.
• There is already a recorded trend toward earlier start of honey production in the Piedmont region. Honey production requires both temperatures high enough to maintain larval bees and an ample source of nectar from flowering trees, thus integrating two measures of climate change.
• Potential salt contamination of aquifers and freshwater intakes as the boundary between fresh and brackish water shifts with rising sea level.

How to plan for environmental sustainability: Howard

Want to know how your municipality can reduce its greenhouse gases? Save energy? Save money? Be better for the environment? Start by looking at what others have done. Look especially in your own state, where the state may already have goals and assistance that your municipality can use as a backbone of its plans.

Developing a plan for environmental sustainability, Part I: Putting together the steering committee and input structure.

Since I live in Maryland, I am starting in Maryland with Howard County. Howard County is interesting because it is a county that was not particularly remarkable for its big budget or environmental ethic like a King County or even Montgomery or Arlington; I mean this in a good way because many municipalities are in the same situation and there is something to be learned from Howard's example. Particularly because the effort in Howard started from scratch. Howard's plan also has an invaluable quality that arises not from the plan itself. It arises from the structure of the steering committee: the people who put the plan together and stuck around to implement it.

Part of my job in Watershed Management is to develop strategic plans. I am going to suggest here that the content of a strategic plan is less likely to determine the implementation success of the plan than the alchemy of its participants. That is not to say that the plans themselves are not important; you must create an implementable plan with clear, measurable goals and reporting mechanisms. But much has been said about creating implementable plans; I am going to talk about the people resources. This is the subject I am asked to talk about most at conferences and for good reason: many great ideas have failed due to lack of good process.

I was at a conference a few weeks ago, and cornered Mark Southerland, who was the co-chair of the Howard County Commission on the Environmental & Sustainability Steering Committee. He now serves on the Commission, which evolved out of the process. I have known Mark for a number of years because the firm (Versar) that he works for is one of my consultants in my job-job. Mark is connected to many local, state and federal strategic planning efforts to protect environmental resources and is a superb scientist as well. I picked Mark's brain over two days at lunch. When I talked to Mark, I was specifically interested in how Howard got things to happen. Here's my interpretation of what Mark told me.

1. There was political will. The County Executive at Howard championed the idea of the Commission and pushed for the position of Administrator. The County Executive also supervised the person. Any successful planning effort will have a person in a position of authority behind it, both to create organization around the plan and to help it implement its efforts.
2. The Administrator of the program (acting title Executive Director) was intelligent, interested, motivated, and determined. Sadly you can not always find leaders like this. But in a smaller municipality, one person can do incredible things. If your organization is small and you don't have a lot of resources, a leader will find them and bring them to you. If you don't have a leader in a small municipality, game over. This person should ideally be tied to the community and have solid relationships with subject matter experts or should be resourceful and persuasive to get the people for (3). The more resources you have for this effort, the less you have to rely on the exceptional qualities of the leader. But you still need one.
3. The people selected for the steering committee believed in the goal, were determined to come up with a workable plan, had subject matter expertise, and were invested in the results. Governments love to create "commissions" and "task forces" for things and "appoint members" but the end result is often a group divided against itself with no real purpose. I have seen commissions populated with "meeting people" who just go to meetings and never accomplish things. I have seen people on task forces because they are afraid of the results, not excited about them. I have seen presentations to a Board of County Commissioners from a commission that had dissenting recommendations. Of course no progress was made there. Though I would not say, "Odi profanum vulgus et arceo" ("I hate the ignorant crowd and I keep them at a distance"), keep the true believers (unrealistic) and disbelievers (counterproductive) out of this part of the process; you'll have a place for them later. The other reason to have highly invested people is that meetings are boring and some people will lose interest in the effort unless they care deeply about it. A bad committee can produce a bad plan, a double whammy.
4. Create working groups in the steering committee. These groups should have a clear goal in order to make recommendations for your plan on the subject of the group and provide whatever related information you need- costs, schedule, etc. The working groups need leaders who will stick with the process or they need to be coordinated by (2). (In my experience, it helps to have standard templates for the recommendations of these working groups so that the results of the plan can be put into a larger matrix for prioritization-but that is more of a plan element)
5. This suggestion comes more from my own experience than from the Howard one. Have other venues to get people to give input into the plan. These people may not attend all of the meetings but they will be able to give input to the process. They may represent an outside group (like a Farm Bureau or Business and Professionals Organization) that is a key constituency of decision-makers. Go to the meetings of these groups and present your efforts. Consult other subject matter experts. Affected agencies also need to consult; if you are looking to change local government operations, you will need to understand their missions, any resistance to your ideas, and their budgetary and time constraints. Citizens will need to support the plan or at least provide informed consent. Have public meetings where people can give feedback.
6. Keep the steering committee members around for the implementation phase. These people have a huge investment in seeing the plan implemented and have hopefully aligned it with the missions of their own organizations, so that the plan success is their own success. This will help you leverage future resources.

The Howard plan is now in its beginning stages of implementation through the Office of Environmental Sustainability. I for one will be following them to see how they succeed.

Energy saving tip for refrigerators

From Carbonfund:

Energy Efficiency Tip
Improve your refrigerator's efficiency by vacuuming its condenser coils once a year. Look for them on the back or bottom of the fridge. Clean coils carry the waste heat off faster, so the fridge runs shorter cycles, saving electricity and money. Be sure to leave a couple inches of space between the coils and the wall for air circulation.

Global warming in the laundry list, Powell

Is it just me or are you also excited to see global warming discussed all of the time now in the context of the election? Used to be, we couldn't beg people to bring it up. Now it gets mentioned every time a pundit throws out a laundry list of challenges for the next President. Not to say that it gets equal discussion, but it's there. I thought about this listening to Meet the Press with Tom Brokaw and Colin Powell yesterday- by the way, if you missed it, I thought former Secretary of State Powell made a stunning soliloquy. The transcript is here.

Here's Tom Brokaw's laundry list:

Whoever's elected president of the United States, that first day in the Oval Office on January 21st will face this: an American economy that's in a near paralytic state at this time; we're at war in two different countries, Afghanistan and Iraq; we have an energy crisis; we have big decisions to make about health care and about global climate change.

Here's Powell on global warming:

Also, I think, the new president has to realize that the world looks to America for leadership, and so we have to show leadership on some issues that the world is expecting us to, whether it's energy, global warming and the environment.

Video is embedded below.

Recycling and greenhouse gas links

Wednesday night I gave a presentation to the Boonsboro Recycling Task Force about how they could save energy, save money, and save greenhouse gases. I rolled out a new part of the talk about waste, recycling and greenhouse gases. I am not sure how to post the contents of the talk here yet, so until I do, here are some good links that I used:

• http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/waste/lifecycle.html (Life-Cycle of Waste Image and Description- totally awesome)
• http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/downloads/08_CR.pdf (2006 US Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory)
• http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html (good ole EPA personal emissions calculator- has a module on recycling)
• http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/waste/calculators/DGC_home.html
• http://www.nrc-recycle.org/theconversionator/shell.html
• http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/waste/index.html
• http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/waste/calculators/ReCon_home.html
• http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/ActionsWasteWARM.html
• http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/waste/downloads/fullreport.pdf

Last night in Brussels

The AP reports that despite opposition from countries like Poland, the EU has decided to stick to its targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20% by 2020 (Image also from AP):

Poland and six other Eastern European nations infuriated other EU nations with a surprise demand that the bloc drop a December target for adopting plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020.

They say the financial crisis has made it too difficult for European industry to take on the burden of adapting to a clean economy. Italy also threatened to veto the climate change plan unless its industries are given more protection.

"Our companies are in no state to take on costs like those we thought about last year," Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told reporters late Wednesday. French President Nicolas Sarkozy — who currently heads the EU — was adamant that the economic crisis should not derail the climate change targets adopted last year. He said the bloc's credibility was at stake.

"We cannot go back on our objectives," he told a news conference. "It's absolutely essential ... we must stick to the calendar."

Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia however urged that the bloc drop the December deadline for drawing up the plan explaining how the cuts will be made. The poorer Eastern European nations fear their coal-based energy sectors will suffer unfairly.

The plan would cost governments and business billions of euros (dollars) to implement new cleaner technologies, renewable energy sources, and reduce emissions from cars and factories. Berlusconi said that would put Europe at a disadvantage to competitors in China and the United States.

Sarkozy countered that taking a world lead in switching to green energy would bring economic advantages to Europe.

The decision was announced last night in Brussels at the EU summit. Much of the conference was spent discussing what to do about Russia and how to change the world's financial markets to reflect actual values as opposed to speculative ones. Moral authority in the US, by the way? Not so good right now.

A Message from the MD Governor on Renewables

October 9, 2008

A Message from Governor O'Malley

Dear Friends,

Over the last several weeks there have been a number of exciting developments taking place across Maryland as we continue to find new and innovative ways to secure our energy future.
Recently, Maryland joined nine other states to form the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the nation's first cap-and-trade program to control carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. Just last week the partnership held a first-in-the-nation auction of carbon credits. During the auction all of the available credits were sold, raising a total of $38 million, $16 million of which will come straight to Maryland and will be used to stimulate development of clean energy facilities and help consumers reduce their energy bills.

I also recently had the pleasure of joining our partners at the Maryland Environmental Service to announce a new solar facility that will go online later this year. Through this partnership, Constellation Energy's Projects and Services Group will install the $2.1 million solar installation at no cost to the taxpayer. The project will be large enough to provide for 100% of the agency's energy needs during the summer months, and more than half of its annual energy needs. The project also includes a cutting edge learning facility where our high school and college students can come to learn more about clean, renewable sources of energy in a hands-on environment.
Only days ago, our nation-leading efforts were recognized by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy. Their new report moved Maryland up eight spots on the list of energy efficient states to 12th in the nation, the largest jump of any state. There is still much work to be done, but together, we are making the decisions that will protect the land, air, and water that we love; and help to free ourselves from an unsustainable addiction to older, dirtier forms of energy.

To learn more about how we're coming together to take an integrated approach to securing our energy future, please visit our web site at http://www.gov.state.md.us/.

Martin O'Malley

Governor

Maryland Voter Registration Deadline October 14

Today is the last day to register to vote in Maryland. To register, you can download and mail a voter registration application today (you can not fax or email the application) to your county's Board of Elections. Note you must sign the form. You will need a stamp. Or you can complete a voter registration application in person at:

• Your local board of elections
• The State Board of Elections
• The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
• The Department of Social Services
• The Motor Vehicle Administration
• Offices on Aging
• The MTA Paratransit Certification Office
• All public institutions of higher education
• Recruitment offices of the U.S. Armed Forces
• Marriage License offices
• Offices for students with disabilities at all Maryland colleges and universities.

To see if you are registered, check here.

I don't need to tell you that much is at stake in this election in terms of climate change.

McCain, Obama debate global warming, energy

When the climate bloggers were taking bets a year ago that climate change would be front and center in the presidential campaigns, I took the wrong side and said it would not. What I did not count on was the increase in gas prices along with an economic crisis, and how they would jettison the issue into the public consciousness. The hits on this blog have doubled in the past few weeks, mostly due to the thousands of people who are doing google searches to see what the positions of Obama and McCain are on global warming. Those positions are here. I also have the positions on the VP candidates Biden and Palin, and on the RNC and DNC.

But let's talk about yesterday. MSNBC has a video analyzer that lets you fast-forward to places in the debate that relate to energy issues. The word energy was mentioned during the debate 31 times. The word nuclear was brought up 18 times. MSNBC tracked the references to climate change in the last debate but not this one. When the subject was brought up this time, McCain jumped on it, claiming rightly that he and Lieberman created the first proposed greenhouse gas emissions legislation that failed in Congress. As he discussed it, I watched the dial numbers at the bottom of the screen drop. Obama barely mentioned the issue, though he is much stronger on it, and this is a testament to how unpopular global warming legislation is to the public.

Instead, Obama focused on how switching to alternative fuel and saving energy will keep money from going overseas. He talked about a "new energy economy" that will create "five million jobs" and "be an engine that drives us into the future the same way the computer" did. He talked about the crisis as opportunity. This was a brilliant maneuver that climate change bloggers have been pushing for some time.

I am tired of hearing Obama tell everyone he is in support of clean coal because the expensive R/D to be borne by the taxpayer as subsidies to the coal industry will likely never pay off. But I have read Obama's platform and I know that his emphasis on coal is him pandering to coal country, when he really puts the efforts into solar, geothermal, wind, etc. McCain talked a good game about these energies; and hydrogen, battery powered cars, and tidal; but his record does not show him in support most of them. He also spent a long time talking about how nuclear power is going to solve our problems, which requires huge taxpayer investments to insure facilities. Nuclear also has huge unresolved waste storage issues. He discussed being in a "perfectly safe" nuclear submarine, but there have been stories in the news recently about one that leaked. Both candidates discussed the need for offshore drilling, which is pure pandering, because McCain has always been against it and so has Obama. Both candidates are having to respond to the populist, emotional, but stupid argument to "drill, baby, drill", which started at the end of the previous legislative session in the House and came to full fruit during the Republican National Convention.

At the end of the day, the climate with the strongest position on energy and climate change did the best in the debate by focusing on pocketbook issues related to energy and climate change. This position will help take him to the White House.

No news is good news on global warming

• Global Carbon Project statistics from 2007 that show world greenhouse gas emissions increased 3% last year from the previous year.
  
• Data from NSIDC shows we had the second largest Arctic melt in recorded history this year.
  
• The Maryland House killed climate legislation in a committee this week that would take some profits from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and use them for energy efficiency. These bills were approved in the Maryland Senate.

WHEN AM I GOING TO GET TO REPORT ON GOOD NEWS? I AM READY FOR IT!

Where do I begin?

Where do I begin? I could start with the Vice-Presidential debate:

Gov. Palin: I’m not one to attribute every man — activity of man to the changes in the climate [sic]. There is something to be said also for man’s activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet. But there are real changes going on in our climate. And I don’t want to argue about the causes. What I want to argue about is, how are we going to get there to positively affect the impacts? […]
We’ve got to become energy independent for that reason. Also as we rely more and more on other countries that don’t care as much about the climate as we do, we’re allowing them to produce and to emit and even pollute more than America would ever stand for. So even in dealing with climate change, it’s all the more reason that we have an “all of the above” approach, tapping into alternative sources of energy and conserving fuel, conserving our petroleum products and our hydrocarbons so that we can clean up this planet and deal with climate change.

Sen. Biden: If you don’t understand what the cause is, it’s virtually impossible to come up with a solution. We know what the cause is. The cause is manmade. That’s the cause. That’s why the polar icecap is melting […] John McCain has voted 20 times in the last decade-and-a-half against funding alternative energy sources, clean energy sources, wind, solar, biofuels.

Or I could discuss the hilarious SNL skit where Palin states "We don't know if this climate change whosiwhatsit is caused by man or if it is just a natural part of the End of Days," because frankly both versions of Palin are preposterous and possible.

OK I am officially tired of talking about Sarah Palin.

Palin and Biden debate global warming

I watched the debates last night at Cafe 611 along with many of my friends. I was very interested when moderator Gwen Ifill asked Palin if she believes global warming is man-made. The short answer is no. The long answer is dissected by Joe Romm at Huffpo. Fast forward to the climate change discussion of the debate here.

I have discussed Palin on this issue several times:

• http://local-warming.blogspot.com/2008/09/couric-to-palin-man-made-global-warming.html
• http://local-warming.blogspot.com/2008/09/palin-flip-flop-on-climate-change.html
• http://local-warming.blogspot.com/2008/09/palin-on-energy-and-climate-change.html

I have discussed Biden on the issue here:

• http://local-warming.blogspot.com/2008/08/biden-on-energy-and-climate-change-full.html

Biden made the point that many climate change bloggers make: if you can't agree on the cause of global warming, you won't agree on the solution.

The climate in Washington according to Toles