Kyoto Protocol
11/28 Australia elects prime minister who wants to ratify Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol climate treaty may soon welcome a new industrialized country to the fold. Australia's newly elected prime minister, Kevin Rudd, has announced he will act in the next few weeks on a campaign promise to have Australia ratify the Kyoto Protocol, which would make the United States the only industrialized country in the world not to agree to making mandatory reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions under the treaty. Showing just how eager the new prime minister is to get busy reducing greenhouse gases, Rudd met with government officials about ratifying Kyoto the day after his decisive electoral victory over the conservative outgoing Prime Minister John Howard on Saturday. Rudd has also promised a gradual withdrawal of Australia's 550 troops from Iraq and has indicated he intends to formally apologize to Australia's aborigines for the country's policy of separating children from their families to speed the assimilation process from the 1930s to the 1970s. Not to be outdone, President Bush, um, pardoned two turkeys ... before sitting down to eat a different one.
Also - China Making Post-Kyoto Deal?
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/11/13/122452/95/?source=weekly
Taken From Wikipedia.com -
The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an amendment to the international treaty on climate change, assigning mandatory emission limitations for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to the signatory nations.
The objective of the protocol is the "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system."[1]
As of December 2006, a total of 169 countries and other governmental entities have ratified the agreement (representing over 61.6% of emissions from Annex I countries).[2][3] Notable exceptions include the United States and Australia. Other countries, like India and China, which have ratified the protocol, are not required to reduce carbon emissions under the present agreement.
There is some debate about the usefulness of the protocol, and there have been some cost-benefit studies performed.
The treaty was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997, opened for signature on March 16, 1998, and closed on March 15, 1999. The agreement came into force on February 16, 2005 following ratification by Russia on November 18, 2004. As of December 2006, a total of 169 countries and other governmental entities have ratified the agreement
State and Local Governments CAN Make A Difference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Greenhouse_Gas_Initiative
11/28 Midwestern governors sign greenhouse-gas reduction pact
The governors of six Midwestern states and the premier of Manitoba signed on to the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord last week, the first such multi-state program in the U.S. Midwest. For those of you keeping track at home, along with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the Northeast and an agreement among West Coast governors, about 48 percent of the U.S. population is now represented in some form of regional GHG reduction program. The Midwest agreement commits Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Manitoba to setting up a regional cap-and-trade system for trading emission credits. Credit trading would begin in 2010, but no reduction goal has been established yet. Indiana, Ohio, and South Dakota also signed on, but only as observers. At the same conference, 12 Midwestern governors agreed to various other goals, such as aiming to have 30 percent of the region's electricity come from renewable sources by 2030, and working to increase the use of biofuels.
The agreements: Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord [PDF], Energy Security and Climate Stewardship Platform for the Midwest [PDF]
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI, or ReGGIe) is a regional initiative by states in the Northeastern United States region to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The RGGI is designing a cap and trade program for emissions from power plants. In August 2005, the RGGI staff working group proposed an emissions reduction program that would start in 2009 and lead to a stabilization of emissions at current levels (an average of 2002-2004 levels) by 2015. This would be followed by a 10% reduction in emissions between 2015 and 2020. The proposal would also allow participants to purchase offsets to meet 50% of their emission reductions.
As of December 20, 2005, seven Northeastern US states were involved in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Massachusetts and Rhode Island dropped out at the last minute; Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney objected to a lack of opt-out provisions if energy prices exceeded a certain threshold.[1] Massachusetts rejoined on January 18, 2007, on the order of newly elected Governor Deval Patrick.[2] California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has also expressed interest in California joining the initiative [1]. It is believed that the state-level program will apply pressure on the federal government to support the Kyoto Protocol.
Participating states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island
Observer states and regions: Pennsylvania, District of Columbia, Eastern Canadian Provinces.
Climate Change Action Plan
A parallel effort to reduce emissions in the Northeast is the New England Governors/Eastern Canadian Premiers Climate Change Action Plan, which calls for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 10% below 1990 levels by 2020. For comparison: the EU aims to reduce emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2020 and the average reduction required under the Kyoto Protocol is 5.2% by 2012. On December 20, 2005 seven states, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" committing themselves to move forward with the program. Special provisions are made in that document for Massachusetts and Rhode Island to join the effort at any time prior to January 1, 2008.
In addition, the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) is building a Regional Greenhouse Gas Registry (RGGR) to help track emissions in the region. This effort is similar to that of the California Climate Action Registry.
The Kyoto Protocol climate treaty may soon welcome a new industrialized country to the fold. Australia's newly elected prime minister, Kevin Rudd, has announced he will act in the next few weeks on a campaign promise to have Australia ratify the Kyoto Protocol, which would make the United States the only industrialized country in the world not to agree to making mandatory reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions under the treaty. Showing just how eager the new prime minister is to get busy reducing greenhouse gases, Rudd met with government officials about ratifying Kyoto the day after his decisive electoral victory over the conservative outgoing Prime Minister John Howard on Saturday. Rudd has also promised a gradual withdrawal of Australia's 550 troops from Iraq and has indicated he intends to formally apologize to Australia's aborigines for the country's policy of separating children from their families to speed the assimilation process from the 1930s to the 1970s. Not to be outdone, President Bush, um, pardoned two turkeys ... before sitting down to eat a different one.
Also - China Making Post-Kyoto Deal?
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/11/13/122452/95/?source=weekly
Taken From Wikipedia.com -
The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an amendment to the international treaty on climate change, assigning mandatory emission limitations for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to the signatory nations.
The objective of the protocol is the "stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system."[1]
As of December 2006, a total of 169 countries and other governmental entities have ratified the agreement (representing over 61.6% of emissions from Annex I countries).[2][3] Notable exceptions include the United States and Australia. Other countries, like India and China, which have ratified the protocol, are not required to reduce carbon emissions under the present agreement.
There is some debate about the usefulness of the protocol, and there have been some cost-benefit studies performed.
The treaty was negotiated in Kyoto, Japan in December 1997, opened for signature on March 16, 1998, and closed on March 15, 1999. The agreement came into force on February 16, 2005 following ratification by Russia on November 18, 2004. As of December 2006, a total of 169 countries and other governmental entities have ratified the agreement
State and Local Governments CAN Make A Difference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Greenhouse_Gas_Initiative
11/28 Midwestern governors sign greenhouse-gas reduction pact
The governors of six Midwestern states and the premier of Manitoba signed on to the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord last week, the first such multi-state program in the U.S. Midwest. For those of you keeping track at home, along with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the Northeast and an agreement among West Coast governors, about 48 percent of the U.S. population is now represented in some form of regional GHG reduction program. The Midwest agreement commits Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Manitoba to setting up a regional cap-and-trade system for trading emission credits. Credit trading would begin in 2010, but no reduction goal has been established yet. Indiana, Ohio, and South Dakota also signed on, but only as observers. At the same conference, 12 Midwestern governors agreed to various other goals, such as aiming to have 30 percent of the region's electricity come from renewable sources by 2030, and working to increase the use of biofuels.
The agreements: Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord [PDF], Energy Security and Climate Stewardship Platform for the Midwest [PDF]
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI, or ReGGIe) is a regional initiative by states in the Northeastern United States region to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The RGGI is designing a cap and trade program for emissions from power plants. In August 2005, the RGGI staff working group proposed an emissions reduction program that would start in 2009 and lead to a stabilization of emissions at current levels (an average of 2002-2004 levels) by 2015. This would be followed by a 10% reduction in emissions between 2015 and 2020. The proposal would also allow participants to purchase offsets to meet 50% of their emission reductions.
As of December 20, 2005, seven Northeastern US states were involved in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Massachusetts and Rhode Island dropped out at the last minute; Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney objected to a lack of opt-out provisions if energy prices exceeded a certain threshold.[1] Massachusetts rejoined on January 18, 2007, on the order of newly elected Governor Deval Patrick.[2] California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has also expressed interest in California joining the initiative [1]. It is believed that the state-level program will apply pressure on the federal government to support the Kyoto Protocol.
Participating states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island
Observer states and regions: Pennsylvania, District of Columbia, Eastern Canadian Provinces.
Climate Change Action Plan
A parallel effort to reduce emissions in the Northeast is the New England Governors/Eastern Canadian Premiers Climate Change Action Plan, which calls for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 10% below 1990 levels by 2020. For comparison: the EU aims to reduce emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2020 and the average reduction required under the Kyoto Protocol is 5.2% by 2012. On December 20, 2005 seven states, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" committing themselves to move forward with the program. Special provisions are made in that document for Massachusetts and Rhode Island to join the effort at any time prior to January 1, 2008.
In addition, the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) is building a Regional Greenhouse Gas Registry (RGGR) to help track emissions in the region. This effort is similar to that of the California Climate Action Registry.
Labels: Environment, green house gases, kyoto, RGGI
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