Temperature records continue to topple. Last month was the planet’s warmest August in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 174-year record, agency officials said on Thursday. The global surface temperature for the month was 2.25 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1.25 degrees Celsius, above the 20th century average.
Leaders of some of the world’s top climate institutions are ratcheting up pressure on the United States and China to forge an agreement on confronting global warming, fearing that the strained relations of these two superpowers could derail progress at international negotiations in Dubai.
With just two months left before the annual U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP28), leaders from the United Nations, the International Energy Agency and …
In March 2022, temperatures near the eastern coast of Antarctica spiked 70 degrees Fahrenheit (39 degrees Celsius) above normal — making it the most intense recorded heat wave to occur anywhere on Earth, according to a recent study. At the time, researchers on-site were wearing shorts and some even removed their shirts to bask in the (relative) warmth. Scientists elsewhere said such a high in that region of the world was unthinkable.
Starting on Sunday, importers in the EU must report specific emissions data associated with the production of iron and steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizers, hydrogen, and electricity imported into the EU. Beginning in 2026, importers will be required to pay a fee on those emissions. This is like our PROVE IT Act, collecting data on the carbon intensity differences between imports and exports.
A new report from the First Street Foundation found that 39 million U.S. properties are overvalued because damage risks from climate change “have yet to be reflected in the insurance premiums.” The properties are “likely overvalued due to the underpricing or subsidization of climate risk in their insurance. … It has the potential to impact property values in a way that’s similar to what we saw in the last recession in 2008.”
Bloomberg has a nice summary about global EV numbers. Great charts.
Editors Note: Indonesia passed a carbon tax in 2021, but is delaying implementation for fear of becoming uncompetitive. This article reports on the push and pull within the country. If the US were to add a CBAM, it would make it easier for carbon pricing regimes in Indonesia (a major petroleum producer) to activate its carbon tax.
NV Energy executive Carolyn Barbash said Greenlink, the utility’s $2.5 billion transmission line project, is 11 months behind schedule because of permitting issues. Barbash cited the Bureau of Land Management’s review slowing the process, but noted it will generate $690 million in economic activity and “bring about 4,000 full-time jobs.” She asked commissioners to educate the public “that energy infrastructure precedes economic growth. We may need to invest before the load is here.”
Wind and solar build is set to surge but long grid connection queues and a lack of urgency create major bottlenecks. Interregional grid projects typically take over a decade to be completed due to a complex patchwork of state and federal approval processes. Lawmakers are seeking to pass a bill that sets a minimum requirement for grid capacity between regions within a set timeframe. Here is a summary of the Act … and the politics around it.
Until quite recently, high-polluting fossil fuels (especially coal) were by far the cheapest sources of energy available. Renewables didn’t come close. But in the past decade, the unsubsidized price of electricity from solar and wind declined by 89% and 69%, respectively. And the cost of lithium-ion batteries – which are needed to smooth out the intermittent supply of solar and wind energy – has declined by 90%. As a result, new solar power plants have gone from being 710% more expensive than the cheapest fossil-fueled plants in 2010 to being 29% cheaper now, and new onshore wind plants have gone from …
Another hurdle to getting HVDC or other major transmission needed is the current permitting process, said Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Congress’ chief FERC booster. Also, it “is too damn cheap,” Casten said.
“You’ve generated this problematic resource that is super cheap: effectively zero marginal cost,” Casten said. “And on the other end is an entity — an RTO or utility — who depends on earning $50, $60, $70/MWh. And you are putting $30 power into that market.”
Note: CCL’s Jonathan Marshall summarizes the latest worldwide data on carbon pricing, per the World Bank, in a succinct essay and 3 key charts.
As we seek inspiration and validation of our support for national carbon pricing in the United States, many of us look for signs of growing adoption abroad. A new World Bank publication on the
