Monthly Archives: December 2009

Where’s the action on climate change in the U.S.?

Posted on by
Reply

My reply to another comment on the post No Kyoto Protocol for the United States:

Most Americans are very concerned about climate change. It is a smaller percentage who are not. Even the United States is threatened by coastal inundation but the threats are largely ignored by the press and therefore not communicated to its citizens. Third Planet is making some progress on public awareness but we are a small organization and it is not enough.

For example my local newspaper, The Florida Times-Union, did publish the following letter I wrote them in November:

Protect the buffers

Although “Rising seas could soak taxpayers, study says” is a news story that no one wants to read, it is a subject we might ignore at our peril.

The prudent approach for government in their planning scenarios is to take a much harder look at the 100-year floodplain, existing wetlands and low-lying agricultural lands, and consider these as ground zero upon which all future development must be based.

Ultimately the reinsurance industry will have a much louder voice about which developments can be insured. It just plain makes sense to give tidal wetlands, and the valuable services they provide to humans, the room to retreat with the possible onset of rising sea levels.

In Louisiana, for example, coastal wetlands and the buffer they provide against hurricanes are being eroded at a rate of 1 acre every 30 to 40 minutes.

It is time we started applying the precautionary principle to the expensive development decisions we are making, particularly in light of the Reality Check development exercises that have been underway in Northeast Florida for the past six months. (Florida Times-Union letter)

We don’t know if our concerns will be considered by our local planning community in their development decisions, or not. We only know that while Florida is threatened it is not our survival that is at stake—for the time-being.

We can only hope that we all come to our senses on the global implications of climate change before it is far too late.

The precautionary principle must drive action on climate change

Posted on by
Reply

The following is my reply to comments on the post No Kyoto Protocol for the United States:

I can empathize with your frustrations, however I don’t believe that “analysis” of what the other side of the climate debate might be thinking or doing is productive toward a solution in the short term. And the short term has now become critical in terms of limiting the prospects of abrupt climate change.

I wrote specifically about the U.S. position toward the Kyoto Protocol in the context of COP15. But there are many other reasons why the Senate would hold up debate on any climate change treaty, Kyoto Protocol or otherwise, including Senators from the President’s own party.

For example, as The New York Times reported this morning, a group of 10 Democratic Senators wrote to the President two weeks ago. They warned, in effect, that if border carbon tariffs are not imposed on imports from foreign countries that have no requirement for limiting their emissions, a treaty could not be ratified.

They argue that American jobs would be at stake and their case is directed toward Chinese imports in particular. How that plays out at COP15 is anyone’s guess and might come down to an eleventh hour negotiating session between the U.S. and China, the main protagonists.

The point I’m trying to make is that it’s not just the Kyoto Protocol at stake in driving the actions of the Senate.

My position all along is quite different from assigning analysis to the problems of debate about climate change.

My position quite simply is to make the case for application of a precautionary principle. The engineer in me says that if I want to insure against possible losses caused by climate change I don’t have a chance of securing insurance unless I can demonstrate that every precaution has first been taken to protect the investment.

If 80% of the science tells me global warming is happening and 20% tells me it’s not, I have enough common sense to take a precautionary stance on climate change and do everything in my power to stop it. To ignore it given the balance of evidence to the contrary is not only reckless, it’s just plain stupid.

COP15 – Travelogue Part 1

Posted on by
Reply

As we’ve discovered to our chagrin at COP15, we were amazingly naïve to think we’d get time to write a daily post! An entire week has shot past and we have been on the go from morning to night. Part of our day is consumed with transit from the hotel in the north of Copenhagen to the Bella Center in the south, and back again at night. And then there is the Conference itself.

So far we start our days with a hearty breakfast at our hotel along with an apple and a banana to go that get us through until dinner time. We then head out into the winter cold to catch the bus and Metro to the Bella Center and proceed from there.



On the right, the Metro, near the Bella Center. In the foreground you can see the dedicated, curbed bicycle path, common throughout the city.

On the right, the Metro, near the Bella Center. In the foreground you can see the dedicated, curbed bicycle path, common throughout the city.



The days  are long and becoming ever more crowded with people. Seriously.



The crowds are growing larger at COP 15 in the Bella Center

The crowds are growing larger at COP 15 in the Bella Center



Wednesday, December 9th

While the Party delegates negotiate on, or don’t, the main event for us this day was an Energy Tour to Copenhagen’s new Kongens Nytorv District Cooling Project in the city, and to the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant on the coast.

The city is retooling an old power plant in the heart of the medieval downtown area known as Kongens Nytorv to provide district cooling to several major buildings including a large department store, a banking facility, and a newspaper company, among the many end users they have signed up for the project. (Public/private  partnerships.) This area is among the most expensive real estate in Denmark.

Not only will these facilities have “central” air conditioning through district cooling, but they have each reclaimed major commercial square footage (meterage?) which they’re able to now use as income-producing space vs. mechanical facilities housing. For example the bank is using the reclaimed space for more data processing equipment, allowing them to maintain their valuable data in-house. The newspaper company has converted its rooftop from a mechanical jungle into a roof-top café and lounge area for its employees. These are basic no-brainer applications that we should  be using everywhere to maximize our use of every molecule of energy we can, and enjoy the side benefits that come from the reclaimed  space.

From there our bus took us on a 20 or 30 minute ride to the south coast to the Avedøre Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant owned by DONG Energy (Danish Oil and Natural Gas - Dansk Olie og Naturgas A/S). After a bitterly cold wait standing in line in the dark (late afternoon) outside the security gates, our tour was finally allowed into the facility after the guards individually typed in our names from our UNFCCC security badges. Believe me, it’s not much fun standing outside with the wind howling in off the sea, so that was a little hitch in the gitalong. However, we appreciate their need for caution (in case any of us get left  behind!), and we carry on…



We don hardhats for the Avedore CHP plant tour.

We don hardhats for the Avedøre CHP plant tour.



We don hardhats, and get a guided tour of the power plants. My Ontario Hydro Dad would have loved it!

Because it was night, we weren’t able to get photos of the facility. The corporate website has a brief video here if you are interested in seeing the power plants.

It is said that this is one of the most energy-efficient power plants in the world because they capture the heat created by the electricity-producing process and distribute it to the homes and businesses of Copenhagen. Both power plants are quite new, one being built in 1990 and the other in 2001 – they are very modern and impressive facilities.

The power plants at this site are able to use a variety of fuels depending on whatever is the most cost-efficient at the time in the energy markets. These include coal, oil, gas, wood pellets and straw. The later is gathered by the farmers and would otherwise lay rotting in the fields until new crops are planted. There are efforts underway to provide subsidies to farmers for their straw to make it more attractive for them to collect the straw for energy use.

From DONG Energy’s own website,  here is a recap on the two power plants:

  • The overall  production capacity of the two Avedøre Power Station units is 810 Megawatts of  electricity and 900 Megawatts of heat.
  • Avedøre Power Station’s Unit 1 primarily uses coal, while Avedøre Power Station’s Unit 2 can  use a wide variety of fuels: natural gas, oil, straw and wood  pellets.
  • Avedøre Power Station’s Unit 2 has facilities consisting of several parts that, when combined, can make record-high use of the energy in the fuels. By simultaneously generating heat and electricity, Avedøre Power Station’s Unit 2 utilises as much as 94% of the energy in the fuels and has an electrical efficiency of 49%. An  achievement that makes the unit one of the most efficient in the  world.

It’s been another long but interesting day in Copenhagen. I’ll continue my travelogue in another post …

No Kyoto Protocol for the United States

Posted on by
Reply

No Kyoto Protocol for the United States: a minority of Americans don’t want it

As the lines at the Bella Center get longer, so do the prospects for any agreement in Copenhagen.



The crowds are growing substantially in numbers as the week goes on.

The crowds are growing substantially in numbers as the week goes on.



The developing world, including China, India and Brazil, insists that a modified Kyoto Protocol with new binding emissions targets for the industrialized nations, but not including the emerging industrial powers, is the only agreement they are willing to negotiate.

In the coming week there may be some movement and compromise concerning their own emissions by China, India and notably Brazil with its huge 1,000-member delegation (number 1 in size at COP15) to persuade the industrialized nations to strengthen the Kyoto Protocol—but the discussion is moot.



Delegates working into the night at the Bella Center

Delegates working into the night at the Bella Center



The industrialized nations in the current Kyoto Protocol, led by the European Union and likely most every other developed country, have no appetite and will not agree to new binding limits without the United States joining the Protocol—and in my opinion that is not going to happen.

There is no possible chance that the United States can join the Kyoto Protocol—the people, not the government, will simply not allow it.

The world may think that the government of the United States is the bad boy here. But as far as climate change is concerned, the people controlling the United States’ position are the growing minority of voters in the United States who want nothing to do with climate change negotiations. I’m talking about the skeptics, those people who do not believe climate change is happening and even people who just don’t want to know, and who like everyone else have direct access to their elected leaders. They tell their elected leaders what they want, not the other way round.

Concerning climate change negotiations the most important elected body is the United States Senate and its 100 Senators. They serve at the will of the people and risk losing their elected status if they do not adhere to the wishes of the people. This is known as democracy in action.



Activity in the area of Denmark's pavilion

Activity in the area of Denmark's pavilion



Now you might ask “why doesn’t the President just override them?”

Here’s where it gets tricky. The founding fathers gave the voice to the people in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution of the United States stating that while the President can make Treaties, he can do so only with the Advice and Consent of the Senate. If the constituents of enough Senators wish to stop a Treaty they can do so. The Kyoto Protocol is just such a Treaty and can only be ratified by the Senate. As currently composed there are not enough votes in the Senate, driven by the will of a minority of Americans, to even contemplate joining the Kyoto Protocol.

The U.S. Senate will require at least the commitment of the developing world to binding emissions targets outside of the Kyoto Protocol to consider a new Treaty but even that is unlikely at this time.

A regulatory mechanism does exist, and based on a recent ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court, it has the potential to severely restrict greenhouse gas emissions from new sources. This is currently under rule development by the Environmental Protection Agency. At present it may be the best hope the world has to involve the U.S. in binding greenhouse gas emissions targets.

But it remains that the Kyoto Protocol is a non-starter for the United States no matter what the Parties might want at COP15.