Mexico, the world’s 15th biggest greenhouse gas emitter – and ravaged by its worst drought in 80 years – is close to passing legislation to create a domestic greenhouse gas emissions trading system able to cap and cut carbon emissions.
About Susan Kraemer
Susan Kraemer writes at CleanTechnica, Earthtechling, and GreenProphet and has been published at Ecoseed, NRDC OnEarth, MatterNetwork, Celsius, EnergyNow and Scientific American.
As a former serial entrepreneur in product design she brings an innovator's perspective on inventing a carbon-constrained civilization: If necessity is the mother of invention: solving climate change is the mother of all necessities! As a lover of history and sci fi, she enjoys chronicling the strange future we are creating in these interesting times.
Follow Susan @dotcommodity on twitter.
Uh-Oh! Government Motors Buys Carbon Offsets!
February 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment
In a move that almost seems calculated to enrage the Right with its Fox- and Rush-driven rage against the Volt, Chevy has announced it will voluntarily buy “8 million tonnes” worth of carbon offsets for $40 million to help it meet “voluntary emission reduction goals” within five years.
Even the spelling in the announcement is sissified. These are not even American tons!
Record CO2 Reduction in US Cap & Trade States
January 24, 2012 By 1 Comment
In yet another resounding success for cap & trade policies, today carbon dioxide pollution capped by the 10 participating RGGI states of the US Northeast has been reduced to its all-time low of a mere 124 million short tons.
Power plant CO2 emissions in the states that participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) cap & trade dropped 34% below the cap in 2011, according to a new report from Environment Northeast, at Point Carbon News.
So… are they cowering in caves, like Rush Limbaugh says?
California Speeds Up Clean Energy Permits Before its Too Late
January 18, 2012 By 1 Comment
In a much-needed effort to speed up the permitting required to build all the new renewable energy projects being proposed in the state, California Governor Jerry Brown plans to add four positions at the state Department of Fish and Game, along with funding for outside experts.
It’s intended to ease the bureaucratic delays that have long aggravated developers; industry and environmental groups told Climatewire.
Kim Delfino, California program director for Defenders of Wildlife said Fish and Game “just didn’t have the bodies to deal with all the
First-ever Terawatt-Hours Tally of Renewable Energy Released
January 18, 2012 By 9 Comments
Renewable energy generated between 665 and 673 terawatt-hours of electricity in the EU in 2010. With total energy consumption of between 3,115 and 3,175 terawatt-hours, this means that clean energy supplied about 21% of all the EU electricity used in 2010.
In an effective rebuttal to those who constantly pooh-pooh renewable energy capacity as “just nameplate capacity”, the figures were released in terawatt-hours
Obama to Nix Keystone Pipeline Today
January 18, 2012 By 1 Comment
In a huge win for congressional Democrats and green groups who oppose it, the Obama administration is expected to announce today that it has killed the Keystone XL pipeline, a proposed use of US lands to allow dirty tar sands crude oil to be sent across US soil to the Gulf Coast for processing into usable oil for shipment to world markets.
Military Could Produce 7 GW of Solar, Study Finds
January 17, 2012 By 2 Comments
Seven military bases in California and two in Nevada could produce a hefty 7 GW of power from renewable solar and wind power, according to an extensive study the military commissioned from ICF International.
The study found that even though 96% of the surface area of the nine bases is unsuited for solar development because of military use, endangered species and other factors, the solar-compatible area is nevertheless large enough to generate more than 30 times the electricity actually used by the California bases, according to E&E News.
Like all federal agencies, the Department of Defense is under an administration mandate to produce clean energy to cut its carbon emissions 28% by 2020, and it has a $4 billion annual energy bill.
China, Beneficiary of EU’s Cap & Trade, Now Shirks its Responsibilities
January 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
As of of January 1st, 2012, China’s renewable energy projects will no longer be eligible for funding from the EU cap and trade market, through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) that allows polluters in the EU to offset carbon emissions at home by building clean energy abroad.
So in December China rushed through 139 CDM-eligible projects in a last-ditch effort to gain the last of the funding for clean energy development before the cut-off date.
Under the European Trading System (ETS) cap and trade system, polluting plants have to pay for every ton of greenhouse gases they send into the air, and have to reduce the amount every year. If they can’t reduce their emissions enough, they have to buy credits instead, with the funds going to develop clean energy in developing nations.
