Just last week, the Chamber of Commerce – the largest national business lobby – warned that excessive environmental and financial regulations threatened US businesses.  And earlier this month, Republican Congressman  Darrell Issa sent letters to over 150 business leaders asking them to identify federal regulations they felt were excessive or intrusive. There are at least a half-dozen bills that have been floated in both chambers of Congress that aim to suspend or delay the EPA’s greenhouse gas regulations.

Obama said he wants federal agencies to review “rules already on the books to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive”.  “It’s a review that will help bring order to regulations that have become a patchwork of overlapping rules, the result of tinkering by administrations and legislators of both parties and the infl uence of special interests in Washington over decades,” Obama wrote.

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Source:  Carbon Market North America

Leading up to Hu’s visit, US and Chinese firms announced a series of clean energy deals in areas such as renewable energy technology and carbon capture and storage (CCS).  US conglomerate GE announced this week it would sell industrial coal gasifi cation (IGCC) technology to Chinese coal and energy giant Shenua through a new joint venture.  In the new partnership, the firms would collaborate on pursuing the commercial scale deployment of the cleaner coal technology in China.

GE said that its gasification technology is one of the most widely-applied technologies of its kind in China, present in over 40 facilities.

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Source:  Carbon Market North America

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“This is a victory for every American who wants better gas mileage and cleaner cars and factories. It means cleaner air, a stronger economy and a healthier future for us all,” said David Doniger, a policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Although the request was considered a long shot since the appeals court rarely grants “stay” motions, businesses still expressed their frustration with the outcome.  “Manufacturers are disappointed in the court’s decision today to deny our motion of stay against EPA,” said Quentin Riegel, deputy general counsel with the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).

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Source: Carbon Market North America

“We support policy measures that will create new economic opportunities and drive the transition to a clean energy economy,” said Christopher Van Atten, a spokesperson for the American Businesses for Clean Energy, who spearheaded a letter to Congress urging it to let the EPA regulate carbon emissions.  “This includes support for the adoption of effective federal climate legislation, EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, and regulation of NOx, SO2, mercury, and other hazardous air pollutants from power plants and industrial sources,” Van Atten said. He noted a recent national poll of small business owners found that 61 per cent of respondents agree that moving the country to clean energy is a way to restart the economy and make their businesses more competitive in the global economy.

Half of those small business owners also support comprehensive clean energy and climate policy, according to the poll, which was conducted by the research group Small Business Majority. The businesses and trade organizations that signed the letter include the American Wind Energy Association, the American Sustainable Business Council and the Centre for Small Business and the Environment.

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Source:  Carbon Market North America

The achievements include anchoring GHG reduction pledges made under the Copenhagen accord in the UN process, outlining the rules for monitoring and reporting GHG output, and taking steps toward addressing deforestation in developing countries, Stern said. “The Cancun agreements could, in general terms, re-establish a political footing for market-based climate policies in the US over the long term,” said Cameron Prell, an attorney with McGuire Woods LLP.

Source:  Point Carbon North America

The plan calls for the state to cut its emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 through a cap-and-trade system and other clean energy measures. About 2,675 million allowances will be distributed over the life of the program, according to Carb.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who addressed the board in person on Thursday, voiced his support after the vote.  “I applaud the air resources board for developing a flexible, phased-in system for producing emissions reductions and for its commitment to working with stakeholders to ensure the fi nal program is cost-effective, job-friendly and achievable,” he said.  But Jon Costantino, a senior advisor with law fi rm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in Sacramento and a former manager at Carb said there was “still a lot to do.” He said the board punted on decisions about how to divvy up allowances to utilities, what to do with revenue, and how to protect against market manipulation, among other issues.

But those expected to be active in the market were delighted with the outcome of the vote.

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Source:  Carbon Market North America

The EIA, a unit of the Department of Energy, revised upward its forecast for CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels for 2010.

Previously, the agency said CO2 emissions would rise just 3.2 per cent this year. But economic growth combined with increased use of coal and natural gas is expected to contribute to increases in fossil fuel-derived CO2 emissions, the EIA said. Coal-related CO2 emissions are expected to increase 6.8 per cent in 2010, primarily because of increased electricity sector coal usage.

Still, the rise of emissions in 2010 will offset only about half of the decline experienced in 2009, when
US CO2 emissions fell 6.9 per cent on the back of a weak economy.

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Source: Point Carbon: Carbon Market North America

President Barack Obama’s stimulus spending poured $814 billion into the U.S. economy, including more than $100 billion for science, technology and innovation projects. With Energy Secretary Steven Chu by his side, Biden unveiled a new White House report estimating the impact of the Recovery Act funding on American innovation in transportation, renewable energy, broadband, smart electrical grids and medical research.

Biden said the stimulus funding would lead to breakthroughs in many of those areas. “The government plants the seeds. The private sector nourishes and makes it grow,” Biden said. “And in the process, if we’re as innovative as we’ve been in the past, we launch entire new industries.” The report outlined a goal of doubling renewable energy capacity from the 28.8 gigawatts of solar, wind and geothermal sources installed as of the end of 2008 to 57.6 GW by the end of 2011, which would be enough to power 16.7 million homes, or 55 million electric cars, for a year.

The manufacturing goal is to double the 2008 level of output of 6 GW of renewable equipment like wind turbines and solar panels to 12 GW at the end of 2011.

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Source:  Thomson Reuters: Carbon Market Weekly

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. has laid off staff at newly acquired Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), industry sources said this week; the head of MF Global’s voluntary markets desk departed in June; and EcoSecurities closed its U.S. office earlier this year.

In the latest move, EcoSecurities’ global head of voluntary and new carbon markets, Lisa Ashford, left the company earlier this week, the clean energy project developer told Reuters on Thursday. Ashford will pursue new opportunities, but her departure will not affect the firm’s voluntary offset portfolio, a company spokesperson said. Ashford was not immediately available for comment.

The voluntary market operates outside regulated carbon emissions reduction schemes and relies on businesses and individuals to offset their greenhouse gas emissions voluntarily. The market slowed in 2009 after six consecutive years of growth due to the economic downturn and uncertainty about future climate legislation. It fell by 47 percent in value to $387 million in 2009, said a report by EcoSystem Marketplace and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Countries such as Australia and the United States have delayed legislation for regional trading schemes, which were hoped to spur the future growth of the market.

In the United States, offset prices on the CCX have fallen to around 10 cents a tonne from over $7 in 2008, while Climate Reserve Tonnes have dropped to $3.50 a tonne from $7. But some companies have not been put off by slow progress on a U.N. climate pact or in developing regional global markets.

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Source: Thomson Reuters: Carbon Market Weekly