WRAP UP

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
08/24/12

IN THE WHITE HOUSE

White House regulatory ‘czar’ Cass Sunstein announced Aug. 3 that he is leaving the Obama Administration to return to Harvard Law School. Sunstein was a controversial figure during his three-year tenure at the White House, receiving criticism from both the business and environmental communities alike as administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and Budget, which reviews all large regulations proposed by the Administration. Sunstein took a largely skeptical approach to regulations, slowing many regulations like the Environmental Protection Agency’s New Source Performance Standards, a move that angered many green groups. Reports indicated that Sunstein was at odds with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on several occasions as she aimed to promulgate air quality standards for mercury and air toxics, as well as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. Some environmentalists cheered the news of Sunstein’s departure. “It’s a glorious day,” said Frank O’Donnell of the group Clean Air Watch. “Sunstein has been a blot on the landscape.”

IN THE STATES

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) vetoed legislation Aug. 10 that would have given Leucadia National Corp. the green light to build a $3 billion coal gasification plant on Chicago’s south side. The veto effectively ends a legislative battle that has stretched on for more than three years. Leucadia aimed to get a power purchase agreement from the state, which would have obligated area utilities to purchase its synthetic natural gas for 30 years, regardless of price. Nicor Gas and Ameren Illinois customers would have had to pay 95 percent of the costs to build and operate the plant. Quinn vetoed similar legislation twice before due to consumer protection issues. Meanwhile, Leucadia said it would not try to override the veto.

IN THE INDUSTRY

Industry group American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) tapped a political veteran to serve as its president and CEO. ACCCE announced last week that Mike Duncan will be stepping into the organization’s top spot beginning in September, replacing Stephen Miller, who is retiring after nearly two decades at the helm of ACCCE. Duncan is currently Chairman and CEO of the Inez Deposit Bank in eastern Kentucky and also works as a board member for the Tennessee Valley Authority. He previously worked as chairman of the Republican National Committee, led the GOP SuperPAC American Crossroads and served as Assistant Director of the Office of Public Liaison in the White House. “With Mike Duncan, clean coal has chosen one of America’s toughest and most strategic thinkers to be its chief advocate,” ACCCE Board Chair Wick Moorman said in a statement. “Clean coal electricity is a critical part of America’s energy future, and with Mike Duncan leading our efforts we are well-positioned to continue ACCCE’s strong advocacy in Congress, in statehouses and across America.”

ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT

The U.S. is supportive of an international agreement to cut carbon emissions as a way to limit global warming, the country’s climate envoy underscored. “The U.S. continues to support this goal. We have not changed our policy,” U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern said in a statement Aug. 8. Stern’s remarks came following criticism from the European Union and a collection of small island nations that the U.S. is backing away from its emissions reduction pledges. “World leaders pledged in Copenhagen to stay below the [2 degree Celsius] temperature increase. What leaders promised must now be delivered,” European Commission spokesman Isaac Valero-Ladron was quoted as saying by Reuters. In the closing hours of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change summit last December in Durban, South Africa, the U.S. and nearly 200 other nations, including China and India, agreed to finalize a legally-binding emissions reduction scheme by 2015 for both rich and poor countries, with implementation beginning in 2020. The platform was notable in that it got the United States, China and India, none of which were signatories of Kyoto, to all agree—in a non-binding manner, for now—to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, few further details were agreed upon, leaving much of the negotiations for subsequent summits, where so far negotiations have been characterized by the usual deadlock.

The Peter Cook Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage was launched last week in Victoria, Australia, a project that has gained $3 million in funding from Rio Tinto, according to the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC). The center will be using research conducted at the University of Melbourne, and will initially employ the efforts of over 30 scientists working on CCS technologies. The Centre will connect its researchers with Australia’s first CCS demonstration project through the CO2CRC Otway Project Subsurface Storage Laboratory, to which Rio Tinto will provide an additional $3 million. The Otway Project has been storing CO2 since 2008.