Having trouble with the blog today so what follows is jumbled and has no active links…sorry we are trying to work it..
Forward 1: We sufferred a domain “PARK” yesterday and I nearly had a heart attack
Forward 2: All is better now and I activated the link!
BUILDING A WORLD THAT WORKS TM
http://www.hydrogencommerce.com
Welcome to the International Clearinghouse for Hydrogen Commerce “First they laugh at you, then they ignore you, then they fight with you, then you win.” — Ghandi
Richard D. MastersHydrogen CommerceCONTACT As the end nears for the dirty Carbon Age, cheap, clean, abundant wind power – soon to be followed by cheap solar energy- is preparing to deliver a knockout blow. Next up, the coup-de-grace: unlimited hydrogen fuel from renewable energy. Goodbye nuclear. Goodbye coal. Goodbye oil and gas. Only your bought-and-paid-for by Big Energy senators and congressmen can keep you in the dark while they poison your children, steal your savings, despoil your land, wage war for crude and keep America dependent on imported fossil energy. Wake up! There is no energy crisis. Our crisis is the sacrifice of American ideals and vision for graft on both sides of the aisle.
The International Clearinghouse for Hydrogen Commerce is a defense site in the War Against Renewable Energy currently being waged by Nuclear Power, Big Oil, Coal, Big Agriculture and a sickening majority of our elected officials who traitorously sell influence to foreign nations and corporations. Mankind’s future depends on America’s energy choices. Let’s clean house and abandon the phony solutions that led to war, environmental ruin, poverty, hunger, hatred and disease. We must lead. We must set the example and Build A World That Works!
“There are seven sins in the world: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice and Politics without principle.” — Ghandi
Has George pissed off Arnie yet?
EPA Denies California Waiver to Regulate Vehicle Global Warming Pollution
Statement by Michelle Robinson
Director of the Union of Concerned Scientists Clean Vehicles Program
UCS December 19, 2007
WASHINGTON (December 19, 2007) – The same day the president signed a ground-breaking fuel economy bill, his administration reversed course and denied California a waiver to regulate global warming pollution from vehicles, the first time in the history of the Clean Air Act that the federal government has denied the state a waiver.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied the waiver despite clear guidance from the U.S. Supreme Court that miles-per-gallon standards and the global warming pollution standards required under the Clean Air Act are “wholly independent.” A recent Fresno, California, federal district court ruling added that “it would be the very definition of folly” to prevent the implementation of vehicle global warming emissions standards.
Likewise, the EPA denied the waiver despite the fact that the Bush administration has touted the California standards as evidence that the United States is meeting its international commitments on climate change. While California and the 12 other states that have adopted California’s tailpipe standard will pursue legal avenues to overturn the denial, the announcement today could delay the implementation of the standards, undermining potential benefits.
The goals of a fuel economy standard and a vehicle global warming emissions limit are different. The Department of Transportation (DOT) sets fuel economy standards to reduce oil use. The DOT is not an environmental agency. The EPA regulates motor vehicle global warming emissions limits according to Clean Air Act requirements to protect public health. Under the Clean Air Act, California has the right to set higher standards for pollution reduction from automobiles, and recent court cases clarify that states have the authority and obligation to regulate vehicle global warming pollution. The Bush administration is illegally preventing California from exercising its right, under the Clean Air Act, to set pollution standards for automobiles.
The following is a statement by Clean Vehicles Program Director Michelle Robinson:
“In the eleventh hour of this presidency, the administration is still doing what it can to throw roadblocks in the way of progress in combating global warming. California has the legal right to set stringent pollution standards and has historically led the way for the rest of the country. But the EPA is blocking California and a dozen other states from protecting their residents. Administrator Johnson has sadly chosen politics over his responsibility to protect public health and the environment.”
And even the WALL STREET JOURNAL AGREES with me. I am not going to reprint the whole article here because it is 5 pages long but the synopsis is that Bush has had a new “fuel” source per year since he announced that the USA is addicted to oil. 2 years ago Hydrogen was gonna be our savior. Now its switchgrass ethanol. Fact is it takes the political WILL to implement new clean energy advances and political will is something the Bush administration has but not GOODWILL.
http://www.iogen.ca/news_events/iogen_news/2006_02_02_addiction_treatment.pdf
The Wall Street Journal
Addiction Treatment
Bush’s Latest Energy Solution,
Like its Forebears, Faces Hurdles
Fuel from ‘Cellulosic Ethanol’ Is Costly, Hard to Dispense;
Broad Political Support, Enthusiasm From Detroit
By JOHN J. FIALKA and JEFFREY BALL
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
February 2, 2006; Page A1
With oil prices stuck at more than $60 a barrel, President Bush is touting “cellulosic ethanol” as a 21st-century
panacea for the U.S.’s addiction to oil. In his State of the Union address Tuesday, Mr. Bush said energy made from
“wood chips, stalks or switch grass” could be available at gas pumps in six years and could supply nearly a third of
the fuel needed to keep Americans on the road.
The plan is the latest in a long line of promises from Washington to back new forms of alternative energy, going
back to President Carter’s promotion of synthetic fuels. It offers some intriguing new technology and the possibility
of widespread support from environmentalists, farmers and auto makers.
Like earlier promises, most of which failed, Mr. Bush’s surprise promotion of cellulosic ethanol also faces huge
hurdles. For one, the budget-constrained White House is offering little money to back up its rhetoric: just $150
million next year, hardly enough to revolutionize a multibillion dollar energy market.
The fuel also faces distribution problems and a lack of properly equipped vehicles. And an unpopular gas tax might
well be needed to make ethanol a competitively priced product at the pump.
The proposal marks a switch in emphasis for a politically weakened president. The administration previously has
said the route to energy independence lay in encouraging domestic oil and gas drilling, including opening the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge. Such proposals, which have repeatedly died in
Congress amid bitter political wrangles, were notably absent in this year’s
speech.
By contrast, cellulosic ethanol can draw support from a surprisingly diverse
political coalition. Scientists, investors and policy makers say it is increasingly
viable to make fuel from farm waste, also known as “biomass.” For one, it is
cheaper than corn-based ethanol, the fuel that has been a heavily subsidized
favorite in Washington. Private-sector investors — from Virgin mogul Richard
Branson to Canada’s Iogen Corp. — are putting money into the concept in hopes
of seeing an ethanol boom in the U.S. similar to one in Brazil.
Environmentalists like the idea because burning the fuel doesn’t pollute as much
as conventional gasoline. Defense hawks, notably Reagan Secretary of State
George P. Shultz and Clinton Central Intelligence Agency Director James
Woolsey, promote it as a way to boost national security. Struggling U.S. auto
companies like it because they have a competitive advantage over the Japanese
on so-called flexible-fuel vehicles that can switch between gasoline and
alternatives.
And because the fuel can be made from a wide range of agricultural products, it draws backing from a
geographically diverse range of politicians, from New York Republican Gov. George Pataki to a bipartisan group
of elected officials in California. The fuel is even popular in farm states such as Iowa that tout conventional cornbased
ethanol, since it can make heavy use of corn stalks.
Many experts say conservation or a gas tax is the best way to dent import demand. Mr. Bush has rejected these
approaches as conflicting with his free-market bent and has preferred throughout his term to focus on new drilling
and new technologies. The White House estimates the president has provided $10 billion in spending on new
energy technologies since taking office in 2001.
Beyond ethanol, Mr. Bush’s new “Advanced Energy Initiative” includes spending for research on hydrogen cars and
hybrid-car batteries that can be recharged overnight, as well as money for solar and wind energy. His grand goal, as
he stated in his national address, is “to replace more than 75% of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025.”
Significant Departure
That would mark a significant departure from the future the government now predicts.
OH I am sorry…not a lie, its a significant departure…I will have to remember that, … a significant departure..
The reporting about the Climate Change Summit in Bali was atrocious. That is why I held off writing anything about it until the dust had started to settle. I hate “horse race” style reporting where there is “almost an agreement”, then a suprise compromise, then a new wrinkle, finally an extended meeting that leads to A BREAK THROUGH! I do not mean to poopoo the accomplishments of either Kyoto (I lobbied for it) or even Bali, but it was clear that all the Bush administration wanted was to push the whole thing off until the next administration. He accomplished that, signed the Energy Bill and then turned around and used the bill to block California’s attempt to crack down on tailpipe toxins. And he did it with that gotcha smile of his. He knows that California will win its suit to do just that, because of the waivers they have gotten in the past and because the SUPREME COURT has always said they can. Again that will be on someone else’s watch…what a prick!
http://unfccc.int/meetings/cop_13/items/4049.php
As you can see, all the fuss was about 5 pages of text.
Advance unedited version
Decision -/CP.13
Bali Action Plan
The Conference of the Parties,
Resolving to urgently enhance implementation of the Convention in order to achieve its
ultimate objective in full accordance with its principles and commitments,
Reaffirming that economic and social development and poverty eradication are global
priorities,
Responding to the findings of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change that warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and that delay in
reducing emissions significantly constrains opportunities to achieve lower stabilization levels
and increases the risk of more severe climate change impacts,
Recognizing that deep cuts in global emissions will be required to achieve the ultimate objective of the Convention and emphasizing the urgency1 to address climate change as
indicated in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
1. Decides to launch a comprehensive process to enable the full, effective and sustained
implementation of the Convention through long-term cooperative action, now, up to and beyond 2012, in
order to reach an agreed outcome and adopt a decision at its fifteenth session, by addressing, inter alia:
(a) A shared vision for long-term cooperative action, including a long-term global goal for
emission reductions, to achieve the ultimate objective of the Convention, in accordance
with the provisions and principles of the Convention, in particular the principle of
common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and taking into
account social and economic conditions and other relevant factors;
(b) Enhanced national/international action on mitigation of climate change, including,
inter alia, consideration of:
(i) Measurable, reportable and verifiable nationally appropriate mitigation
commitments or actions, including quantified emission limitation and reduction
objectives, by all developed country Parties, while ensuring the comparability of
efforts among them, taking into account differences in their national
circumstances;
(ii) Nationally appropriate mitigation actions by developing country Parties in the
context of sustainable development, supported and enabled by technology,
financing and capacity-building, in a measurable, reportable and verifiable
manner;
(iii) Policy approaches and positive incentives on issues relating to reducing
emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries; and
1 Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, Technical Summary, pages 39 and 90, and Chapter 13, page 776.
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2
the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of
forest carbon stocks in developing countries;
(iv) Cooperative sectoral approaches and sector-specific actions, in order to enhance
implementation of Article 4, paragraph 1(c), of the Convention;
(v) Various approaches, including opportunities for using markets, to enhance the
cost-effectiveness of, and to promote, mitigation actions, bearing in mind
different circumstances of developed and developing countries;
(vi) Economic and social consequences of response measures;
(vii) Ways to strengthen the catalytic role of the Convention in encouraging
multilateral bodies, the public and private sectors and civil society, building on
synergies among activities and processes, as a means to support mitigation in a
coherent and integrated manner;
(c) Enhanced action on adaptation, including, inter alia, consideration of:
(i) International cooperation to support urgent implementation of adaptation actions,
including through vulnerability assessments, prioritization of actions, financial
needs assessments, capacity-building and response strategies, integration of
adaptation actions into sectoral and national planning, specific projects and
programmes, means to incentivize the implementation of adaptation actions, and
other ways to enable climate-resilient development and reduce vulnerability of all
Parties, taking into account the urgent and immediate needs of developing
countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change,
especially the least developed countries and small island developing States, and
further taking into account the needs of countries in Africa affected by drought,
desertification and floods;
(ii) Risk management and risk reduction strategies, including risk sharing and
transfer mechanisms such as insurance;
(iii) Disaster reduction strategies and means to address loss and damage associated
with climate change impacts in developing countries that are particularly
vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change;
(iv) Economic diversification to build resilience;
(v) Ways to strengthen the catalytic role of the Convention in encouraging
multilateral bodies, the public and private sectors and civil society, building on
synergies among activities and processes, as a means to support adaptation in a
coherent and integrated manner;
(d) Enhanced action on technology development and transfer to support action on mitigation
and adaptation, including, inter alia, consideration of:
(i) Effective mechanisms and enhanced means for the removal of obstacles to, and
provision of financial and other incentives for, scaling up of the development and
transfer of technology to developing country Parties in order to promote access to
affordable environmentally sound technologies;
(ii) Ways to accelerate deployment, diffusion and transfer of affordable
environmentally sound technologies;
Advance unedited version
3
(iii) Cooperation on research and development of current, new and innovative
technology, including win-win solutions;
(iv) The effectiveness of mechanisms and tools for technology cooperation in specific
sectors;
(e) Enhanced action on the provision of financial resources and investment to support action
on mitigation and adaptation and technology cooperation, including, inter alia,
consideration of:
(i) Improved access to adequate, predictable and sustainable financial resources and
financial and technical support, and the provision of new and additional
resources, including official and concessional funding for developing country
Parties;
(ii) Positive incentives for developing country Parties for the enhanced
implementation of national mitigation strategies and adaptation action;
(iii) Innovative means of funding to assist developing country Parties that are
particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change in meeting the
cost of adaptation;
(iv) Means to incentivize the implementation of adaptation actions on the basis of
sustainable development policies;
(v) Mobilization of public- and private-sector funding and investment, including
facilitation of carbon-friendly investment choices;
(vi) Financial and technical support for capacity-building in the assessment of the
costs of adaptation in developing countries, in particular the most vulnerable
ones, to aid in determining their financial needs;
2. Decides that the process shall be conducted under a subsidiary body under the
Convention, hereby established and known as the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative
Action under the Convention, that shall complete its work in 2009 and present the outcome of its work to
the Conference of the Parties for adoption at its fifteenth session;
3. Agrees that the process shall begin without delay, that the sessions of the group will be
scheduled as often as is feasible and necessary to complete the work of the group, where possible in
conjunction with sessions of other bodies established under the Convention, and that its sessions may be
complemented by workshops and other activities, as required;
4. Decides that the first session of the group shall be held as soon as is feasible and not later
than April 2008;
5. Decides that the Chair and Vice-Chair of the group, with one being from a Party included
in Annex I to the Convention (Annex I Party) and the other being from a Party not included in Annex I to
the Convention (non-Annex I Party), shall alternate annually between an Annex I Party and a non-
Annex I Party;
6. Takes note of the proposed schedule of meetings contained in the annex; 7. Instructs the group to develop its work programme at its first session in a coherent and
integrated manner;
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4
8. Invites Parties to submit to the secretariat, by 22 February 2008, their views regarding the
work programme, taking into account the elements referred to in paragraph 1 above, to be compiled by
the secretariat for consideration by the group at its first meeting;
9. Requests the group to report to the Conference of the Parties at its fourteenth session on
progress made;
10. Agrees to take stock of the progress made, at its fourteenth session, on the basis of the
report by the group;
11. Agrees that the process shall be informed by, inter alia, the best available scientific
information, experience in implementation of the Convention and its Kyoto Protocol, and processes
thereunder, outputs from other relevant intergovernmental processes and insights from the business and
research communities and civil society;
12. Notes that the organization of work of the group will require a significant amount of
additional resources to provide for the participation of delegates from Parties eligible to be funded and to
provide conference services and substantive support;
13. Strongly urges Parties in a position to do so, in order to facilitate the work of the group,
to provide contributions to the Trust Fund for Participation in the UNFCCC Process and the Trust Fund
for Supplementary Activities for the purposes referred to in paragraph 12 above and to provide other
forms of in kind support such as hosting a session of the group.
Advance unedited version
5
ANNEX
Indicative timetable for meetings of the Ad Hoc Working Group on
Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention in 2008
Session Dates
Session 1 March/April 2008
Session 2 June 2008, in conjunction with the twenty-eighth sessions of the subsidiary
bodies
Session 3 August/September 2008
Session 4 December 2008, in conjunction with the fourteenth session of the
Conference of the Parties
– – – – –
That is it! Yes there are 13 other COP 3 documents, 11 othe CMP documents and 1 AWG 4 documents, but the above is the heart of the agreement. It would have been nice if someone in the press would have published it and not left it up to the U.N.