• Cap-and-trade system has too much room for abuse | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
  Houston Chronicle business columnist Loren Steffy, takes issue with a new carbon cap-and-trade system, which he says have an “Enron-y feel.” He adds: “[W]e don’t need incentives, we need mandates. That means a carbon tax.”
  (tags: carbon+tax cap+trade Green+Exchange global+warming climate+change)
• Editorial: “Energy Economics” || Los Angeles Times
  An L..A. Times editorial uses the example of ethanol, which it calls a “textbook demonstration of why government shouldn’t try to pick winning and losing technologies,” as a case for using market-based incentives to find better energy options, rather than
  (tags: carbon+tax carbon+emissions global+warming climate+change)
• Editorial: “The Gas-Guzzler Gambit” || New York Times
  The NY Times editorial page slams a campaign proposal to lift the gas tax: “Senators John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton have hit on a new way to pander to American voters: a temporary suspension of the federal gasoline tax between Memorial Day and Lab
  (tags: gasoline+tax energy global+warming carbon+emissions)

• City of Boulder recognizes 17 participants in the ClimateSmart at Work program
  “17 Boulder businesses have been provided free and low-cost energy assessments in the first quarter of 2008. “
  (tags: Boulder municipal audit energy business commercial)

At Boulder Carbon Tax Tracker, we’re continuing to experiment with ways in which residents interested in climate change issues might take part in an online conversation about how well the city’s program to fight global warming is working.

When we saw that many users seemed daunted by the prospect of becoming regular guest contributors to our group weblog, we launched a series of online forums to lower the hurdles, making it simple to take part by the tried-and-true means of one-off comments on our various forums.

Now we’ve tweaked our approach again.

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• 18 states commit to take action on climate change || The Associated Press
  Eighteen states, including Colorado, signed a declaration committing themselves to action together.
  (tags: states Colorado climate+change global+warming)
• Governors Convene At Yale To Fight Global Warming || Courant.com
  The central theme of the conference was that states have moved far out in front on the issue, and the federal government needs to work with them when developing climate policy.
  (tags: states climate+change global+warming governors)
• Bay Area businesses may pay fee for emissions || SFGate
  Thousands of Bay Area businesses are poised to pay some of the nation’s first fees tied to greenhouse gas emissions under a plan proposed by regional air pollution regulators.
  (tags: San+Francisco Bay+Area+Air+Quality+Management+District carbon+fees greenhouse+gases)
• Simple + Green || Greenhouse Gases in the Bay Area
  The Simple + Green blog reports on greenhouse gas fees soon to be be paid by Bay Area businesses, but notes that Boulder, Colo., was ahead of the curve with its carbon tax.
  (tags: Colorado Boulder carbon+tax carbon+fees San+Francisco Bay+Area+Air+Quality+Management+District)
• Deseret News | Warming could push Colorado to historic low
  The Colorado River may shrink in this century to its lowest level in at least 500 years because of global warming, threatening water supplies in seven states, including Colorado.
  (tags: Colorado+River Colorado global+warming water)
• Dingell withdraws idea of carbon tax || Friedman Libertarian - TheHill.com
  House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) said that he is no longer contemplating a “carbon tax” as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
  (tags: carbon+tax Congress Dingell greenhouse+gases global+warming climate+change)
• Our Favorite Planet - New York Times
  “The next president should start a $20 billion-a-year program (financed by a pullout from Iraq) to develop new energy technologies, backed by a carbon tax and cap-and-trade system.”
  (tags: carbon+tax cap+trade president energy+efficiency)
• GreenBiz News | Businesses Should Consider Climate Risks: Report
  A recently released Pew Center report delves into how businesses can adapt to the physical effects of climate change.
  (tags: climate+change global+warming business Pew+Center)

• Beijing Looks to ‘Green’ Buildings to Cut Emissions || NPR
  One way China is trying to reach ambitious global warming reduction goals is by focusing on its buildings. A nine-story, modern-looking office building in Beijing is one example.
  (tags: buildings China energy+efficiency global+warming)
• Canadian communities riding green wave of change || Canada.com
  While the federal government dithers on the country’s climate-change strategy, the City of Toronto has pledged to slash greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent in five years, 30 per cent in the next 13 years and 80 per cent by 2050.
  (tags: canada carbon+emissions Toronto)
• Steamboat may join carbon-offset program || Associated Press
  Steamboat Springs may join a new state program designed help to Coloradans buy carbon offsets to counter greenhouse-gas pollution, and to make sure they really get what they pay for.
  (tags: Colorado carbon+offsets Colorado+Carbon+Fund)
• ColoradoBiz Magazine
  More background on the Xcel Energy Smart Grid project, which is being piloted in Boulder.
  (tags: utility electricity power+grid Xcel Boulder smart+grid)
• ConocoPhillips exec sees big future for Louisville site (ColoradoBiz Magazine)
  Looks like Conoco Phillips is going to use the old StorageTek site in Louisville to perpetuate the fossil fuel business: “extraction methods for heavy oil (i.e., tar sands); new coal technology; seismic imaging of reservoirs; carbon-capture & storage.”
  (tags: Louisville Colorado Conoco oil coal research carbon+capture industry business)

• Why it’s good to wander…
  Ethan Zuckerman describes some intriguing public transit options in Umbria, Italy.
  (tags: Europe transit)

• Environmental Capital - WSJ.com : The $100 Billion Windfall: Why Utilities Love Cap-and-Trade
  “By giving away greenhouse-gas emissions permits for free, Europe may hand power companies windfall profits of up to 71 billion euros—about $100 billion—and undermine the fight to curb emissions.”
  (tags: carbon Europe cap+trade economics business research)

On Tuesday, April 8, the Boulder city council held a study session to get up to date on the city’s progress toward meeting the goals of the Kyoto Protocol and Boulder’s climate action plan.

This was a great opportunity to see what each council member thinks of how Boulder’s doing so far on addressing climate change. I took lots of notes, and will be presenting in a series of posts what each council member had to say at this meeting.

First, here’s the big picture:

Falling far short, so far. According to presentations by Jonathan Koehn and Sarah Van Pelt of the Dept. of Environmental Affairs (backed up by the memorandum they submitted with the study session materials), as things now stand Boulder will not meet the Kyoto Protocol goals by 2012. In fact, at this pace we’ll miss it by nearly half (48%).

That explains why the council has been nudging the Climate Smart program team to get more aggressive.

Memorandum, Boulder city council study session, Apr. 8, 2008

At the current pace, Boulder will fall short of its Kyoto Protocol goal by 48%.

The good news is, DEA staff presented a catch-up plan intended to bring the city much closer to meeting the Kyoto goals, and council seemed mostly supportive…

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• Colorado Voters Pass Renewable Energy Standard
  Background on Colorado’s renewable energy standard, passed in 2004. “CO’s largest utilities must obtain 3% of their electricity from renewable energy resources by 2007 and 10% by 2015 as well as establish a net metering system for small PV systems.”
  (tags: legislation state state+legislature Colorado renewables renewable+portfolio+standards)

This evening the Boulder City Council will hold a study session on the city’s climate action plan, transportation and renewable energy strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I’ll be attending.

A study session is a meeting of city council members and staff to go over current and upcoming issues, discuss topics, and give staff/consultants direction. The public is welcome to observe, but no public comments, questions, or statements are taken. However, the public may be asked questions. No formal voting takes place.

According to the 65-page memorandum from the Boulder Dept. of Environmental Affairs to the City Council, this session will provide an update on initiatives undertaken as part of Boulder’s Climate Action Plan (CAP, see backgrounder), and the Transportation Master Plan’s FasTracks Local Optimization (FLO) initiative (a planned transportation system in Boulder that will integrate regional rail and bus rapid transit, expected to be implemented around 2014-16).

Also tonight, Environmental Affairs will introduce its draft renewable energy strategy for the city.

Apparently, council has been pushing the city’s Climate Smart program to pursue emissions cuts more aggressively….

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