Environmental Economics

JANUARY 4, 2016

The key finding: there’s a strong consensus among climate economics experts that we should put a price on carbon pollution to curb the expensive costs of climate change. In other words, there is a 95% consensus among expert climate economists that the US should follow through with its pledges to cut carbon pollution in the wake of the Paris international climate negotiations, and more than three out of four agreed that the US should take action to curb global warming no matter what.

2016 136

2016 Carbon Pollution 2009 Greenhouse gas 136

Sightline Daily

MARCH 24, 2015

As the Carbon Pollution Accountability Act , now HB 1314 , wends its way through committee hearings, new economic analysis and revised revenue estimates are popping up. It’s still the same pollution-cutting, clean-energy-spurring bill you know and love, but the new numbers show it will send even more money to Washington public schools, and it will also grow jobs. Less pollution, more clean energy, better schools, and more jobs.

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Carbon Pollution 2015 Fossil Fuel Washington 69

Sierra Club Compass

JUNE 10, 2014

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (Photo: Office of Governor Patrick)   From New Hampshire to California to Hawai’i to Montana, Governors across the country are applauding the Environmental Protection Agency’s first-ever standards to clean up climate disruption carbon pollution. Carbon emissions are linked to respiratory illnesses like childhood asthma, and climate disruption fuels extreme weather events such as super-storms, floods, wildfires, and extreme drought.

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Carbon Pollution 2014 Obama Hawaii 77

Environmental Economics

JULY 18, 2014

In March 2012, the EPA announced a proposed carbon pollution standard for new power plants. No coal-fired units would come close to the emission targets unless there are future innovations in carbon capture and storage. Matthew J. Kotchen and Erin T. Mansur: In the absence of legislation for a US national climate policy, regulatory responsibility has fallen to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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Carbon Pollution Power Plants 2014 Planting 126

Sierra Club Compass

JULY 30, 2014

The EPA proposed these first-ever limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants just last month. crowds gathered to speak out in favor of the carbon pollution standard, packing the hearing all day. At the hearing, one leader estimated the hearing speakers in favor of EPA''s carbon pollution standard outnumbered the opposition by around 50 to 1. Hundreds and hundreds of people gathered in Washington, D.C.,

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Carbon Pollution Atlanta Denver 2014 75

Sierra Club Compass

JUNE 11, 2013

  On June 2nd, Goldman Sachs published a research report, titled "Getting Oil Out of Canada: Heavy Oil Diffs Expected to Stay Wide and Volatile," stating that without Keystone XL, tar sands expansion, and therefore the carbon pollution that comes with it, would be dramatically reduced. The U.S. State Department has stated multiple times that tar sands oil will find a way to reach global markets even without the Keystone XL Pipeline.

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Carbon Pollution 2013 Canada Obama 83

Sierra Club Compass

FEBRUARY 5, 2014

On Tuesday, the Sierra Club released a new poll with Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research showing that seven-in-ten Americans favor the Environmental Protection Agency putting limits on the amount of carbon pollution that power plants can release. The majority of voters (56 percent) believe that the government already limits the amount of carbon pollution that power plants can release, which the government currently does not. Public hearing in Washington, D.C.,

Carbon Pollution 67

Carbon Pollution 2014 DC Fossil Fuel 67

Sightline Daily

DECEMBER 16, 2014

A purely regulatory approach to cutting carbon is like Thanksgiving dinner without the turkey. But just charging polluters without any other policies is like eating turkey by itself with no cranberry sauce or stuffing to make it delicious, no mashed potatoes, green beans and yams to round out the meal, and no pie to sweeten the experience. Here’s how serving up a carbon price carefully paired with other policies makes for a delicious meal.

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Carbon Pollution 2014 CCS Turkey 58

Sightline Daily

FEBRUARY 10, 2014

Voters reject the idea that limits on carbon pollution will harm the economy. Voters believe, incorrectly, that the federal government already regulates carbon pollution. A majority of voters (56 percent) incorrectly believes that the government currently regulates carbon pollution, while just 28 percent correctly understands that there are currently no regulations on the amount of carbon pollution power plants can release.

Carbon Pollution 55

Carbon Pollution 2014 Fossil Fuel Renewable Energy 55

Sightline Daily

FEBRUARY 17, 2015

Have you ever tried to briefly explain to someone why we need to hold carbon polluters accountable? This is the first in a series of short videos about how the Pacific Northwest can use a carbon price to protect our communities and accelerate our transition to clean energy. Key takeaways: The biggest polluters are getting a free lunch. Oil and coal companies profit while they pollute our atmosphere for free. Climate & Energy Carbon pricing Climage Change

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2015 Carbon Pollution 2016 Seattle 70

Sightline Daily

DECEMBER 18, 2014

We at Sightline are always saying that a well-designed program can hold polluters accountable while transitioning the Pacific Northwest to a clean and prosperous future. Yesterday, Washington Governor Jay Inslee unveiled a package of climate policies, including the Carbon Pollution Accountability Act. First, there are several aspects of Washington’s proposal that would make it truly first in class: 100 percent auctions —no free giveaways to polluters.

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Carbon Pollution 2014 Washington Fossil Fuel 79

AGreenLiving

NOVEMBER 20, 2020

Recent research published in Global Environmental Change has revealed that only 1% of people cause half of all aviation pollution globally. According to the study, regular “super emitters” are polluting the environment at the expense of millions of people who do not fly. These findings suggest that the bulk of pollution caused by the aviation industry comes from the actions of very few people.

2018 28

2018 Taiwan Carbon Pollution 2020 28

Sierra Club Compass

JUNE 9, 2014

The much-anticipated safeguards to clean up carbon pollution from existing power plants have finally been announced , and just as expected, both support and opposition for the protections is all over the airwaves. Similarly, the Los Angeles Times reported that Robert Flexon, CEO of Houston-based Dynegy viewed the carbon standards as an opportunity — not a threat.

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Carbon Pollution 2014 Houston Minneapolis 50

Sierra Club Compass

FEBRUARY 6, 2014

The following is testimony from Nick Mullins, a former coal miner from Virginia, given Thursday before the Environmental Protection Agency public hearing in Washington, DC, on carbon pollution standards. Like many of the men in my family, I worked in the coal mines to support my family and to give my children a better future, but it came at the cost of more than just our battered bodies and polluted lungs.

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Coal Miners Coal Plants Carbon Pollution 2014 48

Cool Green Science

JUNE 4, 2015

A hundred-million-year-old solution During my last few years working on low-carbon innovation in the energy sector, I was struck by the time, effort and many millions of dollars the industry was investing to explore how to engineer a way to capture and store CO2 deep below the earth’s surface. Carbon is half of all living mass. In fact, poor land use is responsible for at least 23 percent of global carbon emissions.

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2015 Growth Indonesia Mississippi 67

Sightline Daily

JUNE 15, 2015

You have seven minutes to tell Oregon legislators everything they need to know about stopping climate pollution. That was my task last week when testifying at an Oregon Senate informational hearing about two bills that would stop the free lunch for climate polluters in Oregon—see the video of my testimony below. By the end of next year, one quarter of all the greenhouse gas pollution in the world will have a price tag attached. Quick!

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2015 Oregon Fossil Fuel Coal Mines 63

AGreenLiving

SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

Business Green all-talk carbon pollution carbon-pricing climate change comes-from corporate strategy first-understand implement-it-effectively leadership pollution prevention resilience systems-changeWe all talk about it, but we need to first understand what we mean by systems change if we’re to implement it effectively. More: How to take ‘systems change’ from idea to action.

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2019 Carbon Pollution Strategies Climate Change 28

Cool Green Science

JUNE 25, 2013

billion tons of CO2 annually — 40 percent of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions. With domestic sources of low- and no-carbon energy becoming more abundant and less expensive, we have the opportunity to achieve substantial reductions in overall emissions at relatively low cost. Over the past 35 years, the EPA has used the Clean Air Act to effectively reduce pollution that endangers public health and welfare, including vehicle emissions.

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Obama Climate Change 2013 Climate 61

Sierra Club Compass

NOVEMBER 20, 2012

In a deeply troubling decision  reported  this week, the World Trade Organization (WTO)  has issued a confidential ruling against  Ontario’s successful “feed-in tariff” incentives program that is designed to reduce carbon pollution and create clean energy jobs.   This process of “relocalizing” production reduces carbon pollution associated with shipping goods overseas and supports the creation of new local green jobs.  The

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Clean Energy 2012 Clean Renewable Energy 62

Sierra Club Compass

JANUARY 8, 2014

Carbon pollution standards for new power plants published for public comment. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency has taken another step forward in protecting American families and environmental health by publishing its proposed standards to limit toxic carbon pollution from new power plants in The Federal Register, the government's official newspaper, starting off a 60-day period for public comment.

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Clean Air Clean 2014 Carbon Pollution 79

Sierra Club Compass

OCTOBER 15, 2013

Supreme Court denied legal petitions from polluters and states that challenged the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) historic finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare.   This decision leaves no doubt that the EPA has both the authority and the responsibility to set sensible limits on the carbon pollution that is fueling climate change and endangering public health. Climate change will only worsen that pollution. Today the U.S.

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Health 2013 Carbon Pollution Climate Change 78

Sierra Club Compass

JUNE 13, 2013

  Today, five senators from mid-Atlantic States -- Senators Robert Menendez (NJ), Charles Schumer (NY), Kristen Gillibrand (NY), Chris Murphy (CT) and Richard Blumenthal (CT) took a stand on this issue by urging President Obama to fulfill his obligation to address the causes of climate change and set tough standards to cut carbon pollution from new and existing power plants.   Extreme weather is here once again.

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Power Plants President 2013 Obama 76

Environmental Economics

DECEMBER 5, 2013

Here is the article without all of the crazy political stuff: More than two dozen of the nation’s biggest corporations, including the five major oil companies, are planning their future growth on the expectation that the government will force them to pay a price for carbon pollution as a way to control global warming. Companies do not know what form a future carbon price would take. Coal, which produces twice the carbon pollution of natural gas, would be a loser.

2013 156

2013 Planning Oil Carbon Pollution 156

Environmental Economics

FEBRUARY 24, 2014

Families face rising health care costs for asthma attacks and heart problems caused by runaway pollution. Fossil fuel billionaires like the Koch brothers will keep hiding the consequences of their pollution unless there's a firm, scientific, and official cost for their carbon pollution -- and that's exactly what the White House's Office of Management and Budget is working on.

2014 126

2014 Carbon Pollution Fossil Fuel Society 126

Environmental Economics

FEBRUARY 11, 2016

RFF on the issues: On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court granted a stay blocking the Environmental Protection Agency from requiring states to submit plans for major reductions in carbon emissions from electric power plants. The stay marks a setback for President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which aims to reduce carbon pollution from the power sector by 30 percent from 2005 levels.

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2016 Planning Clean Power 122

Environmental Economics

JUNE 2, 2014

Just the word "cap-and-trade" gives me goosebumps: The Obama administration on Monday will announce one of the strongest actions ever taken by the United States government to fight climate change, a proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulation to cut carbon pollution from the nation’s power plants 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, according to people briefed on the plan who spoke anonymously because they had been asked not to reveal details.

2014 135

2014 Emissions Carbon Pollution Regulating 135

Sierra Club Compass

JUNE 12, 2014

These standards will cut carbon pollution, reduce oil use, and save drivers money at the pump. million barrels of fuel each day, resulting in 530 million metric tons of carbon pollution. Thanks to innovation by countries in the United States and around the world, we have the technology to increase fuel efficiency and reduce carbon pollution.

2014 85

2014 Venezuela Fuel Environmental Defense Fund 85

Sierra Club Compass

JUNE 2, 2014

As dire warnings from climate scientists continue to escalate and what were once rare extreme weather events become increasingly common , we at the Sierra Club applaud today''s announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency outlining its proposed protections from dangerous carbon pollution from existing power plants. Right now air pollution is making our children sick and costing us billions of dollars every year.

2014 87

2014 Carbon Pollution Power Plants Disaster 87

Environmental Economics

MARCH 15, 2013

Waxman, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Representative Earl Blumenauer, and Senator Brian Schatz released draft carbon-pricing legislation and solicited feedback on it from stakeholders and the public.    The legislation would establish the polluter pays principle for dangerous carbon pollution, requiring large emitters to pay for the pollution they emit. How should the carbon fee program interact with state programs that address carbon pollution?

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2013 Help Carbon Pollution Students 146

Environmental Economics

JUNE 23, 2015

A revenue neutral carbon tax is what you would call a "conservative" economic proposal : Two Senate Democrats sponsored a bill Wednesday to institute an economy-wide tax on carbon dioxide emissions, revenue that would be returned through rebates and tax cuts.   The tax would be charged at $45 per ton of carbon dioxide or equivalent greenhouse gases for coal, oil, natural gas and other hydrocarbons, collected at the place where it is produced or refined.

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2015 Clothes Fossil Fuel Carbon Pollution 143

Sierra Club Compass

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

carbon pollution nearly 10 percent. These truck standards are another step to slash oil use, save Americans money and bring down carbon pollution. Of course, setting new efficiency standards for mdeium- and heavy-duty vehicles is only one part of the solution to reduce carbon pollution and oil consumption. When we’re smarter about what we ship and how we ship it, we save money and reduce carbon pollution.

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President Obama Efficient 2014 87

Sierra Club Compass

JULY 23, 2014

Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first-ever national standard to clean up carbon pollution from power plants. Polluters are gearing up to try and stop this standard in its tracks, so it's especially important that everyone concerned about our climate shows up, raises their voice, and gets involved. It creates a framework that, once in place, could mean significant reductions in carbon pollution.

2014 85

2014 Denver Atlanta DC 85

Sierra Club Compass

JULY 30, 2014

Summer is especially difficult for these kids and other vulnerable people -- including seniors and people with respiratory disease -- because the hotter temperatures lead to more smog, one of the most dangerous forms of air pollution. Coal-fired power plants, like those that dot Southwest Pennsylvania, are one of the primary sources of both smog-causing nitrogen oxides, soot and the carbon pollution that’s fueling climate disruption.

2014 80

2014 Carbon Pollution Cleaner Air Pennsylvania 80

Environmental Economics

JULY 29, 2013

Over the past several decades, power plants have curtailed their emissions of harmful pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide, soot and mercury. But power plants have continued to pump unlimited amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, with disastrous consequences. That pollution has been warming the climate, leading to an increase in deadly and destructive storms, droughts, floods and wildfires. Cutting dangerous carbon pollution now is imperative to protect public health. 

2013 116

2013 Energy Efficient Power Plants Carbon Pollution 116

AGreenLiving

OCTOBER 3, 2019

Citing economics and competitive advantage, major firms argue against loosening government controls aimed at cutting carbon pollution. Business Eco Green argue-against controls-aimed cutting-carbon leadership loosening-government planet policy & politics says-the-longOriginally posted here: From auto manufacturers to tech giants, business is opposing rollbacks on climate change regulations.

2019 28

2019 Carbon Pollution Auto Economic 28

Environmental Economics

NOVEMBER 12, 2014

2 carbon polluters, is viewed as essential to concluding a new global accord. As part of the agreement, Mr. Obama announced that the United States would emit 26 percent to 28 percent less carbon in 2025 than it did in 2005. China’s pledge to reach peak carbon emissions by 2030, if not sooner, is even more remarkable. Another thing on my "to do" list: A climate deal between China and the United States, the world’s No. 1 and No.

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China 2014 Obama 2005 143

Sierra Club Compass

SEPTEMBER 24, 2013

Today Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune today sent a letter to the White House rejecting the notion that the Canadian government could do anything to mitigate the carbon pollution from the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline , amid reports that the Harper Government was proposing a deal to the Obama administration. While this may seem like a generous offer, Canada simply cannot mitigate the carbon pollution from the pipeline; those emissions would simply be too big.

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President Canada Obama 2013 82

Environmental Economics

MAY 7, 2014

Coal’s status as a major source of carbon pollution linked to climate change persuaded the trustees to remove companies “whose principal business is coal” from their investment portfolio, the university said.  With campuses around the world : Stanford University announced Tuesday that it would divest its $18.7

2014 146

2014 Bill McKibben Coal Mines Fossil Fuel 146

Sierra Club Compass

JUNE 4, 2014

Like the long overdue carbon pollution standards coming out the same week moms go on strike against Walmart in dozens of cities across the country. We have to reduce the carbon pollution that is threatening the viability of human civilization by disrupting our climate, and we have to create and keep good jobs as we do it. Funny how the universe works sometimes.

2014 80

2014 Carbon Pollution Reform Obama 80

Sierra Club Compass

JUNE 26, 2014

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s proposed carbon pollution limits for power plants is that such regulations will hurt small businesses, which employ half of all private-sector employees in the United States. Just 29% think that industries would regulate themselves and reduce carbon emissions sufficiently on their own. Perhaps the most-common complaint about the U.S.

2014 75

2014 Government Impact Carbon Pollution 75

Environmental Economics

MAY 12, 2014

By the late 1970s, when an increasing number of scientists were raising the threat of global warming, Bill wrote a paper proposing a tax on industries and businesses based on the amount of carbon they emitted into the air. Already, more than 30 countries have passed carbon-pricing laws.

2014 171

2014 Regulating Massachusetts Carbon Pollution 171

Sierra Club Compass

OCTOBER 3, 2014

Already, unchecked carbon pollution from each coal-fired power plant leads to 491 asthma attacks and 22 asthma-related emergency room visits each year, many of those children. When you couple the effects on children’s health with the time spent missing school as a result of illness, the true cost of carbon pollution for children is staggering. Luckily, many schools are taking action and cutting carbon pollution by switching to solar.

2014 67

2014 Carbon Pollution Students Solar Energy 67

Environmental Economics

JANUARY 23, 2014

By 2020, power plant CO2 pollution in the nine RGGI states is projected to be half of 2005 levels. Having strengthened their successful carbon pollution reduction program, the RGGI states have submitted extensive comments to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) describing why regional cap-and-trade programs, like RGGI, offer a simple, cost-effective way for states to comply with upcoming EPA regulations to cut CO2 pollution from existing power plants.

2014 138

2014 2020 Greenhouse gas 2015 138