Greenhouse Gas

Four years after Governor Deval Patrick announced ambitious plans to blunt the impact of global warming, the state is falling behind in its efforts to reduce emissions of gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, according to the first comprehensive review of the administration's climate change goals. The report by MassINC, a nonprofit, independent think tank in Boston, found that the state is not on track to meet its interim goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

Four years after Governor Deval Patrick announced ambitious plans to blunt the impact of global warming, the state is falling behind in its efforts to reduce emissions of gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, according to the first comprehensive review of the administration's climate change goals. The report by MassINC, a nonprofit, independent think tank in Boston, found that the state is not on track to meet its interim goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday signaled that it is prepared to comply with a congressional request for all documents, including communications with the White House, concerning its decision to block California from imposing limits on greenhouse gases. The EPA's general counsel directed agency employees in a memo to preserve and produce all documents related to the decision including any opposing views and communications between senior EPA officials and the White House, including Vice President Dick Cheney's office.

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it will delay requirements for capturing air emissions from oil and gas wells until 2015, though in the interim the agency will impose other requirements, including gas flaring, that it said would reduce the release of smog-forming and toxic chemicals by 90 percent. The move represents a victory for firms that use hydraulic fracturing to tap natural gas resources trapped in shale rock. The American Petroleum Institute, which has been harshly critical of President Obama's administration's policies, said EPA's...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court yesterday unanimously rejected a lawsuit that had sought to force major electric utilities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions without waiting for federal regulators to act. The suit was brought by six states, New York City, and several land trusts. Its central contention was that carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants belonging to four private companies and the Tennessee Valley Authority amounted to a public nuisance. The suit asked a federal court in New York to order the defendants to reduce their emissions.

DALLAS — The Environmental Protection Agency said yesterday it is taking the unprecedented step of directly issuing permits for greenhouse gas emissions to industries in Texas, citing the state’s unwillingness to comply with regulations going into effect Jan. 2. EPA officials indicated they reluctantly were taking over Clean Air Act Permits for greenhouse gas emissions because “officials in Texas have made clear . . . they have no intention...

HARTFORD -- A coalition of states petitioned a federal appeals court yesterday in an effort to force the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Eleven states, the District of Columbia, and American Samoa say the federal agency is required under the Clean Air Act to regulate gases such as carbon dioxide, which Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly said are causing serious environmental and health problems. "You're seeing the erosion of our beaches," he said.

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey is dropping out of the Northeast’s program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Republican Governor Chris Christie announced yesterday, calling the pact a failure at cutting pollution and a burden to taxpayers. The decision to withdraw from the cap-and-trade program at the end of the year marks a turnaround for New Jersey, a heavily industrialized state that was an early backer of efforts to curb the heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming. The pact includes Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday signed into law a sweeping global warming initiative that imposes the nation's first cap on greenhouse gas emissions, saying the effort kicks off "a bold new era of environmental protection. " Standing on picturesque Treasure Island with San Francisco's skyline in the background, Schwarzenegger called the fight against global warming one of the most important issues of modern times. "We simply must do everything we can in our power to slow down global warming before it is too late,"...

ALL THAT is grassy is not green. There are many good reasons to like local food, but any large-scale metropolitan farming will do more harm than good to the environment. Devoting scarce metropolitan land to agriculture means lower density levels, longer drives, and carbon emission increases which easily offset the modest greenhouse gas reductions associated with shipping less food. Last year, I chaired the Citizen’s Committee for the Future of Boston, and our report endorsed urban vegetable gardens.

SAN FRANCISCO - Seeking to influence other states and Washington, California air regulators passed sweeping auto emission standards yesterday that include a mandate to have 1.4 million electric and hybrid vehicles on state roads by 2025. The California Air Resources Board unanimously approved the new rules that require that one in seven of the new cars sold in the state in 2025 be an electric or other zero-emission vehicle. The plan also mandates a 75 percent reduction in smog-forming pollutants by 2025, and a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from today's...

WASHINGTON - The House Republican agenda this fall will focus on repealing environmental and labor regulations that GOP lawmakers say are driving up the cost of doing business and discouraging employers from hiring workers. House majority leader Eric Cantor, Republican of Virginia, said in a memo to his fellow Republicans that as soon as Congress returns to Washington next week he will start bringing up bills to repeal or restrict federal regulations. The memo was released yesterday.

Some of Berkshire Hathaway's biggest subsidiaries continue to spend substantial amounts of money to influence the federal government, even though their parent company run by Warren Buffett doesn't report any lobbying. Reports filed with the federal government show that Berkshire's biggest subsidiaries spent more than $2 million on lobbying between April and the end of June. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad that Berkshire acquired last year spent $1.8 million during the second quarter to lobby Congress on a variety of issues, including tax...

By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent State officials visited the Lexington Battle Green today to announce a public-private partnership that will supply 105 electric vehicle charging stations to 25 cities and towns across Massachusetts. Gov. Deval Patrick's administration is calling the charging stations part of its commitment to clean energy and the stations will be located on downtown streets, parking garages, shopping malls, schools and colleges, and commercial, medical and industrial parks.

Gov. John Lynch is expected to veto a bill on his desk that ends New Hampshire’s participation in a regional program designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Lynch has said he would veto any effort to end the state’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The House pushed hard for the Senate to support repealing the state’s law that implements the program. The Senate lacked the votes to override a veto and tried instead to get the House to modify the program.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has broad reach but only maintains tiny headquarters with fewer than two dozen employees, so maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the conglomerate itself doesn’t do any lobbying. However, Berkshire’s larger subsidiaries individually invest significant sums to lobby lawmakers on various issues. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad that Berkshire acquired last year spent $1.5 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2010, the most of any of Berkshire’s units.

SACRAMENTO - California sued the federal government yesterday to force a decision about whether the state can impose the nation's first greenhouse gas emission standards for cars and light trucks. More than a dozen other states are poised to follow California's lead if it is granted the waiver from federal law, presenting a challenge to automakers who would have to adapt to a patchwork of regulations. The state's lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, filed in US District Court in Washington, D.C., was expected after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed last spring to take...

BANGKOK, Thailand -- International delegates reached an agreement early today on the best ways to combat climate change despite efforts by China to water down language on cutting destructive greenhouse gas emissions. The closed-door debate over everything from nuclear power to the cost of cleaner energy ran into the early morning hours with quibbling over wording. But consensus was eventually reached on a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a UN network of 2,000 scientists and delegates from more than 120 nations.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court yesterday unanimously rejected a lawsuit that had sought to force major electric utilities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions without waiting for federal regulators to act. The suit was brought by six states, New York City, and several land trusts. Its central contention was that carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants belonging to four private companies and the Tennessee Valley Authority amounted to a public nuisance. The suit asked a federal court in New York to order the defendants to reduce their emissions.

ALL THAT is grassy is not green. There are many good reasons to like local food, but any large-scale metropolitan farming will do more harm than good to the environment. Devoting scarce metropolitan land to agriculture means lower density levels, longer drives, and carbon emission increases which easily offset the modest greenhouse gas reductions associated with shipping less food. Last year, I chaired the Citizen’s Committee for the Future of Boston, and our report endorsed urban vegetable gardens.