California air board announces emissions reduction plan, Los Angeles Times, June 26, 2008. California continues to raise the state climate action plan bar with the release of a Climate Change Draft Scoping Plan of possible actions to meet the state’s goal of reducing emissions of heat-trapping gases to 1990 levels by 2020. To achieve the 30% reduction from a business as usual emissions trajectory, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) outline relies chiefly on a cap-and-trade system, vehicle emissions standards, energy efficiency programs, and a Renewable Portfolio Standard increase to 33% of electric utility sources. Highly recommended!

More California news:

• The state presses its case for the EPA waiver needed to implement its vehicle emissions standards: Judge rejects automakers' effort to delay California emissions rules, Los Angeles Times, June 26, 2008; and White House invokes executive privilege in EPA inquiry, Los Angeles Times, June 21, 2008.
• Scientists praise California car label law, United Press International, June 24, 2008. The CARB will require new cars to display labels indicating how much smog-forming and global warming pollutants they will emit compared with other vehicles.

At the Western Governors Association annual meeting in Jackson Hole June 29 – July 1, climate policies dominate the agenda:

• Climate change, growth will add to Western water planning challenges, Press release, June 30, 2008. The governors discuss needs to seek out new sources of water, increase efficiency, and recycle water. Brad Udall of the Western Water Assessment observes, “Water has long been a zero sum game in the West. Climate change introduces the possibility that it will become a negative sum game.”
• Governors launch wildlife plan , Denver Post, June 30, 2008. WGA’s Wildlife Corridors Initiative report is released, and the governors create the Western Wildlife Council to create a regionwide decision support system for habitat issues (including climate change).
• A Near-zero technologies for Coal workshop covers the latest sequestration and coal-burning technologies.
• The Western Renewable Energy Zones project engages utilities and the federal government in expediting development of the ransmission infrastructure for renewable resource-rich areas.

Science academies urge 50 percent CO2 cuts by 2050, Reuters, June 11, 2008.  The science academies of 13 nations say industrialized nations should aim to halve world emissions of heat-trapping gases by 2050, work out ways to bury gases, prepare for the impacts of climate change, and accelerate a shift towards a "low carbon society."

Adaptation strategies for public lands, Science Daily, June 24, 2008. The U.S. Climate Change Science Program publishes Review of Adaptation Options for Climate-Sensitive Ecosystems and Resources . Lead authors Include Colorado-based Jill Baron (USGS and CSU Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory) and Linda Joyce (USDA Rocky Mountain Research Station).

High gasoline prices continue to lead to changes in behavior. The Federal Highway Administration during the first four months of 2008 charts the longest sustained drop in the last 25 years of nationwide vehicle miles traveled. Other responses to the fuel price signal:

• The smaller the better, automakers are finding, New York Times, June 20, 2008. U.S. vehicle dealer sales are down 14% this year, including the worst June in 15 years, blamed partly on failure to meet the demand for small cars. Four of the 10 fastest-selling vehicles are hybrids.
• Fuel prices shift math for life in far suburbs, New York Times, June 25, 2008. Real estate experts attribute dropping prices for exurban properties in the Denver area and the rest of the nation to the high price of fuels.
• Record-high pain at the pump leads more motorists to park it, ABC News, June 16, 2008.  Gas consumption is down 1.3% compared with last year and more than half of Americans say they are cutting back on the amount they drive.

But lest we think this is all good news, it’s also important to note that higher gasoline prices are causing real hardship for Americans:

• AP - Yahoo News poll: 9 in 10 hit hard by gas prices , Associated Press, June 30, 2008.
• Also, in May the consumer confidence index dropped to its fifth-lowest level ever.The Conference Board , June 24, 2008.

And for those who count on elected officials to embrace higher energy costs to drive further changes in behavior, take a look at this striking graph showing how President Bush’s approval rating during his two terms has moved down in near lock-step with increases in gasoline prices:

• Bush approval: In fact it’s a gas? , pollkatz.com. Highly recommended!

Geology prime for CO2 project, Durango Herald, June 23, 2008. Industry and government collaboratively research injection of carbon dioxide into Colorado and New Mexico deep coal beds to stimulate methane production.

Company must curb CO2 venting, Casper Star-Tribune, June 11, 2008. The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission orders Exxon-Mobil to reduce its venting of carbon dioxide and make it available for enhanced oil recovery.

U.S. Freezes Solar Energy Projects, New York Times, June 26, 2008. The BLM, citing a backlog of solar energy siting permits, wants to put a two-year moratorium on new solar projects on public land while it conducts an environmental impact assessment.   

Waste trashing climate, Boulder Daily Camera, June 6, 2008. Eric Lombardi, executive director of Eco-Cycle in Boulder, Colorado, co-authors a new report that says emissions of heat-trapping gases related to waste total 37% of all sources and a 90% recycling rate is achievable, the equivalent of closing down about one fifth of U.S. coal plants. 

Natural resource managers say global warming, wildlife don't mix, Idaho Statesman, June 25, 2008. Public land managers from the Northwest gather to discuss strategies to adapt wildlife management to the impacts of climate change, possibly even including the choice of which species to let go extinct.

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