Senate Climate Bill Sees Light Of Day

Senators John Kerry and Josef Lieberman unveiled their long awaited climate bill, “The American Power Act,” today (The bill, along with some explanatory documents can be found here). Weighing in at almost 1000 pages, the bill tries to provide a little bit of something for just about everyone. Though primarily aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting various energy initiatives, there are some provisions which should be of interest to people involved with water related issues.

Though I am still parsing through the bill myself, Title VI of the bill – addressing adaptation to climate change – has jumped out at me as being particularly relevant to the water community. That part of the bill creates a new “Natural Resources Climate Change Adaptation Panel.” The Panel (easier than saying NRCCAP), will be made up of the heads (or their delegates) of essentially every federal agency that has anything to do with natural resources or the environment. And the Panel is tasked, within a year of its formation, of formulating a comprehensive national strategy:

(1) to protect, restore, and conserve natural resources so that natural
resources become more resilient, adapt to, and withstand the ongoing and
expected impacts of climate change; and
(2) to identify opportunities to mitigate the ongoing and expected impacts of climate change.

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Once formulated, this Strategy will be rolled out to all of the various agencies and organizations represented on the Panel who then have to formulate plans of their own to implement the Strategy.

Water management and conservation are mentioned relatively prominently throughout the bill, considering its focus on energy and GHG emissions. And from a number of the provisions it appears that the bill will provide at least some new federal funding for water management and conservation efforts.

Of course, this bill is in its infancy. And there is no guarantee that it will pass in its current form, or at all. And at the end of the day, where the rubber meets the road here is less with the terms of the bill, and more with the regulations and rules that come out of it.

Updates From The New York Times

The New York Times had two interesting articles today that caught my eye.

The first - on the front page - is a report that more than 20% of the U.S.'s water treatment systems have violated "key" provisions of the national Safe Drinking Water Act over the past five years. According to the Times, while regulators were made aware of the violations, less than 6% resulted in regulatory action (i.e. fines or other punishment). According to anonymous insiders at the EPA, the lack of action is due (1) to the concern that any fines or other punishments will simply be passed on to taxpayers; and (2) the fact that drinking water cases lack headline appeal.

This report highlights a significant problem with any regulatory regime. It is not enough to simply have laws and regulations. You have to enforce them. Given the EPA's new committment to enforcing water law in the U.S., perhaps we will start to see some action on this issue. (And thanks to Mike Campana over at WaterWired for the heads up on this story.)

The second Times story that caught my eye today is the announcement that the World Meteorological Organization has issued an analysis that the decade of the 2000's (2000-2009) is going to go down as the warmest decade since instrumental record keeping began more than 150 years ago. And though the year isn't quite done yet, 2009 may end up among the top 5 hottest years on record as well. This assessment is apparently consistent with similar independant assessments performed by NASA and the U.S. National Climatic Data Center.

We can only hope that this report puts to rest the argument (usually based on highly cherry picked data) that the Earth is actually cooling globally.

Well I Guess We Know Where He Stands....

As a follow-up to my earlier post today about the EPA's determination that certain greenhouse gases constitute dangerous pollutants, I just came across the following press release from the Governor of Texas. Here is the whole release (which is also posted here):

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ruling on the danger of carbon dioxide:“It is unconscionable that unelected bureaucrats at the EPA have declared carbon dioxide a public danger despite a lack of scientific evidence to support their ruling. This action should be of grave concern to all Americans, especially Texans, in light of the recent “Climategate” scandal, which uncovered data had been manipulated and destroyed in order to falsely show a preordained result. “We have already seen a sweeping expansion of federal authority, federal takeovers and federal spending under the Obama Administration. Today’s ruling continues a pattern of aggressive federal encroachment into every farm, business, church and household in America. “EPA’s own data shows that Texas’ carbon dioxide emissions have fallen more than any other state this decade due in large part to a regulatory environment that has encouraged the use of alternative sources of energy and cleaner power generation through flexible and science based permitting and monitoring. The federal government should be following Texas’ model of innovation and competition, not burdensome and costly mandates.”

Obviously he does not support the EPA's decision. And he is not the only person venting their spleen in the wake of the announcement. Various congressional leaders (mostly Republicans from what I have been able to gather) and business interests have also indicated their displeasure.

Senator Kerry supports the EPA's finding, but is urging the Senate to act to pass a legislative solution. According to Senator Kerry, EPA regulation is a "blunt instrument" that will create bigger problems for industry than climate legislation. And he's probably right.

The EPA can set limits on greenhouse gas emissions, and enforce those limits. But the EPA does not have Congress's flexibility to craft carbon regulations that limit emissions while trying to minimize the impact on the economy. And while I'm a firm believer that we must reduce our greenhouse gas emissions significantly over the coming years, we can neither ignore nor fail to try and minimize any negative impact those efforts will have on our economy.

Congress needs to get to work.

EPA Finalizes Endangerment Finding Relating To Greenhouse Gases

(Though not directly related to water, this development was too important to pass up)

Today, December 7, 2009, the EPA has announced that it has finalized its finding that greenhouse gases (in particular carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulphur hexafluoride) constitute a threat to public health and welfare. This determination is the end result of a process mandated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497 (2007), where the Supreme Court found that greenhouse gases are air pollutants covered by the Clean Air Act.

Lisa Jackson, the EPA Administrator, announced that pursuant to this finding, large greenhouse gas emitters (more than 250 tonnes annually) will be required to incorporate the best available technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in all new construction and in the expansion of existing construction beginning next year. There will also be reporting requirements that will begin for large emitters in 2011.

This determination, though not unexpected, is legally significant in that the EPA is now required under the Clean Air Act to issue air quality criteria for these five greenhouse gases within the next twelve months. 42 U.S.C. §7408(a)(2). Simultaneously, the EPA is required to propose national ambient air quality standards for the greenhouse gases. 42 U.S.C. §7409(a)(2). From that point on there are a variety of statutory mandates that, in effect, require the EPA to promulgate regulations which will govern the emission of greenhouse gases.

I suggested some time ago that recent rhetoric coming from the EPA, and Ms. Jackson in particular, appeared to indicate that the EPA was awakening from its slumber over the last eight years. And that the EPA might prove to be a tool the administration could use to promulgate environmental regulation without having to rely on Congress. Well, the gauntlet appears to have well and truly been thrown down now. Unless Congress intervenes with some sort of climate legislation in the next twelve months (or otherwise overrules the EPA), it appears the EPA will start regulating greenhouse gases on its own.

The politics of the move are impressive. Ms. Jackson went out of her way at the press briefing to stress that she prefers that climate change be addressed legislatively by Congress. But if Congress doesn't act in the next twelve months, she can plausibly say that she has no choice under the law but to do what Congress won't. Indeed, the EPA's press release alludes to this very reality:

President Obama and Administrator Jackson have publicly stated that they support a legislative solution to the problem of climate change and Congress’ efforts to pass comprehensive climate legislation. However, climate change is threatening public health and welfare, and it is critical that EPA fulfill its obligation to respond to the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that determined that greenhouse gases fit within the Clean Air Act definition of air pollutants.

(You can find the release here.)

And while Congress may not be able to pass meaningful climate legislation in the next twelve months, it seems equally unlikely to me that they will be able to pass legislation stopping the EPA from acting.

This determination may well prove to be the opening bell for the serious regulation of greenhouse gases in the United States. Certainly any sort of regulation that comes out of the EPA is likely to be far stricter than anything Congress will be able to pass. That may put significant pressure on those opposing climate change legislation and force them to compromise. It will also give President Obama added legitimacy when he appears in Copenhagen.

It will be very interesting to see how this plays out over the next twelve months.

For further reading, the EPA has set up a web page here which brings together available resources on the subject.

International Boundaries and Climate Change

There is an interesting posting over at the IWLP Blog discussing the possible effects of climate change on territorial claims and conflicts between nations.

Summarized briefly, the borders of many nations are defined by the course of rivers and lakes. While there is existing and well settled international law which deals with the effect of various changes to these water features, gradual man made changes - such as climate change - fall through the cracks of existing legal precedent.

The problem also extends to our oceans. We normally think of rising sea levels as exactly that - a vertical problem. But rising sea levels will also change the course of coast lines around the world, and with them the maritime territorial claims of nations. This potentially impacts fishing rights (already hotly contested in many parts of the world) and the exploration of submarine resources.

We normally think of water related conflict being one of supply. But, here is an example of how climate change's effect on water could literally rewrite the borders of nations all over the world.