[News] from [guardian.co.uk]
[Environment > Climate change]
Democrats unveil ambitious draft climate change bill to the US Senate
Senators expected to launch bill that aims to cut emissions 20% by 2020 - stricter cuts than already passed by Congress
Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 30 September 2009 10.59 BST Article history
Democratic leaders are expected to take on the monumental challenge of getting the Senate to act on global warming today by formally unveiling a draft climate change bill proposing a 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions.
The draft bill, which is to be announced by Senators Barbara Boxer and John Kerry at a press conference this morning, sets out a more ambitious target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions than the 17% cut from 2005 levels by 2020 passed by the House of Representatives in June.
The draft would push for a 20% reduction from 2005 levels by 2020 and an 83% reduction by 2050.
The targets appear chosen for their resonance with European and Asian leaders who have been looking to America to demonstrate commitment to action on global warming ahead of the meeting at Copenhagen in December cast by the United Nations as a last chance for getting the world to act on climate change before it is too late to avoid catastrophic warming.
But it is far from clear that the Senate will be able to pivot from its battles over healthcare to climate change and make significant progress before the Copenhagen meeting.
The 800-page draft bill, which is still being worked on, is almost certain to undergo significant changes in the coming weeks with Democrats struggling to build support even from within their own ranks.
"Complex processes are part and parcel of passing major legislation," Tony Kreindler of the Environmental Defence Fund said in an email to reporters on Tuesday. "The most important thing is that the draft be taken for what it is: a starting point that Senators can work with, tailor and pass."
Boxer and Kerry plan a high-profile launch, with fellow Senators, environmental activists, and executives of some of the household name firms that have been pushing for climate change legislation at the press conference.
Republicans, who are expected to largely oppose the bill, are planning their own counter-press conference. On Tuesday, Republican members of Boxer's environment and public works committee wrote a letter warning they would not be rushed into a vote on the bill.
Today's formal start of the legislative process on climate change in the Senate has assumed huge importance in the run-up to meetings in Copenhagen.
World leaders see movement on a US climate change bill as essential to getting an international deal. A series of delays on introducing the bill to the Senate — plus mixed signals from Barack Obama and other members of his administration on the need for urgent action — has deepened fears that the talks at Copenhagen could end in deadlock.
Those fears increased this month when the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, said the Senate was so taken up with healthcare that it might wait until 2010 before it even got to climate change.
President Obama in his meetings with G20 leaders in Pittsburgh last week downplayed the importance of sealing a comprehensive deal at the Copenhagen talks, and his energy secretary, Stephen Chu, has also warned against seeing the meeting as a "make or break" moment. Environmentalists have also accused Obama of missing an opportunity in his speech to the United Nations climate change summit last week to urge the Senate to pass legislation.
But the administration is coming under pressure from outside the US to make significant steps on emissions reductions. "If we don't come to an agreement in Copenhagen this year American business will suffer the most," said Connie Hedegaard, the Danish minister for climate and energy who as one of the hosts will be heavily involved in the negotiations.
The course of climate change legislation in the Senate is expected to be even more difficult than in the house, where 44 Democrats defied party leaders and the White House to vote against the bill. In August, 10 Democratic Senators demanded that any climate change bill would protect workers in oil and coal states.
Senate Democrats had been expected to further water down their bill to try to secure support from conservative Democrats in the rust belt and coal producing states, but drafts circulating on Capitol Hill this week defied some of those predictions.
Kieran Suckling, the director of the Centre for Biological Diversity, called the bill a "baby step forward".
Aside from the more robust cuts in emissions, the draft would restore the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate carbon from coal power plants, which had been eliminated under the house bill.
However, the draft includes other measures which could trouble environmentalists. It raises the possibility of trade sanctions against countries that do not cut their emissions. Negotiators have warned such a move could complicated efforts to reach a deal at Copenhagen, especailly with rapidly industrialising countries such as India and China.
The Senate draft also appears to give an opening to an expansion of nuclear power — a bow to Senate Republicans who have been clamouring for 100 more nuclear plants.
Such gestures are part of a strategy aimed at broadening support for the bill. For months Kerry has been inviting fellow Senators to Tuesday morning breakfast meetings with environmentalists and business leaders supporting climate change legislation.
Democratic leaders have also borrowed the strategy deployed by Henry Waxman and Ed Markey, the authors of the house bill, by refusing to specify their plans for the distribution of emission allowances — essentially licences to pollute that energy and manufacturing firms would be compelled to purchase under climate change bill. The omission is intended to avoid a confrontation over the distribution of valuable permits.
Environmental organisations and business leaders have also been pushing hard to cultivate support for a bill, releasing a battery of reports showing the economic and job benefits of the shift to a cleaner energy economy.
The University of California at Berkeley, said in a report published today that the American Clean Energy and Security Act passed in the house in June would create up to 1.9m jobs by 2020.
[Environment > Wildlife]
Number of Earth's species known to scientists rises to 1.9 million
The world's most comprehensive catalogue of plants and animals has been boosted by 114,000 new species in the past three years
Toni O'Loughlin in Sydney
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 September 2009 15.53 BST Article history
The number of species on the planet that have been documented by scientists has risen to 1.9 million, according to the world's most comprehensive catalogue of plants and animals.
The new figure has been boosted by 114,000 new species discovered since the catalogue was last compiled by Australian researchers three years ago – a 6.3% increase.
The was report hailed by the naturalist Sir David Attenborough as a "crucial reference point for all those who are acting to protect our planet for future generations". It estimates there are 11 million species living on the planet.
But many of them will disappear before they are even found, according to the researchers. Lists of threatened species "lag well behind discovery and … thus are likely to provide underestimates," the report says.
Australia, with one of the highest extinction rates in the world is the only nation to keep a comprehensive list of threatened species. Scientists compiled the Number of Living Species in the World report for the Australian government which says it is the only comprehensive catalogue of plants and animals in the world.
This is the second time that Australian scientists have scoured the globe for published information on identified species of which there are now 1.9 million, 6.3% more than when the report was first published in 2006.
However, the total number of species on the planet is estimated to be much higher. Scientists' calculations vary from 3 million to 100 million, but the report says the number is closer to 11 million.
"Unless we can be certain of exactly what organism we are considering, we cannot protect it. Listing species is the beginning of that essential process," Attenborough said in a statement accompanying the report.
Australia has identified 147,579 of its plants and animals but scientists estimate there are almost 500,000 more species yet to be found. In the three years since the last report, scientists have identified an additional 48 reptiles, eight frogs, eight mammals, 1,184 flowering plants and 904 spiders, mites and scorpions in Australia. As many as 93% of reptiles and 87% of mammal species on the island continent are found there and nowhere else.
But this crucial reservoir of biodiversity is under threat. Of the 388 mammal species found in Australia, 78 are listed as vulnerable, endangered or extinct in the wild while nearly 14% of amphibians, 5% of reptiles and 6% of birds are at risk of extinction.
"We need this essential information to do a better job of managing our biodiversity against the threats of invasive species, habitat loss and climate change," the federal environment minister, Peter Garrett, said.
[Environment > Climate change]
Democrats unveil ambitious draft climate change bill to the US Senate
Senators expected to launch bill that aims to cut emissions 20% by 2020 - stricter cuts than already passed by Congress
Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 30 September 2009 10.59 BST Article history
Democratic leaders are expected to take on the monumental challenge of getting the Senate to act on global warming today by formally unveiling a draft climate change bill proposing a 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions.
The draft bill, which is to be announced by Senators Barbara Boxer and John Kerry at a press conference this morning, sets out a more ambitious target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions than the 17% cut from 2005 levels by 2020 passed by the House of Representatives in June.
The draft would push for a 20% reduction from 2005 levels by 2020 and an 83% reduction by 2050.
The targets appear chosen for their resonance with European and Asian leaders who have been looking to America to demonstrate commitment to action on global warming ahead of the meeting at Copenhagen in December cast by the United Nations as a last chance for getting the world to act on climate change before it is too late to avoid catastrophic warming.
But it is far from clear that the Senate will be able to pivot from its battles over healthcare to climate change and make significant progress before the Copenhagen meeting.
The 800-page draft bill, which is still being worked on, is almost certain to undergo significant changes in the coming weeks with Democrats struggling to build support even from within their own ranks.
"Complex processes are part and parcel of passing major legislation," Tony Kreindler of the Environmental Defence Fund said in an email to reporters on Tuesday. "The most important thing is that the draft be taken for what it is: a starting point that Senators can work with, tailor and pass."
Boxer and Kerry plan a high-profile launch, with fellow Senators, environmental activists, and executives of some of the household name firms that have been pushing for climate change legislation at the press conference.
Republicans, who are expected to largely oppose the bill, are planning their own counter-press conference. On Tuesday, Republican members of Boxer's environment and public works committee wrote a letter warning they would not be rushed into a vote on the bill.
Today's formal start of the legislative process on climate change in the Senate has assumed huge importance in the run-up to meetings in Copenhagen.
World leaders see movement on a US climate change bill as essential to getting an international deal. A series of delays on introducing the bill to the Senate — plus mixed signals from Barack Obama and other members of his administration on the need for urgent action — has deepened fears that the talks at Copenhagen could end in deadlock.
Those fears increased this month when the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, said the Senate was so taken up with healthcare that it might wait until 2010 before it even got to climate change.
President Obama in his meetings with G20 leaders in Pittsburgh last week downplayed the importance of sealing a comprehensive deal at the Copenhagen talks, and his energy secretary, Stephen Chu, has also warned against seeing the meeting as a "make or break" moment. Environmentalists have also accused Obama of missing an opportunity in his speech to the United Nations climate change summit last week to urge the Senate to pass legislation.
But the administration is coming under pressure from outside the US to make significant steps on emissions reductions. "If we don't come to an agreement in Copenhagen this year American business will suffer the most," said Connie Hedegaard, the Danish minister for climate and energy who as one of the hosts will be heavily involved in the negotiations.
The course of climate change legislation in the Senate is expected to be even more difficult than in the house, where 44 Democrats defied party leaders and the White House to vote against the bill. In August, 10 Democratic Senators demanded that any climate change bill would protect workers in oil and coal states.
Senate Democrats had been expected to further water down their bill to try to secure support from conservative Democrats in the rust belt and coal producing states, but drafts circulating on Capitol Hill this week defied some of those predictions.
Kieran Suckling, the director of the Centre for Biological Diversity, called the bill a "baby step forward".
Aside from the more robust cuts in emissions, the draft would restore the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate carbon from coal power plants, which had been eliminated under the house bill.
However, the draft includes other measures which could trouble environmentalists. It raises the possibility of trade sanctions against countries that do not cut their emissions. Negotiators have warned such a move could complicated efforts to reach a deal at Copenhagen, especailly with rapidly industrialising countries such as India and China.
The Senate draft also appears to give an opening to an expansion of nuclear power — a bow to Senate Republicans who have been clamouring for 100 more nuclear plants.
Such gestures are part of a strategy aimed at broadening support for the bill. For months Kerry has been inviting fellow Senators to Tuesday morning breakfast meetings with environmentalists and business leaders supporting climate change legislation.
Democratic leaders have also borrowed the strategy deployed by Henry Waxman and Ed Markey, the authors of the house bill, by refusing to specify their plans for the distribution of emission allowances — essentially licences to pollute that energy and manufacturing firms would be compelled to purchase under climate change bill. The omission is intended to avoid a confrontation over the distribution of valuable permits.
Environmental organisations and business leaders have also been pushing hard to cultivate support for a bill, releasing a battery of reports showing the economic and job benefits of the shift to a cleaner energy economy.
The University of California at Berkeley, said in a report published today that the American Clean Energy and Security Act passed in the house in June would create up to 1.9m jobs by 2020.
[Environment > Wildlife]
Number of Earth's species known to scientists rises to 1.9 million
The world's most comprehensive catalogue of plants and animals has been boosted by 114,000 new species in the past three years
Toni O'Loughlin in Sydney
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 September 2009 15.53 BST Article history
The number of species on the planet that have been documented by scientists has risen to 1.9 million, according to the world's most comprehensive catalogue of plants and animals.
The new figure has been boosted by 114,000 new species discovered since the catalogue was last compiled by Australian researchers three years ago – a 6.3% increase.
The was report hailed by the naturalist Sir David Attenborough as a "crucial reference point for all those who are acting to protect our planet for future generations". It estimates there are 11 million species living on the planet.
But many of them will disappear before they are even found, according to the researchers. Lists of threatened species "lag well behind discovery and … thus are likely to provide underestimates," the report says.
Australia, with one of the highest extinction rates in the world is the only nation to keep a comprehensive list of threatened species. Scientists compiled the Number of Living Species in the World report for the Australian government which says it is the only comprehensive catalogue of plants and animals in the world.
This is the second time that Australian scientists have scoured the globe for published information on identified species of which there are now 1.9 million, 6.3% more than when the report was first published in 2006.
However, the total number of species on the planet is estimated to be much higher. Scientists' calculations vary from 3 million to 100 million, but the report says the number is closer to 11 million.
"Unless we can be certain of exactly what organism we are considering, we cannot protect it. Listing species is the beginning of that essential process," Attenborough said in a statement accompanying the report.
Australia has identified 147,579 of its plants and animals but scientists estimate there are almost 500,000 more species yet to be found. In the three years since the last report, scientists have identified an additional 48 reptiles, eight frogs, eight mammals, 1,184 flowering plants and 904 spiders, mites and scorpions in Australia. As many as 93% of reptiles and 87% of mammal species on the island continent are found there and nowhere else.
But this crucial reservoir of biodiversity is under threat. Of the 388 mammal species found in Australia, 78 are listed as vulnerable, endangered or extinct in the wild while nearly 14% of amphibians, 5% of reptiles and 6% of birds are at risk of extinction.
"We need this essential information to do a better job of managing our biodiversity against the threats of invasive species, habitat loss and climate change," the federal environment minister, Peter Garrett, said.
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