Brown Administration Announces Climate Change Workshops for Policy Revisions
The Brown administration this week announced three public workshops to solicit public comment and input on a proposed scope of work for the Fourth California Climate Change Assessment, a personal priority of the governor.
Previous assessments, from 2006-2012, led to the AB 32 greenhouse gas reduction act and current Safeguarding California Plan. Led by the Natural Resources Agency and Cal/EPA, this assessment may have significant impact on resources management, environmental regulation and business.
For more information on the beginning of this critical 2015 policy endeavor:
http://resources.ca.gov/climate/fourth.html/
Australia Is First Nation to Repeal Carbon Laws
After almost a decade of heated political debate, Australia has become the world’s first developed nation to repeal carbon laws that put a price on greenhouse gas emissions.
In a vote that could highlight the difficulty in implementing additional measures to reduce carbon emissions ahead of global climate talks next year in Paris, Australia’s Senate on Wednesday voted 39-32 to repeal a politically divisive carbon emissions price that contributed to the fall from power of three Australian leaders since it was first suggested in 2007.
Australia, the world’s 12th largest economy, is one of the world’s largest per capita greenhouse gas emitters due to its reliance on coal-burning power stations to power homes and industry. In 2011, daily emissions per head amounted to 49.3 kilograms (108 pounds), almost four times higher than the global average of 12.8 kilograms, and slightly ahead of the U.S. figure of 48.2 kilograms.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who made a pre-election “pledge in blood” to voters and business to prioritize growth above climate shift, delivered on his promise after independent senators with deciding votes in the upper house sided with his conservatives, following a power shift this month that ended years of domination by the pro-environment Greens party. He said the carbon price was acting as a a $9-billion-a-year handbrake on the economy, which was adjusting to the end of a record mining investment boom that helped shield Australia through much of the recent global economic downturn.