[GWSG] Clean Power Plan, tape etc.; UN sustainable dev. goals; carbon removal; glacial melt rate

[Tilley, Al]

1.  President Obama's final version of the EPA rules for existing power plants beefs up emissions targets, provides support for renewable energy, and deemphasizes the role of natural gas in the energy transition.  States would submit their plans in 2018 and implement them in 2022.  http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/02/obama-to-hit-us-power-plants-with-tougher-than-expected-emissions-cuts  The final version emerged from intensive negotiation within the administration intended to form the strongest possible plan likely to survive legal and legislative attacks from the fossil fuel industry and its politicians and judges.  Secretary of State John Kerry was a leader in pushing for a strong proposal.  http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/clean-energy-debate-pitted-ambition-against-legal-worries/ar-BBlkKNN?ocid=AARDHP  The EPA has posted links to the plan and some analytical sites.  http://www2.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan/clean-power-plan-existing-power-plants#rule-summary



2.  The President introduced his plan in a thirty minute speech which begins about 7.5 minutes into this tape.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ6N8zN3RCA



3.  The new clean power plan is likely to reduce consumers' energy costs, provide significant momentum for US carbon emissions, and encourage other nations to undertake aggressive climate action.  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/energy/2015/08/150802-clean-power-plan-myths/  Reactions of environmental groups to the Clean Power Plan are generally enthusiastic to wildly so, with a few caveats.  http://grist.org/climate-energy/how-are-environmentalists-reacting-to-obamas-clean-power-plan/?utm_campaign=daily-horizon&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter



4.  The UN's 193 nations have agreed on sustainable development goals which will require collective support equivalent to the US budget.  The goals are set to be adopted next month.  http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/02/us-un-development-goals-idUSKCN0Q70XX20150802?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
The UN expects the goals to provide impetus at the climate talks this December.  http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=51546#.Vb89LLlRHIU



5.  A modeling study shows that removing carbon from the atmosphere is not an effective alternative to controlling emissions of it in the first place.  Carbon removal should be viewed as supplementary.  http://news.sciencemag.org/chemistry/2015/08/sucking-carbon-sky-may-not-slow-climate-change



6.  The world's glaciers are now melting at two to three times the 20th Century average.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/aug/04/speed-glacier-retreat-worldwide-historically-unprecedented-climate-change
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