Climate Change PolicyAt Home and Abroad

Café Scientifique Arlington, VirginiaJanuary 5, 2010

Climate Change PolicyAt Home and Abroad

Café Scientifique Arlington, VirginiaJanuary 5, 2010

Manik Roy, Ph.D.

Vice President, Federal Government Outreach

Pew Center on Global Climate Change

www.pewclimate.org

Manik Roy, Ph.D.

Vice President, Federal Government Outreach

Pew Center on Global Climate Change

www.pewclimate.org

Overview of today’s presentation:

•Introduction to the Pew Center

•Climate Policy 101

•US climate policy state-of-play

•Copenhagen Accord

Pew Center on Global Climate ChangePew Center on Global Climate Change

Founded in May 1998

Independent, non-profit, non-partisan

Divided into five major program areas:

Scientific Studies/Analyses

Domestic and International Strategies

Outreach Activities• Business

• States

Solutions

Communications

Business Environmental Leadership CouncilBusiness Environmental Leadership Council

Climate Policy 101

Climate policy is mostly energy policyClimate policy is mostly energy policy

80% of US greenhouse gas emissions are carbon dioxide from combustion of fossil fuels.

Therefore climate policy and energy policy are inextricably linked.

Three energy policy challengesThree energy policy challenges

US energy policy must meet three interrelated challenges:

•To power continued economic growth

•To reduce US vulnerability to energy-related security threats

•To reduce risk of climate change and other environmental threats

Energy sourcesEnergy sources

Must pursue all energy options:

•Coal with carbon capture and storage

•Nuclear power

•Natural gas

•Renewable energy

•Energy efficiency and conservation

Climate policy measuresClimate policy measures

Options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions:

• Voluntary reduction programs

• Subsidies and tax cuts for R&D and deployment

• Command-and-control

• Tax

• Cap-and-trade

Key elementKey element

Cap-and-trade is a key element of an All-of-the-Above energy policy that meets our economic, security and environmental challenges.

Under cap-and-trade, industry and the private market – not the government – pick the winning energy sources and technologies.

US Climate Action PartnershipUS Climate Action Partnership

U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP)

• Companies: AES, Alcoa, Alstom, Boston Scientific, BP America, Caterpillar, Chrysler, Conoco-Phillips, Deere, Dow, Duke, DuPont, Exelon, Ford, FPL, GE, GM, J&J, NRG, PepsiCo, PG&E, PNM, Rio Tinto, Shell, Siemens,

• NGOs: Pew Center, Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Nature Conservancy, World Resources Institute

• Calls for GHG cap-and-trade and other measures

US Climate Action PartnershipUS Climate Action Partnership

Why would businesses want urgent enactment of climate legislation?

• Regulatory uncertainty inhibits investment

• Supreme Court has ordered EPA to regulate GHGs

• Avoid nuisance law suits

• State action

• Operating with cap-and-trade in Europe since 2005

• Want US to influence post-2012 international climate

negotiations

• Convinced by climate science, concerned by increasing

risk from climate impacts

Economy grows under climate policyEconomy grows under climate policy

US Climate Policy

State of Play

Federal policy progress to dateFederal policy progress to date

Inconceivable in December 2007, not obvious even a year ago:

•Climate change a top priority of President Obama and Congressional leadership

•House passage of bill with GHG cap-and-trade

•Major GHG regulatory actions

•Major businesses (e.g., USCAP) advocating for GHG cap-and-trade

•“Cap-and-trade” a household phrase

•“Copenhagen climate negotiations” household words

Energy-Climate LegislationEnergy-Climate Legislation

Congressional action:

•House of Representatives passed the Waxman-Markey climate-energy bill in June 2009

•2 of 6 Senate committees have passed energy-climate bills

•Full Senate consideration of climate & energy bill most likely by May 2010

•Reconciliation of House and Senate bills would likely take several months

•Reconciled bill must be passed by House and Senate and signed by President to become law

Copenhagen Climate Summit

Copenhagen Climate SummitCopenhagen Climate Summit

15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention onClimate Change (December 7-18, 2009):

•Two weeks of harsh rhetoric and pitched procedural battles

•Basic terms of Copenhagen Accord were brokered directly by President Obama and key developing country leaders on final day

•Nearly another full day of tense negotiations to allow leaders’ deal to be formalized over the bitter objections of a few governments

•Parties adopted parallel decisions that “take note” of the political accord and open the way for governments to individually sign on

•In separate decisions, parties agreed to continue negotiating toward a fuller agreement in late 2010 in Mexico City

•Uncertainty about formal standing of Copenhagen Accord under theU.N. climate process and about the nature of any future agreement.

•Aim of a “legally binding instrument,” which appeared part of the deal when President Obama first announced it, later stripped out

Copenhagen AccordCopenhagen Accord

Key elements of Copenhagen Accord:

•Aspirational goal of limiting global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius;

•Process for countries to their mitigation pledges by January 31, 2010;

•Terms for reporting and verification of countries’ actions;

•Commitment by developed countries for $30 billion in “new and additional” resources in 2010-2012 to help developing countries reduce emissions, preserve forests, and adapt to climate change;

•Goal of mobilizing $100 billion a year in public and private finance by 2020 to address developing county needs.

Separate agreement to continue negotiating toward fuller agreement in late 2010 in Mexico City

For More InformationFor More Information

www.pewclimate.org

Manik Roy, Ph.D.

Vice President, Federal Government Outreach

Pew Center on Global Climate Change

Manik Roy is the Vice President for Federal Government Outreach for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, where he manages communication between the Center and the U.S. Congress. Dr. Roy has twenty-five years of experience in environmental policy, having worked,before coming to the Pew Center, for Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Defense Fund.

Dr. Roy holds a Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University. He also holds a Master of Science degree in environmental engineering and a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering, both from Stanford University.

Contact: royn@pewclimate.org