Category Archives: PLEA Network

PLEA Network

6 September 2016, Scientific American, President Obama’s announcement Saturday that the United States and China had joined last year’s landmark Paris climate agreement together elicited tepid response from Republicans in Congress who insist the administration has shirked its obligation to submit the deal to the Senate. Instead of threatening to take down the deal through legislation or litigation, Republicans released a few muted statements arguing that the global agreement would falter on its own. “History already shows that this Paris Agreement will fail,” said Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.). “This latest announcement is the president attempting to once again give the international community the appearance that he can go around Congress in order to achieve his unpopular and widely rejected climate agenda for his legacy.” Inhofe, who has called climate change a hoax, noted that the Supreme Court has stayed U.S. EPA’s flagship carbon rule for power plants. If the rule, known as the Clean Power Plan, does not survive court challenges, it could make the United States’ commitment under Paris harder to reach. Read More here

PLEA Network

5 September 2016, Climate Home, G20 reaffirms climate commitments – but dodges deadlines. Leaders back rapid implementation of the Paris agreement and ramping up of green finance, but fail to set timeline for phase out of fossil fuel subsidies. Leaders of the world’s biggest economies reaffirmed their commitment to tackling climate change as the G20 summit came to a close in Hangzhou on Monday night. What they did not agree on were hoped-for deadlines to ratify the Paris climate agreement and phase out fossil fuel subsidies. The G20 communique, released in French before it was released in English, committed the nations to ratifying the Paris climate agreement. Leaders “expect a rapid implementation of the agreement in all its dimensions,” it said. However, it stopped short of calling on the entire G20 to join the agreement by the end of 2016. Arvind Panagariya, India’s chief negotiator at the G20 summit,told The Indian Express that he had argued against the inclusion of such a timeline. “I felt we were not quite ready yet in terms of the domestic actions that are required for us to ratify or at least commit to ratify within 2016. So we plan to do it as soon as possible,” said Panagariya. Read more here

PLEA Network

5 September 2016: THE CLIMATE CHANGE AUTHORITY’S SPECIAL REVIEW ON AUSTRALIA’S CLIMATE GOALS AND POLICIES: TOWARDS A CLIMATE POLICY TOOLKIT MINORITY REPORT Professor Clive Hamilton AM Professor David Karoly 1. Introduction 1. As Members of the Climate Change Authority who have participated fully in the processes of the Special Review, we have reached the conclusion that the majority report does not respond adequately to the Review’s terms of reference and has not followed the principles set out on the Climate Change Authority Act (Section 12). We also disagree with several, but not all, of the major recommendations and conclusions of the majority report. We find the analysis used to defend some of the report’s recommendations inadequate. Overall, we view the majority report as a recipe for further delay in responding to the urgent need to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. 2. We regret that a consensus report has not been possible but feel that in good conscience we cannot lend our names to the majority report. After consideration, we have therefore decided to write a minority report. Access full minority report here Access Climate change Authority’s Special Review here

PLEA Network

30 August 2016, The Guardian, Victoria to permanently ban fracking and coal seam gas exploration. Activists and farmers hail decision after inquiry into onshore unconventional gas received 1,600 submissions. Victoria is to introduce a permanent ban on all onshore unconventional gas exploration, including fracking and coal seam gas, becoming the first Australian state to do so. The premier, Daniel Andrews, made the announcement on Tuesday morning and said legislation for the ban would be introduced later this year, making the current moratorium on unconventional gas exploration permanent. A parliamentary inquiry last year into onshore unconventional gas in Victoria received more than 1,600 submissions, most of them opposed to fracking and coal seam gas exploration. A statement from the Department of Premier and Cabinet said: “It is clear that the Victorian community has spoken. They simply don’t support fracking. “The government’s decision is based on the best available evidence and acknowledges that the risks involved outweigh any potential benefits to Victoria.” The government said the move would protect the reputation of Victoria’s agriculture sector, which employs more than 190,000 people; provide certainty to regional communities; and end anxiety felt by farmers about the environmental and health risks associated with fracking. Read More here