Capitol Comments

Climate Scientists Present Both Sides of Climate Debate

By Mikel Chavers

Two climate scientists each explained opposing viewpoints on perhaps one of the most hotly contested issues for state government officials—the global warming and climate debate.

Michael Schlesinger of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign presented evidence that points to global warming—a major problem—that is primarily caused by carbon dioxide emissions, mostly due to humans’ impact on the Earth.

“Warming is not due to natural variability—it’s due to us,” he said Dec. 6 at The Council of State Governments Annual Meeting in Omaha, Neb.

And because it takes not 10 or 100 years for the Earth to reach equilibrium, it will take 1,000 years for things to go back to normal, assuming human-caused global warming comes to a screeching halt, Schlesinger said. “Even what we’ve already done to the Earth’s atmosphere will last 40 generations (and) most of it we did unknowingly,” he said.

States Work to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

By Tim Anderson

From Maine to California, states are working and experimenting together on ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

These regional cap-and-trade approaches—one in the East, one in the Midwest and one in the West—are in different stages of development and vary in the type of emissions and sectors being targeted.

But these state-led efforts all share at least one thing in common: They are pioneering policy efforts in this country to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. In the process, they are also potentially shaping how the nation as a whole eventually addresses a key environmental and economic issue.

CSG Brings Climate Change Debate to Omaha

When it comes to climate change, there’s never just one side to the debate.

Just ask John Christy of the University of Alabama, Huntsville, and Michael Schlesinger of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The two were co-recipients of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize as members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for their work in the area.

But that doesn’t mean they agree on the extent of global warming, its projected impacts and primary causes. In fact, Christy declined his share of the Nobel Prize.

Tennessee Begins Construction on Cellulosic Ethanol Refinery

Work on a new cellulosic ethanol refinery in Vonore, Tenn., will officially start Oct. 14. The pilot-scale refinery is Tennessee’s first venture into the newest alternative fuel. The project is backed by state funds as well as input from the University of Tennessee, which is partnering with the private sector on the project.

To celebrate the groundbreaking for the new plant, local farmer David Richesin will join Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen and use a tractor and planter to begin the construction process. Richesin is one of 16 local farmers under contract with the University of Tennessee to grow switchgrass—the special grass crop used to make the cellulosic ethanol.

Meeting the Energy Challenge for the Northeast

Oil prices have slid from their historic highs earlier this summer, but households in the Northeast are still going to pay record prices to heat their homes with heating oil or natural gas this winter, experts participating in a Monday afternoon energy panel during The Council of State Governments Eastern Regional Conference  annual meeting said.

The average household is expected to pay 30 percent to 35 percent more than last winter for heating oil – when prices also set record highs – and around 25 percent more for natural gas, said Doug MacIntyre, director of the Energy Markets and Contingency Information Division at the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Gov. Mike Rounds Speaks for MGA on NPR

South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds, chairman of the Midwest Governors Association, a CSG affiliate, was interviewed Tuesday on National Public Radio about the impact that the federal ethanol mandate is having on the price of corn. Rounds, who is also CSG vice president, discussed MGA’s specific view of the Renewable Fuels Standards which encourages investment and innovations to move to cellulosic.

Hear what Rounds had to say about the topic.

Bluegrass State Wants to Go Green

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear might just be tired of the state’s bad energy wrap. In May, a report released by the Brookings Institution named the Lexington metropolitan area as having the nation’s worst carbon footprint among the top 100 largest metro areas in the country.

The Kentucky governor instead wants the state to be “the energy capital of the world” and announced his plans to make that happen Wednesday.

Kentucky ranks sixth in the nation for per capita energy usage and seventh for per capita carbon dioxide emissions, according to Business First in Louisville.

“We are all tired of seeing our hard-earned dollars going overseas to countries that, for the most part, despise us, because we need their foreign oil to run our cars and trucks and heat our homes,” Beshear said in a news release. “If ever there was a time for this country to become energy independent, that time is now. Kentucky is sitting on top of all of the resources it will take to aggressively pursue that goal.”

Great Lakes Off-Limits for Drought-Stricken Areas?

The largest group of freshwater lakes in the world may no longer share its water-wealth beyond its watershed borders—if a special agreement among states is approved.

The eight Great Lakes states will send the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact to Congress for approval, according to National Public Radio. The compact is a special agreement governing the use of the water in the Great Lakes watershed and would keep water from being diverted, pumped or piped out of the Great Lakes watershed.

Pennsylvania's Senate approved the compact July 3, according to the Associated Press, and Gov. Ed Rendell said he plans to sign it, making Pennsylvania the final state to approve the agreement.

12 States Receive Energy Grants

Twelve states have gotten some help to advance clean energy projects.

The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices awarded grants of $50,000 to Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, North Carolina and Utah. The awards were made under Gov. Tim Pawlenty's initiative, Securing a Clean Energy Future. Pawlenty is the NGA chair.

States were selected through a competitive process open to all states and U.S. territories.

Back to 55?

The continually rising price of gasoline has many people wondering what can be done to ween the nation off dependency on petroleum.

Some harken back to the energy crisis of the 1970s, when many states took action to cut energy usage. One columnist in Washington believes we should cut the speed limit on the nation's interstate to 55.

What do you think?