Craig Sparks

February 22, 2008

CBO suggests a carbon tax as the most efficient mechanism to fight global warming
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released a report finding a carbon tax as the "most efficient" incentive-based approach in dealing with global warming. In this study, the CBO compared three incentive-based policies, including a tax on emissions, an annual total emissions cap with tradable emission allowances, and a modified cap-and-trade program. A carbon tax would require businesses to pay a set fee for each ton of carbon or carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. CBO's research seemed to suggest that a carbon tax, although politically unpopular, would limit economic costs while providing for the greatest environmental benefit.

Darren Samuelsohn, Climate: CBO calls carbon tax 'most efficient' option to address warming, Environment and Energy Daily, Feb. 14, 2008, http://www.eenews.net/EEDaily/rss/2008/02/14/3.

Congressional Budget Office, Policy Options for Reducing CO2 Emissions, Pub. No. 2930 (Feb. 2008), available at http://www.eenews.net/features/documents/2008/02/13/document_pm_01.pdf.

Harnessing the Power of Ocean Currents
Researchers at Florida Atlantic University say that the Gulf Stream – the world's most powerful ocean current - may offer an alternative energy source that is clean, permanent, and abundant. Underwater turbines suspended thirty to forty feet below the surface would harness the energy found in the Gulf Stream's current by passing water through large propellers. With a five million dollar research grant from the state of Florida, the University hopes to further develop the technology in order for underwater turbines to be commercially marketable. However, there still exists a great deal of uncertainty as to the project's cost, its overall energy output, and the environmental risk it poses.

Brian Skoloff, Oceans Eyed as New Energy Source, Associated Press, Feb. 14, 2008, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080214/ap_on_sc/gulf_stream_energy&printer=1;_ylt=Auvg3mX.jtDuv6SPp7Vg8J9xieAA.

The World's Largest Rubbish Dump is in the Pacific Ocean?
In the Northern Pacific Ocean, stretching from California to Japan, there exists what some have coined the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch". Charles Moore, who first discovered the trash in 1997 and has since intensely studied this growing problem, estimates there to be 100 million tons of plastic waste materials circulating in the Northern Pacific gyre. Historically, any floating refuse or "flotsam" collected by these ocean currents has slowly biodegraded, however, modern plastics are highly resistant and take decades to decay. Scientists worry about the effects this garbage may have on marine life.

Kathy Marks & Daniel Howden, The World's Dump: Ocean Garbage From Hawaii to Japan, The Independent UK, Feb. 6, 2008, http://www.alternet.org/story/76056/.

Xavier La Canna, Floating Rubbish Dump in the Pacific Ocean Bigger than US, http://www.envirolink.org/external.html?itemid=200802050657430.482732.

Members of Congress Pressure EPA to Pass Stricter Maritime Diesel Regulations
Lawmakers and environmental advocates are calling for the EPA to take immediate action in promulgating pollution reduction rules for large ocean vessels. Large marine vessels constitute the largest uncontrolled source of air pollution in many regions of the country and have been blamed for approximately 2,000 to 5,000 premature deaths each year. Yet EPA intends to wait in issuing its regulations until next year, while, instead, encouraging the U.N. International Maritime Organization to publish diesel emissions standards similar to those found in pending congressional legislation.

Rita Beamish, EPA Pressured to Cut Ship Pollution, Associated Press, Feb. 14, 2008, http://www.topix.net/content/ap/2008/02/epa-pressured-to-cut-ship-pollution.

EPA Pressures States to Adopt Industry-Friendly Mercury Regulations
According to government documents, the Bush administration has been pressuring states with stricter mercury programs than the federal regulations to adopt a more industry-friendly approach. From EPA's standpoint, plants with excessive smokestack emissions should be able to buy emission rights from other facilities, rather than engaging in pollution reduction practices. Many states argue that this policy creates mercury 'hot spots' that can be harmful to communities. On February 8, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia struck down the EPA's regulatory program, stating that it did not adequately address health impacts.

H. Josef Hebert, Feds Nip State Efforts to Slash Mercury, Associated Press, Feb. 16, 2008, http://www.topix.net/content/ap/2008/02/feds-nip-state-efforts-to-slash-mercury.