Company News...
January 16, 2010
Cheques Have Arrived...
C-Green has received the cheques to do the cheque run and hopes to be started on these in the upcoming week. More to come next week.
January 15, 2010
Investors urge governments to act on climate change
REUTERS - Global investors representing $13 trillion in assets called on the United States and other countries Thursday to adopt policies to fight climate change they said would unleash a potential flood of private money into renewable and efficient energy.
"Without policies that create a stable investment environment our hands are tied," Anne Stausboll, chief executive of the California Public Employees Retirement System, a pension fund with more than $205 billion in assets, said at a meeting called the Investor Summit on Climate Risk.
"We are ready and willing to up the ante to finance the transition to a low carbon global economy but you need to have the courage to act," said Mindy Lubber, the president of Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmentalists which was hosting the meeting.
More than 20 countries, including China and the United States, agreed to a non-binding Copenhagen Accord at a U.N. climate summit last month.
They are hoping at least 100 countries sign on to the accord by pledging carbon cuts or action on climate in order to show the momentum needed to form a binding global agreement, a Western diplomat said.
But the United States, the world's second-largest emitter, has not formed a national plan to cut emissions as climate legislation has stalled in the Senate.
And major developing countries want the United States to act first before agreeing to take binding action.
Opportunities for investing in the low carbon economy have been proven, investors said.
A Deutsche Bank report released Thursday found companies that specialize in renewable energy like wind, solar and geothermal power and energy efficiency outperformed peers across the wider global economy last year and expected that to continue in 2010.
"Until the U.S. Congress passes climate regulation, America will be at a competitive disadvantage in the development of renewable energy and other climate change industries," said Kevin Parker, the bank's head of global asset management,which had $695 billion in assets as of September 2009.
December 16, 2009
Manitoba to move on Cap and Trade
Canadian province Manitoba will hold pubic consultations on a cap-and-trade
scheme in 2010.
Premier Greg Selinger told delegates at a side-event to the Copenhagen
climate summit he is committed to moving forward with legislation
enabling the creation of a cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse
gases.
The legislation will enable the Canadian province’s participation
in regional cap-and-trade schemes the Western Climate Initiative
and the Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord.
Manitoba joined both programmes as part of its commitment to reduce
greenhouse gases in the province.
Manitoba’s initial target is to reduce emissions at least
6 per cent below 1990 levels by December 2012.
The Western Climate Initiative, an economy-wide cap-and-trade scheme
consisting of seven US states and four Canadian provinces, aims
to reduce greenhouse gases collectively by 15 per cent below 2005
levels by 2020.
The scheme is scheduled to begin in 2012.
The Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord, also an economy-wide
cap-and-trade scheme which consists of six US states and one Canadian
province, seeks to reduce greenhouses gases 20 per cent below 2005
levels by 2020.
Selinger, who recently took over the post of premier from Gary Doer,
also agreed with Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle to move forward on
a joint agreement to cooperate on renewable energy and technology
research.
They agreed to hold workshops with experts from the midwest to increase
private and public-sector relationships, said Selinger.
In October, Wisconsin and Manitoba, which share a common border,
signed a memorandum of understanding to promote new technologies
in the agricultural and clean energy sectors.
Most of Manitoba’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the
agricultural sector (36 per cent) – the highest of all the
Canadian provinces.
Road transportation (23 per cent) and industry (9 per cent) are
the second and third highest emitting sectors.
Electric sector emissions are low thanks to the province’s
heavy use of hydro and wind power.
By Kim Moore – kmo@pointcarbon.com
Washington DC
December
16, 2009
Nations
form alliance to cut agriculural GHGs
Twenty one countries have formed a global venture to research reducing
GHGs from agriculture.
The Global Research Alliance is an international research collaborative
that pools money and expertise to look into ways nations can mitigate
emissions from the agricultural sector.
Agriculture currently produces 14 per cent of global annual greenhouse
gases.
US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced at the UN climate
summit in Copenhagen the US’s participation in the scheme,
whose members include both developed and developing countries.
“Just as climate change has no borders, our research should
not,” said Vilsack.
“No single nation has all the resources needed to tackle agricultural
greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time enhancing food production
and food security,” he said.
The US has sought to incorporate its agricultural sector in a cap-and-trade
scheme by creating a domestic offset programme for its farming and
forestry sectors.
The US Department of Agriculture’s analysis of the House-passed
Waxman-Markey bill found that revenue from a carbon offset market
would generate $1 billion a year in the near term and $15 billion
in 2040.
The Global Research Alliance was originally proposed by New Zealand
Prime Minister John Key at the UN’s general assembly in September
as a way to bring countries together to reduce emissions from food
and livestock production.
Fifty per cent of New Zealand’s greenhouse gases come from
agriculture.
So far, only three member countries – US, Canada and New Zealand
– have pledged money towards the alliance.
The US will contribute $90 million, Canada $27 million and New Zealand
$45 million.
Chris Mather, a spokeswoman for the US Department of Agriculture,
said the alliance does not yet have a total dollar amount dedicated
to it because several member countries have not yet pledged contributions.
She added the alliance hopes to involve as many countries as possible
in the scheme.
Countries that have agreed to participate in the alliance include
Australia, Columbia, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Ghana, India,
Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Uruguay and Vietnam.
By Kim Moore – kmo@pointcarbon.com
Washington DC
December
7, 2009
Institutional investors managing more than $1 trillion in
assets have asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to
spell out the climate-related financial risks corporations should
disclose on their financial forms. U.S. and Canadian fund
managers signing onto the petition included the California Public
Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS); top state financial officers
in Oregon, North Carolina, Connecticut, Maryland, New York and Florida;
British Columbia Investment Management Corp.; the Laborers' International
Union of North America; and Pax World Management Corp. Their chief
complaint is that the SEC requires public companies to disclose
"material risks" to investors, but the agency has offered
no guidance for reporting financial risks tied to global warming.
The investor groups say there is a panoply of climate-related issues
affecting long-term corporate finances, including a pending batch
of greenhouse gas reporting requirements from U.S. EPA, worsening
environmental conditions and the prospect that Congress will mandate
reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. Companies and the SEC have
faced increasing pressure from shareholder groups, regulators and
state attorneys general asking for more public disclosure of climate-related
risks. On Thursday, the office of New York Attorney General Andrew
Cuomo (D) announced a settlement with AES Corp. that requires the
utility giant to tell investors more about risks posed by climate
change. Arlington, Va.-based AES owns 34 power plants in North America
and is one of the biggest electricity companies in the world. Under
that agreement, AES must disclose in its 10-K SEC filings risks
from "present and probable" climate-related regulations
and legislation, litigation and the physical impact global warming
could have on utility assets. The state reached similar settlements
with power provider Dynegy Inc. and Xcel Energy last fall. AES also
agreed to a number of other disclosures, including turning over
data on carbon emissions and disclosing information about projected
emissions increases because of planned coal-fired power plants and
the company's strategies for cutting and managing those emissions.
"As efforts to curb climate change continue," Cuomo said,
"it is important that the investing public know the financial
risks of companies that produce large quantities of global warming
pollution." This issue might be ripe for SEC action. The SEC
in late October ruled that investors can directly call on public
companies to describe climate-related risks. The SEC staff bulletin
reversed a Bush administration policy of tossing out climate change-related
resolutions. Now, investors can force boards of insurance companies,
banks and industrial giants to respond to concerns expressed in
annual corporate proxy proposals about emissions, regulations, rising
commodity prices, property damage and long-term costs. In the petition
filed early today, the investor groups emphasized that EPA has taken
concrete steps on the carbon emissions front that will affect corporate
bottom lines. "Regulatory limits on global warming pollution
are a known trend that is gaining momentum," the petition said.
EPA has finalized a mandatory greenhouse gas reporting rule that
starting in 2010 will require major emitters to report those emissions.
That data collection is the building block for any future cap-and-trade
program that requires reductions over time. "When EPA's reporting
rule takes effect, no corporation that emits substantial amounts
of greenhouse gases can say it does not have the data to undertake
the analysis that investors have increasingly sought," said
the petition. The large institutional investors also pointed to
EPA's proposed "endangerment finding," which could open
the door to comprehensive greenhouse gas regulations under the Clean
Air Act. In addition, they said, EPA and the U.S. Transportation
Department have proposed emissions standards for cars and trucks,
a step up from previous efforts to increase fuel economy standards.
In addition, states are putting programs in place to cut carbon
dioxide emissions.
December
7, 2009
EPA's
Carbon Decision Gives Obama Copenhagen Tool
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=abw3JjvjwOmo.
December
2, 2009
U.S.
climate bill to benefit farmers: USDA
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE5B149T20091202
November
25, 2009
Agency
Defers Decision on Allowances in Calif.'s Pioneering Cap-And-Trade
Plan
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/11/25/25climatewire-agency-defers-decision-on-allowances-in-calif-5070.html
November
19, 2009
CCFE today
launches 2 new Carbon Financial Instrument (CFI) futures contracts,
the CFI-US-O and the CFI-EA. The CFI-US-O delivers offset
credits from CCX registered, domestic agricultural offset projects
and the CFI-EA delivers domestic industrial reductions from CCX
members. For more information see advisory at: http://ccfe.com/membership_ccfe/advisories/2009/2009-41.pdf
November
18, 2009
Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) confirmed that floor debate
on a sweeping energy and global warming bill that will be sold to
the American public in part as an economic stimulus measure will
be held early next year. "We're going to try to do
that sometime in the spring," Reid told reporters when asked
about the window for moving a climate bill onto the Senate floor.
Kerry and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.)
are taking the lead in writing the climate and energy bill with
a goal of releasing a blueprint before U.N. global warming negotiations
start Dec. 7 in Copenhagen. Media reports last week suggested Reid
would move later this year onto a "jobs" bill aimed at
dealing with the nationwide unemployment rate, which has crossed
10 percent for the first time since the Reagan administration. Reid
left some confusion today about what exactly he has in mind. The
majority leader acknowledged that the climate bill would help address
the economy, though he was less clear if that proposal was the specific
"jobs" bill he wants to bring to the floor in short order.
"I think if we do it right, the energy bill, the climate bill
can be very, very job productive," Reid said. "This is
a jobs bill," Kerry said. "This is without question a
jobs bill. I'd say this is the biggest jobs bill staring us in the
face, without any question, and we'll prove that as we go down the
road in the next days. So if you want to do a jobs bill, this is
the bill to do. And I'd argue that with the president very, very
forcefully." E&E PM NEWS, See also, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125850693443052993.html
November
16, 2009
U.S. Senators
unveil bill to double nuclear power
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN16479981
November
16, 2009
US Democrats
aim for climate bill by early 2010
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN16495525
November
9, 2009
Senate
Climate Battle Shifts Onto New Turf
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/11/09/09climatewire-senate-climate-battle-shifts-onto-new-turf-83157.html
November
9, 2009
Senate
Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said he is committed to passing
global warming legislation, but he is not ready to pledge to move
the bill before the end of the year. "We're going
to do the best we can, as expeditiously as we can, given the realities
of the work week, the schedule and other legislation and so forth,"
Baucus told E&E after a closed-door meeting with Foreign Relations
Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.). "I care a lot about climate
change legislation done appropriately," Baucus said. "I'm
going to do my best to try to see if there's a way to appropriately
move. I don't have any deadlines or dates. I just don't know."
Kerry, who has taken a leading role among Democrats on the climate
bill, told reporters he would defer to Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-Nev.) when it comes to setting any schedule for committee action.
"I'm very hopeful we're going to slowly put things together,"
Kerry said. "The main thing to do here is to build the adequate
base of support and consensus, and that requires sitting with people
and working it through. If you get into an artificial timeline,
then you don't give people the opportunity to feel they're being
listened to or their ideas are being processed." Kerry said
he is now looking toward early next year as he works with the Obama
administration and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman
(I-Conn.) to come up with legislation that can win over 60 votes
on the floor. Questions about the speed and scope of the Senate
climate bill will be further debated Monday when Reid meets with
the six Democratic committee leaders who have jurisdiction over
the global warming and energy measure, including Baucus, Kerry,
Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.),
Agriculture Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Energy and Natural
Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Commerce Chairman
Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.). Today, the Finance Committee held its
fifth hearing of the year on climate change. Baucus recalled some
of the overblown economic projections cited by industry before passage
of the 1990 Clean Air Act. Back then, industry warned the legislation
would cost between $2.7 billion and $4 billion a year while killing
between 13,000 and 16,000 coal mining jobs. U.S. EPA later found
the law cost between $1 billion and $2 billion per year, while nearly
all of the coal-mining job losses came because of productivity gains
in the industry. "Let me be clear, we should work to minimize
any job loss," said Baucus, who in 1990 served as a senior
member of the EPW Committee. "But we should recognize that
in the case of acid rain, the negative consequences were far less
than projected. We should keep this in mind when similar claims
are made about the effects of legislation to address climate change."
E&E PM News
November
9, 2009
A coalition
of corporate heavyweights urged key senators today to boost international
offsets in pending climate legislation. Eighteen companies
-- ranging from major utilities and mining companies to technology
groups and chemical businesses -- urged lawmakers to ensure that
climate legislation includes major roles for offsets to reduce the
costs imposed by a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions.
"By cutting the costs of a cap-and-trade program almost in
half, international offsets preserve U.S. jobs and U.S. competitiveness,"
the companies wrote in a letter to Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey
Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.). The companies -- including
American Electric Power Co. Inc., Dow Chemical Co., Exelon Corp.,
Intel Corp., Rio Tinto PLC and others -- said they were concerned
about restrictions on the use of international offset credits in
S. 1733, the Senate climate bill reported last week by the Environment
and Public Works Committee. "This group of businesses believes
that right now people don't understand as much as they should about
international offsets and the role of international offsets making
it possible to keep our economy going here as we develop the technologies
we need" to get deep emission cuts, said Kyle Danish, an attorney
who counsels the Coalition for Emission Reduction Projects, the
group that organized the letter. "These businesses want to
reach out to particularly some of the senators who typically are
concerned about cost-containment and the economic impacts of cap-and-trade
programs," Danish said. Greenwire
November
4, 2009
Kerry,
Graham, Lieberman announce a "dual track" on the climate
bill
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2009/11/kerry_graham_lieberman_announc.html
November
4, 2009
Several
big utilities and other companies that would benefit from pending
U.S. climate-change legislation have formed a lobbying group to
support action to limit greenhouse gases and counter the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce, which has been critical of some Congressional climate
change proposals. The new group, American Businesses for
Clean Energy, includes utilities from across the U.S., such as New
Jersey's Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PEG), Florida's FPL
Group Inc. (FPL) and New Mexico's PNM Resources (PNM), as well as
companies from other industries including retailer Gap Inc. (GPS)
and Colorado ski resort operator Aspen Skiing Co. "There's
a large group of businesses who recognize there are opportunities
to solving this problem and it's not all about a couple of traditional
associations saying, 'stop this'," said Ralph Izzo, the chief
executive of Public Service Enterprise Group, or PSEG, in an interview.
The longer it takes for U.S. climate legislation to pass, the longer
PSEG and other U.S. companies that stand to gain from climate legislation
remain "paralyzed" and unable to accelerate investment
in renewable energy and other industries growing up around new,
low-emissions technology, while companies in other countries are
moving ahead, Izzo said. "We're missing out on component manufacturing,
solar-panel development capability, large components for nuclear
power plants," Izzo said. "As we have conversations about
solar and new nuclear, suppliers tend to be people from China, Japan
and France, not the U.S." The creation of the pro-climate action
business group comes as the U.S. faces pressure from governments
around the world to move forward with legislation to limit greenhouse-gas
emissions. President Barack Obama is backing Congressional proposals
to limit carbon dioxide emissions. California, New Jersey and other
states that have passed their own climate laws have campaigned for
a federal program. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Tuesday that
it is open to considering a federal cap on greenhouse-gas emissions
and would consider supporting climate legislation under certain
conditions. U.S. Chamber spokesman Eric Wohlschlegel declined to
comment on the new lobbying group, but said the Chamber has long
supported the concept of a federal climate policy, although its
disagreement with provisions of proposed legislation had been misunderstood
by some in the news media.
November,
2009
Sen. Debbie
Stabenow (D-Mich.) unveiled a long-awaited climate proposal yesterday
that would expand offset programs for farms and forestry.
Stabenow's bill, widely circulated today among environmental groups,
would alter and expand some of the proposals to create incentives
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for manufacturing and agriculture.
It is expected to be "marker" legislation that indicates
the direction Stabenow and other Midwestern and Western lawmakers
would like the climate bill to take. Co-sponsors include the powerful
Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.),
Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska).
The proposal addresses many of the concerns raised by farm and forestry
groups. It would give the Agriculture Department primary authority
over domestic agriculture and forestry projects. It also sets projects
that the agencies must include in their list of projects that can
be used for offsets -- including reforestation, forest management
and harvested wood products.It would change the way the legislation
deals with projects from "early actors," who started carbon
sequestration projects on their land before development of a climate
bill. The bill would give credits to projects dating back to Jan.
1, 2001, as long as they were registered under certain approved
programs. Other projects must have commenced after Jan. 1, 2009,
to be considered for "additional" carbon sequestration.
E&E News PM
July
27, 2009
UN Approves
Ag Carbon Offset Methodology to Cut CO2 Emissions
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/07/27/un-approves-ag-carbon-offset-methodology-to-cut-co2-emissions/
July 16,
2008
Saskatchewan
sees biggest GHG growth in Canada: report
Saskatchewan saw the biggest jump in greenhouse gas emissions among
Canada’s 13 provinces and territories between 1990 and 2006,
according to Environment Canada data.
The data was presented in a new report published today by Canadian
environmental group David Suzuki Foundation. The report analyses
the climate change policies of Canada’s provinces and territories
and ranks which jurisdictions have the least and most effective
methods for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The report reveals Saskatchewan’s greenhouse gas emissions
have increased 64 per cent since 1990. Neighbouring Alberta, Canada’s
largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, saw the second-highest
growth in emissions over the same time period.
Saskatchewan also has the highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions
in Canada at three times the national average, according to the
report.
The province’s growth in greenhouse gases comes mostly from
its oil and gas sector, which accounts for 34 per cent of emissions.
Electricity production accounts for 21 per cent of emissions, while
the agricultural sector represents 17 per cent of total emissions,
it said.
The report accuses Saskatchewan’s government of fostering
tar sands development in the province without having a clear strategy
of how to reduce emissions from this development. It also said the
government has no plan to change its overreliance on coal-fired
power plants.
The province’s government has set targets to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions to 32 per cent below 2004 levels by 2020 and 80 per
cent below 2004 levels by 2050.
Despite Saskatchewan’s environmental record, the report ranks
Alberta as having Canada’s worst climate change policies.
It said Alberta has produced a weak and vague climate action plan
that increases global warming pollution until 2020 and is 22 per
cent above the Kyoto protocol’s 2050 greenhouse gas reduction
targets.
Alberta’s greenhouse gas emissions rose in 2006 and stand
at 37 per cent above 1990 levels, said the report. Alberta’s
government has set an initial intensity-based greenhouse gas reduction
target of 12 per cent below 2005 levels by 2007.
It adds Alberta’s intensity-based emissions-trading scheme
will not reduce emissions below current levels. It said the government
has done nothing to curtail highly polluting tar sands development
and has no plans to reduce coal-fired power, which is responsible
for approximately 80 per cent of its electricity.
The report ranks British Columbia has having the best climate change
policies. It said the province has become a leader on climate change
through implementing strong policies like carbon tax and California
vehicle standards.
Washington DC
February 21, 2008
Market Update Carbon Prices to Hit $40 per ton
February 14, 2008
U.S. Vote Provides Boost For Carbon Credit Trading
Article from The Western Producer
Sept. 28, 2007
Payment for producers involved in 2003-2006 pool
C-Green is now getting ready to do another payment to the producers involved in the 2003-2006 pool. We will be getting in the auditing firm to do a full financial audit and will pay out the rest of the money from the credits thus far upon completion of the audit. The auditors are going to be starting in the beginning of October with cheques out soon after.
June 11, 2007
C-Green updates and CCX Report (click)
March 28, 2007
Conexus partners with C-Green in Carbon Credits Program
Article from Conexus Credit Union
January 15, 2007
C-Green now taking applications in Alberta
C-Green is now taking applications from Alberta producers who meet the eligible requirements. The contracting years are 2006-2010. We are also now taking applications from producers to include all tame hay and forage acres.
SCIC has now finished the verification report of all the audited producers. The results of the report came back very positive. C-Green will now be entering the sales part of the process and will be day trading all of the credits over the next few months. C-Green would like to thank all the producers involved for their patience in this process.
October 15, 2006
Great news out of Manitoba!
Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation has agreed to become a verifier for the Chicago Climate Exchange. C-Green Aggregators Ltd. will now be taking carbon credit applications from Manitoba producers that qualify. In order to be eligible, producers will have to be engaged in the practices of minimum till, as defined in the terms and conditions, and be a MASC contract holder. The years of participation will be 2006-2010. The contract will be available in November of 2006.
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