India planned to Republic of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution: Working Towards Climate Justice, https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/ndcstaging/PublishedDocuments/India%20First/INDIA%20INDC%20TO%20UNFCCC.pdf.
had already capped Nina Chestney and Pete Harrison, “EU carbon cap greater under 30 pct emissions cut,” Reuters, April 30, 2010, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-emissions-trading-europe-idUKTRE63T3H820100430.
Bhutan was preserving Royal Government of Bhutan, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, “Press Release on COP21,” December 10, 2015, http://www.moaf.gov.bt/press-release-on-cop21/.
the reductions we need “Climate Action Tracker,” https://climateactiontracker.org/, accessed September 2020.
bringing nothing to the table Ibid.
provide economic incentives Niven Winchester, “Can Tariffs Be Used to Enforce Paris Climate Commitments?,” World Economy 41, no. 10 (2018): 2650–2668, https://doi.org/10.1111/twec.12679.
the impacts of 1.5 versus 2°C Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Summary for Policymakers. In: Global Warming of 1.5°C, eds. Valerie Masson-Delmotte et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018).
“The climate has changed and is always changing” Stephen Leahy, “Climate Science Report Contradicts Trump Administration Positions,” National Geographic, November 4, 2017. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/11/climate-change-usa-government-science-environment/.
“largely based on the most extreme scenario” James Cook, “Sounding an Alarm,” BBC News, November 24, 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46325168.
“The observed increase in global carbon” Katharine Hayhoe, James Edmonds, Robert Kopp, Allegra LeGrande, Benjamin Sanderson, Michael Wehner, and Donald Wuebbles, “Climate models, scenarios, and projections,” in Climate Science Special Report: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Volume I, eds. Donald Wuebbles, David Fahey, Kathy Hibbard, David Dokken, Brooke Stewart, and Thomas Maycock (Washington, DC: U.S. Global Change Research Program, 2018), http://doi.org/10.7930/J0WH2N54.
the We Are Still In movement https://www.wearestillin.com/, accessed September 2020.
the Houston Climate Action Plan City of Houston Climate Action Plan, http://www.greenhoustontx.gov/climateactionplan/index.html, accessed September 2020.
the European Union set up European Commission, “EU Emissions Trading System,” https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/ets_en.
were estimated to be 21 percent lower than in 2005 Ibid.
a cap-and-trade approach successfully helped Gabriel Chan, Robert N. Stavins, Robert C. Stowe, and Richard Sweeney, The SO2 Allowance Trading System and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990: Reflections on Twenty Years of Policy Innovation (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Environmental Economics Program, 2012).
reduce carbon emissions in the U.S. Northeast The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, https://www.rggi.org.
California since 2013 California Air Resources Board, “Cap-and-Trade Program,” https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/cap-and-trade-program.
economist Kate Raworth explains Kate Raworth, Doughnut Economics (White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2017).
the U.S. already effectively operates The World Bank, “Carbon Pricing Dashboard,” https://carbonpricingdashboard.worldbank.org/map_data.
a carbon price of $17 Kepos Carbon Barometer, https://www.carbonbarometer.com/#/#carbonBarometer.
carbon is currently priced Energy Hub, “Canadian Carbon Pricing Mechanisms,” https://www.energyhub.org/carbon-pricing/.
Globally, the average price Ian Parry, Putting a Price on Pollution, International Monetary Fund, December 2019, https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2019/12/pdf/the-case-for-carbon-taxation-and-putting-a-price-on-pollution-parry.pdf.
Nordhaus’s model William Nordhaus, “An Optimal Transition Path for Controlling Greenhouse Gases,” Science 258, no. 5086 (1992): 1315–1319, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.258.5086.1315.
decreased by about 0.25 percent Rohan Best, Paul Burke, and Frank Jotzo, “Carbon Pricing Efficacy: Cross-Country Evidence,” Environmental and Resource Economics 77 (2020): 69–94, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-020-00436-x.
British Columbia introduced a price on carbon in 2008 “British Columbia’s Carbon Tax,” https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/climate-change/planning-and-action/carbon-tax, accessed September 2020.
decreased by more than 17 percent Leyland Cecco, “How to Make a Carbon Tax Popular? Give the Proceeds to the People,” Guardian, December 4, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/04/how-to-make-a-carbon-tax-popular-give-the-profits-to-the-people.
the decrease came from efficiency improvements Dave Sawyer and Seton Stiebert, “The True Measure of BC’s Carbon Tax,” Policy Options, May 2, 2019, https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/may-2019/true-measure-bcs-carbon-tax/.
Personal provincial income tax rates dropped Stewart Elgie, “British Columbia’s Carbon Tax Shift: An Environmental and Economic Success,” World Bank Blogs, September 10, 2014, https://blogs.worldbank.org/climatechange/british-columbia-s-carbon-tax-shift-environmental-and-economic-success.
60 percent in total Rachel Maclean, “Alberta’s Carbon Tax Brought in Billions. See Where It Went,” CBC, April 8, 2019, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/carbon-tax-alberta-election-climate-leadership-plan-revenue-generated-1.5050438.
four provinces with a price on carbon Julia-Maria Becker and Maximilian Kniewasser, “These Provinces Led in Economic Growth. They Also Price Carbon Pollution,” Hill Times, January 17, 2018, https://www.hilltimes.com/2018/01/17/provinces-led-economic-growth-also-price-carbon-pollution/131297.
22 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions World Bank, “Carbon Pricing Dashboard,” https://carbonpricingdashboard.worldbank.org/, accessed September 2020.
“an international policy institute” Climate Leadership Council, https://clcouncil.org/, accessed September 2020.
to cut carbon emissions by 57 percent by 2035 Catrina Rorke and Greg Bertelsen, “America’s Climate Advantage,” Climate Leadership Council, September 2020, https://clcouncil.org/reports/americas-carbon-advantage.pdf.
“the green paradox” Hans-Werner Sinn, The Green Paradox: A Supply-Side Approach to Global Warming (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012).
China’s coal consumption largely plateaued British Petroleum, “Statistical Review of World Energy 2020,” https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/business-sites/en/global/corporate/pdfs/energy-economics/statistical-review/bp-stats-review-2020-full-report.pdf.
building hundreds of coal-fired power plants Steve Inskeep and Ashley Westerman, “Why Is China Placing a Global Bet on Coal?,” NPR World, April 29, 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/04/29/716347646/why-is-china-placing-a-global-bet-on-coal.
countries, like Pakistan and Vietnam Richard Talley, “Why Is China Funding Unsustainable Coal Projects in Pakistan?,” OilPrice.com, April 27, 2017, https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Why-Is-China-Funding-Unsustainable-Coal-Projects-In-Pakistan.html.
CHAPTER 15
“Energy managed wisely” Michael Webber, Power Trip: The Story of Energy (New York: Basic Books/Perseus Books, 2019).
Energy poverty is real International Energy Agency, SDG7: Data and Projections (Paris: IEA, 2020) https://www.iea.org/reports/sdg7-data-and-projections.
Gladys lives in a small community Solar Sister, “Impact Story: Gladys,” https://solarsister.org/impact-story/gladys/, accessed September 2020.
The Nations own 51 percent Energy and Mines, “AurCrest Gold Signs Letter of Intent with Cat Lake First Nation to Develop up to 40 MWs of Renewable Energy,” March 23, 2016, https://energyandmines.com/2016/03/aurcrest-gold-signs-letter-of-intent-with-cat-lake-first-nation-to-develop-up-to-40-mws-of-renewable-energy/.
the opportunity to benefit from the mine Northern Ontario Business, “Indigenous Gold Explorer Looks to Power Up First Nation Communities,” September 25, 2018, https://www.norther
nontariobusiness.com/industry-news/aboriginal-businesses/indigenous-gold-explorer-looks-to-power-up-first-nation-communities-1061456.
don’t have abundant reserves British Petroleum, “Statistical Review of World Energy 2019,” https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy.html.
more electricity globally than coal International Energy Agency, https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/3350006e-c203-4b21-aa45-faefd36f22ad/Renewables2020-ExecutiveSummary.pdf.
the top five emerging markets BloombergNEF, “ClimateScope 2019,” https://global-climatescope.org/.
these countries are leading the charge BloombergNEF, “Developing Nations Assume Mantle of Global Clean Energy Leadership,” November 27, 2018, https://about.bnef.com/blog/developing-nations-assume-mantle-global-clean-energy-leadership/.
70 percent of new electricity International Renewable Energy Agency, “Renewable Capacity Statistics 2020,” March 2020, https://www.irena.org/publications/2020/Mar/Renewable-Capacity-Statistics-2020.
soared to over 90 percent International Energy Agency, Renewables 2020, November 2020, https://www.iea.org/reports/renewables-2020.
“climate change is an opportunity” Richard Schiffmann. “How Can We Make People Care About Climate Change?,” Yale360, July 9, 2015, https://e360.yale.edu/features/how_can_we_make_people_care_about_climate_change.
Almost 23 percent of the electricity Electric Reliability Council of Texas, “Fact Sheet February 2021,” http://www.ercot.com/content/wcm/lists/219736/ERCOT_Fact_Sheet_2.12.21.pdf.
countries at or near 100 percent clean energy International Renewable Energy Agency, “Renewable Capacity Statistics 2020,” March 2020, https://www.irena.org/publications/2020/Mar/Renewable-Capacity-Statistics-2020.
prices for renewable energy Mark Chediak and Brian Eckhouse, “Solar and Wind Power So Cheap They’re Outgrowing Subsidies,” Bloomberg, September 19, 2019, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-09-19/solar-and-wind-power-so-cheap-they-re-outgrowing-subsidies?srnd=premium.
by 2019 they made up 18 percent United Nations Environment Program, “Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2019,” September 11, 2019, https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/report/global-trends-renewable-energy-investment-2019.
fossil fuel use is subsidized David Coady, Ian Parry, Nghia-Piotr Le, and Baoping Shang, Global Fossil Fuel Subsidies Remain Large: An Update Based on Country-Level Estimates, International Monetary Fund working paper, May 2, 2019, https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2019/05/02/Global-Fossil-Fuel-Subsidies-Remain-Large-An-Update-Based-on-Country-Level-Estimates-46509.
slightly more than the Pentagon’s budget National Priorities Project, “Federal Budget 101,” https://www.nationalpriorities.org/campaigns/military-spending-united-states/, accessed September 2020.
the entire U.S. power grid Amol Phadke, Umed Paliwal, Nikit Abhyankar, Taylor McNair, Ben Paulos, David Wooley, and Ric O’Connell, 2035 The Report (Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California Berkeley, 2020), https://www.2035report.com/.
“for every $1 spent for the energy transition” International Renewable Energy Agency, “Renewable Capacity Statistics 2019,” March 2019, https://www.irena.org/publications/2019/Mar/Renewable-Capacity-Statistics-2019.
the U.S. military has spent more than $5 trillion Mark Thompson, “Adding Up the Cost of Our Never-Ending Wars,” POGO (Project on Government Oversight), December 17, 2019, https://www.pogo.org/analysis/2019/12/adding-up-the-cost-of-our-never-ending-wars/.
Method Soap’s factory outside Chicago https://methodhome.com/beyond-the-bottle/soap-factory/, accessed September 2020.
bought more renewable energy than anyone else Jillian Ambrose, “Tech Giants Power Record Surge in Renewable Energy Sales,” Guardian, January 28, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/28/google-tech-giants-spark-record-rise-in-sales-of-renewable-energy.
committed to achieving 100 percent clean energy https://www.there100.org/re100-members, accessed November 2020.
Canada and the U.S. are tied at number ten American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, “The International Energy Efficiency Scorecard 2018,” https://www.aceee.org/portal/national-policy/international-scorecard.
cut U.S. carbon emissions in half by 2050 Lowell Unger and Steven Nadel, “Halfway There: Energy Efficiency Can Cut Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Half by 2050,” American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, September 18, 2019, https://www.aceee.org/research-report/u1907.
physicist Saul Griffith has a plan Saul Griffith, Sam Calisch, and Laura Fraser, Rewiring America, a Handbook for Winning the Climate Fight (Rewiring America: 2020), www.rewiringamerica.org/handbook.
the biggest chunk of global transportation emissions IEA, Energy Technology Perspectives 2020, September 2020, https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-technology-perspectives-2020.
Volvo announced recently “Volvo Cars Reveals Ambitious New Climate Plan,” November 22, 2019, https://www.volvocars.com/au/About/Australia/I-Roll-eNewsletter/2019/November/Volvo-Cars-reveals-ambitious-new-climate-plan.
General Motors proclaimed Sam Abuelsamid, “GM To Make Only Electric Vehicles by 2035, Be Carbon Neutral By 2040,” Forbes, January 28, 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/samabuelsamid/2021/01/28/general-motors-commits-to-being-carbon-neutral-by-2040/?sh=44cf5d656355.
As of 2020, twenty countries Kevin Joshua Ng, “List of Countries Banning Internal Combustion Engines in the Near Future,” eCompareMo.com, https://www.ecomparemo.com/info/list-of-countries-banning-internal-combustion-engines-in-the-near-future.
Industry is responsible U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data,” https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data.
a new start-up called Heliogen https://heliogen.com/, accessed September 2020.
A Canadian company called CarbonCure Bronte Lord, “This Concrete (Yes, Concrete) Is Going High-Tech,” CNN Business, July 6, 2018, https://money.cnn.com/2018/06/12/technology/concrete-carboncure/index.html.
Low-carbon-baseload Michaja Pehl, Anders Arvesen, Florian Humpenoder, Alexander Popp, Edgar Hertwich, and Gunnar Luderer, “Understanding Future Emissions from Low-Carbon Power Systems by Integration of Life-Cycle Assessment and Integrated Energy Modeling,” Nature Energy 2 (2017): 939–945, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-017-0032-9.
Iceland produces Halldor Armannsson, Thrainn Fridriksson, and Bjarni Reyr Kristjansson, “CO2 Emissions from Geothermal Power Plants and Natural Geothermal Activity in Iceland,” Geothermics 34, no. 3 (2005): 286–296, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geothermics.2004.11.005.
produces almost 2,000 million tons U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks,” https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks.
the price of lithium-ion batteries fell BloombergNEF, “Energy Storage Investments Boom as Battery Costs Halve in the Next Decade,” July 31, 2019, https://about.bnef.com/blog/energy-storage-investments-boom-battery-costs-halve-next-decade/.
Los Angeles approved a record-breaking deal Sammy Roth, “Los Angeles OKs a Deal for Record-Cheap Solar Power and Battery Storage,” Los Angeles Times, September 10, 2019, https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-09-10/ladwp-votes-on-eland-solar-contract.
the DeGrussa copper and gold mine Dale Benton, “Australia’s Largest Ever Solar Power System Is Up and Running in DeGrussa Gold-Copper Mine,” Mining, June 8, 2020, https://www.miningglobal.com/supply-chain-and-operations/australias-largest-ever-solar-power-system-and-running-degrussa-gold-copper-mine.
as one headline put it Akela Lacy, “South Carolina spent $9 billion to dig a hole in the ground and then fill it back in,” The Intercept, February 6, 2019, https://theintercept.com/2019/02/06/south-caroline-green-new-deal-south-carolina-nuclear-energy/.
distributed and smart grids National Renewable Energy Laboratory, “Distributed Optimization and Control,” http
s://www.nrel.gov/grid/distributed-optimization-control.html, accessed November 2020.
the largest ground-source closed system Ball State University, “Geothermal Energy System,” https://www.bsu.edu/About/Geothermal.
emissions in Juneau, Alaska https://juneaucarbonoffset.org/.
New developments in modular “micro-nuclear” https://www.nuscalepower.com/, accessed September 2020.
a modular nuclear plant at Idaho National Laboratory James Conca, “America Steps Forward to Expand Nuclear Power,” Forbes, October 21, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2020/10/21/america-steps-forward-to-expand-nuclear-power/?fbclid=IwAR1ueGKTP8H0Hh352rnunceTK0Sco-ZxtrX9Ur_IVqQor1Lnf82SoE8PnTk&sh=178b5aeb72be.
Rolls-Royce is planning to build fifteen mini-reactors https://www.rolls-royce.com/products-and-services/nuclear/small-modular-reactors.aspx#/, accessed September 2020.
the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor Daniel Kramer, “ITER Disputes DOE’s Cost Estimate of Fusion Project, Physics Today, April 2018, https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.2.20180416a/full/.
China turned on its own new experimental fusion reactor “China Turns On Nuclear-Powered ‘Artificial Sun,’ ” Phys.org, December 4, 2020, https://phys.org/news/2020-12-china-nuclear-powered-artificial-sun.html.
CHAPTER 16
he recounts how Michael Webber, Power Trip: The Story of Energy (New York: Basic Books/Perseus Books, 2019).
could cut emissions https://www.regi.com/cleaner-fuels/basics.
shipping makes up about 2 to 3 percent International Marine Organization, Third GHG Study, http://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/PollutionPrevention/AirPollution/Documents/Third%20Greenhouse%20Gas%20Study/GHG3%20Executive%20Summary%20and%20Report.pdf.
Aviation is responsible David Lee, David Fahey, Agnieszka Skowron, Myles Allen, Ulrike Burkhardt, Q. Chen, Sarah Doherty, et al., “The contribution of global aviation to anthropogenic climate forcing from 2000 to 2018,” Atmospheric Environment 244 (2021): 117834, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2020.117834.
Saving Us Page 29