By Alex Hanafi, Senior Manager, Multilateral Climate Strategy and Senior Attorney, and Soren Dudley, Program Assistant, Global Climate The first UN climate talks since the United States announced its plans to withdraw from the Paris Agreement start this week in Bonn, Germany. Chaired by the island nation of Fiji, the meetings are the second-to-last Conference of the Parties […]

By Alex Hanafi, Senior Manager, Multilateral Climate Strategy and Senior Attorney, and Soren Dudley, Program Assistant, Global Climate The first UN climate talks since the United States announced its plans to withdraw from the Paris Agreement start this week in Bonn, Germany. Chaired by the island nation of Fiji, the meetings are the second-to-last Conference of the Parties […]

By Alex Hanafi

By Alex Hanafi, Senior Manager, Multilateral Climate Strategy and Senior Attorney, and Soren Dudley, Program Assistant, Global Climate

A confluence of factors sets the stage for what to expect from this year's climate meetings, the first since the U.S. announced its plans to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Above: The Bula Zone at the UNFCCC headquarters in Bonn. Photo: UNFCCC/ Flickr.

The first UN climate talks since the United States announced its plans to withdraw from the Paris Agreement start this week in Bonn, Germany. Chaired by the island nation of Fiji, the meetings are the second-to-last Conference of the Parties (COP) before the Paris Agreement’s implementation “rulebook” is scheduled to be finalized in Poland next year.

This confluence of factors – Fiji’s presidency of the COP, President Trump’s announcement (and the ensuing groundswell of domestic and global support for the Paris Agreement), and the need to advance progress on the technical details of the Paris Agreement’s infrastructure – sets the stage for what to expect from this year’s climate meetings.

1. Islands’ COP, islands’ issues

As the President of the 23rd meeting of the COP , Fiji will aim to highlight both the needs of vulnerable parties as well as island nations’ climate action leadership. This year’s COP presents an opportunity to spotlight necessary adaptation to a changing climate, as well as the loss and damage experienced by islands due to the impacts of climate change. These concerns are especially important to low-lying island nations because their very existence is threatened by the rising sea levels triggered by climate change.

Many island nations, Fiji among them, have made ambitious renewable energy pledges central to their participation in the Paris Agreement. Leadership by small island developing states will shine an even brighter spotlight on the Trump Administration’s retreat from climate action.

2. Trump’s intention to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement isolates the U.S…. and triggers a groundswell of support for the Paris Agreement

President Trump’s June 1 announcement that the U.S. intends to pull out of the Paris Agreement left the U.S. isolated. This isolation became even starker with the recent news that Nicaragua will join the Paris Agreement, leaving the U.S. and Syria the only two nations in the world refusing to join.

Perhaps most notably, China plans to roll out a national carbon market in the coming weeks, demonstrating China’s continuing commitment to climate action. China is now increasingly seen as filling the leadership void left by the U.S. With news of recent trilateral climate meetings between China, the EU, and Canada, COP 23 offers the first chance for this potentially powerful alliance to prove itself as a force for accelerating the transition to the clean-energy, low-carbon economies of the future.

3. Subnational actors show commitment on the global stage

In direct contrast to Trump’s announced pull-out, U.S. subnational actors are eager to communicate to the global community that they are still committed to moving ahead despite federal backsliding. American businesses and state-level officials plan to use COP 23 to showcase concrete examples of their continued climate leadership. Notably, several U.S. governors, including those from California, Virginia, Washington, and New York, will attend to demonstrate the depth and breadth of U.S. state-level action.

4. Negotiations and progress on the Paris Agreement Rulebook

This COP will be important for keeping the ship sailing in the right direction on implementing the Paris Agreement. Countries decided last year that they will finalize the nuts and bolts of the Paris Agreement’s implementing infrastructure (its “rulebook”) by COP 24 in Poland in December 2018. Parties have a long list of tasks to complete, and negotiations on key tools Parties can use to cooperate in driving down climate pollution, like carbon markets, are moving slowly.

While agreement among all Parties on these carbon market standards is not necessary before “bottom up” cooperation on carbon markets may begin, up-front clarity on key issues (like how Parties can avoid “double counting” of emissions reductions) can reduce uncertainty and help catalyze additional investment in high-integrity emissions reductions around the globe.

This will be an important COP to watch for signs of how much work will remain for next year, and how likely it is that countries will stick to their tight timeline for delivering an effective roadmap to guide Parties in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.

This rollback would actually incentivize the company to pump more air pollution into your lungs and our atmosphere. Regional.

Written by Mark R. Burns

  Under a clear blue sky, you watch a little boy laughing as he runs alongside a butterfly in the park. A young girl races across a soccer field to score a goal. They stop to catch their breath. A sparrow flies by. Your thoughts...

By Ronny Sandoval

After a record-breaking hurricane season and catastrophic wildfires in California, the vulnerabilities of our electric system – and the urgent need to upgrade it – have never been clearer.

It took more than 10 days of around-the-clock work to restore electricity to 350,000 customers after fires struck California wine country last month. Returning service to all 4.4 million power customers in Florida after Hurricane Irmatook almost as long – and 70 percent of Puerto Ricans still lack power six weeks after Hurricane Maria.

Such crippling outages contribute to $250 billion in economic losses globally every year.

But there are solutions available on the market today that can reduce the impact of these outages. By investing in technologies that modernize our electric grid, and with careful planning, we can also create a cleaner and more efficient electricity system overall.

Here are three cost-effective investments in this “modern grid” that could keep the lights on for more people during future storms.

1. Distributed energy systems improve resiliency

A modern grid makes how we make, move, and use electricity easier, more efficient, and cleaner.

Microgrids, for example, can go a long way to improve the resiliency of our electric system. These specialized energy systems can serve a defined area, regardless of whether the main power grid is active, through the use of batteries and localized generation such as solar, wind and other renewable sources.

A solar microgrid system under contruction. Photo source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

We saw the value of microgrids first-hand after Hurricane Sandy five years ago. During that disaster, microgrid systems kept the power flowing in spots stretching from Maryland to Manhattan – including at Princeton University’s sprawling campus in New Jersey when much of the Garden State was blacked out.

Today, there are about 160 microgrids operating in the United States, and the capacity of such systems is expected to double between 2016 and 2020.

These systems can be complex, however, and some of the rules governing the energy provided by such sites have yet to catch up with advances in technology or society’s need. It explains why they have not been adopted at the scale required to meet our demand for resiliency.

More can be done at the state and local level to revise these outdated rules and provide education and technical support to customers and facilities that could most benefit from microgrids.

2. New technologies detect outages faster

The electric system has been around for a very long time, but has yet to fully harness many of the same digital tools that have modernized internet-based communications.

Sensors, controls and other advanced technologies can be used to remotely detect and manage outages with better accuracy and results. What’s more, many of these same solutions can reduce energy waste by making the delivery of electricity to homes and businesses more efficient.

After a few initial pilots in 2013, Duke Energy expanded some of these energy saving applications to cover nearly all of its electrical circuits in Ohio. The utility has reliably reduced its voltage levels by 2 percent, cutting waste and saving customers money while reducing pollution.

We think more utilities could stand to gain from such tools.

3. A redesigned and measured grid is stronger

To build a more resilient grid, utilities must work together with their customers to identify conditions that make their systems vulnerable and to develop practicable solutions.

Together with local leaders, consumer advocates, environmental groups and other stakeholders, a system can be designed to meet the area’s unique needs and to quickly bounce back after disruptions.

That can mean burying power lines underground and reaching an agreement with power customers and regulators on how to pay for the associated capital costs – or replacing wooden poles with steel or other materials where burying lines isn’t the right solution.

But utilities must also measure their own success. Without knowing how grid upgrades have prevented or limited outages, they’ll have difficulty knowing which investments have the biggest impact.

Our society’s reliance on electricity has grown over the last several decades, but so have the sources of potential outages. A more robust planning process and upgrades that fully account for these changing system conditions will help us establish the sustainable and resilient electric system we need.

Photo source: Flickr/Oran Viriyincy

After a record-breaking hurricane season and catastrophic wildfires in California, the vulnerabilities of our electric system – and the urgent need to upgrade it – have never been clearer. It took more than 10 days of around-the-clock work to restore electricity to 350,000 customers after fires struck California wine country last month. Returning service to […]

After a record-breaking hurricane season and catastrophic wildfires in California, the vulnerabilities of our electric system – and the urgent need to upgrade it – have never been clearer. It took more than 10 days of around-the-clock work to restore electricity to 350,000 customers after fires struck California wine country last month. Returning service to […]

After a record-breaking hurricane season and catastrophic wildfires in California, the vulnerabilities of our electric system – and the urgent need to upgrade it – have never been clearer. It took more than 10 days of around-the-clock work to restore electricity to 350,000 customers after fires struck California wine country last month. Returning service to […]

The post We already know which grid fixes can keep lights on during bad storms. Here are 3. appeared first on Energy Exchange.

After a record-breaking hurricane season and catastrophic wildfires in California, the vulnerabilities of our electric system – and the urgent need to upgrade it – have never been clearer. It took more than 10 days of around-the-clock work to restore electricity to 350,000 customers after fires struck California wine country last month. Returning service to […]

The Louisiana Interchurch Conference (LIC) was formed to serve in part as a collective voice of a significant portion of the Christian churches and faith communities in our state. In the 1980s the attention of the conference turned to the coast and the loss of land along the coastal parishes. The LIC joined its corporate voice with others in advocating for ways to restore the coast and to draw attention to the call of all Christians to be good stewards ...

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The post Stewards of Creation appeared first on Restore the Mississippi River Delta.

The Louisiana Interchurch Conference (LIC) was formed to serve in part as a collective voice of a significant portion of the Christian churches and faith communities in our state. In the 1980s the attention of the conference turned to the coast and the loss of land along the coastal parishes. The LIC joined its corporate voice with others in advocating for ways to restore the coast and to draw attention to the call of all Christians to be good stewards ...

Read The Full Story

The post Stewards of Creation appeared first on Restore the Mississippi River Delta.

The Louisiana Interchurch Conference (LIC) was formed to serve in part as a collective voice of a significant portion of the Christian churches and faith communities in our state. In the 1980s the attention of the conference turned to the coast and the loss of land along the coastal parishes. The LIC joined its corporate voice with others in advocating for ways to restore the coast and to draw attention to the call of all Christians to be good stewards ...

Read The Full Story

The post Stewards of Creation appeared first on Restore the Mississippi River Delta.

3 out of 4 Utahns want cleaner air. You can make that happen. Regional.

3 out of 4 Utahns want cleaner air. You can make that happen. Regional.

Written by Moms Clean Air Force

This was written by Moms Clean Air Force’s communications specialist, Sasha Tenenbaum: How do people experience a changing climate – not just physically, but emotionally? The mental health impacts of climate change – stress, anxiety, and depression – weigh heavily on those living with mental...

By Ellen Shenette

This year, the Atlantic basin had eight consecutive storms develop—the first time in 124 years. The storms—and by storms I mean big storms—have had catastrophic effects on families, communities and the economy at large. Millions of people were left powerless, access to clean drinking water was compromised and homes were destroyed. It will take decades for the country to recover from this devastation, and hurricane season is only halfway over.

And as the intensity of these storms increases, so do their price tags. Together, hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, which hit the U.S. earlier this fall, are estimated to cost $150-$200 billion in combined destruction. This is an enormous blow to the economy and to tax payers’ wallets.

To those of us on the east coast, this sounds awfully similar to destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy, which hit New York City and New Jersey hard this time five years ago. That’s why it’s important to ask: could the devastation have been avoided, or at least reduced?

Cities are building back, stronger

This year’s storms showed the vulnerability of centralized electric grids, and the need for a modernized system. When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, 100 percent of the territory’s power supply was cut off to its 1.57 million customers and 80 percent of the transmission and distribution system destroyed. The rebuilding and repairs will go on for months.

Manager, EDF Climate Corps

Fortunately, changes to our current electrical system can prevent some of this. Microgrids–localized power grids that can operate independently from the main, centralized grid–are designed to provide power when the traditional grid is not functional. The ability to act autonomously strengthens the power system’s reliability and resilience, and protects critical infrastructure, such as hospitals, water treatment facilities and police stations in event of an extreme weather event like we saw this year.

They can also be “clean” by adding renewables like solar and wind that reduce reliance on fossil fuels and diesel generators—which may be compromised in a major storm event. And, since microgrids are not transmitting electricity over long distances, they don’t require an extensive network of transmission lines, allowing them to get up and running soon after a storm hits.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the City of Hoboken announced it would use recovery funds to design a microgrid that would increase its sustainability and resiliency. With the help of EDF Climate Corps, the city of Hoboken created a Microgrids Toolkit. The toolkit includes a centralized dashboard for monitoring energy use, a timeline for implementation and scorecard for tallying up the potential benefits. It’s a customizable tool that can be used to scale projects across cities, creating a more resilient coastline.

The toolkit is currently being used to study the potential for additional microgrids in other municipalities across the state.

Spotlight: NYC taking action

Now New York is jumping on the microgrid train. During Sandy, nearly 2 million customers lost power and $19 billion in damages incurred. Some of the most important utility infrastructure on the city’s waterfront was destroyed, shedding light on the city’s large vulnerability issue. The New York Governor's Office of Storm Recovery, in charge of coordinating statewide recovery efforts for Superstorm Sandy and other major weather events, has vowed to not only build back, but build back stronger.

The agency, in coordination with NYSERDA, is working on a community Microgrids Program that would mitigate future instances of power outages. EDF Climate Corps fellow Ben Bovarnick was hired to develop up to five microgrids in municipalities to demonstrate the feasibility and best practices for publicly-financed projects. The program had started to identify optimal projects, but sought new ideas for integrating advanced energy technologies and renewable energy into the projects.

Bovarnick identified opportunities for energy storage to reduce electricity demand and provide cost savings as well as improved system stability. Battery storage will also help with peak shaving and back up electricity, which has the potential to improve the project value and save the municipality on annual electricity expenditures.

Prepare, not react

The truth is, these superstorms are likely to continue, and their severity may increase. That means preparedness is key. States and municipalities, especially on the coast, must work together to create a comprehensive framework to tackle resiliency. Our efforts and finances should be invested in developing solutions that prevent extreme devastation, as opposed to cleaning up the aftermath.

Sandy was our wakeup call. But although post-Sandy protection-projects were introduced, there’s still a long way to go. Fortunately, the technology is out there to make resiliency a reality.

Follow Ellen on Twitter, @ellenshenette

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