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TOP STORY
Hawaii carbon tax proposal dead, says lawmaker
Hawaii’s carbon tax proposal will not go through in 2018, a state lawmaker told Carbon Pulse on Thursday, marking the latest sub-national US carbon pricing proposal to fail to muster enough legislative support this year.
AMERICAS
Biomass, industrial inclusion “hot-button issues” in Virginia’s RGGI plans
The regulated status of biomass and exclusion of certain industrial electricity providers are proving to be contentious “hot-button issues” in developing Virginia’s cap-and-trade programme, according to a state official.
Manitoba opposition party threatens to delay province’s carbon tax
Manitoba’s NDP party has threatened to delay legislation to enact the province’s proposed carbon tax as it seeks to force the ruling conservatives to include measures to support low-carbon investment, the leader of the official opposition said Thursday.
ExxonMobil voids another big batch of Colombian CERs against country’s carbon tax, almost doubling total
US oil major ExxonMobil continued its brisk pace of Colombian CER cancellations this week, annulling another huge batch against the country’s carbon tax.
EMEA
EU ETS reforms to only temporarily counter impact of overlapping policies -report
Recently-agreed EU ETS reforms will greatly reduce the carbon price-damping impact of overlapping policies until the mid-2020s, but will require further tweaking after that, according to new research.
EU Market: EUAs slide 3.2% to below €13 as weak auctions continue
EU carbon prices fell below €13 on Thursday as another lacklustre auction failed to tempt traders into betting on a quick rebound.
ASIA PACIFIC
Australia’s NEG seen likely to make it past first hurdle
Australia’s proposed National Energy Guarantee (NEG) faces its first major test later this month when it will be put to state energy ministers, but expectations are growing that the policy will survive the meeting despite lingering concerns over what it is likely to achieve.
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CARBON FORWARD 2018
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Fuelling failure? – The IEA is “undermining efforts on climate change” by guiding governments into decisions about fossil fuel use inconsistent with the Paris Agreement, according to an analysis by NGO Oil Change International and researchers Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. It says the IEA’s support for investment into new fossil fuels “is making it much harder to achieve the Paris Agreement”. (EurActiv)
Lawsuit green light – Utah Governor Gary Herbert has approved $1.65 million in funding for a lawsuit against California’s carbon market under the US’ dormant commerce clause. The funding would be used to challenge the programme and a policy than bans coal-fired power imports. The proposal, introduced by Republican lawmaker Michael Noel, alleges that the policies are unconstitutional and will effectively ban Utah coal.
Irreconcilable differences – Mining company BHP Billiton announced on Thursday that it will leave the World Coal Association (WCA), citing differences on climate change. The Australian-based company announced in Dec. 2017 that it intended to leave the WCA pending a full review, and had already quit most of its coal mining operations for power plants. Yet, the company said it would remain as a member of the US Chamber of Commerce, due to the organisation’s willingness to dialogue on climate and energy issues (Reuters).
Not again – Preliminary forecasts indicate that the 2018 hurricane season will be above average, with 14 named storms expected to occur between June and November. The Colorado State study expects seven of those storms to become hurricanes, with three of those potentially reaching major hurricane status of Category 3 or worse. The prediction comes after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria racked up more than $215 bln in losses in 2017. (Bloomberg)
And finally… Climate bridge – Finland wants to capitalise on new global trading links made possible by climate change by building a new rail link from the city of Oulu to Norway’s Arctic coast. Unpredictable weather and potential opposition from indigenous groups won’t make things easy. (Politico)
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