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TOP STORY
After long wait, Oregon committee sends on cap-and-trade legislation
Oregon’s Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction approved a WCI-modelled carbon market bill on Friday on a party-line vote after more than three months of debate, moving the legislation one step closer to a full floor vote in the Democrat-controlled state.
ASIA PACIFIC
NZ Market: New Zealand’s carbon price falters on cap confusion
NZUs slipped on Friday as traders were left confused by government plans to remove the market’s de-facto price cap, raising the prospect of a price correction and even inadvertently triggering substantial government demand for international credits.
Australia’s weekly offset issuance drops to 145k
Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator issued 145,319 carbon credits to 10 different projects this week.
CN Markets: Pilot market data for week ending May 17, 2019
Closing prices, ranges and volumes for China’s regional pilot carbon markets this week.
INTERNATIONAL
Governments go slow on UN shipping speed limits, barely tighten new vessel standards
Governments held up work this week on near-term emission reductions measures for international shipping until later in the year while tightening standards for new vessels that are largely being met anyway.
AMERICAS
California ETS advisory committee member considering options after job move
A California Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee (IEMAC) member is considering whether to remain with the ETS monitor after taking a new position at the state’s Independent System Operator (CAISO), a spokesperson for the grid operator said.
US court rejects request for EPA to temporarily halt biofuel credit waivers
A US appeals court turned down a biofuel trade group’s motion on Friday to temporarily halt 2018 compliance waivers under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), but the organisation’s related lawsuit against the EPA’s accelerated use of these exemptions will continue.
US Carbon Pricing Roundup for week ending May 17
A summary of legislative and regulatory action on carbon pricing and clean energy at the US subnational and federal level taken this week, including the New Hampshire legislature passing a bill to divert RGGI funding to energy efficiency projects and remove an exit clause, the US House of Representatives discussing carbon taxes in the chamber’s tax-writing committee, and California officials floating the idea of banning internal combustion engines to counter federal vehicle fuel standard rollbacks.
EMEA
EU Market: EUAs slip to €25 as gas weakens to post 2.4% weekly loss
EUAs sank for the second straight day on Friday as lower gas prices spurred another late downward move to secure a weekly loss as carbon consolidated further away from its recent 11-year high.
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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Aussie election – Australia’s general election is due to take place on Saturday, with results expected to emerge as soon as Sunday. The two main parties are neck-and-neck as voting opens, with Labor’s lead narrowing through the five-week election campaign and the latest Guardian Essential poll putting it ahead of the ruling Coalition just 51.5% to 48.5%. Climate change has taken centre-stage in the campaign, with Labor promising substantial policy changes if it wins (see our coverage here and look out for our results reporting over the coming days).
A bigger bill – As projections for Germany’s future GHG emissions have worsened, the country might have to pay even more to buy allocations from other countries if it does not manage to significantly lower its own emissions in the non-ETS transport, buildings, and agriculture sectors, according to calculations undertaken by the Institute for Applied Ecology (Oeko-Institut), reports energy and climate policy newsletter Tagesspiegel Background. For the years 2021-2030, Germany is projected to accumulate a deficit of about 380 Mt of CO2e under the EU Effort Sharing Regulation, the institute said. “At an annual emissions allowance price of €100 per tonne, which the Oeko-Institut assumed in earlier scenarios, the burden on the federal budget would rise from €30 to €38 billion,” writes Jakob Schlandt in the Tagesspiegel. (Clean Energy Wire)
Ball don’t lie – Current Premier Dwight Ball and his Liberal party will form a minority government in Canada’s Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) after Thursday’s provincial election, though the rival Progressive Conservative leader is not conceding victory. After the Liberals won half of NL’s 40-seat House of Assembly, conservative leader Ches Crosbie said he will call on three elected members of the left-wing NDP and two independents to form a coalition to counter Ball’s party. Pending an unanticipated coalition between the opposition parties that could alter the structure, the province’s current carbon tax arrangement sets out a C$20/tonne levy on fossil fuels in line with the federal ‘backstop’ rate and its own output-based pricing system, though the levy will only increase on gasoline and diesel beyond 2019 if fuel taxes increase in all four Atlantic provinces. Crosbie had ran on a platform of resisting the carbon tax, though the Liberals also have said they reserve the right to cancel their plan if any other Canadian jurisdiction successfully gets out of carbon pricing. (CBC)
Ore score – Mining major Anglo American has offset the 5,880 tonnes of CO2 emissions for its transporting of iron ore from South Africa to Europe in what is thought to be the first entirely offset bulk journey. The firm used RightShip’s carbon accounting tool and offset credits purchased from South Pole. It has set a goal to cut its net GHG emissions 30% by 2030. (Splash)
Sev.en up – Swiss electricity producer Alpiq has agreed to sell its two Czech coal-fired power stations to Czechia’s Sev.en Energy for around €280 million euros, the companies said on Friday. Sev.en, which is owned by investor Pavel Tykac and operates a power plant and a lignite mine in the Czech Republic, will buy a 100% of Alpiq’s 516MW coal- and gas-fired plant at Kladno near Prague and its 64MW plant in the eastern city of Zlin. (Reuters)
And finally… Party to Post pipeline – Canadian conservative media behemoth Postmedia is actively seeking to become “involved” in United Conservative Party (UCP) Premier Jason Kenney’s “energy war room” designed to “fight fake news and share the truth about Alberta’s resource sector and energy issues”. Documents filed with the Alberta Lobbyist Registry show that Nick Koolsbergen, who served as UCP chief of staff and then campaign director during this spring’s most recent election campaign, was hired by Postmedia, which owns newspapers across the country, including all dailies in Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa. In his victory speech last month, Kenney made it clear that Alberta would take an aggressive stance against any negative attention directed at the province’s energy industry, and named several prominent charities, environmental groups, and multinational companies in suggesting they may be early targets of the war room. Some C$20 mln of the war room’s C$30 mln annual budget is slated to come from excess emission payments under the province’s new TIER regime – a proposed overhaul of Alberta’s current Carbon Competitiveness Incentive Regulation (CCIR) output-based pricing system for large emitters. (The Narwhal)
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