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Death of US Supreme Court justice may improve odds for Clean Power Plan

The sudden death of US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday has ended the court’s conservative majority, possibly for the foreseeable future, making it harder for opponents of President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan to block the measure through litigation.

“Lot of work” to shift EU goal to 1.5C, though ETS cap off-course regardless, MEPs told

The European Commission could not easily alter the EU’s 2030 GHG target to fit deeper global aspirations, and the bloc’s executive already knows that proposed reforms to the EU ETS won’t keep pace with current UN obligations regarding worldwide temperature limits.

Canada’s Atlantic provinces eyeing regional carbon price -PEI environment minister

Canada’s Atlantic provinces are considering introducing a regional carbon price, according to Prince Edward Island’s environment minister.

EU Market: EUAs sink back below €5, handing back Friday’s gains in quiet trade

European carbon prices dipped back below €5 on Monday to hand back most of Friday’s hefty gains, sliding in light volume amid a mixed energy complex and a US market holiday.

Former ICIS-Tschach analyst joins Shell China carbon team

A former ICIS-Tschach carbon market analyst has joined Shell in China, where he will be involved in developing offset projects and CO2 trading.

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Job listings this week:

Global Director, Climate Program, WRI – Washington DC
Global Director, Energy Program, WRI – Washington DC
Business Analyst, US Environmental and Renewable Energy Markets, Statkraft – San Francisco
Senior Programme Officer, Gold Standard – Geneva/Freiburg/home
Policy Advisor, E3G – Brussels
Research Assistant, Ecosystem Marketplace – Washington DC
Communications Specialist, Energy Finance, Climate Policy Initiative – London
Climate change policy – summer internship, OECD – Paris

Or click here to see all our job adverts

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Bite-sized updates from around the world

Fiji’s parliament on Friday unanimously ratified the Paris Agreement, making it the first country to do so. The archipelago’s 0.04% share of global emissions puts the pact on the way to achieving the 55% and 55-country threshold needed for it to take effect from 2020. (PINA)

The EU’s heavy industry ‘marched’ on Brussels on Monday for a high-level conference aimed at bolstering the sector. Their lobby efforts focused on protecting EU producers from dumping, particularly by Chinese rivals, and how giving the country ‘market economy’ status would weaken those efforts. Though lower down the list, climate policy was given as one reason for the EU not to do this: “China continues to face far lower environmental burdens which, combined with dumping, is decimating EU production. Such unfair trade practices will mean Europe will simply have exported its CO2, as well as hundreds of thousands of jobs,” said industry alliance AEGIS Europe in a briefing paper.

German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks is planning an extra levy on cars determined by their efficiency, according to a report in Die Welt (in German).  Buyers of small cars emitting 95 grams of CO2 would have to pay a one-off “environmental charge” of €50, compared to €1,000 for cars emitting more than 200 grams, such as a Porsche Cayenne, Hendricks told weekly magazine der Spiegel. Hendricks said the money should be used to finance subsidies for electric cars. As an alternative to the scheme, she supports a tax increase on diesel. (H/T Clean Energy Wire)

British Airways boss unveils CO2 cut goal – IAG CEO Willie Walsh said his firm hopes to cut its emissions by 8.5% to 87.3g per passenger-kilometres by 2020, down from 95.4g in 2015. The goal remains less ambitious than low-cost rival Easyjet’s, which has set its own 7% reduction target to take its CO2 to 81.5g per passenger-km by 2020. Long an advocate for global aviation GHG regulation, Walsh called on governments to agree on a global deal at UN body ICAO this autumn. (UK Telegraph)

Alberta’s NDP government plans to let energy companies claim part of the new carbon tax as an expense against their provincial royalties, a measure that critics say shifts the burden of paying for GHG emissions onto the backs of taxpayers. (Calgary Herald)

The South Australian Royal Commission into the nuclear fuel cycle has conceded that nuclear power is not a viable alternative for Australia, but has urged authorities to consider it anyway – in what could have serious implications for the roll out of renewable energy across the country. (Renew Economy)

President Obama’s proposal last week for a $10/barrel oil tax, which has been overwhelmingly rejected by Republicans, could make it easier for the next president to pass a carbon tax – by demonstrating how not to go about it.  BloombergView’s Christopher Flavelle argues that Obama made three mistakes: 1) He targeted a single industry, and one that many Americans believe he doesn’t like; 2) He said he would use the proceeds to fund things that disproportionately benefit urban areas, which amounts to a wealth transfer from rural areas to cities, and from red states to blue ones; and 3) His proposal ignores research showing Republicans are more likely to support a CO2 tax if the government returns the money gained.

And finally… The trial of eight Deutsche Bank employees charged with facilitating VAT fraud via the EU ETS started today in Frankfurt, and is expected to run until May. (Deutsche Welle)

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