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Virginia to develop ‘trading-ready’ regulations for CO2 emissions

The governor of Virginia has set the stage for an emissions trading programme in the state, instructing officials to develop regulations to tackle CO2 emissions from electric power facilities.

California Chamber of Commerce to appeal cap-and-trade ruling to state Supreme Court

The California Chamber of Commerce has decided to file an appeal to the state’s highest court in its lawsuit case targeting California’s cap-and-trade programme.

ICAO opens talks on offsets with World Bank REDD programme

UN aviation body ICAO is in talks with the World Bank-led Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) as part of the agency’s ongoing work into whether REDD credits could be allowed into its CORSIA global offset scheme.

China’s foreign coal investment slows amid OBOR push

China’s investments in coal-fired power plants in countries in the “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) regions have slowed since last year, a report found.

More clean energy projects withdrawn from EU’s NER300 scheme

At least four more projects have been withdrawn by EU member states from the bloc’s €2.1 billion NER300 programme, while several more appear to have lost their funding.

EU Market: EUAs climb back above €4.50 after another strong auction

EU carbon prices settled above €4.50 for the first time in a week as a second day of strong auction indicators helped lift prices ahead of a 38% drop in supply next week.

NAMA pipeline keeps building as nations seek Paris use for them-report

The number of NAMAs being planned continues to increase despite a chronic lack of funding as many developing nations want to use them to meet their pledges under the Paris Agreement.

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BITE-SIZED UPDATES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Not just the US – From sweeping cuts of funds to protect forests, to the loosening of conservation of indigenous land and measures to boost large-scale property deals, Brazil has embarked on the biggest roll back of environmental protections in two decades, former government officials and campaigners told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Amid a political upheaval and a economic crisis, Brazil is backsliding on its commitments to protect land rights, the Amazon rainforest and the indigenous people who depend upon it, environmentalists say.  But supporters of measures to remove protected area status for more than one million hectares of land say the changes are overdue and could bring back jobs to a country deep in recession.

Put it off – The Trump administration is seeking to indefinitely postpone a decision on litigation over the Clean Power Plan, EPA lawyers argued in a legal brief filed in a federal appeals court Monday. The administration’s ask was countered by a coalition of environmental groups, states supporting the CPP, clean energy groups and sympathetic utilities, who filed separate briefs Monday asking for the court to issue a ruling in the lawsuit. While the administration argues that a stay of the decision would let the EPA finish its review of the rule more quickly – and warns that a ruling in the case could trigger additional litigation – supporters of the CPP worry that an indefinite stay would turn into “a long-term suspension of the Clean Power Plan, without any court having issued a decision on its legal merits and without following the administrative steps necessary to amend, suspend or withdraw a regulation.” (Climate Nexus)

And finally… Credulity-in-chief – White House chief of staff Reince Priebus issued a stern warning at a recent senior staff meeting: Quit trying to secretly slip stuff to President Trump. Politico reports that just days earlier, K.T. McFarland, the deputy national security adviser, had given Trump a printout of two Time magazine covers: One, supposedly from the 1970s, warned of a coming ice age, and the other, from 2008, about surviving global warming. Trump quickly got lathered up about the media’s hypocrisy. But there was a problem: The 1970s cover was fake, part of an internet hoax that’s circulated for years. Staff chased down the truth and intervened before Trump tweeted or talked publicly about it. The episode illustrates the impossible mission of managing a White House led by an impetuous president who has resisted structure and strictures his entire adult life.

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