Boxer's Brief

Some criticism from the Wall Street Journal on Senator Boxer's (D-CA) "principles for global warming legislation".

http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/02/03/boxers-brief-california-senator-sketches-global-warming-principles/

League Tables

Certified Emissions Reductions, the project-based offsets traded under the UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), hit record lows this week, pushed lower by tumbling European Union carbon prices.

Benchmark CERs trading on the European Climate Exchange fell to 9.30 euros a tonne on Wednesday, down 62 percent from an all-time high of 24.38 euros in July 2008. EU Allowances for delivery in Dec. 2009 also set a record, dropping below 10 euros for the first time.

The CDM pipeline still shows the disparity that exists between countries (& contintents) that are involved in CDM. You can find this table from the UN's Risoe Center: Table (MS Excel File)

A Push for Jatropha

Some good news especially now that the feedstock from Jatropha seems to not be as toxic...

http://biofuelsdigest.com/blog2/2009/02/04/deg-to-back-11-jatropha-research-plantations-in-kenya-tanzania-and-uganda/

Californication

It is my thought that it is the Californian lawmakers that are going to bring something as drastic as a climate change bill to Washington.

California already dances on its own flow when it comes to environmental regulation and I am of the thought that some of that push needs to be brought to Washington.

This is encouraging news because Madame Clinton's first trip to China is somewhat heavily bent on climate change.

Kenya & The Carbon Markets

As home to the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and also as the home to Prof. Wangari Maathai, it has always been in the back of my mind that Kenya needs to be a leader in Clean Development Mechanisms (CDMs) in Africa.

This has especially been the case because of:

- The 7-folk sisters that provide most of the Hydro power in Kenya;
- The Sondu-Miriu Hydropower Project;
- The Ol-Karia Geothermal Project;
- The sugar factories (Mumias, SONY, Muhoroni, Miwani) that produce enough biodiesel to produce electricity;
- The very existence of the Mau Forest and how preserving the forest as a catchment area could actually draw points in how the downstream product is preserved.

Well, my prayers have been answered by Alice Kaudia.

Power Grid 2.0

The best way to describe this new drive to change America's electrical grid of the 60s and 70s into a modern network that uses microprocessors and software to work efficiently and to connect to renewable energy generation, is by quoting Jesse Berst:


"...the smart grid will “spawn new Googles and Microsofts,” and is “akin to the transcontinental railroad, the phone system, the interstate highway system and the Internet.”

President Obama's plan on it: $100 Billion Credit Line

"My President is Black.."

My version, to you Mr. African President:

My President is Black
My granny's hut too
And I will be damned if my vote is split into two.

Congrats 'Bam!