In Between Times 3-1-2024
A warm Midwest, Energy priorities by country, Carbon border tax issues, Extracting carbon from the ocean
Join us at Earthx2024 in Dallas this Earth Day. It’s the world’s largest green gathering!
Hilton Anatole | Dallas, Texas
April 22-26,2024
“Earthx2024 Congress of Conferences attracts the world’s foremost environmentalists, conservationists, scientists, academics, entrepreneurs, advocates, and political leaders engaged in the environmental space today. These leaders and influencers come from a wide range of disciplines, interests, and perspectives and represent a broad spectrum of initiatives and efforts around the globe.”
Click here to register.
Snow and ice are a way of life here. See how a lost winter upended that.
While California has been buried in snow for a second winter, the upper Midwest has seen warmth (the Midwest did see record snow last year). A friend of ours sent us a picture of an ice fishing hut in Minnesota that was sinking into a lake. It was the only hut on a lake that usually has dozens of such structures.
(From The Washington Post)
A mild pattern is to be expected when the El Niño global climate pattern is in place, as has been the case since last year. It is associated with warmer-than-average temperatures across the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, and its domino effects include increased odds of mild weather in Wisconsin. Though El Niño is fading, its effects are forecast to linger into the spring.
In the background is the fact that temperatures have warmed dramatically since the late 1990s — and winter has warmed the fastest of all the seasons. In the Northwoods, winter has warmed by about three-quarters of a degree each decade since 1980, according to a Washington Post analysis.
Click here for the article.
Former congressman Amash enters the Michigan Senate race
We have watched Amash from his earliest days in the House. A libertarian, a contrarian, and an open minded thinker who is not afraid to buck his own leadership, Speaker Boehner famously disliked Amash and Trump and Amash were not friendly (to say the least), his entry is an interesting wrinkle in an already interesting race in Michigan.
(From Politico)
The entry of Amash, who was the second Palestinian-American member elected to Congress, potentially scrambles the race in Michigan, where the state’s large Arab-American population has voiced disapproval over the Israel-Hamas conflict. More than 100,000 voters selected the “uncommitted” option on the ballot in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, indicating their dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden.
But first, Amash has to make it through the primary. The GOP field includes former Rep. Mike Rogers — the favorite of the Republican Senate campaign arm — businessman Sandy Pensler, and former Rep. Peter Meijer, who succeeded Amash in the House and is from the family of the well-known Midwestern grocery store chain.
Click here for the article.
World-first carbon border tax shows teething problems
Industry is not being terribly responsive and the question is whether they CAN be responsive in an environment where imports from outside of the EU undermine their businesses. This tax is very much a work in progress and is hitting speed bumps just as the European Union is seeing considerable push back from Europeans on other environmental regulations.
(From The Financial Times)
The EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) is the world-first effort to introduce a tax on carbon-intensive imports to prevent a flood of cheap imports from countries with highly polluting industries from undercutting the bloc’s heavy industries, which are subject to strict climate regulation and have to pay for greenhouse gas pollution under the bloc’s emissions trading system.But fewer than 10 per cent of 20,000 companies in Germany expected to report emissions did so by an early deadline this year, according to data collected by Germany’s emissions trading authority and shared with the Financial Times.
Click here for the article.
What is the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism?
Europe finding carbon tax plan difficult, confusing
Singapore to build world’s largest facility to boost carbon-removal power of the ocean
(From Time)
On Tuesday, Singapore’s national water agency PUB announced that it was furthering its collaboration with the University of California in Los Angeles and Equatic, a Los Angeles-based startup founded by UCLA scientists. Together, they plan to build a $20 million plant that removes 3,650 metric tons (4,000 tons) of carbon dioxide from the ocean every year through the Equatic Process, which uses electrolysis to convert carbon dioxide in seawater into stable solids.
It’s a small step in the right direction. But to make a dent in carbon emissions this kind of tech is a long way from impactful scale.
EVENT
Mar 03 - Mar 03
The Global Stage: What role should we play?
Crossing Party Lines
Location: Online
Regardless of how you feel about globalization, the U.S. is an important player on the global stage. The question is, what type of player should we be? Leader, follower, isolated, etc.? And does your answer change based on the policy area? Are there some areas you would like us to lead in and others for which you would like us to position ourselves differently? Whether it’s military, environment, civil rights, health, or something else, we want to hear your thoughts.
As time allows, we’ll explore such questions as:
What is the role of the U.S. in global politics?
In which areas do you consider the U.S. a leader today?
In what areas do you believe the U.S. needs to improve?
Are you satisfied with the U.S.’s current place on the global stage? What practical steps can be taken to get to a better place?