Toward Climate and Energy Solutions
On November 9, we hosted a high-level dialogue on the critical energy and climate challenges confronting the U.S. and the world – and the announcement of an exciting new chapter in our efforts to promote practical, innovative solutions.
Despite a flagging economy, global energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions continue to soar. Ensuring safe, reliable, affordable energy for all – while protecting the global climate – is a paramount challenge of the 21st century. While innovative technologies offer promising solutions, the risks and costs of inaction continue to mount. With so many other competing priorities, how do we mobilize the action and investment needed for a true clean energy transition?
Anne Thompson of NBC News moderated a lively conversation between Eileen Claussen, Entergy CEO Wayne Leonard, Resources for the Future President Phil Sharp, and former Sen. John Warner about the challenges ahead on climate and energy policy.
Related Materials:
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Watch the full video of the Toward Climate and Energy Solutions Dialogue below.
Watch the press briefing of the announcement below.
Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from U.S. Transportation
 | January 2011 By: David L. Greene and Steven E. Plotkin |
Patricia Salas Pineda, Group Vice President, National Philanthropy and the Toyota USA Foundation, Toyota Motor North America, Inc.
Patricia Pineda is Group Vice President at Toyota Motor North America, Inc. (TMA) with primary responsibility for national philanthropy and the Toyota USA Foundation. Ms. Pineda joined TMA in September 2004 as Group Vice President of Corporate Communications and General Counsel.
Suzanne Malec-McKenna, Commissioner, City of Chicago, Department of Environment
Suzanne Malec-McKenna serves as Commissioner of the Department of Environment for the City of Chicago. She was nominated by Mayor Daley for the position in August 2007, and has more than 20 years experience in environmental issues, including sustainable development and ecological preservation and restoration.
Commissioner Malec-McKenna has served for nearly 16 years in the Department of Environment, most recently as Deputy Commissioner of Natural Resources and Water Quality.
Former Senator John Warner
John Warner rejoined Hogan & Hartson after his decision not to seek a sixth term as U.S. Senator for the Commonwealth of Virginia. During his 30 years in the Senate, he served on the Senate Armed Services Committee, including three periods as Chairman, and was viewed as one of the most influential senators on military and foreign policy issues.
John W. Rowe, Chairman and CEO, Exelon
John W. Rowe is the chairman and chief executive officer of Exelon Corporation, a utility holding company headquartered in Chicago. Exelon has the largest market capitalization in the electric utility industry. Its retail affiliates serve 5.4 million customers in Illinois and Pennsylvania, and its generation affiliate operates the largest fleet of nuclear power plants in the nation.
Climate Leadership Conference
With the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the headline sponsor, the first annual Climate Leadership Conference will be held from February 29-March 1, 2012, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The conference will bring together leaders from business, government and academic institutions, and the non-profit community interested in exchanging ideas and information on how to address climate change while simultaneously running their operations more competitively and sustainably.
Registration Details & Early Bird Special
The conference includes a gala to honor recipients of the Climate Leadership Awards, a new national awards program to recognize exemplary corporate, organizational, and individual leadership in response to climate change. U.S. EPA, in partnership with C2ES, The Climate Registry (The Registry), and the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO), sponsor the awards.
Featured conference speakers include:
- Nancy Sutley – Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality
- Gina McCarthy – Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Mary Nichols – Chair, California Air Resources Board
- Eileen Claussen – President, Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
Click here for complete speakers list and detailed conference agenda.
Program Highlights
- Network with leaders from the public and private sectors, including federal and state government officials, industry leaders, and nonprofit experts
- Attend the Climate Leadership Awards Gala, which is held in conjunction with the conference
- Hear insights from winners of the 2011 Climate Leadership Awards for the Supply Chain, Organizational and Individual Leadership categories
Conference attendees will learn about and exchange solutions on topics including
- Leveraging Clean Energy Opportunities
- Managing Climate Risks and Building Resilience
- Supply Chain Strategies
- Disclosures and Questionnaires
- Setting and Achieving GHG Reduction Goals Education & Engagement
- Strategies Making the Business Case for Climate Response
Alcoa Foundation and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions Launch School-Based Carbon Footprint Challenge
FOR RELEASE: February 1
Alcoa Foundation and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
Launch School-Based Carbon Footprint Challenge
4,000 students to participate in the Make an Impact: Change Our 2morrow (CO2) challenge with chance to win $5,000 grant
Alcoa Foundation and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) announced today the start of the second annual Make an Impact: Change Our 2morrow (CO2), a month-long educational energy conservation challenge to be held in eight middle schools around the country. The program challenges students, parents and the community to learn how to use energy more efficiently while vying for a chance to win a $5,000 grand prize or one of three $1,000 grants for their school from Alcoa Foundation. The challenge will run from February 1 through February 29.
“The Make an Impact: Change Our Tomorrow school’s challenge taps into the power of young people to educate and empower middle school students to reduce their carbon footprint,” says Paula Davis, President, Alcoa Foundation. “Together with our employees from Alcoa U.S. facilities and C2ES, we will reach thousands of students with the message that their everyday actions can improve the environment. This is how change happens”
The program promotes energy efficiency in homes through a fun and engaging online competition based on Alcoa’s Make an Impact website (www.alcoa.com/makeanimpact), which features energy conservation resources, an interactive carbon calculator and energy efficiency checklist.
Alcoa Foundation selected the eight schools based on proximity to four Alcoa locations in the US — Bellingham, WA; Point Comfort, TX; Whitehall, MI; and Winsted, CT.
The winning schools will be determined based on the highest percentage of carbon calculator and checklist completions by students, parents, teachers and community members. Alcoa Foundation is distributing energy efficiency toolkits, kilowatt meters, posters and other materials to the schools to promote the challenge and energy efficiency.
“Knowing the impact of your energy choices is an important first step to change,” said Katie Mandes, C2ES Vice President of Community Outreach and Director of the Make an Impact program. “We hope this challenge will motivate young people and the entire community to learn how easy it can be to be part of the solution.”
Last year, Make an Impact: Change Our 2morrow was an enormous success. Collectively, the participating schools engaged more than 8,000 students, parents and community members in energy-saving activities. Through the use of the carbon calculator, participants identified more than 14.4 million pounds of potential reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and $1.75 million in energy savings. This is the equivalent of taking 1,281 cars off the road, and planting more than 160,000 trees and letting them grow for 10 years.
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ABOUT ALCOA FOUNDATION
Alcoa Foundation is one of the largest corporate foundations in the U.S., with assets of approximately US$446 million. Founded more than 50 years ago, Alcoa Foundation has invested more than US$550 million since 1952. In 2011, Alcoa Foundation contributed more than US$20 million to nonprofit organizations throughout the world, building innovative partnerships, engaging its people to improve the environment and educating tomorrow’s leaders. The work of Alcoa Foundation is further enhanced by Alcoa’s thousands of employee volunteers who share their energy, passion and purpose to make a difference in the communities where Alcoa operates. Through the company’s signature Month of Service program, in 2011, a record 56 percent of Alcoa employees took part in more than 1,200 events across 24 countries, reaching 81,000 children, serving 9,000 meals, planting 34,000 trees and supporting 1,800 nonprofit organizations. More information can be found at www.alcoafoundation.com.
ABOUT C2ES
The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) is an independent non-profit, non-partisan organization promoting strong policy and action to address the twin challenges of energy and climate change. Launched in November 2011, C2ES is the successor to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, long recognized in the United States and abroad as an influential and pragmatic voice on climate issues. C2ES is led by Eileen Claussen, who previously led the Pew Center and is the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. More information can be found at http://www.c2es.org.
ABOUT MAKE AN IMPACT
The Make an Impact program, developed by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, in partnership with Alcoa Foundation, helps Alcoa employees, their families and surrounding communities reduce energy use, manage their carbon footprint and become an active part of the solution to climate change. The program features:
- A custom-built carbon calculator with individual carbon footprint analysis.
- A dynamic website with tips, tools and resources on how to reduce energy bills and live more sustainably.
- A comprehensive outreach program of educational workshops and hands-on activities to support local action.
The Make an Impact: Change Our 2morrow (CO2) program promotes energy efficiency through a fun and engaging online competition, which features educational resources about energy conservation and an interactive carbon calculator. To find out more about Make an Impact, how your company or organization can sign on or to measure your own carbon footprint, visit www.alcoa.com/makeanimpact.
Eileen Claussen Reacts to President Obama's State of the Union Address
Statement of Eileen Claussen
President, Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
January 24, 2012
We share President Obama’s enthusiasm for homegrown solutions to America’s energy challenges. Without question, America has the resources and know-how to produce more energy at home, strengthening both our economy and our national security. But protecting the climate also has to be part of the equation. If we sensitively develop domestic reserves, get serious about ramping up new energy sources, and push efficiency across the board, we can both meet America’s energy needs and dramatically shrink our carbon footprint.
Even if comprehensive legislation remains off the table for now, we can make important progress tackling these challenges piece by piece. C2ES is working with policymakers and stakeholders on ways to expand enhanced oil recovery using captured carbon dioxide – an approach that can boost domestic oil production while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Similarly, we’re working with automakers, environmentalists and others on a plan for integrating plug-in electric vehicles into the U.S. electrical grid. We look forward to sharing the results of these and other C2ES initiatives aimed at practical solutions to our twin climate and energy challenges.
Contact: Tom Steinfeldt, 703-516-4146
Read the full transcript of the 2012 State of the Union Address
Q&A on EPA's GHG Reporting Rule
What is the GHG Reporting Rule?
As part of the Fiscal Year 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed into law on December 26, 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was ordered to publish a rule requiring public reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from large sources. The GHG Reporting Program database, published for the first time on January 11, 2012, and consisting of data reported under the rule, provides the first comprehensive nationwide GHG emissions data for the United States, although electric power plants have been reporting their carbon dioxide emissions for two decades under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
One model for the GHG Reporting rule is the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), established by the 1986 Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, which, for the first time, required businesses to disclose releases of a wide range of toxic chemicals. When the TRI was first published in 1989, many businesses voluntarily began reducing their releases, clean technology developers used the data to identify potential customers, and policymakers used the data to develop and refine toxic chemical policy. The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) expects similar activity as a result of the establishment of the GHG Reporting Program.
Who are the covered entities?
Forty-one sectors are included for possible reporting including: fossil fuel and industrial GHG suppliers, boilers, motor vehicle and engine manufacturers, and other industrial facilities. Annual reporting is required for facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of CO2 equivalent per year, except for sources in nineteen large source categories such as: refineries, cement manufactures, and chemical plants for which there is no minimum threshold. An estimated 85 to 90 percent of stationary source emissions from approximately 13,000 facilities are covered by the rule, while most small businesses would fall below the reporting threshold.
What is the status of regulation?
The first rulemaking following the Congressional mandate came on September 22, 2009, when EPA announced that it will require large emitters of GHGs to begin collecting data under a new reporting system. Data collection through online reporting began in January 2010 with the first annual reports submitted to EPA in 2011.
On January 11, 2012, EPA announced that the first year of data, 2010, is publicly available. EPA’s online tool has data from 6,700 facilities from 29 source categories, searchable by state, location, company, or facility. Additional facilities will be included in future years.
A main feature of the site is an interactive map with facilities marked by location. Searching and sorting of facilities can be accomplished through 20 different reporting categories, by the amount of emissions of any of six GHGs. Each reporting facility has a profile with: location and address; NAICS code; GHG monitoring technology; GHG emissions amounts; emissions by source, fuel and process; and other information. Emissions data across sectors and locations is comparable in a variety of visual formats, like bar charts, pie charts, and data trees. Search results can be shared via printing, email, Facebook, Twitter and other ways.
Read more from EPA on the GHG Reporting Rule.
See C2ES President Eileen Claussen’s statement on the release of reported data.
