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Executive Summary
As the new home of RIPIRG's environmental work, Environment Rhode Island can be contacted regarding this report.
Introduction
In
August of 2001, the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern
Canadian Premiers (NEG/ECP) agreed to a comprehensive Climate Change
Action Plan with the long-term goal of reducing greenhouse gas
emissions in the region by 75-85%. As that plan accurately pointed out,
“global warming, given its harmful consequences to the environment and
the economy, is a joint concern for which a regional approach to
strategic action is required.”1 The Plan set the following goals:
• Reduce regional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels by 2010.
• Reduce regional GHG emissions by at least 10% below 1990 levels by 2020.
• Reduce regional GHG emissions by 75- 85% in the long-term.
To
achieve the short, medium and long-term goals of the Climate Change
Action Plan the Governors and Premiers developed nine (9) “Action
Items” to guide the actions and policies of the states and provinces in
meeting those objectives. The Plan also sets the goal of establishing
an “interactive five-year process, commencing in 2005, to adjust the
goals if necessary and set future emissions reduction goals.”
As
it is now 2005, and we are nearly halfway to the first goal set forth
in the Plan, this year’s Report Card findings should be particularly
helpful as the region’s Governors and Premiers work to assess their
ability to achieve the goals to which they committed the region 4 years
ago. The consensus in the global scientific, business and political
communities that climate change is having, and will continue to have,
devastating impacts on the planet has become even stronger in the past
year. Therefore, the commitment to not only meet, but to surpass, the
goals set in the 2001 Plan should grow stronger as well.
Key Findings
As
this Report Card will highlight, there exists a wide range of variation
among the states and provinces as to their activities to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions in the region. Jurisdictions that are strong
in some areas are weak in others. The following are the general themes
that were observed in this year’s assessment process:
Areas That Need Improvement
I. States and Provinces Need to Start Achieving Reductions from the Largest Pollution Sources
In
order to achieve the emissions goals set forth in the Plan, states and
provinces need to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from
the largest sources in their respective jurisdictions. Although
variations exist between the various states and provinces, greenhouse
gas emissions from the transportation sector and power generation
sector represent the largest contributors to climate change in the
region. For the regional goals to be met, real emissions reductions
from these sectors need to start happening soon.
A. Transportation Sector (Action Item 8)
Reducing
emissions from the transportation sector continues to be one of the
most challenging, yet most important areas for governments to address.
It is also, unfortunately, an area in which little progress has been
made in the region. In several states and provinces, the transportation
sector still represents the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.
As
was recommended last year, for states and provinces to significantly
reduce emissions from the transportation sector there are two policy
paths that must be addressed as part of a comprehensive plan. Governments need to explore policy options that will increase the percentage of fuel-efficient and low emission vehicles in use.
Policy options to achieve this include adopting low emission vehicle
standards, similar to the California Clean Cars Standard, and the
adoption of tax incentives to encourage the purchase of the most
fuel-efficient vehicles.
Several
states and provinces have either enacted regulations or passed
legislation to increase the number of fuel-efficient automobiles on the
road. However, of equal importance to what we drive is how much we
drive. States and provinces need to develop broad and forward-thinking plans to reduce the number of vehicle miles traveled (or VMTs.)
This can be accomplished through the improvement and expansion of
public transportation systems, as well as through comprehensive
regional planning to reduce “urban sprawl,” and through incentives to
reduce driving, such as insurance rates tied to the number of miles
driven. States and provinces need to look closely at transportation
patterns, especially in larger cities, and find ways to make
improvements to the transportation infrastructure that give people the
option to drive less.
B. Power Sector (Action Item 5)
Action Item 5 in the regional Plan sets a goal of reducing the amount
of carbon dioxide emitted per megawatt hour of electricity in the
region 20% by 2025. Although promising policies to address this sector
currently are being developed, much more can - and should - be done.
Given the lack of progress in reducing growth of transportation sector
emissions, the percentage reductions from the power sector will need to
be larger than the overall percentage targets in order for the region
to meet the short-term and midterm GHG emissions goals in the Plan.
Governments should recognize that some of the most cost-effective
emissions reductions that can be made are in the power sector.
To
achieve this goal, governments should work to improve the region’s
electricity fuel mix to include a much greater percentage of clean
renewable energy sources as well as switch to lower carbon fuels that
do not have other attendant health risks.
In
New England, the Governors should press for a model Regional Greenhouse
Gas Initiative (RGGI) rule that achieves emissions reductions that are
– at the very least – consistent with the goals of the regional Plan,
and that improves energy efficiency in the region.
States
and provinces should view energy efficiency and conservation – and
policies to reduce electricity demand – as the foundation of any sound
energy policy.
II. States and Provinces Need to Better Promote Public Awareness of Climate Change (Action Item 3)
The
NEG/ECP Climate Change Action Plan set a goal that “by 2005, the public
in the region will be aware of the problems and the impacts of climate
change and what actions they can take at home and at work to reduce the
release of greenhouse gases.”2 We do not feel that this goal has been
achieved.
Recognizing
that an adequate public understanding of the impacts of climate change
is essential in building the political support for strong policy
solutions, state and provincial governments should begin promoting
public awareness immediately. Governments should develop
comprehensive and coordinated education and outreach programs for
schools, parks, government employees, industries, major energy users
and the media to communicate why climate change is important to the
public. States and provinces should also develop systems to measure the
effectiveness of their public education efforts. Finally, individual
Governors and Premiers can contribute significantly to improving public
awareness of climate change by making it a priority issue when speaking
to the public.
III. Governors and Premiers Need to Be the Driving Force Behind Strong Climate Policy
In
assessing the region’s progress during this year’s Report Card process,
it was found that many of the policy successes have occurred without
the leadership of individual Governors and Premiers. Several policy
successes, for example, occurred via legislative vehicles for which the
Governor failed to openly express his or her support. In many cases, a
lot of the good work being accomplished at the state or provincial
level is occurring while the Governor or Premier is largely silent on
the issue of climate change. In some cases, Governors and Premiers have
actually taken public positions on particular issues that are
contradictory to the regional emission reduction goals. Although many
individuals in the respective state and provincial environmental and
energy agencies are committed to making progress in the effort to
reduce GHG emissions, much of this good work is happening absent strong
leadership from the Governors and Premiers.
IV. Governments Need to Involve the Environmental Community as Stakeholders
The
2010 deadline for meeting the short-term emissions reduction goal is
fast approaching, and significant progress still needs to be made in
reducing emissions from the largest sectors. Therefore, the time is
right for the NEG/ECP to begin working more collaboratively with
various non-governmental organizations in mapping the way forward
regionally and within individual jurisdictions. There has been very
little opportunity for the environmental community to formally
participate as stakeholders in the implementation process, and such
collaboration should be formalized so that information and “best
practices” can be shared openly and constructively.
Conclusions
Although
some progress has occurred in the region we are still not yet on a
trajectory to meet the short-term goals in the Plan. As the Governors
and Premiers reassess our progress towards meeting the Plan’s goals,
particular attention needs to be paid to the largest emitting sectors –
transportation and electricity generation. It should be clear that the
region’s climate change goals will not be achieved through the
construction of a wind turbine here and there, or through the state or
provincial purchase of energy efficient copiers. These measures alone,
although a significant first step – especially in setting a good
example – will not enable us to achieve our overall goals. As the
Governors and Premiers use 2005 to assess their progress they should
see this time as an opportunity to move towards enacting the “next
level” of climate policies: those that will significantly reduce
emissions from the largest sources.
The
Governors of the New England states, in particular, have an opportunity
to make significant progress in reducing power sector carbon dioxide
emissions by releasing a model RGGI rule this fall that calls for a 25%
reduction in emissions by 2020. Such a target would be consistent with
the goals that have been set forth in the regional Climate Change
Action Plan.
As was recommended last year, the Governors and Premiers should set a goal of reaching the 75-85% reduction target by the year 2050.
To achieve this, it is also necessary to set interim goals between 2020
and 2050 to ensure that necessary action takes place along the way.
These goals can be met, but strong and visionary leadership from the
region’s Governors and Premiers will be required.
1 New England Governors / Eastern Canadian Premiers Climate Change Action Plan 2001. August 2001, page 1.
2 New England Governors / Eastern Canadian Premiers Climate Change Action Plan 2001. August 2001, page 10.
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