The Faster Path to More Clean Energy

An important mechanism to meeting renewable energy targets are power purchase agreements (PPA). While a PPA can take multiple forms, be it physical or virtual, a PPA is ultimately a long-term contract between a provider of electricity, such as wind and solar generated, and a buyer of said electricity, such as utilities or large businesses.  The …

How to Extinguish the Fire Before It’s Too Late

Let’s face two facts that are now abundantly clear. First, we have very little time to address the climate crisis in a way that will avoid the worst, irreversible consequences of our continued pollution of the Earth’s atmosphere. Second, the collective willpower (and resulting action) of the countries that attend annual climate summits, such as …

China Launches National Carbon Market: What’s Next?

After years of planning, China officially launched its national carbon emissions trading system (ETS) last month. With this move, China officially becomes home to the largest carbon market in the world covering more than 4 billion tons of CO2 emissions from over 2,000 power plants.[i] The path to this moment spans almost a decade. Taking …

What Covid Taught Us About the Climate Crisis

As smoke from western wildfires chokes people in Manhattan and unprecedented floods drown subway commuters in China, we’re reminded that scientists warned of these climate change driven consequences decades ago. Some have theorized that if the predicted impacts were more immediate, that humanity would have acted to avert them. The covid crisis may shed light …

Nearly Half of the World’s Largest Companies Now Have An “Internal” Carbon Price

As world leaders continue to implement or expand their carbon pricing schemes, a new report by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) shows that a growing number of companies are adopting an “internal” carbon pricing mechanism. The report, titled “Putting a Price on Carbon,” is an update from 2017 that utilizes data compiled in 2020 from …

Global Climate Action: Canadian Supreme Court Upholds Carbon Tax & More

In a 6-3 decision announced late March, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that the country’s federal carbon pricing system under the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (GHGPPA) was constitutional. The ruling was cemented around the Constitution’s “peace, order and good government” clause, which gives the federal government authority to enact laws to deal with an issue …

Stormwater Management in California: Charting and Sharing Progress

A typical day in Southern California includes warm weather, traffic, and maybe even a trip to the beach. Los Angeles, the region’s largest city, averages about 35 days of rain per year, which ranks among the lowest for major cities in the US. So, when it does rain, it can feel like a bit of …

Biden Administration Reestablishes the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases

In a move that aims to continue to bring back evidence-based decision making to the Federal Government, as well as to demonstrate that the US is committed to taking serious action on climate change, the Biden administration has restored the value of the “social cost of greenhouse gases” to Federal policymaking. The decision, announced on …

Norway Unveils Plans to Raise Carbon Tax Ceiling for Oil and Gas

To kick off the new year, Norway unveiled a white paper that laid plans for the most comprehensive and ambitious climate agenda by the country through the next decade. The Plan, which was announced by the Minister of Climate and Environment Sveinung Rotevatn, touches on a variety of measures including climate-related requirements in public-procurement processes, …