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Executive Summary
As the new home of MASSPIRG's environmental work, Environment Massachusetts 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.”
Therefore, the purpose of
this Report Card is to evaluate the progress of each state and province towards
meeting the regional emissions goals laid out in the Plan. To do this, we have
evaluated the various jurisdictions on 8 of the 9 specific Action Items called
for in the Plan, and have assigned a letter grade for each, as well as an overall
grade for each state and province.[2]
As it is now 2004, and we
are a third of the way towards the first goal set forth in the Plan, we thought
it necessary and timely to assess the region’s progress. Furthermore, as the
Plan calls for an assessment of the region’s progress in 2005, it is our hope
that this Report Card – and future Report Cards - will contribute significantly
to that assessment and prompt necessary action in a timely manner.
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.
Likewise, there are some states and provinces that have made good overall progress,
and others that have yet to show significant contribution to the regional reduction
goals.
Areas That Need Improvement
I. Need for Current
and Uniform Emissions Data Across the Region (Action Item 1)
One of the biggest challenges
in conducting a thorough assessment of how well the region is doing in meeting
the goals of the NEG/ECP Climate Change Action Plan is the lack of a comprehensive
regional greenhouse gas emissions inventory. Although it is significant that
the Governors and Premiers have set a short-term goal of reaching 1990 levels
for greenhouse gas emissions by 2010, the lack of a uniform emissions inventory
for all sectors in the region may make it impossible to gauge progress towards
that goal until 2010 has passed. The states and provinces in the region should
collaborate to create a regional greenhouse gas emissions inventory that includes
mandatory reporting from all sectors as soon as possible. The states and
provinces should also conduct a regional analysis that measures emissions
from the demand side to address the fact that although power plants, oil refineries,
pulp mills, etc. may be located in one jurisdiction the primary market for what
is being produced may be in another.
Many states in the northeastern
U.S., including those in New England, are currently engaged in a collaborative
effort to create a regional carbon “cap and trade” system for the utility sector.
However, the specifics are still being developed, and much work still needs
to be done to ensure that whatever system is agreed upon incorporates all of
the concerns raised by the many environmental stakeholders.
II. States and Provinces
Need to Draft and Release Comprehensive Climate Plans (Action Item 2)
One of the most important
Action Items called for in the NEG/ECP Climate Change Action Plan is for each
state and province to develop its own plan, programs and policies to reduce
greenhouse gases. The creation and release of such plans is necessary for each
state and province to begin contributing to the overall emissions reduction
goals for the region.
Some states, such as Massachusetts
and Connecticut recently released climate plans through the executive and legislative
branches, respectively, with Rhode Island having finalized a non-binding plan
in 2002. In Canada, the province of Quebec continues to follow a plan set forth
in 2001 for the province, and is currently working to improve that plan. Meanwhile,
other states and provinces in the region are in the process of developing plans
that will hopefully be finalized soon.
Comprehensive climate
action plans should be developed, released and then fully implemented for all
states and provinces in the region. A good state or provincial plan will
create a system for tracking greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors, and
include mandatory reporting. To ensure that the plans adequately represent the
public interest, an open public stakeholder process should be part of the plan’s
development. The plans should also contain specific and binding steps that will
be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially from the largest sources
in the region such as the transportation and power sectors. Finally, the plans
should be forward thinking by recognizing the need to begin taking steps now
to eventually achieve the long-term goal of a 75-85% reduction in greenhouse
gases in the region.
III. States and Provinces
Need to Sufficiently Address the Largest Pollution Sources
In order to achieve the
emissions goals set forth in the Plan, states and provinces will 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.
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. In several states and provinces,
the transportation sector represents the single largest source of greenhouse
gas emissions. In short, for states and provinces to significantly reduce emissions
from the transportation sector there are two policy paths that must be addressed
as par of a comprehensive plan. First, 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 LEV II standard, or the adoption
of a “feebate” system to provide incentives for the purchase of fuel-efficient
vehicles.
Secondly, states and
provinces need to develop broad plans to reduce the number of vehicle miles
traveled. This can be accomplished through the improvement and expansion
of public transportation systems, as well as through comprehensive regional
planning to reduce sprawl.
Where emissions from trucking
are a significant proportion of transportation emissions, as is the case in
eastern Canada, additional measures to shift freight from roads to rail and
increase the use of biodiesel-blended fuels are essential.
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. Like transportation, most states
and provinces have struggled to adequately address this goal.
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. States
and provinces also need to develop plans and policies to reduce energy demand
and usage through stronger building codes and standards, minimum energy efficiency
standards for products, and aggressive energy conservation and efficiency programs.
IV. States and Provinces
Need to Better Promote Public Awareness About Climate Change (Action Item 3)
The one Action Item from
the regional Plan on which most states and provinces scored the lowest was in
promoting public awareness about the problem, impacts and subsequent solutions
to climate change. 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.”[3] Given
the fact that it is already 2004, and little government action has taken place
towards this goal, it will most likely not be 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.
Conclusions
Although some significant progress has been made in the region, much more must
be done by the governments to put the region on a path to actually meet the
short, medium and - perhaps most importantly - long-term goals enunciated in
the NEG/ECP Plan of 2001. The Plan commits the Governors and Premiers to undertake
a planning process every five years, beginning in 2005, to ensure that the reduction
targets reflect necessary action. To that end, action should be taken by the
governments to ascribe a date to the long-term goal of reducing the region’s
greenhouse gas emissions by 75-85%. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
has suggested that it is necessary to hit this target by mid-century in order
to stabilize the planet’s climate. With that in mind, 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.
Notes
[1] New
England Governors / Eastern Canadian Premiers Climate Change Action Plan 2001.
August 2001, page 1.
[2] For the purpose of this Report
Card, we chose to exclude Action Item 9 from the state and provincial grades.
See page 19 for further explanation.
[3] New England
Governors / Eastern Canadian Premiers Climate Change Action Plan 2001. August
2001, page 10.
New
England / Eastern Canada Climate Change Report Card Partners
Clean Water Fund Connecticut
Clean Water Fund Massachusetts
Clean Water Fund New Hampshire
Clean Water Fund Rhode Island
Conservation Council of New Brunswick
Ecology Action Centre
ENvironnement JEUnesse
Massachusetts Climate Action Network
Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group Education Fund
Natural Resources Council of Maine
New Hampshire Public Interest Research Group Education Fund
Prince Edward Island ECO-NET
Rhode Island Public Interest Research Group Education Fund
Sierra Club of Canada – Atlantic Canada Chapter
Vermont Public Interest Research and Education Fund
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