Q3 Update 2007

Quarter 3 Update

August, September, October 2007

ENE Assessment Quantifies GHG Impacts of Large Development in Maine

Monitoring Event Draws Support for Diesel Bill

Utility Incentive Reform -Removing Barriers to Energy Efficiency

ENE Welcomes New Staff

Note from the Executive Director

This update highlights ENE's intensified efforts to advance broad new policies and increase public awareness of ways to address global warming and energy sustainability over the past months.

In November, ENE will celebrate an exciting milestone when we open an office in Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, staffed by new Policy Advocate Leslie Malone. A key part of ENE's mission is to address issues in the bioregional context of the Northeast and eastern Canada, recognizing that the region shares a common air shed and ocean and trade extensively in timber, fish - and energy. We look forward to strengthening our efforts to work with Canadian partners and address cross-boundary climate, forest and energy policy issues. It is an important step toward realizing ENE's vision for advancing climate solutions in the region.
 
- Dan Sosland

ENE Assessment Quantifies GHG Impacts of Large Development in Maine

The Plum Creek Timber company has proposed the largest development in Maine's history, to be located in the Moosehead Lake region encompassing the largest expanse of undeveloped woodland east of the Mississippi. The permitting process for the controversial proposal is pending before the Land Use Regulation Committee. ENE's assessment, filed as testimony on behalf of GrowSmart Maine, examines the potential greenhouse gas impacts of the project based on three major sources of CO2 emissions:

• Forest Land Clearing: between 387,378 and 501,081 metric tons CO2, of which roughly half is emitted to the atmosphere (during development) and the other half is lost carbon storage potential over a 50 year period. The half that is emitted during development is roughly equivalent to the annual emissions of the oil-fired Wyman power plant in Yarmouth, Maine. 
• Transportation: approximately 9,566 metric tons CO2 each year, equal to the annual CO2 production of approximately 1850 vehicles
• Building energy: at least 13,018 metric tons CO2 each year.

ENE's goal is to raise awareness of the potential GHG impacts of the project and to recommend solutions for avoiding or mitigating carbon emissions in order to help meet the objectives of the state climate action plan.
 

Monitoring Event Draws Support for Diesel Bill

ENE and its partners in the Massachusetts Diesel Pollution Solution coalition staged a successful diesel truck monitoring event on October 22, 2007 at the John Marshall Elementary School in Dorchester.  The event was held to draw attention to Senate Bill 502 calling for most state-owned heavy duty vehicles and municipal garbage and recycling trucks, to install pollution retrofits by 2011 and 2012, respectively. SB 502, and its companion bill in the house, HB 732 (Coakley-Rivera) would also establish a multi-million "Diesel Emissions Reduction Fund" to help private companies, such as trucking and construction companies, clean up their fleets.Senator Jack Hart, co-sponsor of SB 502, spoke at the event, as did Sam Krasnow, ENE policy analyst and attorney. Community members, local leaders and students in attendance also watched Clean Air Task Force Senior Scientist Bruce Hill use an air pollution monitor to demonstrate how diesel particulate filters (DPFs) reduce tailpipe soot particle emissions up to 90%.

The successful event bolstered public and legislative support for SB 502, which passed out of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture in September.  It is currently under consideration by the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Utility Incentive Reform -Removing Barriers to Energy Efficiency

Investing in efficiency is one of the cleanest and most cost-effective ways that the region can meet its energy needs, and adjusting the way utilities collect revenue is essential to achieving large increases in these investments. In many states, utilities' earnings are linked to their volume of sales, so they earn more dollars when usage increases and lose money when customers conserve. ENE is working closely with business leaders, consumer groups, utilities and state officials to develop decoupling mandates that remove this disincentive to utility investment in efficiency programs.

When implemented properly, decoupling is a win-win for utilities and consumers. It enables the utilities to make investments in strong efficiency resources that help customers reduce the amount of energy usage for which they are billed. This translates to savings for customers, and with decoupling in place, this drop in sales volume no longer cuts into utilities' profits. The state as a whole enjoys lower energy costs, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and less reliance on imported fossil fuels.

ENE is participating in proceedings related to decoupling in Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts.

ENE Welcomes New Staff

Leslie Malone -Policy Advocate, Canada

Leslie is based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island where she will open ENE's Canada office, strengthening ENE's partnerships with Canadian organizations on energy and climate policies in eastern Canada and cross-border issues.  Leslie came to ENE from the environmental group ECO-PEI, where she directed the group's energy project. She has been a member of the board of directors of the Canadian Climate Action Network (CAN-CAN), member of the PEI Efficiency Potential Study Advisory Committee and of the Executive Committee of the Sierra Club of Canada - Atlantic Canada Chapter. Leslie holds an MS in Environmental Economics from the University of London and a BS from Mount Allison University where she majored in biology. She is a native of Prince Edward Island

Abigail Walker Anthony -Research Fellow

Abigail joins ENE as Research Fellow.  Based in her home state of Rhode Island, Abigail researches key energy, climate and air quality issues and prepares summary reports working in conjunction with ENE's Energy and Emissions analysis team.  Abigail is a Ph.D candidate in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics at the University of Rhode Island where she is writing her dissertation on energy pricing and efficiency response.   She has worked with the New England Energy Innovation Collaborative in Cambridge, MA, facilitating and preparing materials on carbon markets and energy policy for collaboration with the clean technology sector in New England.  She has also worked on communications at Ceres and is a reporter and columnist for the Jamestown (RI) Press and secretary of the Jamestown Wind Energy Committee.  Abigail is dividing her time between URI's Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics and ENE.  She received her MA and BA in Economics from the University of Montana.