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Already solved only a question of what the US will do

Ari Phillips is reporter for ClimateProgress.org. A native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, he received his bachelor of arts in philosophy from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and dual master’s degrees in journalism and global policy studies from the University of Texas at Austin. He previously held internships with The Texas Observer, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies in Japan, and the Center for Global Energy, International Arbitration, and Environmental Law at The University of Texas School of Law, “One Day After U.S. Announces Emissions Target, China Says Carbon Cap Is On The Way”, Think Progress, Jun. 3, 14 http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/06/03/3444105/china-carbon-cap-2/ Accessed 6/22

According to Reuters, He told a conference in Beijing on Tuesday that an absolute cap on carbon emissions will be introduced later this decade.”The government will use two ways to control CO2 emissions in the next five-year plan, by intensity and an absolute cap,” He said.

“What’s going on is that the Chinese government has publicly announced that they are in the process of drawing up new plans for the next five-year plan,” said Melanie Hart, director of the China energy and climate policy program at the Center for American Progress. “These plans are macro-level guides for the economy, including energy and climate:”

Hart said that if Chinese government establishes a national peak year for Chinese emissions, “it could be a game changer.”

“Once they have that on paper they’ll have to stick to it.”

Even though He’s words come on the heels of the U.S. announcement to cut GHGs from power plants, the two are not likely related. China is worried about domestic jobs and economic goals and still views itself as a developing country when it comes to climate goals. While China wants to be a leader among developing countries, it still falls on the U.S. to lead the overall effort — or to at least live up to prior commitments. The U.S. announcement is a big deal in part because it shows that the country will live up to its 2020 targets, making it harder for developing countries like China to hide behind lagging efforts in developed countries.

China has been slowly rolling out local and regional initiatives to reduce dirty fossil fuel production while at the same time encouraging the growth of renewable energy sources. Coal still accounts for about two-thirds of China’s energy production, and establishing a peak emissions year must align strongly with a peak year for coal-burning power production. Even as wealthier residents along the eastern coast demand cleaner air, inland there are millions of Chinese simply looking to improve quality-of-life through access to electricity and basic living standard improvements.

This announcement is both the latest in a series of domestic carbon-reduction efforts from China and one of the boldest as the stakes of the international climate discussions unfold. As the true impacts of climate change move ever more into the present, the necessity of cooperation is just as apparent as the importance of leadership. Hart said that China pays very close attention to climate policies that work or don’t work in other countries as they attempt to craft their own responses.

“The U.S. is putting their money where their mouth is, they are here to play ball,” said Hart. “This creates a greater push for other nations to be ambitious.”

Coal Bad – Hurts economic growth

Fossil fuels cost USA more than $120 billion

Renee Schoof October 19, 2009

“Report looks at hidden health costs of energy production”; Correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers; http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/10/19/77423/report-looks-at-hidden-health.html; Accessed June 22, 2014//

Generating electricity by burning coal is responsible for about half of an estimated $120 billion in yearly costs from early deaths and health damages to thousands of Americans from the use of fossil fuels, a federal advisory group said Monday.¶ A one-year study by the National Research Council looked at many costs of energy production and the use of fossil fuels that aren't reflected in the price of energy. The $120 billion sum was the cost to human health from U.S. electricity production, transportation and heating in 2005, the latest year with full data.¶ The report also looks at other hidden costs from climate change, hazardous air pollutants such as mercury, harm to ecosystems and risks to national security, but it doesn't put a dollar value on them.¶ "We would characterize our estimate as an underestimate," because it didn't include those other costs, said Jared Cohon, the president of Carnegie Mellon University and the chairman of the committee that produced the report.¶ The report says it's impossible to put a monetary amount on all the hidden costs of energy, in some cases because of a lack of information but also because the study had limited time and resources. It focused on the costs of air pollution on health.¶ Coal-fired power and motor-vehicle transportation accounted for roughly 99 percent of those costs. The other approximately 1 percent of the estimate was from heating for homes, buildings and industrial purposes, mostly from natural gas.¶ Electricity production accounted for $63 billion of the damages that weren't related to climate change. Coal-fired plants, which produce about half of the nation's electricity, accounted for $62 billion and natural gas, which produces 20 percent, produced less than $1 billion of the damages.¶ The report looks at the sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate emissions from 406 coal-fired plants in the lower 48 states, which produce 95 percent of the nation's coal-generated electricity.

Coal Bad – CO2 / Warming

Burning coal for electricity jeopardizes the entire planet—80% of CO2 emissions

Union of Concerned Scientists January 14, ’14, “Smart Energy Solutions: Decrease Coal Use,” http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/smart-energy-solutions/decrease-coal/, Accessed 6/25/2014

Coal is a dirty energy source. It pollutes our environment with toxins, produces a quarter of U.S. global warming emissions, and accounts for a whopping 80 percent of all carbon emissions produced by power generation nationwide. When we burn coal for electricity, we place our health, our environment, and our planet at risk. It’s time to reduce our dependence on this polluting energy source.

Coal-fired electricity plants are the leading source of CO2 emissions

Union of Concerned Scientists ’12, “Environmental impacts of coal power: air pollution,” Accessed 6/25/2014, http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/coalvswind/c02c.html

Coal plants are the nation’s top source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the primary cause of global warming. In 2011, utility coal plants in the United States emitted a total of 1.7 billion tons of CO21.  A typical coal plant generates 3.5 million tons of CO2 per year2. Burning coal is also a leading cause of smog, acid rain, and toxic air pollution. Some emissions can be significantly reduced with readily available pollution controls, but most U.S. coal plants have not installed these technologies.

Coal burning is toxic and floods atmosphere with CO2

Green America 14

“Climate and Energy: Coal”; http://www.greenamerica.org/programs/climate/dirtyenergy/coal/; Accessed June 22, 2014//

Coal ash is a toxic by-product of burning coal, which contains high levels of arsenic, chromium, selenium, and barium. When coal ash ponds spill local waterways become so contaminated as to lose literally all of the aquatic life to the coal-ash poisons. The EPA has recently launched a public comment period on its proposal to regulate coal ash as a hazardous waste. Coal Basics¶ Coal is a hydrocarbon and a fossil fuel – remains of plant and animal (carbon-based) materials that have been compressed for millions of years that, when burned, release energy.¶ Because coal is a form of trapped carbon, burning it releases the carbon as carbon dioxide (CO2).¶ Because coal takes millions of years to form and humans take only minutes to break it down, it is a non-renewable energy source.¶ Because it takes only minutes to release carbon that has taken millions of years to store, we are upsetting the natural carbon cycle dramatically and flooding the atmosphere with CO2.

Coal emissions pollute the environment with deadly chemicals and greenhouse gases

EESI 2014(Environmental and Energy Study Institute) “Fossil Fuels”; http://www.eesi.org/topics/fossil-fuels/description; Accessed June 22, 2014//

Coal is primarily used to generate electricity and is responsible for 42 percent of the electric power supply in the United States in 2011 (down from half in 2007). The United States produces around 14.1 percent of the world’s total with Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Texas leading in production. China is the global leader in coal production, responsible for almost 50 percent of world supply.¶ The combustion of coal releases air pollutants such as acid rain-inducing sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides (NOx), and mercury. The mining process can also be very damaging to the environment, often resulting in the destruction of vegetation and top-soil. Rivers and streams can also be destroyed or contaminated by mine wastes. The combustion of coal is responsible for 36.5 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.¶ The premise of "clean coal" has recently been promoted as a way to use this abundant energy source without damaging the environment. Carbon capture and storage (CCS), where carbon is separated from coal and injected underground for long term storage, could theoretically be used to mitigate the coal industry's greenhouse gas emissions. However, CCS has yet to be proven as a safe or realistic way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from commercial power plants and the environmental and health costs of mining remain.

Acid Rain Scenario

Acid rain damage is recovering now, but further emissions reductions are key

USGS 1/19/’12 U.S. Department of the Interior, “U.S. Geological Survey Acid Rain Study Show Substantial Decreases, But More Progress Is Needed,” http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3078#.U6szMfk8CSo, Accessed 6/25/2014

Based on models which analyze various emission scenarios, the report concludes that beyond current SO2  and NOx emission levels, future emission reductions would likely promote additional and more widespread recovery as well as to prevent further acidification in some U.S. regions.

"The principal message of this report is that the Acid Rain Program has worked. The emissions that form acid rain have declined and some U.S. areas are beginning to recover," said Doug Burns, lead author and director of the NAPAP and also a U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist. "However, some sensitive ecosystems are still receiving levels of acid rain that exceed what is needed for full and widespread recovery.  We have every reason to believe that recovery will continue with further decreases in emissions which is why further emission reductions would be beneficial."

Acid rain tramples on biodiversity in multiple ways

USGS 1/19/’12 U.S. Department of the Interior, “U.S. Geological Survey Acid Rain Study Show Substantial Decreases, But More Progress Is Needed,” http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3078#.U6szMfk8CSo, Accessed 6/25/2014

Based on models which analyze various emission scenarios, the report concludes that beyond current SO2  and Acid rain occurs when emissions of SO2 and NOx react in the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and oxidants to form acidic compounds. These emissions may be transported hundreds of miles away from their emitting sources, and have the potential to impact large areas and populations.

Together these acidic compounds can damage human health, and in addition to degrading air quality and visibility, can cause further environmental damage, including acidification of lakes and streams, harm to sensitive forests and coastal ecosystems, and accelerate the decay of building materials. Adverse ecological impacts from acid rain include reductions in biodiversity, an increased risk of damaging forest fires, and increased susceptibility of trees to pests, disease, and winter temperatures.

Extinction

Reese Halter, ‘13, PhD, Biology, December 13, “Why Biodiversity Matters,” Malibu Times, http://www.malibutimes.com/blogs/ article_4fe268e4-6365-11e3-bf88-001a4bcf887a.html, Accessed 4/30/2014

In order for 7.1 billion people (and growing to 8 billion by 2023) to exist on Earth, we require old growth forests and tropical jungles to provide fresh water, white clouds to reflect incoming solar radiation at the tropics, oxygen and habitats for all the critters.  Scientists must be allowed to study these magnificent ancient forests to understand how they work. Accordingly, a moratorium on logging any ancient forests on Earth is requisite. Wild forests contain untold cancer fighting and pain-relieving medicines. In addition, big trees are the most remarkable carbon warehouses to have ever evolved on our planet! If we deprive a species of what it needs to live, it becomes extinct. Globally, over the past 50 years, thousands of species have gone extinct due to human population pressures and destruction of habitat from mining and logging. Conservation biology is a relatively new, exciting and challenging branch of science. The discipline is charged with the responsibility of maintaining biological diversity or the tapestry of life on our planet.  Protecting all remaining wild ecosystems brimming with biodiversity -- in face of rapid human-induced climate change -- is our salvation.

Acid Rain – Coal Links

Coal plants are a biggest cause of acid rain

A. Lynn Cochran, ’14, “Why Is Acid Rain More of a Problem Today Than It Was 100 Years Ago?,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, http://education.seattlepi.com/acid-rain-problem-today-100-years-ago-3926.html, Accessed 6/25/2014

An English scientist named Robert Angus Smith labeled the phenomenon of "acid rain" in 1872. During the late 19th century and the following decades, it was generally considered a limited and localized concern. By the 1970s, acid rain had become a widespread problem in the United States and other parts of the world. Over the last century, increasing amounts of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emitted from fossil fuel burning power plants, primarily from coal, have been identified as the main causes of increased acid rain. Increasing emissions of nitrogen oxides are a second major cause, as are volatile gas compounds released into the atmosphere from widespread use of agricultural fertilizers.

Acid Rain – Emissions UQ

Acid rain decreasing now—newest study proves continued emissions reductions key

Richard Conniff, June 12, ’14, 2007 Guggenheim Fellow, “If We Solved the Acid Rain Crisis, We Can Tackle Climate Change,”

http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/06/12/if-we-solved-acid-rain-crisis-we-can-tackle-climate-change, Accessed 6/25/2014

So why don’t we hear so much about acid rain anymore?

There’s a hint of the answer in a study just out in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Every summer for the past 23 years, the coauthors have been sampling 74 lakes across New England and New York state, and they report that acid rain is rapidly retreating. Concentrations of sulfate compounds in rain and snow declined by more than 40 percent from 2000 to 2010, while nitrate concentrations fell 50 percent. Levels of these pollutants in lakes fell correspondingly."This is really good news for New England,” coauthor William McDowell, at the University of New Hampshire, said in a statement. “Lakes are accelerating in their recovery from the past effects of acid rain. Our data clearly demonstrate that cleaning up air pollution continues to have the desired effect of improving water quality for our region's lakes."

Acid Rain – Takes out CO2 Ag

Coal plants are the leading causes of SO2, which destroys vegetation and pollutes the water and soil

Union of Concerned Scientists ’12, “Environmental impacts of coal power: air pollution,” Accessed 6/25/2014, http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/coalvswind/c02c.html

Coal plants are the United States’ leading source of SO2 pollution, which takes a major toll on public health, including by contributing to the formation of small acidic particulates that can penetrate into human lungs and be absorbed by the bloodstream. SO2 also causes acid rain, which damages crops, forests, and soils, and acidifies lakes and streams. A typical uncontrolled coal plant emits 14,100 tons of SO2 per year. A typical coal plant with emissions controls, including flue gas desulfurization (smokestack scrubbers), emits 7,000 tons of SO2 per year.

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