In The U.S., Clean Energy And Carbon Pollution Regulation Are Very Popular. What Is The Disconnect Between

Graph showing carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere over the past 650,000 years. Concentrations are measured by examining trapped air bubbles in prehistoric ice cores. The graph shows current CO2 levels at an unprecedented high level in the atmosphere, far greater than during past natural climate cycles. A rapid increase is observed since the industrial revolution, highlighting the contribution of the burning of fossil fuels.

The United States-Mexico border (solid black line); observed range of adult male jaguar ‘Macho B’ from May 2006 to April 2007 (white oval); important cross-border corridors for jaguars and other wildlife (heavy white double-arrows); 4- to 5-m-tall steel border fences existing or under construction as of 2007 (solid white lines); increased border security [vehicle barriers, chain-link fences, virtual fencing, surveillance towers,agent patrols] (white dashed lines); funneled undocumented immigrant and resulting law enforcement traffic (black arrows).

Given the current administration’s promise to build a border wall along the entire US-Mexico border, worth considering this 2008 study on the potential impacts of a border fence on Jaguars in the borderlands. 

Jaguars (Panthera onca) are typically associated with the rain forests of Central and South America; however, the species historically ranged into the arid southwestern United States... as global climate trends change toward hotter, drier environments, Jaguars living in the borderlands may become even more important to the survival of the species. Effective conservation of jaguars will require maintaining sufficient core and connective habitats to avoid population fragmentation and thus reduce the probability of extinction. 

The Secure Fence Act of 2006 mandated the United States Department of Homeland Security to physically separate Mexico from the southwestern United States with steel fences 3–4 m high across 1,280 km of the United States–Mexico border, including ∼70% of the Arizona border... The border fence may effectively partition the already small, northernmost population of jaguars and isolate jaguars in the United States from the larger source population in northwestern Mexico.

Emil B. McCain, Jack L. Childs; Evidence of Resident Jaguars (Panthera onca) in the Southwestern United States and the Implications for Conservation. J Mammal 2008; 89 (1): 1-10. doi: 10.1644/07-MAMM-F-268.1

“About 3 billion people around the world  — mostly in Africa and Asia, and mostly very poor — don't have access to modern energy and still cook and heat their homes by burning coal, charcoal, dung, wood, or plant residue indoors. These homes often have poor ventilation, and the smoke can cause a horrible array of respiratory diseases, including lung cancer... Indoor air pollution gets surprisingly little attention for such a lethal public health problem. It kills more people each year than HIV/AIDS and malaria combined, but few countries treat it as a crisis on the same level.” - Vox

A recent report from the Energy Information Administration found that U.S. plant owners and operators are getting ready to retire 27 gigawatts’ worth of coal generation, or about 8.5 percent of the coal fleet, between now and 2016. Considering the substantial contribution of burning coal to climate change, coal plant retirements are one of the greatest ways to reduce carbon emissions.

Sea Level Rise

For thousands of years, sea level has remained relatively stable. But now, Earth’s seas are rising. Since the beginning of the 20th century, they have risen about eight inches, and more than two inches in the last 20 years alone!

As water warms, it expands and takes up more space. That means that when oceans warm, the sea level rises. This summer, we’ve been researching exactly how global warming has impacted Greenland’s ice sheet. Our ICESat-2 mission will use a laser to measure the height of the planet’s surface. Over time, we will be able to provide a record of elevation change, and estimate how much water has melted into the ocean from land ice change.

So how much ice are we actually losing? Great question, but the answer might shock you. In Greenland alone, 303 gigatons of ice was lost in 2014!

Since we know that ice is melting, we’re working to gain a better understanding of how much and how fast. We’re using everything from planes, probes and boats, to satellites and lasers to determine the impact of global warming on the Earth’s ice.

Follow along for updates and information: http://climate.nasa.gov/

While the coal industry is fighting Clean Water Act protections for rivers and streams from mountaintop removal mining (MTR), this 2011 poll of residents in Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee found strong support.

Other interesting results:

57% of voters oppose MTR; 20% support

64% of Democrats, 60% of independents and 51% of Republicans oppose MTR

The decline of arctic sea ice since 1980

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The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a cap and trade program involving nine northeastern states:  Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. New Jersey was a part of the program but Gov. Christie pulled the state out of the agreement in 2011. The purpose of the program is to lower emissions from power plants in the northeast. On its face, carbon emissions have declined from 188 million tons of carbon-dioxide in 2005 to 91 million tons in 2012. However, much of that is due to the recession and cheap natural gas replacing dirty coal. At present, power plants emit less carbon than the current cap. This gives little incentive for them to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

In an effort to further drive investment in efficiency and renewables, the RGGI released a proposal to progressively lower the emissions cap through 2020. The 2020 cap will be 14% below the current level of emissions.

Brad Plumer of the Washington Posts notes that "Between now and 2020, the new RGGI scheme is hoping to cut annual emissions by about 13 million tons. That’s about 0.06 of all power plant emissions in the United States last year. A rounding error. Ultimately, RGGI might best be thought of less as a solution to climate change and more of a revenue-raiser for the Northeast. It’s also an experiment of sorts — a way for policymakers to figure out what works and what doesn’t in climate policy."