Greenhouse Gas

After 10 months of negotiations and sometimes nasty public debate, Australia's government has finally announced the details of a carbon tax of $24.65 a ton, aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions by discouraging the use of fossil fuels and increasing investment in renewable energy. In 2015 it will be replaced by an emissions trading program. The plan, announced Sunday by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, will now go before Parliament, but its passage is assured as it is the result of a deal reached with the Australian Greens and two independents with whom the Labor Party formed a government last year.

Under a European Union law, all airlines that fly in and out of Europe must either cut carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from their planes, starting next year, or pay hefty fees and fines. U.S.-based airlines that began to see steady profits only this year after a steep drop in demand during the recession are fighting the law, saying the European Union has no right to impose such a plan on non-European airlines. United Continental Holdings Inc., the parent company of United and Continental airlines; AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines; and the Air Transport Assn., the trade group for the nation's airlines, argued against the law at the European Court of Justice last week.

Scientists have isolated a bacterium from the gut of Australian Tammar wallabies that allows them to consume and digest grasses, leaves and other plant material without producing copious amounts of methane, as cattle do. The microbe was discovered through a process described in a study published online Thursday by the journal Science. Ultimately, it might be put to use to reduce the carbon footprint of cows and other ruminants, said study coauthor Mark Morrison, a microbial biologist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Queensland.

California's effort to curb global warming, which was put on hold by a court decision , will be able to proceed on schedule once officials conduct a new environmental review, according to attorneys analyzing the case. A San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled that the California Air Resources Board failed to properly evaluate alternatives to the so-called cap-and-trade program , which would allow industries to purchase pollution allowances rather than cut their own carbon emissions.

A House committee on Tuesday advanced a bill that would block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases, boosting a top Republican priority and taking aim at the Obama administration and states like California that favor tougher regulations. The bill was approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a largely party-line vote. Republicans argued that action by the EPA, coming after Congress failed to pass a global warming bill, would impose burdensome and unnecessary rules on industry.

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday criticized a bill drafted by Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, saying it would strip the agency of its ability to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The committee's proposed Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011 would "eliminate portions of the Clean Air Act, the landmark law that all American children and adults rely on to protect them from harmful air pollution," EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson told a packed committee hearing.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced a timetable Thursday to curtail greenhouse gas emissions from two major sources of the pollution scientists link to global warming: power plants and oil refineries. The announcement was the latest step in an ambitious effort to begin taking action on climate change, and it is certain to draw fire from congressional Republicans and industry leaders who have promised to halt the agency's efforts. The new move toward far-reaching emissions rules comes as environmentalists had begun to worry that the Obama administration was easing its push in order to avoid confrontations with major industries in advance of the 2012 presidential campaign.

Now that anti-science Republicans have taken control of the House, and the Cancun climate summit made only modest progress, pessimism about fighting climate change is fast congealing into conventional wisdom. Those on both sides of the issue say there is no chance of strong action emerging from Washington over the next two years to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. FOR THE RECORD: Green: A Dec. 19 Op-Ed about government spending on green technology misspelled the last name of the chief executive of Smith Electric Vehicles.

California regulators Thursday are expected to adopt the nation's most comprehensive carbon trading regime, creating a market-based way to lower greenhouse gas emissions at a time when similar efforts have stalled in Congress. The program is the centerpiece of the state's 2006 global warming law, which aims to slash carbon dioxide and other planet-heating pollution to 1990 levels by 2020. That would amount to a 15% cut from today's level. The cap-and-trade system "will help drive innovation, create more green jobs and clean up our air and environment," said California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary D. Nichols, adding that it "provides flexibility" to industry and takes "into consideration the current economic climate.

Pressing ahead with plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions despite a congressional stalemate over global warming, the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday issued guidelines that gave states considerable discretion in regulating carbon dioxide emissions from large industrial facilities. On Jan. 2, the country's largest emitters of greenhouse gases will have to show state regulators how they plan to curb such emissions when they build new facilities or make major changes in existing facilities that result in increased discharges of the gases that most scientists link to climate change and global warming.