The New Carbon Cycle

The Impact of New Energy Legislation on Your Business

Dallas Regional Chamber hosts Former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker, III and Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Susan Combs

DALLAS, June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- With new energy legislation rapidly making its way through Congress, the Dallas Regional Chamber will hold an Energy Forum on June 18, 2009 to provide information on how such proposals could impact chamber members, North Texas businesses and all energy consumers.

The event will feature James A. Baker, III, the nation's 61st Secretary of State, and Texas Comptroller Susan Combs. It will be held Thursday, at the Hyatt Regency Dallas. Mr. Baker, a partner with Baker Botts L.L.P. and advisory chairman to Energy Future Holdings will discuss the implications of changing energy policy. Comptroller Combs will discuss the direct impact of the energy legislation on businesses in Texas.

Additionally, two panel discussions will focus in more detail on the proposed energy policies and solutions to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Panel members include: Scott Deatherage, Partner, Thompson & Knight LLP (Cap & Trade); Kevin Hassett, Director of Economic Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute (Carbon Tax); Luke Bellsnyder, Executive Director, Texas Association of Manufacturers (Impact on Manufacturers); H.B. (Trip) Doggett, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) (Renewable Energy/Competitive Renewable Energy Zone) and Bob Shapard, Chairman and CEO of Oncor (Smart Grid/Energy Efficiency).

James C. Oberwetter, President of the Dallas Regional Chamber said, "We are delighted that former Secretary Baker and Comptroller Combs will be with us. We are holding this forum because every energy user and every energy producer will be affected by the passage of new energy legislation. There are serious costs that are involved with the prospect of changing the energy mix and we all need to understand the implications from a cost and benefit standpoint. The conference should provide those attending with the information they need to let Congress know what works best for their companies, for their customers and consumers, and for the country."

James A. Baker, III, of Houston, a Partner, Baker Botts L.L.P. and Advisory Chairman to Energy Future Holdings, will deliver the luncheon keynote. Mr. Baker served in senior government positions under three United States Presidents. He was Secretary of State under President George H.W. Bush, Secretary of the Treasury under President Ronald Reagan, and White House Chief of Staff to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Mr. Baker's record of public service began in 1975 as Under Secretary of Commerce to President Gerald Ford.

Susan Combs, of Austin, was elected Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts in November 2006 and immediately set an innovative course of action to transform state government and prepare Texas for the future beginning her first day in office on Jan. 1, 2007. As Comptroller, Combs is the state's chief financial officer. She manages the state's treasury operations, monitors Texas' fiscal health, guides legislative decision makers by estimating state revenues and ensures state taxes are collected fairly and efficiently to fund vital programs and services for the people of Texas.

Sponsored by Hunt Consolidated, Inc. and Atmos Energy the event will be held at the Hyatt Regency Dallas (300 Reunion Blvd, Dallas TX, 75201) from 8:00 AM - 1:15 PM. Individual tickets are available: $75 for Chamber Members, and $100 for non-members. The ticket cost includes lunch and breakfast. Reservations may be made on line at www.DallasChamber.org or by calling 214-746-6612.

Luncheon tables are available for purchase. FOR INFORMATION ON SPONSORING THIS EVENT contact Meredith Armstrong at 214-746-6612 or [email protected].

The Dallas Regional Chamber promotes regional prosperity through public policy, economic development and member service.

Resources for the Future Website and Research on Forest Carbon

Resources for the Future, a think tank that has contributed significantly to scholarship and analysis on climate change and energy issues, has developed a research program on forest carbon markets and policy and a website.  The Forest Carbon Initiative  of Resources of the Future is a site to watch to review scholarship on this vital topic to address global climate change issues.

Texas Solar Bill Dies on Procedural Motion

The potential for a Texas solar industry took a huge blow as procedural motions killed the solar bill that was discussed in a prior post.  It is incomprehensible how the legislature let this bill die.  It was supported by environmentalists and some rural Republicans.  The Wall Street Journal Environmental Capital blog discussed this unfortunate development.  This result could put the solar business behind two years, as the Texas legislature only meets for a few months every two years.  The solar industry could take off just as the wind energy business in Texas has grown to the largest in the United States.

The major problem at the end of the Texas legislative session was over voter identification, which is not a critical issue at this time.  However, the political wrangling between Republicans and Democrats over this issue led to the failure to pass not only the solar bill, but funding for highways and various other important legislation.  If is unfortunate that this issue could not have been set aside to allow the other bills to be voted out of the Legislature.

As a citizen of the State of Texas, the last legislative session is disappointing  Hopefully, in the future important legislation will not be held up over issues that are largely political in nature.  We need to find way of addressing important economic and energy issues and move beyond politics.

Harvard Project Proposes New Approach to Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Developing Countries

David Victor, a professor at Stanford University and Stanford Law School, has proposed an alternative approach in the negotiations with developing countries for a post-Kyoto treaty to address climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.  Mr. Victor submitted his paper to the  Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements.  This project explores potential agreements that could follow the Kyoto Protocol and the economic and policy analysis of different options.

Mr. Victor has proposed Climate Accession Deals, which are agreements with developing countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in certain sectors.  Mr. Victor's paper suggests a new strategy for engaging developing countries, focusing on the concept of Climate Accession Deals (CADs). These deals would take advantage of the fact that there are many large policy shifts that are in these countries' interests and which also, fortuitously, reduce greenhouse gases. Each CAD would include a set of policies that are tailored to gain maximum leverage on a single developing country's emissions, while also aligning with its interests and capabilities so that the initial investments are easily expanded with few incentives for developing countries to abandon the effort once under way. Industrialized countries would support each CAD by providing specific benefits such as financial resources, technology, administrative training, or security guarantees.

Examples of potential Climate Accession Deals that Mr. Victor has proposed would include:

• A CAD for China should focus on carbon emissions from coal, which accounts for 69% of its primary energy system. Recent energy shortages and higher energy prices have caused Chinese officials to initiate programs to decouple economic growth from energy consumption. A CAD could encourage this goal by making new power plants more efficient, encouraging greater use of natural gas and nuclear fuel, improving the efficiency of the electric power grid, and funding research projects on new systems for electric supply. Improved efficiency of the power supply system could save more than 200 million tons of CO₂ annually.
• A CAD for India should also seek ways to use coal more efficiently and supplant coal. The greatest opportunity for leverage on India's emissions lies in boosting the efficiency of converting coal to electricity. Other energy sources, include hydro, wind, gas, and nuclear power, could also make a difference at the margin. Improving the country's weak system for power delivery would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as would expanding access to electricity to reduce particulate emissions from traditional biomass usage.
• In South Africa, a CAD supporting deployment of advanced power plants might save 50–100 million tons of CO₂ annually by 2025. A carbon storage scheme might increase that amount another 20 million tons.
• CADs for Brazil and Indonesia should focus on preventing and reversing deforestation. One area of assistance could be the provision of surveillance radar, drones, and helicopters for a much larger police force. Such systems would allow these countries to better use existing personnel to monitor deforestation and regulate illegal logging.
• A CAD for Russia should target flaring of natural gas. Flaring at Russian oil operations releases the equivalent of 175 million tons of CO₂ annually.

Mr. Victor may have found a potential policy option as innovation and imagination must be used to break through the developing world's resistance to reducing their greenhouse gases emissions.