Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
10/19/12
ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT
The Norwegian government announced that it will be effectively doubling its carbon tax on offshore oil and gas operations beginning Jan. 1. The Norwegian Ministry of Environment said in a press release last week that it will be raising the tax on operations in the Norwegian Continental Shelf to about 410 kroner ($73) per ton of CO2, establishing one of the world’s largest carbon prices. The move could help spur more CO2 storage projects from industry—the government’s initial carbon tax in 1991 prompted Statoil to start the world’s first commercial CO2 storage project, Sleipner, in the North Sea in 1996 and Snøhvit in 2008. The plan, initially proposed in a government white paper in May, is part of Norway’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent below 1990 levels by the end of the decade. The government said it would set aside 10 billion kroner ($1.78 billion) in earnings for a new fund for climate change mitigation, energy conversion and renewables. It said it would also allocate some earnings to public transportation projects and an anti-deforestation initiative for developing countries.
IN THE STATES
Two-thirds of Americans believe there is “solid evidence” that the earth is warming, the highest level since before the polarizing cap-and-trade debate in 2009, according to a new survey published this week by the Pew Research Center. While that figure is still down from a high of 77 percent in 2007, it represents a four-point increase since last year, the group said. Pew added that it found a similar increase among respondents who said that global warming is being caused largely by human activity. That figure is now at 42 percent, up from a low of 34 percent in 2010. Pew surveyed 1,511 adults and found that there is a growing acknowledgement of global warming from members of all political parties. It reports that nearly half of Republicans—48 percent—now believe there is “solid evidence” of warming, up from 43 percent last year and 35 percent in 2009. However, a majority think the phenomenon is primarily due to natural patterns as opposed to human activity.
