WRAP UP

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
6/21/13

IN DOE

New Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz has selected Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, to serve as his Chief of Staff, effective June 24. Knobloch has headed UCS since December 2003, and before then served as the group’s executive director for four years. Knobloch also served as UCS’ legislative director for arms control and national security from 1989-1992. “I am confident that Kevin’s deep understanding of energy issues and experience as an outstanding manager will be of incredible value to the Department,” Moniz said in a message to employees June 19. In a separate statement, Knobloch said, “The bar for leaving my post is very high, and I would only do so for a call to public service of this order. The priorities of Secretary Moniz and the DOE, including reducing carbon emissions, expanding clean renewable energy, and reducing the threat of nuclear weapons and fissile material, have been passions throughout my career. This is a strong opportunity to improve the health and safety of all Americans.”

ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT

A new website launched this week by the British Geological Survey and the Crown Estate, the organization that oversees royally-owned property in the U.K., provides carbon sequestration project developers access to information about storage potential in promising areas like the North Sea. CO2 Stored indicates that the United Kingdom has about 78 billion tonnes of carbon storage capacity along the continental shelf off the country’s east coast, most of which is contained within more than 500 saline reservoirs and depleted oil and gas fields. The website also maps the U.K.’s largest point sources and provides information on storage factors like pore capacity and injectivity.

Leaders at the G8 Summit this week underscored the “foremost challenge” of climate change and the need for the world’s major economies to work together to “significantly” reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and pursue a low carbon global economy in the years to come. In a wide-ranging communique released at the conclusion of the summit, held earlier this week in Northern Ireland, the leaders vowed to “pursue ambitious and transparent action” on climate change domestically and internationally through organizations like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Major Economies Forum and International Civil Aviation Organization. The document also briefly notes climate change’s contribution to increased economic and security risks globally. “The G8 has agreed to consider means to better respond to this challenge and its associated risks, recalling that international climate policy and sustainable economic development are mutually reinforcing,” the communique states.