Category Archives: Aldyen Donnelly

When I first started speculating in the US CO2 market in the late 1990s, I found that Enron had already bought 100% of the methane rights at countless municipal landfills across the US – and did so for pennies per TCO2e. This meant they owned control over any methane management strategy, but had no obligation to cut emissions. As far as I could tell, by 1998 they had secured control of methane rights – translating into a potential portfolio of 200 millionTCO2e/year of low cost greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction options.

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The Major Outstanding LCFS Fault for Canadians: Stand Up For Diesel

Notwithstanding these improvements, we anticipate that the LCFS will be subjected to US court challenge and there is a high probability that the CA LCFS will not be upheld. Canadian negotiators should seriously consider options to use the US courts to establish precedents in the CA LCFS context that should prove useful in the larger climate change treaty negotiations.
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California’s LCFS Problems:  winners, losers and everything in between

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What’s behind the delays to California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard?
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For the very first time I actually agree with the major findings outlined in one of Dr. Jaccard’s reports. In this regard, there are only two tables in the new NRTEE (National Round Table on Energy and the Environment) report that really matter. Continue reading →

Dr. Jaccard’s CIMS model of the Cdn economy does not have the capacity to reflect the critical and large differences between the impacts carbon taxes, quota-based cap and trade rules or legally-binding product standards (the three key GHG management options) might have on the Canadian economy. Continue reading →

Here we have the latest installment in the debate over whether more taxes will actually result in less pollution.

At the NYT blogsite, Laurie Williams and Allan Zabel kindly responded to my entry into the debate. Their reaction to my first posting follows, as well as my response.

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"Depending on what comes out of Washington, the reality is the Americans may have the whip hand on this stuff," [Doug Thomson, an environmental lawyer with McCarthy Tétrault LLP] said. "And if they do, it’s not going to be a matter of keeping all sides happy but reflecting the reality of the situation. … We may have no choice."
(from "West rejects Ottawa’s emission plan," SHAWN MCCARTHY AND DAWN WALTON , April 10, 2009, Globe & Mail)

My Response:
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