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May 16, 2016
On May 12, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the first time issued federal regulations aimed at curbing methane emissions from oil and gas production. Here EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy finalizes the regulation. Image courtesy of Gina McCarthy.
On May 12, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the first time issued federal regulations aimed at curbing methane emissions from oil and gas production. The regulations will apply to new and modified oil and gas wells and fracking operations, and will not only reduce methane, a potent greenhouse gas, but also volatile organic compounds which form smog and toxic pollutants such as benzene. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy commented, “These new actions will protect public health and reduce pollution linked to cancer and other serious health effects while allowing industry to continue to grow and provide a vital source of energy for Americans across the country.” Oil and gas companies will earn a net benefit of $160 million thanks to reduced waste, according to EPA estimates, while lowering methane emissions 510,000 tons by 2025.
For more information:
Wall Street Journal, New York Times, EPA
On May 10, President Barack Obama declared May to be National Building Safety Month at a Conference on Resilient Building Codes hosted by the White House. This proclamation punctuated an announcement by the President that his administration would be working with the public and private sectors to improve building codes and standards to account for climate change risks. According to President Obama, more resilient buildings are needed to deal with the extreme weather and rising sea levels caused by climate change. Alice Hill, White House National Security Council Senior Director for Resilience, said in an interview, “We’re building for 50 to 100 years and if we don’t take into account what is to come, our investments are at risk of being washed away.”
Bloomberg, White House.gov
On May 11, government representatives from some of the 191 member states of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) began a three-day meeting on a deal that would make aviation growth carbon-neutral by 2020. ICAO figures suggest the curb in emissions will cost airlines $6.2 billion by 2025 and $24 billion by 2035. Airlines are pushing the ICAO to reach a global agreement soon, because costs will rise if the industry has to comply with many different national and regional agreements instead of an overarching target. The International Air Transport Association’s Chief Executive Tony Tyler explained, “A market-based cost will be much more efficient, and much fairer than the alternative which is a patchwork of inefficient and ineffective charges and taxes which are cooked up primarily just to raise cash rather than to tackle climate change.” The agreement will be voted on at the full ICAO assembly meeting in October.
Reuters, Carbon Pulse, Business Wire
On May 6, the oils sands projects, pipelines, and electrical facilities near Fort McMurray, Canada were forced to shut down as workers fled due to an ongoing, out of control wildfire. The shutdown in production stopped the flow of 40 percent of Alberta’s oil output, estimated to be one million barrels a day. Goldman Sachs estimates total lost production at about 14 million barrels, if companies can get back to work in the next ten days. Mike Flannigan, a professor at the University of Alberta who specializes in wildfires, commented, "In Canada, our area burned [by wildfire has] more than doubled since the early 70s . . . because of human-caused climate change."
New York Times, CNN, The Globe and Mail
On May 12, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report finding that countries in Europe are behind the United States in cutting harmful air pollution, largely due to their reliance on diesel fuel. The report found that 60 percent of cities in Europe exceeded WHO recommended air pollution limits, with fewer than 20 percent of North American cities failing to meet WHO limits. Higher income countries in Europe were better off, while 98 percent of the cities with over 100,000 people in lower income countries had poor air quality. Dr. Carlos Dora, the coordinator of WHO's public health department, commented that Europe's progress on air pollution has been delayed by fertilizer use in urban areas, less stringent regulations and diesel fuel.
For more information see:
The New York Times
On May 7, a study published in the Environmental Research Letters found that sea-level rise and coastal erosion caused five of the Solomon Islands to disappear, with six more suffering severe shoreline recession. A combination of extreme weather and inappropriate development has eroded shorelines, destroying villages that existed since 1935 at two sites on the islands and forcing several communities to relocate. Simon Albert, civil engineer at the University of Queensland and co-author of the study, says, “In the short term things may stabilize . . . (but) the rates we have recently seen in the Solomons will be experienced globally in the second half of this century.” The 560,000 people who inhabit the 15 remaining vegetated reef islands in the Solomon Islands are at risk of losing their land to the continued sea level rise caused by climate change.
Washington Post, IB Times, Environmental Research Letters
On May 12, 60 U.S. companies, including Microsoft, Alphabet, Facebook, and Walmart, joined with environmental groups to announce the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, which will aim to develop 60 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2025. The group hopes to install six GW of renewables annually up until 2025 to reach its goal of 60 GW, which is enough power capacity to replace every coal-fired power plant retiring in the next four years in the United States. Bill Weihl, director of sustainability at Facebook, commented, "We want to invest in renewable energy in ways that are not just a marketing claim, but are really driving change on the grid."
UtilityDive, Bloomberg
On May 12, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the state was investing up to $220 million in solar energy and energy efficiency efforts aimed at generating half of New York's electricity from renewable energy by 2030. New York's Green Bank closed four transactions, three of which support solar energy deployment and one which supports energy efficiency financing in private homes. Cuomo commented, "New York is a national leader in combatting climate change and investing in clean energy technology to grow the state's economy." New York State plans to invest $5 billion over the next decade in clean energy.
LongIsland.com, CBSAlbany
On May 8, new research was published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology indicating that people are scared to discuss climate change with peers because they think other people are less convinced by climate science than they actually are, and are afraid of being judged "less competent" for thinking climate change is happening. If people learn that their peers are not doubtful of climate science, they become more willing to discuss climate change. This phenomenon, which has been documented around other issues, is called pluralistic ignorance. Study author Nathaniel Geiger at Penn State commented, "There potentially can be this kind of spiral, where people are silent because they don't know what other people think because nobody's talking about it."
The Washington Post, Study
On May 12, a new study published in the journal Science revealed that Red Knots, a species of migratory shorebirds, are experiencing population decline and small body sizes due to climate change impacts. Red Knots fly 9,300 miles from their breeding grounds in the Arctic to West Africa every year. Due to warming temperatures in the Arctic, snow melts two weeks earlier than it has historically, causing the insects that Red Knot hatchlings feed on to reach peak population early. Red Knots have not adjusted their hatching time to account for the difference, so chicks have far less food when they hatch, leading to smaller body sizes in adulthood. The smaller birds have smaller beaks and cannot harvest their traditional food of clams, leading to higher mortality. "If this continues, they're going to go extinct," said lead author Dr. Jan A. van Gils at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research.
The New York Times, Washington Post, Study
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Sally Jewell Calls “Keep It in the Ground” Naive
Natural Gas Now Releasing As Much Greenhouse Gas as Coal
ExxonMobil Facing Increasing Pressure Over Climate Change
California Considers Linking Cap-and-Trade to Indigenous People in Brazil
Viral Gif Shows Global Warming So Far
Authors: Ethan Anabel and Laura Small
Editor: Laura Small
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