"Seventy-six years ago, the United States led the free world in defeating an existential menace. Today, the world is confronted with another existential menace: climate change. But instead of stepping up to the plate and assuming its leadership role, the United States is shirking its responsibilities. The rest of the world must not succumb to the same mistake, but rally to defend the agreement," said EESI Chair Jared Blum.

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The White House announced today, March 28, that it is retracting the Clean Power Plan, the Obama Administration's signature climate policy. The Clean Power Plan would have represented the first-ever federal limits on carbon emission from power plants, which represent 40 percent of all energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Carol Werner, EESI's Executive Director, gave a statement.

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Meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, representatives from 196 countries and the European Union have reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement, which calls on the world's nations to keep global warming significantly below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). "We call for the highest political commitment to combat climate change, as a matter of urgent priority," states the proclamation. "Now is not the time to fall back," says EESI Executive Director Carol Werner. "In all likelihood, 2016 will, unfortunately, be the hottest year ever recorded, beating 2015 and 2014. The Arctic was 20 degrees Celsius (36 F) warmer than average for October, and its sea ice coverage was at a record low for the month. Unless countries set more ambitious targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, global temperatures will increase by more than 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, which would have devastating environmental consequences."

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The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) salutes the decision of the 197 members of the Montreal Protocol to phase-out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which have a major warming impact on the climate. This momentous decision was reached today in Kigali, Rwanda, during the 28th meeting of the parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. HFC use is expected to peak by 2028 at the latest and then gradually decrease until HFCs are 85 percent phased out in all countries by 2047 (developed countries, such as the United States, must act sooner, with their use of HFCs peaking in 2019).

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On April 29, the Environmental Protection Agency released its final rules to reduce dangerous methane leakages from new and modified sources in the oil and gas industry. The new standards should prevent 510,000 short tons of methane emissions in 2025 (that is the equivalent of 11 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, or taking 2.3 million cars off the road). The new rules should save Americans $690 million in 2025 by reducing methane and toxic pollution (that is 30 percent more than the $530 million the rules will cost to implement in 2025).

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The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) welcomes the release today of the Obama administration’s proposed rule to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. The announcement follows the White House’s pledge earlier this year to cut methane emissions from the sector 40 to 45 percent below 2012 levels by 2025. In the proposed rule, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set draft standards for methane emissions from new and modified production, processing, and transmission facilities in the oil and gas sector. The draft standards for existing sources of methane emissions, however, are voluntary.

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EESI welcomes the Obama Administration’s more ambitious Clean Power Plan, whose final version will be unveiled today according to a White House press release. Drafts of the plans called for reducing carbon emissions by at least 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The final plan sets the reductions goal at 32 percent. "This is a very big deal," said Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) Executive Director Carol Werner. "An extra 2 points may not sound like much, but they lead to a 6.7 percent more ambitious target. The Administration is clearly trying to push other countries to be similarly ambitious in their carbon reduction goals ahead of the climate change talks in Paris at the end of this year. That’s excellent news.”

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In a sign that the Obama Administration takes an international climate deal seriously, the White House met the March 31 deadline to submit its plan to cut domestic greenhouse gases, known in U.N. jargon as its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), to the United Nations Forum Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The U.S. plan represents a critical step in crafting an ambitious, global deal to stop climate change.

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The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) salutes the climate change agreement reached by the leaders of the United States and China. According to EESI Executive Director Carol Werner, "This climate agreement represents what many Members of Congress said was an essential precondition for stronger U.S. commitment on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The onus is now on Congress to support climate change action.”

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September 20, 2013---The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) welcomes the Environmental Protection Agency’s draft rules for restricting carbon pollution from new power plants, which were released today. These rules would mark the first federal carbon emission limits on power plants, which represented 40 percent of all energy-related emissions of greenhouse gases in 2012, according to the Energy Information Administration. Most of those emissions came from coal plants.

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