Monthly Archives: November 2020

Electrifying big trucks and buses could spark a $47B global market

By Andy Darrell / Published: November 19, 2020

We should thank Ford, GMC and Tesla for capturing the world’s attention with flashy promotions of their upcoming all-electric F-150 pickup, Hummer and Cybertruck. If there’s one thing that will make you think differently about electric vehicles, it’s the image of a Hummer owner plugging in instead of filling up.

But when it comes to electric trucks, the consumer market is just the tip of the iceberg.

The electrification of the medium- and heavy-duty truck sector — everything from semis and delivery vans to transit buses and garbage trucks — is already underway, and analysts say it could spark a $47 billion global industry.

Posted in Electric Vehicles / Comments are closed

The connection between jobs and addressing orphan oil and gas wells

By Elgie Holstein / Published: November 17, 2020

All across the country right now, there are tens of thousands of officially documented “orphan” oil and gas wells creating environmental hazards for their communities. These are wells that the oil and gas industry walked away from because they became uneconomic over time. Rather than properly sealing them, they left state and federal taxpayers holding the bag. These wells can be big sources of air, water and climate pollution if left unaddressed.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of thousands and perhaps millions more of these inactive, unplugged wells that need to be addressed. This is not to mention the potential for adding hundreds of thousands of currently active wells to the orphan well inventory as oil and gas producers struggle to survive the downturn in petroleum prices.

Luckily, efforts are underway in Congress and within the presidential transition plan to address these orphan wells. In his economic plan, President-elect Joe Biden laid out his vision for a cleaner and healthier future.

Posted in Air Quality, Methane, Natural Gas, New York, Texas / Tagged Pennsylvania | Comments are closed

Will Trudeau make good on Canada’s 2025 climate promises?

By Sam Kotis / Published: November 12, 2020

This piece was originally published in The Hill Times

A lot can change in a short period of time.

Just a few months ago, I lauded Canada’s leadership on climate, in general, and on methane pollution in particular. In 2018, the Trudeau government introduced the world’s first national oil and gas regulations limiting emissions of methane, a powerful climate pollutant intensifying near-term global warming.

Then, in the wake of the global health and economic crisis, Prime Minister Trudeau announced a $1.7 billion Emission Reduction Fund to help put oil and gas workers back to work cleaning up tens of thousands of leaky abandoned wells. The investment combined with a $750 million fund to reduce methane and other pollution from oil and gas infrastructure would create up to 10,000 jobs and help stabilize the climate.

Posted in Air Quality, Canada, Methane, Methane regulatons / Comments are closed