By Jon Goldstein , Edwin LaMair, and Grace Smith
This week, EPA is holding public hearings on its recently proposed methane standards for oil and gas operations, which build on the agency’s initial proposal and represent a significant step forward for reducing methane pollution across the country.
By Michael Colvin and Larissa Koehler
Last month California took another significant step forward in advancing the deployment of zero-emission vehicles, with the adoption of a Transportation Electrification Framework by the state’s Public Utilities Commission. The framework establishes a $1 billion, 5-year suite of programs, and it provides a pathway for the state’s large electric utilities to continue to build on what is far and away the most successful deployment of electric vehicles in the country.
The International Maritime Organization knows that the shipping industry needs to change course to address the climate crisis. By committing to the Initial Greenhouse Gas Strategy in 2018, which requires the shipping industry to reduce emissions by 50% by 2050, it formally recognized this. Such a declaration, despite being forged through difficult negotiations and missing the level of ambitions of many member states and NGOs, was broadly welcomed. Since then, there have been several agreements on the short-term measures. These measures have attracted their own share of criticism for lack of ambition or through lack of effective enforcement or implementation mechanisms. The EU countries have been an engaged and active part of this process, but that has not stopped them from considering action under their regional banner, in particular the recent inclusion of shipping within their Emissions Trading System.
Image courtesy of Earthworks
By John Rutecki and John Walliser
On Nov. 21st, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced his administration would pursue a now-approved emergency rulemaking to finalize long-overdue volatile organic compound and methane rules for the conventional oil and gas industry.
Image credit: Methane plume from the leak captured by the Sentinel-2 satellite on 9 November (data processed by UNEP/IMEO)
Update: According to the operator, this leak has been plugged.
By Adam Peltz and Jon Goldstein
A natural gas storage site in Western Pennsylvania has sprung a massive gas leak that’s impacting both the climate and the communities who live in Cambria County.
The leak began Thursday, Nov. 6 at a facility operated by Equitrans Midstream Corporation. Despite efforts from the company and state officials, it has continued for weeks – causing over 1 billion cubic feet of methane and other pollutants to fill the air. Its impact is massive – large enough to be seen and quantified from space from the growing network of methane satellites. The near-term warming generated from this single site over the course of a few weeks is roughly equivalent to emissions from 360,000 cars over a year.
By Ben Hmiel and Jon Goldstein
After three years of actively collecting methane emissions data in the Permian Basin, researchers have gained new insights that will make it easier to reduce emissions of the incredibly potent greenhouse gas methane. These insights are helping inform state and federal regulatory approaches at a critical time.
