After decades of sailing under the radar, international shipping and its climate impact is gradually getting more attention from other actors than just environmental non-governmental organizations. The shift has also been obvious at the most recent UN Climate Change Conferences.
By: Jason Mathers and Peter Zalzal
The U.S. made an important commitment at COP27 yesterday that will help reduce climate and air pollution from the dirtiest vehicles on our roads and create a foundation for more ambitious action, which is urgently needed to reduce pollution from trucks and buses.
Joining sixteen nations — as well as several states and cities around the world — Secretary Granholm added the U.S. as a signatory to the Global Memorandum of Understanding on Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles. This commits the U.S. to a goal of 100% zero-emission truck and bus sales by 2040, with an interim goal of 30% new sales by 2030. The global MOU was initiated by CALSTART at COP26 in 2021.
By Scott Seymour and Ari Pottens
Canada has set arguably some of the most ambitious goals of any country when it comes to reducing emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane. In addition to joining a global coalition of countries pledging to reduce 30% of their methane emissions, Canada has also vowed to reduce oil and gas sector emissions even further, by 75%.
But how close is Canada to reaching that goal? New research published this week in the journal Elementa reveals it is almost impossible to accurately answer that question with our current policies.
Here’s why.
By: Katelyn Roedner Sutter and Michael Colvin
This past summer, Californians have been hit hard by inflation: rising food costs, utility bills and nowhere more obviously than at the gas pump. The cost to fill up a tank has many potential causes and lots of experts are weighing in — see here, here and here. Regardless of the cause, those with the tightest budgets are being hit hardest.
Last week, Gov. Newsom called a special session of the legislature to address high gas prices, and the state began sending direct rebates to Californians to help provide some immediate relief. In the longer term, we need to remember that while sending checks is helpful, the lasting solution to ending this gas price madness is a swift transition to a 100% clean economy.
Methane plume detected on a gathering pipeline during 2021 survey.
By Erin Murphy and Jevan Yu
Methane emissions from natural gas gathering pipelines in the U.S. Permian Basin are at least 14 times greater than Environmental Protection Agency national inventory estimates, according to new peer-reviewed research from EDF, Stanford University and the University of Arizona. Gathering lines transport unprocessed gas from well sites to processing facilities and vary widely in size and pressure, with diameters ranging from two inches to as large as 30 inches. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with over 84 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide over its first 20 years in the atmosphere, and this new research indicates the importance of finding and fixing pipeline methane leaks to mitigate the climate crisis.
By Lauren Navarro and Tom Cackette
Update 4/11/23: This blog has been amended to incorporate changes to the proposed ACF rule made by CARB staff.
The Advanced Clean Fleets rule is a requirement for medium- and heavy-duty fleets to purchase an increasing percentage of zero-emission trucks. The ACF will complement the previously adopted Advanced Clean Trucks regulation requiring manufacturers to sell ZEV trucks and school buses. At the end of March, the Environmental Protection Agency granted California’s request for a Clean Air Act preemption waiver for the ACT, effectively granting support to this life-saving clean trucks rule, and paving the way for the California Air Resources Board to adopt the ACF.
