[Source: The New York Times] America’s greenhouse gas emissions from energy and industry plummeted more than 10 percent in 2020, reaching their lowest levels in at least three decades as the coronavirus pandemic slammed the brakes on the nation’s economy, according to an estimate published Tuesday (Preliminary US Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimates for 2020 | Read More…
Tag: greenhouse gas
After a century of growth, have carbon emissions reached their peak?
[Source: GRIST] In late March, approximately a third of the world’s population found themselves under some kind of stay-at-home order due to COVID-19. The effects were dramatic: Virtually overnight, bumper-to-bumper traffic gave way to empty roads; bustling airports became echoing ghost towns; retail stores and restaurants closed their doors and turned off the lights. And Read More…
Environmental justice groups block Mary Nichols’ path to EPA
[Source: Los Angeles Times] Through four governors, two Obama terms and the Trump administration, Mary Nichols has led the charge to clean up California’s smog and fight climate change. In the process, she has earned herself a reputation as one of the most influential environmental regulators in the country. So with Joe Biden headed to Read More…
White House speeds environmental rollbacks ahead of election
[Source: Forbes] The Wall Street Journal reports the Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to finalize new rules this week rescinding Obama-era regulations of methane gas emissions for oil-and-gas producers, as the Trump administration continues its systematic rollback of environmental regulations—which is reportedly speeding up ahead of November before a Democratic administration potentially takes over. The Read More…
U.S. EPA proposing first-ever airplane emissions standards
[Source: Reuters] The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday announced it was proposing the first U.S. emissions standards for commercial aircraft. In 2016, the U.N. International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreed on global airplane emissions standards aimed at makers of small and large planes, including Airbus SE and Boeing Co., which both backed the standards. Read More…
New rule in California will require zero-emissions trucks
[Source: The New York Times] Rebuffing strong opposition from industry, California on Thursday adopted a landmark rule requiring more than half of all trucks sold in the state to be zero-emissions by 2035, a move that is expected to improve local air quality, rein in greenhouse gas emissions and sharply curtail the state’s dependence on Read More…
Emissions are surging back as countries and states reopen
[Source: New York Times] After a drastic decline this spring, global greenhouse gas emissions are now rebounding sharply, scientists reported, as countries relax their coronavirus lockdowns and traffic surges back onto roads. It’s a stark reminder that even as the pandemic rages, the world is still far from getting global warming under control. In early Read More…
L.A.-Long Beach ports approve truck fee too low to clean smog, groups charge
[Source: Los Angeles Times] Los Angeles and Long Beach officials voted Monday to impose a modest fee on shipping containers moving through the nation’s largest port complex, in a first step toward helping truckers replace their diesel vehicles with lower-polluting models. The decision by harbor commissioners, which followed hours of public testimony at a joint Read More…
NEPA climate overhaul could unleash energy projects
[Source: E&E NEWS] The White House is poised to exclude climate considerations from its controversial rewrite of rules surrounding the nation’s core environmental law. The Council on Environmental Quality’s proposed changes to National Environmental Policy Act guidelines will likely emerge this week. NEPA, signed into law by President Nixon, gives communities input and allows them Read More…