Climate science, policy, politics, and action
Witnesses
Atmospheric
methane continues to rocket up at record rates,
NOAA
reported
yesterday. As fracking booms, methane levels increased by 17 parts per
billion in 2021, breaking the 2020 record of 15.3 ppb. Concentrations of
this powerful greenhouse pollutant are now 162 percent of their
pre-industrial levels, as the Biden administration pushes for more
natural gas production and
export.
I will take this moment to remind readers that the EPA is undercounting methane pollution by 77 percent.
The essential Kate Aronoff castigates the incoherence of Democrats in Congress who claim to care about the climate crisis begging oil CEOs to increase fossil-fuel production, instead of acting to take their billions in windfall profits and stop their greenhouse pollution:
Appealing to these CEOs’ better angels is pointless. Although they hand fossil fuel companies billions in subsidies each year, American policymakers mostly confine themselves to begging or berating them into doing what they want.
As Adam Tooze writes in his review of three recent books by Andreas Malm:
To harp on the climate crisis while doing nothing about it is, in the long run, intolerable. Liberals’ failures make Trump look honest. He may deny the science, but at least he’s true to himself.
A Public Meeting of the Chartered Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and CASAC Particulate Matter Panel.
Agenda: To discuss the Draft CASAC Report on EPA’s Draft Supplement to the 2019 Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) for PM and the Draft CASAC Report on EPA’s Draft PM Policy Assessment (PA).
11:00 AM
Convene Meeting
Mr. Aaron Yeow, Designated Federal Officer
Review of Agenda
Dr. Liane Sheppard
CASAC PM Panel Chair
Remarks from EPA
TBD
Public Comments on the Draft CASAC ISA Supplement Report and the Draft CASAC PA Report
Registered Speakers (TBD)
Discussion of Draft CASAC ISA Supplement Report
Discussion of Consensus Responses
Discussion of Letter to the Administrator
Dr. Sheppard and Panel Members
Chartered CASAC Disposition of Draft CASAC ISA Supplement Report
Dr. Lianne Sheppard
Chartered CASAC Chair
Chartered CASAC Members
2:00 PM
Deliberation on the Draft Policy Assessment Charge Questions
Chapter 5 (Reconsideration of the Secondary Standard)
Dr. Chow, Mr. Allen, Drs. Boylan, Ponette-González, Turpin
3:00 PM
Recess
Mr. Yeow
The oft-repeated claim that the United States has significantly reduced its greenhouse pollution since 2005 by switching from coal to gas depends on the EPA’s official accounting that methane pollution has declined during the fracking boom, an implausible scenario.
Today, the International Energy Agency revealed in a major report that methane pollution from the fossil-fuel industry is 70 percent higher than official figures globally. Their Global Methane Tracker finds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been seriously undercounting methane pollution. The IEA estimate of 2021 methane pollution is 77 percent higher than the EPA’s inventory:
United States methane pollution from energy sources in 2021.
EPA estimate: 9,600 kT;
IEA estimate: 17,000 kT
Not surprisingly, that cancels out all the purported climate benefits of switching electricity production from coal to natural gas.
Furthermore, the U.S. EPA calculates the effect of methane on global warming by using its impact over 100 years, which is about 30 times that of CO2, instead of more scientifically defensible dynamic measures that take into account methane’s 20-year impact, which is 86 times that of CO2.
3/7/20 Update: Russia invaded Ukraine the day after the IEA report dropped, so that may help explain why this report didn’t get too much attention. However, the oil and gas industry are claiming the invasion means we have to drill everywhere, and the Senate Energy Committee found time to attack FERC for regulating methane pollution. So I think there’s capacity to discuss this report and its shattering implications, which include the need for the United States to shut down the fracking boom as fast as humanly possible.
Join the U.S. EPA and U.S. Department of the Army for an opportunity to comment on the proposed “Waters of the United States” definition. This is the third of three public hearings.
Please visit Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2021-0602 on Regulations.gov for additional information about how to submit a public comment. The comment period on this proposed rule will close on February 7, 2022.
A public hearing to provide interested parties the opportunity to present data, views, or arguments concerning the proposed rule typically consists of morning, afternoon and evening sessions. In a virtual environment, these hearing sessions will be held on different days. To allow more time for speakers, the agencies prerecorded a video introduction and overview of the rule.
Speaker list:
Hearing Session 1: 5:00 PM – 6:25 PM ET
Hearing Session 2: 6:35 PM – 8 pm ET
The purpose of these calls is to inform communities about EPA’s environmental justice work and enhance opportunities to maintain an open dialogue with environmental justice advocates. As environmental justice continues to be integrated into EPA programs and policies, the Agency hopes that these calls will help reaffirm EPA’s continued commitment to work with community groups and the public to strengthen local environmental and human health outcomes.
Registration: Due to limited space, participation in this call will be on a first come, first-served basis. Pre-registration is highly suggested, but not required. If registration has reached capacity, please see the links below for instructions on how to access the call if seating is available on the day of the meeting. If you are unable to join the call, a summary will be posted to the U.S. EPA Office of Environmental Justice’s website after.
Interpretation: If you need English-language interpretation assistance, or special accommodations for a disability or other assistance, you can submit a request when registering for the meeting. Please submit your request by September 23, to give EPA sufficient time to process.
For more information about the National Environmental Justice Community Engagement Calls, please visit the website or email: Victoria Robinson ([email protected]) or Christina Motilall ([email protected]).
JOIN THE ZoomGov Webinar
IMPORTANT: Due to limited seating, PLEASE enter the call using either your mobile device OR your computer, not both. Please click the link below to join the webinar: https://usepa.zoomgov.com/j/1606599212?pwd=L3lTTFpmRVVLNGVsbVFxUFlhWEUvZz09 Passcode: 11066564
On Wednesday, September 22, at 9:30 AM ET, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a business meeting to consider several of President Biden’s nominees, legislation to rename federal buildings, and several General Services Administration resolutions.
Immediately following the business meeting, the committee will hold a hearing on the importance of promoting a circular economy.
The hearing will be conducted via teleconference.
Text of the Science Committee Print and the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute by Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson.
The proposed $45.4 billion Science Committee ANS includes:
Department of Energy ($20.6 billion)
Environmental Protection Agency
FEMA
NASA ($4.4 billion)
NIST ($4.2 billion)
NOAA ($4.2 billion)
National Science Foundation ($10.95 billion)
Introduced amendments:
On Wednesday, August 4, at 10:00 AM ET, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a hearing on three of President Biden’s nominees to key positions at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Uhlmann, nominated to be the chief enforcement officer at EPA, served for 17 years as a federal prosecutor, including seven years as chief of the Environmental Crimes Section at the U.S. Department of Justice.
At the end of the 2020 election season, Uhlmann wrote of the urgency to enact sweeping climate legislation:
The United States may soon have the chance, for the first time in more than a decade, to enact urgently needed legislation to address global climate change—but only if Democrats don’t repeat the mistakes they made at the start of the Obama administration.
The top corporate-polluter law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth warned that Uhlmann’s nomination “is a very strong signal of how serious” the Biden administration’s intention to “increase environmental enforcement” is, and that “companies should prioritize review of environmental compliance and performance and remain vigilant.”
Waterhouse, a Howard University law school graduate and professor, is an “an international expert on environmental law and environmental justice, as well as reparations and redress for historic injustices.” He served as an EPA lawyer from 1991 to 2000. If confirmed, he will oversee the Superfund and related programs.