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by Ashira Morris, ODP Contributing Writer This year’s nightmare wildfire season in California has burned more than 3.7 million acres across the state since the beginning of the year. The fires have also produced some of the worst smoke the state has seen. Smoke from the wildfires has the same dangerous particulate matter as tailpipe […]
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This week, following a U.N. report showing that methane levels in the atmosphere are at an all-time high, more than 60 oil and gas companies joined a new voluntary agreement to report and reduce their emissions. The companies making the pledge represent 30% of global oil and gas operations, but none of them were American.
Why This Matters: According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global oil and gas industry produced 82 gigatons of methane in 2019 alone.
Continue Reading 637 wordsFord Motor Company announced last week that it is adding hundreds of union jobs in the midwestern states of Michigan and Missouri coupled with investments of hundreds of millions in several existing plants.
Why This Matters: The company appears ready for a new Biden administration — it even ran an ad during Sunday NFL games called “The Change” to publicize its commitment to lowering its carbon footprint.
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by Amy Lupica, ODP Contributing Writer A new report from the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) found that rich nations, including the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands, are exporting “dirty and dangerous” cars to developing countries en masse. Between 2015 and 2018, an estimated 14 million vehicles were “dumped” in Asia and Africa. 80% […]
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In 2020, oil and gas use is down but methane leaks are up dramatically during the same time period according to a study by the energy data firm Kayrros, Reuters and The Washington Post reported. Oil and gas companies had pledged to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
Why This Matters: Methane is a highly damaging greenhouse gas in its first 20 years after being emitted — it’s 80 to 90 times more potent than carbon dioxide during that time period.
Continue Reading 537 wordsThe International Energy Agency (IEA) Annual Report projects that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be a 7 percent drop in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 due to associated reductions in fossil fuel use, and that emissions of CO2 pollution will remain below 2019 levels until 2027.
Why This Matters: This is good news for air pollution in general as well as for climate change. We needed to put the breaks on continual increases in CO2 emissions — and this was a hard way to do it.
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