• Climate Change

Lyft Commits to 100% EVs by 2030

• clean air
• clean cars
• conservation
• emissions
• environment
• EVs
• Lyft
• Political Climate Podcast
• rideshare

By Julia Pyper, Co-Host Political Climate Podcast Rideshare service provider Lyft, with support from the Environmental Defense Fund, has announced a significant commitment to reach 100% electric vehicles on its platform by 2030. The company’s strategy includes purchasing EVs for its own rental fleet, as well as supporting a broader ecosystem of policies and best […]

• Air

Emissions from Oil and Gas Operations Emit Much More Methane Than Previously Thought

• carbon
• climate crisis
• emissions
• global warming
• methane gas

CNN and The Guardian reported late last week on a new study published in the journal Nature that concludes that methane emissions from fossil fuels are between 25% and 40% larger than past research had estimated, which means that oil and gas production is contributing roughly half of all greenhouse gas emissions — “far more” to climate change than previously estimated.

Why This Matters:  Methane is about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide when looked at over a 20-year period.

• Politics

Lawsuits Mount Against Trump Administration

• California
• Clean Air Act
• clean car standards
• emissions
• pollinators

  Last Friday the state of California (along with 22 other states and the District of Columbia) filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for its attempt to revoke the state’s waiver to set more stringent car emissions standards than that of the federal government (an authority granted to the state through the Clean Air […]

• People

Countries With More Women Leaders Have Stronger Climate Policies

• carbon
• climate change
• emissions
• Legislation

A new study published in the journal Science Direct looked at the legislatures of 91 countries and compared the percentage of seats held by women with the climate policies of each country.  Their conclusion?  The countries with the most women in their parliaments had tougher climate and environment policies which resulted in lower carbon emissions.   […]

• Food

Reducing Food Waste Adds Up Big in Tackling Emissions

• agriculture
• emissions
• food waste
• sustainable food

  According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, roughly one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tons — gets lost or wasted. This contributes to 8% of total greenhouse emissions and also occurs as 1 in 9 people around the world are undernourished. Now, […]

• People

Interview of the Week: Yotam Ariel, Bluefield Technologies

• Bluefield
• emissions
• greenhouse gas emission
• leaks
• methane gas
• microsatellite

Yotam Ariel is the CEO fo Bluefield Technologies, Inc., a startup using microsatellites to measure methane gas leaks and emissions. ODP:   How does your technology work? YA:  Sunlight that has passed through methane contains a unique spectral signal that can be detected by Bluefield’s proprietary optical sensor. We integrate our sensor into a backpack-size microsatellite […]