General News

Record Rise In Global Methane Emissions In 2020. According to Financial Times, “Methane levels in the atmosphere surged during 2020, marking the biggest increase since records began in 1983, in what scientists called a worrying development for the planet. New data showed both methane and carbon dioxide reached record amounts in the atmosphere last year, despite the coronavirus pandemic bringing much of the world’s economy to a halt. Lori Bruhwiler, physical scientist at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the jump in methane levels was ‘fairly surprising — and disturbing’. ‘We don’t usually expect them to jump abruptly in a year,’ said Bruhwiler. The exact reasons for the increase are not yet known, she added. Methane, which is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a factor in global warning, comes from using fossil fuels such as coal and gas and from microbial sources in wetlands, cows and landfill. I knew it was bad, but I didn’t know it was this bad. This breaks my heart Euan Nisbet, Royal Holloway University of London About 60 per cent of methane emissions are linked to human activity, while the rest arise naturally from environments such as swamps or melting permafrost. The NOAA data show that methane concentrations rose by 14.7 parts per billion in 2020. Levels of carbon dioxide rose to 412.5 parts per million during 2020, according to NOAA, about 12 per cent higher than the levels in 2000. Carbon dioxide emissions fell about 6 per cent last year because of the pandemic but, despite the reprieve, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere still rose as emissions continued. The record CO2 levels of were expected because the gas stays in the atmosphere for up to 100 years, but the sudden increase in methane concentrations came as a surprise.” [Financial Times, 4/7/21 (=)]

CO2, Methane Emissions Surged 2020 Despite Pandemic: NOAA. According to The Hill, “Carbon dioxide and methane emissions surged in 2020 even amid coronavirus shutdowns, according to research from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released Wednesday. Data collected at remote NOAA sampling locations indicated the global surface average for CO2 was 412.5 parts per million last year, a 2.6 ppm increase. The global increase rate constituted the fifth-highest on record for a single year, after 1987, 1998, 2015 and 2016, according to NOAA. ‘Human activity is driving climate change,’ said Colm Sweeney, assistant deputy director of the Global Monitoring Lab (GML). ‘If we want to mitigate the worst impacts, it’s going to take a deliberate focus on reducing fossil fuels emissions to near zero - and even then we’ll need to look for ways to further remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere.’ The NOAA’s sample analysis for 2020 also indicated methane’s atmospheric burden saw a significant increase in 2020. While the compound is less abundant than carbon dioxide, it is nearly 30 times more potent at trapping heat within the atmosphere. Atmospheric methane’s annual increase for 2020 was 14.7 parts per billion, the largest in the 37 years NOAA has measured it. ‘Although increased fossil emissions may not be fully responsible for the recent growth in methane levels, reducing fossil methane emissions are an important step toward mitigating climate change,’ GML research chemist Ed Dlugokencky said in a statement. NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory typically releases a preliminary estimate of greenhouse gases’ global annual atmospheric increases in early April based on air sample measurements collected at 40 global sites.” [The Hill, 4/7/21 (=)]

19 States Press Supreme Court On Pipeline Eminent Domain. According to E&E News, “States, property rights advocates and local government organizations yesterday urged the Supreme Court to affirm New Jersey’s constitutional right to block construction of a natural gas pipeline. Oregon and 18 other states backed New Jersey’s argument that PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC had violated the Garden State’s 11th Amendment right not to be sued against its will — a protection known as sovereign immunity — by bringing the state to federal court to seize land to build a 116-mile pipeline from Pennsylvania. The states warned the Supreme Court that overturning a 2019 ruling from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that denied PennEast the ability to take New Jersey’s land would result in a ‘radical change’ in relations between federal and state governments. ‘The States hold property for public purposes, including recreation, conservation, and public amenities like schools and roads, or to generate income for the State’s governance,’ the states wrote in a joint amicus brief docketed yesterday. ‘Congress cannot cede the power to take property from an unconsenting State — which, it bears emphasizing, is already putting that property to a public use — to a private party,’ said the states. The office of Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum (D) led the brief, which was also joined by California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington state. Some of the states coming to New Jersey’s defense are also facing the prospect of private developers using eminent domain to build major projects.” [E&E News, 4/8/21 (=)]

Mysterious Plumes Of Methane Gas Appear Over Bangladesh. According to Bloomberg, “One of the countries most vulnerable to climate change has also been revealed as a major contributor of methane, a greenhouse gas that’s about 80 times more potent in its first two decades in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. The 12 highest methane emission rates detected this year by Kayrros SAS have occurred over Bangladesh, according to the Paris-based company, one of several that specialize in analyzing satellite observations to locate leaks. ‘It has the strongest sustained emissions we’ve seen to date where we can’t clearly identify the source,’ said Stephane Germain, president of GHGSat Inc, which also picked up the plumes. Bluefield Technologies Inc., which analyzed European Space Agency data to identify a large methane plume in Florida in May, also detected the concentrations over Bangladesh. ‘Our analysis shows that Bangladesh has some of the highest methane emissions in the world that can be detected by satellites,’ said Yotam Ariel, the company’s founder. Scientists are just beginning to pinpoint the biggest sources of methane. Observations from space can be seasonal due to cloud cover, precipitation and varying light intensity. Satellites can also have difficulty tracking offshore emissions and releases in higher latitudes such as the Arctic, where Russia has extensive oil and gas operations. Because of these limitations existing data isn’t yet globally comprehensive. But the emissions over Bangladesh are drawing attention. Its low elevation and high population density make it particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events and rising oceans. The country chairs the Climate Vulnerable Forum, whose 48 members represent 1.2 billion people most threatened by climate change.” [Bloomberg, 4/7/21 (=)]

California Fracking Bill Gets An Overhaul Ahead Of First Hearing. According to Politico, “A closely watched California proposal to ban fracking and other fossil fuel extraction methods will be softened to allow more time for the phaseout of non-fracking techniques. Impact: The upcoming changes — announced Wednesday by environmental justice advocates and supported by the legislative committee taking up the bill next Tuesday — could attract support from moderate Democratic lawmakers, who are key to passing any controversial energy measure. But industry groups remain opposed, even with the amendments to CA SB467 (21R). ‘As long as there is demand, we should not be curtailing in-state production in favor of imports from foreign countries,’ said Sabrina Rodriguez, a spokesperson for California Independent Petroleum Association. The upshot: As originally introduced, SB 467 would by the end of 2022 stop hydraulic fracturing, acid well stimulation treatment, steam flooding, water flooding and cyclic steaming. The changes announced Wednesday overhaul that timeline, holding firm on the fracking phaseout but allowing certain non-fracking techniques to continue through 2035. Gov. Gavin Newsom last fall asked lawmakers to send him a fracking bill, but he has since been somewhat muted in his support for the measure as a likely recall election looms. The Western States Petroleum Association and the California Independent Petroleum Association, joined by their labor allies, came out in immediate opposition, and the California Chamber of Commerce has branded SB 467 as a ‘job killer.’ Details: The Voices in Solidarity Against Oil in Neighborhoods, or VISION, coalition hosted a virtual event Wednesday unveiling its 10-year legislative scorecard on fossil fuel votes, an attempt to pressure moderate lawmakers to ‘step up or step aside’ on SB 467.” [Politico, 4/7/21 (=)]

Jewell Defends 'Absolutely Sensible' Oil Leasing Freeze. According to E&E News, “Former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell pushed back against critics of the Biden administration’s freeze of new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters, saying Republican leaders and others are misrepresenting the facts. ‘The order is absolutely sensible and needs to be done, no question about it,’ Jewell said during an hourlong webinar hosted by the nonprofit Resources for the Future, a Washington-based research institute. President Biden’s January executive order calling for a review of the environmental impacts of the federal leasing program prompted a coalition of 13 Republican state attorneys general last week to request that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issue a preliminary order blocking agencies from enacting the freeze (Energywire, April 1). ‘What the critics don’t tell you is that hundreds of thousands of acres were opened up to leasing without any discernment or focus on getting return for taxpayers’ in the form of royalties, she said, referring to the Trump-era ‘energy dominance’ campaign. ‘There’s about 10,000 approved permits to drill that have not yet been drilled on public lands already, sitting on the shelf in these companies,’ she added. ‘So putting a pause on a program that has basically not had a review in something like three decades is entirely appropriate, and it won’t for a second slow down economic activities if these companies chose’ to develop these already-leased lands. Jewell also defended the president’s ‘30x30’ conservation goal to protect 30% of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030. The pledge has been sharply criticized by some Republican congressional leaders (E&E Daily, March 24).” [E&E News, 4/7/21 (=)]

Republicans Push Biden To Keep Streamlined Permitting. According to E&E News, “Top Republicans today called on President Biden to maintain the Army Corps of Engineers’ ability to issue streamlined nationwide permits, which the administration is reviewing amid environmental opposition and legal challenges. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri, ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told Biden in a letter that making sure the practice continues will ‘ensure environmental protection while increasing the efficiency and effectiveness’ of permitting. ‘Revocation of the Corps’ duly issued nationwide permits in pursuit of nominal environmental benefits would hurt our chances at a strong recovery, however, and hinder needed improvements to our Nation’s infrastructure,’ said the letter to Taylor Ferrell, acting assistant secretary of the Army for civil works. ‘It is critically important that we continue to pursue policies that responsibly protect our environment and support economic growth and job creation,’ wrote the lawmakers. The Republicans said Army Corps data shows that the average processing time for a nationwide permit once an application is complete is 40 days. The time for an individual permit is an average of 217 days. ‘This difference of almost six months is significant in terms of the life of a project as we work to quickly deliver on improved infrastructure for the American people,’ they wrote. ‘It is difficult to ‘build back better’ if we are unable to build at all.’” [E&E News, 4/7/21 (=)]

Biden Looks To Appoint Special Envoy To Kill Russia-Germany Energy Pipeline. According to Politico, “The White House is in talks to appoint a special envoy to lead negotiations on halting the construction of Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, current and former U.S. officials said, as the Biden administration grapples with how to stymie a nearly completed energy project that would serve as a major financial and geopolitical boon to Moscow. Amos Hochstein, who served as the special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs under President Barack Obama and was a close adviser and confidant to then-Vice President Joe Biden, was informally offered the role by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan late last month and is being vetted, the officials said, but he has not yet accepted the job. Hochstein, who stepped down from the supervisory board of the Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz late last year, declined to comment. The potential appointment of an envoy indicates a new strategic focus by the administration. Previously, the White House had tasked the European affairs experts at the National Security Council and the State Department with handling the pipeline diplomacy; officials tell POLITICO there’s consensus that the thorny geopolitics surrounding Nord Stream 2 now require more dedicated attention — especially as the pipeline, which is already nearly 96 percent finished, races toward completion. It’s also a nod to the pressure campaign from Capitol Hill, where senators from both parties have been pushing the Biden administration to effectively cripple the pipeline before it’s too late. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has held up speedy confirmation of Biden’s top State Department nominees as part of that effort, and other senators have publicly called on the administration to accelerate a sanctions package targeting entities involved in the pipeline’s construction, as required by law.” [Politico, 4/7/21 (=)]

Greens Petition EPA To Regulate Methane From Dairy, Hog Operations. According to Politico, “The Sierra Club, Environmental Integrity Project and two dozen other environmental groups have asked EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from industrial dairy and hog operations. The new petition touts the benefits of pasture-raised livestock over simply capturing the methane for use as biogas, a move to push back on oil and gas industry interest in using agricultural emissions as an energy source. Details: The groups are targeting operations ‘that liquefy manure and confine at least 500 cows or 1,000 hogs without access to pasture,’ noting that such numbers of animals could not be sustainably raised on the same amount of pasture, so they generate outsized waste. Liquefied manure that is stored in impoundments and then placed on crop fields releases significant amounts of methane into the atmosphere — 13 percent of total U.S. methane emissions and 1.3 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the petition. It asks EPA to list industrial dairy and hog outfits as a source category under Section 111 of the Clean Air Act, the same provision EPA has used to regulate methane from the oil and gas industry and municipal landfills, as well as carbon dioxide from power plants. After listing the industry, EPA would have one year to propose a regulation to limit emissions from newly built operations in the future and another year to finalize it. EPA would also have to write another rule for existing operations. The petition specifically criticizes the potential use of the industrial farming operations’ methane as a fuel source, since methane is the primary component of natural gas. Instead, the groups urge EPA to ‘stand with family farmers’ in supporting the ‘tried and true approach of sustainably raising far fewer dairy cattle and hogs on pasture.’” [Politico, 4/7/21 (=)]

Chad Ellwood

Senior Research Associate

Climate Action Campaign

cellwood@cacampaign.com

614.570.3644

He/Him