[GWSG] Fast sheets; emissions options; political history; end of US coal?; clean transition; CH4 limits; who reports?; true measures; emissions up

[Tilley, Al]

1. Measurements show that at the end of the last ice age an Arctic ice sheet moved into the ocean at a rate of 50-600 meters a day, 20 times faster than the fastest rates previously measured by satellite. Conditions for the expedited collapse exist also at Thwaites Glacier in the Antarctic. A rapid collapse would mean a rapid jump in sea level.  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/05/ice-sheets-collapse-far-faster-than-feared-study-climate-crisis

2.  The summary for policymakers of the recent IPCC report featured a chart showing the cost and effect of options to cut greenhouse emissions by 2030. Wind and solar power are the firm winners; carbon capture and sequestration is relatively expensive and ineffective, as are nuclear power and bioelectricity. Conservation of forests and other ecosystems has the greatest possible total potential of any option. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/figures/summary-for-policymakers/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_FigureSPM7.png?utm_term=642ea63353b440595e0d2d7d58b2dbde&utm_campaign=DownToEarth&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=greenlight_email

3. Politico analyzes in depth the political history of US climate action. (There is much more that could have been told—where is Al Gore, the scientific community, and Sheldon Whitehouse, e.g.?—but attention to electoral pressures focusses the piece.) Thanks to Brian Paradise for the story. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/02/climate-politics-change-00088107

4. The Biden administration is applying restrictions on mercury and other emissions from coal plants which should combine to essentially end the coal industry in the US. https://apnews.com/article/mercury-coal-epa-power-plant-health-9fc882da610ff750a91b7ac50ca33bd6

5. At the same time that the Department of Energy is beginning to enforce restrictions on mercury emissions which are most likely to end viable coal mining, it is providing $450 million for clean energy project such as solar farms at the site of former coal mines. Way to go. https://www.ecowatch.com/green-energy-project-grants-mining-sites.html

6. Limits on methane leakage are part of the Biden-led methane pledge to cut emissions 30% by 2030.  https://www.npr.org/2022/11/11/1136061205/biden-methane-emissions-epa-rules-climate-change-gas-prices#:~:text=The%202021%20rule%20targets%20emissions,tons%20of%20methane%20per%20year.

7. The US methane emissions regulation could shut down the commercial gas industry if the leakages were determined impartially instead of being reported by the industry. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/no-excuse-iea-tells-fossil-fuel-industry-over-methane-leaks-2023-02-21/

8. Stanford reports one effort to make an impartial determination of methane leakage in the Permian Basin. Industry claims of leakage, used by the EPA, are under 2%. Actual leakage is much greater. https://earth.stanford.edu/news/methane-leaks-are-far-worse-estimates-least-new-mexico-theres-hope
The gas industry must be acutely aware of the impact of leakage regulations on their profits, just as the coal industry knows what mercury control would do for them. I suppose they are being given a grace period before the regulations are enforced through impartial measurement.

9. Emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide rose markedly last year. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/06/greenhouse-gas-emissions-noaa-report-us-data

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.unf.edu/pipermail/gwsg/attachments/20230407/8c547d1d/attachment.htm>