Complete list of press releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The U.S. Senate rejected the effort to roll back the Bureau of Land Management’s natural gas waste rule, despite intense pressure from the oil and gas lobby. By standing up against unchecked waste of our nation’s energy resources, oil and gas companies operating on millions of acres of federal or tribal land are no longer free to go on wasting the nearly 110 billion cubic feet of gas they currently squander each year through widespread leaks, intentional venting, or simply burning it off (flaring).

Over 70% of voters nationwide support the natural gas waste rule, which was adopted to address the $330 million worth of the public’s natural gas that is wasted each year. A diverse group of American voters wanted Congress to keep this rule, and made their displeasure with the Congressional Review Act known.

 Statement by Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp 

“Today’s vote is a big win for taxpayers and families. Americans don’t want to waste public resources—and they want clean air, clean water, and less pollution. The oil and gas industry and the Trump Administration fundamentally misread the mood of the American people, and today the U.S. Senate listened to the voters. We are grateful to those who stood up for common sense. There are many difficult fights ahead, but this an important moment in the effort to protect American taxpayers and families from this Administration’s reckless attack on our bipartisan tradition of environmental protection.”

NEWS RELEASE

A new Policy Forum paper, “Unmask temporal trade-offs in climate policy debates,” was published today in Science. Led by Ilissa Ocko of Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the paper asserts that both short- and long-term global warming impacts should be considered when making decisions about climate policy. It  proposes the adoption of a very simple two-valued reporting standard that maintains the familiarity of the widely-used global warming potential (GWP) but includes both 20- and 100-year timescales to provide a more complete picture of the climate impacts of specific decisions.

GWPs have become an essential element of climate policy, but a fundamental problem with the way they are currently reported has led to confusion and some unproductive debates within the policy community. Because use of GWP relies on the selection of a single timescale, trade-offs between near- and long-term climate effects are hidden. The most common GWP is GWP₁₀₀, which addresses the warming potential over a 100-year time scale. But this discounts the short-term warming impacts of several important short-lived climate pollutants, including methane, which is 84 times more powerful a warming agent than carbon dioxide over 20 years. Some groups advocate for a 20-year time scale, GWP₂₀, but this, used alone, can overinflate the role of methane and other short-term climate pollutants in long-term climate considerations.

“It is imperative that both the near- and long-term climate impacts of policies be transparent to a decision-maker,” said Ocko. “We are not saying that one timescale is more important than the other, just that the decision-maker should be able to easily consider the climate impacts on all timescales.”

Ocko and her co-authors propose GWP_20/100, which would always include a two-valued pair with both 20-year and 100-year time horizons. The authors contend that a two-number pair wouldn’t be difficult to adopt, and as with other number pairs such as blood pressure or SAT scores we need to build the expectation that a presentation of a single time frame is understood to represent incomplete information.

“Different gases have widely different lifetimes in the atmosphere after emission and affect the climate in different ways over widely different timescales,” said Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University, who is a co-author on the paper. “The paired approach creates a more comprehensive picture of the nature of climate change and the effects of various policies to stem its consequences.”

“We need global climate institutions like the UNFCCC and IPCC to adopt the GWP_20/100 system in reporting warming implications of different policies or actions,” said Steven Hamburg, Chief Scientist at EDF. “While there are often ethical tradeoffs when making policy decisions, a two-value reporting standard will make those tradeoffs explicit, ensuring better climate policy outcomes.”

Funding Disclosure:

Financial support for this work was provided by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the Robertson Foundation, the Kravis Scientific Research Fund, and the High Meadows Foundation.

(Baton Rouge, LA—May 2, 2017) As Coastal Day is celebrated at the legislature this week, ads signed by more than 100 Louisiana businesses, chambers of commerce, associations and non-profit organizations in support of the 2017 Coastal Master Plan will be running in newspapers across the state. The master plan, the state’s 50-year blueprint for coastal restoration and protection efforts, is updated every five years with the best-available science. The 2017 plan is currently being considered for passage by the Louisiana Legislature.

“Entergy’s future is tied to the growth and prosperity of this region,” said Phillip May, president and CEO of Entergy Louisiana. “We understand and share with all Louisianians a sense of urgency to protect and restore Louisiana’s coastline because we know what is at stake, and that’s why we support the 2017 Coastal Master Plan.”

In total, 109 organizations added their names to the full-page ad in support of the Coastal Master Plan, including some of the largest businesses in Louisiana, such as Entergy Corporation, Bollinger Shipyards, McIlhenny Company and Whitney Bank. The full-page ad began running today in select Louisiana papers and will run this week in 10 papers across the state, including The Times-Picayune, The Advocate, Houma Courier, The Daily Comet, The Daily Advertiser, American Press, St. Mary Now and Franklin Banner-Tribune, Morgan City Daily Review, Greater Baton Rouge Business Report and New Orleans CityBusiness.

“The master plan has widespread support from businesses, chambers of commerce, faith-based groups and conservation organizations,” said Cynthia Duet, deputy director of Audubon Louisiana, which paid for the ad as part of its involvement in Restore the Mississippi River Delta. “It is imperative that we pass the plan now so we can continue the critical work of restoring and protecting our coast.”

The ad underscores the message that Louisiana needs the master plan, by showcasing the human and economic risks of continued coastal land loss as well as the job creation benefits of restoring the coast to protect people, wildlife and industries.  

“The Coast Builders Coalition is in strong support of the Coastal Master Plan,” said Scott Kirkpatrick, president of the Coast Builders Coalition. “Representing the thousands of engineers, consultants and contractors doing the daily work to restore and protect the coast, we understand the Coastal Master Plan is not only a commitment to restore and protect the coast but a commitment to jobs and growing the state’s economy.”

A recent statewide poll showed that nearly 9 out of 10 Louisiana voters (88 percent) want their legislator to vote for the Coastal Master Plan. The same poll also showed an overwhelming 97 percent of voters say Louisiana’s coastal areas and wetlands are important to them, and 91 percent of Louisiana voters want funds dedicated to coastal restoration to not be spent on anything else.

“The people, wildlife and industries of Louisiana rely on a healthy coast and the many benefits it provides, including storm protection, wildlife and fisheries habitat, and abundant natural resources,” said Kimberly Davis Reyher, executive director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. “It is imperative that the Louisiana Legislature moves quickly to pass the Coastal Master Plan.”

The ad is paid for by Restore the Mississippi River Delta, a coalition of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society and the National Wildlife Federation. Learn more at MississippiRiverDelta.org/MasterPlan. 

(Washington, D.C. – April 28, 2017) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today granted a request by the Trump EPA to suspend litigation over two vital climate and public health protections - EPA’s carbon pollution standards for new, modified, and reconstructed power plants; and the Clean Power Plan, which limits carbon pollution from existing fossil fuel fired power plants. 

“We are in a race against time to address the climate crisis. The Supreme Court is clear that EPA has a duty to protect Americans from dangerous climate pollution under our nation’s clean air laws, and Environmental Defense Fund will take swift action to ensure that EPA carries out its responsibilities under the law.” said Vickie Patton, general counsel for Environmental Defense Fund, which is a party to both cases. “Climate progress and clean energy cannot be stopped by the litigation tactics of polluters.  In red, purple and blue states across our country Americans are working together to reduce health-harming pollution while creating jobs and shared prosperity.”

The carbon pollution standards for new, modified, and reconstructed power plants remain in full force and effect.

The Trump Administration filed requests for abeyance in the cases on March 28, just hours after the President signed an executive order attacking a broad array of climate and public health safeguards. That executive order provides for EPA review the Clean Power Plan and carbon pollution standards.

The federal courts – including three separate decisions of the Supreme Court – have made it abundantly clear that the Clean Air Act requires EPA to protect the public from dangerous pollutants that are disrupting our climate. The courts have repeatedly rejected the notion that carbon pollution is an issue that only Congress can address through new legislation. EPA has demonstrated that the Clean Air Act is an effective tool for addressing the threat of climate change — by putting in place common sense, highly cost-effective measures to reduce climate pollution from cars and trucks, power plants, oil and gas facilities, and other major pollution sources. These actions under the Clean Air Act are saving lives, strengthening the American economy, and yielding healthier air and a safer climate for our children. (Read more here)

When fully implemented, the Clean Power Plan will reduce carbon pollution from the power sector to 32 percent below 2005 levels. It also will save up to 3,600 lives, prevent up to 90,000 childhood asthma attacks, and avoid more than 300,000 missed school and work days each year. The Clean Power Plan will also provide states and power companies with broad flexibility to determine how best to meet these emission reduction goals, including through the deployment of customer-side efficiency investments that would save average American families almost $85 on annual energy bills.

While the litigation has worked its way through the courts, many power companies – even some of those challenging the Clean Power Plan – have been embracing cleaner, cheaper energy and making progress towards the plan’s goals. Thanks to rapid cost declines, these clean energy resources are now out-competing older, dirtier technologies in the market and supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country. Overall climate pollution from the power sector is already 25 percent below 2005 levels, which means the sector is already almost eighty percent of the way towards meeting the 2030 emissions reduction requirements of the Clean Power Plan. Efforts to dismantle the Clean Power Plan cannot halt all this progress, but any rollback will inject harmful and costly instability into power markets that creates business uncertainty and puts at risk affordable, achievable opportunities to cut carbon pollution.

Environmental Defense Fund is part of a broad and diverse coalition that vigorously defended these pollution standards – a coalition that includes eighteen states and sixty municipalities across the country; power companies that own and operate more than ten percent of the nation’s generating capacity; leading businesses like Apple, Google, Mars and IKEA; public health and environmental organizations; consumer and ratepayer advocates; faith organizations; and many others.

You can find a list of all the supporters and more information – including all legal documents in both cases – on EDF’s website.

NEWS RELEASE

“In his first 100 days, President Trump has taken steps to remove basic health protections for kids and families. His administration’s zeal to eliminate environmental safeguards has put us on a path to more asthma attacks for our kids, more health problems for elderly Americans, and a less secure future. By proposing deep reductions in the Environmental Protection Agency’s enforcement budget, the president has signaled to the big polluters that there will be little or no real accountability for damage done to our environment. 

“In just three months, the Trump Administration has moved to lift or weaken rules on toxic mercury, acid gases, arsenic, and carbon pollution. It has ignored the science on a pesticide known to causes developmental problems in children. It has proposed cutting the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by almost one third – more than any other agency – even though the agency’s funding, in real dollars, is already close to its lowest level in forty years. Those funding cuts would weaken enforcement against the worst polluters, drain local governments of support for needed programs, and block critical scientific work. To execute these plans, the president is filling the government with lobbyists from the industries they will be regulating – at the Environmental Protection Agency almost two-thirds of the appointees have ties to fossil fuel companies, according to a Columbia University study.

“The public is strongly opposed to these attempts to weaken our clean air and water standards. 61 percent of voters disapprove of the president’s environmental policies, 60 percent oppose cuts to EPA – and even 78 percent of Mr. Trump’s voters want to protect federal clean air rules from being weakened. From town hall meetings to marches across the country, we have seen a growing backlash against the administration’s reckless anti-environmental agenda. America should not be a country where people are afraid to drink the water or get sick from breathing the air. We already have challenges – from Flint, Michigan to 1,300 toxic waste sites in almost all 50 states and the District of Columbia – it is time to move forward to make a cleaner, healthier America.” 

- Fred Krupp, president, Environmental Defense Fund   

(Washington, D.C. – April 27, 2017) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today granted a Trump Administration request to delay litigation over lifesaving Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which set the first-ever national limits on some of the most hazardous air pollutants emitted by coal- and oil-fired power plants.  

The court’s decision does not weaken or overturn the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which are already in full force and effect and are protecting the lives and health of Americans across the country. Virtually every power plant in America is already in compliance with the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, at a fraction of cost originally projected.

The court’s decision does postpone oral arguments on legal challenges to a final supplemental finding for the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which were due to take place in three weeks. 

“The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards are already in place, saving thousands of lives every year, and helping protect our families and communities from toxic pollution,” said EDF Senior Attorney Graham McCahan. “The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards have a rock-solid foundation in the law and science, and there is no basis to weaken them. We fully expect these critical health protections will continue to remain in place.”

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards reduce hazardous air pollutants – including mercury, arsenic, chromium, and hydrochloric acid gas – from power plants. These pollutants are hazardous to human health even in small doses – for instance, mercury causes brain damage in developing children; metal toxics like chromium and nickel cause cancer; and acid gases cause serious lung diseases. 

In June 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should have considered the costs of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards in its initial, or threshold, decision to address these hazardous pollutants. (EPA had determined that the public health benefits of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards were up to $90 billion annually, and far exceeded compliance costs, and EPA considered costs in establishing the pollution limits.) The Supreme Court did not overturn the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, but it did remand the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for further consideration.

In April, 2016, EPA issued a final supplemental finding, in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directive, about the costs and benefits of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. The supplemental finding confirmed that the cost of compliance for the standards is eminently reasonable when considered in light of the serious public health and environmental hazards of toxic emissions from power plants. 

Opponents then sued over the supplemental finding. That case has been fully briefed, and oral argument was scheduled for May 18^th.

On April 18^th, the Trump Administration asked the court to delay litigation while EPA reviews the supplemental finding. It was the latest in a long series of steps the Administration has taken to revisit a range of important public heath protections, including asking the D.C. Circuit to stop working on litigation around the Clean Power Plan, the carbon pollution standards for new, modified and reconstructed power plants, and the ground-level ozone (or smog) standards. 

Today the court agreed to postpone oral argument in the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards litigation, and to hold the case in abeyance pending further order. The court directed EPA to file reports on its review every 90 days

EDF has been advocating for these life-saving standards for years. We joined with allies – including 21 states and local governments, major medical and public health organizations, and some major power companies – to defend the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards in court, and will continue to defend them – we are a party to the current case. 

You can find more about the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, including all legal briefs, on EDF’s website. 

The Oklahoma Water Resource Board (OWRB) Produced Water Working Group today issued a report evaluating options for recycling the massive volumes of toxic, briny wastewater generated by the oil and gas industry.

The Working Group was convened by Governor Fallin to address seismic activity — which can result from the common practice of pumping wastewater into underground disposal wells — and chronic water scarcity.

The report suggests the most viable way to recycle wastewater is to reuse it within the oil and gas industry. Treating oil and gas industry wastewater for use outside of the oil field is not economical, nor are the environmental and health risks well understood. 

Statement from Holly Pearen, Senior Attorney, Environmental Defense Fund

“There is still so much we don’t know about how toxic this wastewater is, and what the long term risks of exposure might be. The report makes it clear that we need more data and more toxicity research to fully understand the health and environmental impacts of reusing wastewater outside of the oilfield. Until that research is completed, using the oil and gas industry’s wastewater for uses outside the oilfield could cause more problems than it aims to solve.

“The Oklahoma Water Resources Board and its working group deserves credit for taking a thoughtful approach to a complex challenge. Now it’s up to state regulators, industry and researchers alike to put these recommendations into action.”

• Holly Pearen, Senior Attorney, Environmental Defense Fund

(Washington, D.C. – April 26, 2017) A coalition of public health, conservation, and environmental groups representing millions of Americans is going to bat for the states of Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland in a fight with the Trump Administration over smog.

The three states have asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for help reducing air pollution that is blowing across their borders from neighboring states – from power plants that have pollution controls, but are not running them. The pollution is adding to these downwind states’ smog problems and is putting the health of their citizens at risk.

After several months, EPA has not responded to the states’ requests. The Adirondack Council, Clean Air Task Force, Clean Air Watch, Earthjustice, Environmental Advocates of New York, Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Integrity Project, Maryland Environmental Health Network, Moms Clean Air Force, Sierra Club, and WE ACT for Environmental Justice have now sent a joint letter to EPA urging the agency to do its job.

“We strongly urge you to carry out your responsibility under the statutory Good Neighbor provisions of the Clean Air Act to protect communities and families in Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland, and millions more in communities across the eastern United States,” the groups say in their letter. “Taking the common-sense and easily-implemented step of requiring the specified power plants to turn on their existing pollution controls and run them effectively every day during ozone season will help keep the millions of people in these communities from being subjected to dangerous smog levels.”

Last year, the states of Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland submitted separate petitions under section 126 of the Clean Air Act (which is part of the Act’s “Good Neighbor” provisions). The petitions asked EPA to find that specified power plants in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia were violating those Good Neighbor provisions because their smokestack pollution contributes to unhealthy ground-level ozone levels in the three petitioning states. (Ground-level ozone is commonly known as smog.)

Every one of the power plants identified in the petitions has modern pollution controls installed that the owners are not fully operating, or is capable of running on lower-emitting fuel. The petitions ask EPA to require those power plants to run their already-installed pollution controls every day during the ozone season, which extends from May 1 through September 30.

Running those pollution controls would help Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland meet the national, health-based, air quality standards for smog. It would also help improve air quality in the Philadelphia and Washington D.C. areas, in other downwind states like New Jersey and New York, and in communities surrounding the specified power plants in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

You can read Maryland’s full petition here – it includes a list of the power plants that are not fully running their already-installed pollution controls (two of the listed power plants are also the subject of two separate Good Neighbor petitions from Delaware). You can find additional information about the Pennsylvania power plant that is the subject of the Connecticut petition and one of the Delaware petitions here.

“Every year in the U.S., air pollution causes thousands of premature deaths, heart attacks, asthma attacks, and missed school and work days,” says the letter from the coalition. “We urge you to carry out your duties under our nation’s clean air laws.”

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt announced yesterday that the agency will formally reconsider clean air safeguards that currently require oil and natural gas companies to monitor and reduce their methane emissions, and to place a hold on the leak inspection and repair standards in the meantime.

The action came in direct response to petitions from the American Petroleum Institute and three other oil and gas industry lobby groups.

The methane standards enacted last year help reduce harmful pollution by requiring operators to find and fix leaks using technologies and practices that have been deployed effectively by states and companies, providing a level playing field and protecting the health of all Americans.

The EPA announcement comes the same week that the American Lung Association released its State of the Air report underscoring the air pollution risks facing communities nationwide.

Statement by Mark Brownstein, Vice President, Climate and Energy, Environmental Defense Fund:

“Scott Pruitt is acting at the explicit behest of the American Petroleum Institute and the industry’s most powerful lobby groups. Rolling back these rules benefits the worst actors in the business, at the expense of both responsible companies and ordinary everyday Americans.

“U.S. oil and gas companies release 8- to 10 million metric tons of methane a year – enough gas to supply every home in Ohio or Pennsylvania for a year. It’s a huge waste of resources that also has an outsized impact on our climate. Plugging the leaks is straightforward and cost effective, which is why standards like these have been so successful at the state level. There’s no good reason to lower the bar.

“The best in the business already know how to fix this problem using available, low-cost emissions monitoring technologies. States like Colorado and Wyoming have also put in place protections that leverage these commonsense technologies.

“Once again, this administration is protecting polluters at the expense of the health of American families and their communities.”

-Mark Brownstein, Vice President, Climate and Energy, Environmental Defense Fund

(Baton Rouge, LA—April 19, 2017) Today, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) Board unanimously approved the 2017 Coastal Master Plan, the state’s blueprint for coastal restoration and protection efforts. The plan, which is updated every five years with the best-available science, now moves to the state legislature for passage.

More than 40 Louisiana businesses, associations and chambers of commerce expressed their support for the Coastal Master Plan by adding their names to a full-page ad that will run tomorrow (April 20) in The Advocate and its affiliated papers. The ad underscores the message that Louisiana needs the master plan by showcasing the human and economic risks of continued coastal land loss as well as the job creation benefits of restoring the coast to protect people, wildlife and industries.  

“Louisiana needs the 2017 Coastal Master Plan,” said Steve Cochran, campaign director for Restore the Mississippi River Delta, the organization that paid for the ad. “Our citizens are in widespread agreement that a future without the master plan – one that would put our entire way of life at risk – is not acceptable.”

A recent statewide poll showed that an overwhelming 97 percent of voters say Louisiana’s coastal areas and wetlands are important to them, and 88 percent of Louisiana voters want their legislator to vote for the Coastal Master Plan.

Tomorrow also marks the 7-year anniversary of the Gulf oil disaster, from which Louisiana is still recovering. As a result of the oil spill settlement, Louisiana has funding to make significant progress by implementing key master plan projects over the coming 15 years. The same poll also showed that 91 percent of Louisiana voters want funds dedicated to coastal restoration to not be spent on anything else.

“As the legislature considers the master plan, voters could not be more clear on their directive: Pass the master plan, protect coastal funding and continue to get crucial restoration projects implemented as quickly as possible. Doing otherwise puts us all at immense risk,” said John Lopez, member of the 2017 Coastal Master Plan Framework Development Team and director of the Coastal Sustainability Program for the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, a coalition member of Restore the Mississippi River Delta. 

The ad is paid for by Restore the Mississippi River Delta, a coalition of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society and the National Wildlife Federation. Full text of the ad below:

“Louisiana needs the 2017 Coastal Master Plan.

“Without action, Louisiana could lose 2,250 square miles of land over the next 50 years, putting our communities, economy, natural resources and wildlife – our entire way of life – at risk.

“Louisiana’s 2017 Coastal Master Plan is the blueprint for the state’s coastal restoration and protection efforts. If implemented, it will help Louisiana avoid this devastating land-loss scenario and reduce damages, which could exceed $150 billion over the next 50 years without the master plan.

“In addition, nearly 60,000 jobs will be supported by investments in coastal restoration and protection over the next 10 years.

“The Louisiana Legislature is currently considering the 2017 Coastal Master Plan. An overwhelming 88 percent of Louisiana voters statewide want their legislator to vote for the plan.

“We too support the Coastal Master Plan.”

Learn more at MississippiRiverDelta.org/MasterPlan. 

“Today business stepped up to the plate to lead on climate in a way that supports both people and the planet. Business leadership and innovation have always been an American hallmark, and that’s never been clearer than right now. With the federal government largely on the sidelines, the private sector is stepping up to advance solutions that will help business, people and nature thrive.”

“Walmart’s “Project Gigaton” goal to reduce 1 gigaton (1 billion tons) of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from the global supply chain is an impressive target, and it shows real leadership.”

“A challenge like Project Gigaton catalyzes innovative solutions around the globe. And it makes clear that companies won’t wait – nor should they. Smart companies like Walmart and the suppliers that will join them on this journey have moved far beyond the false either/or choice of a healthy economy or a healthy environment. We need both, and these businesses are leading the way.”

The Administration filed a motion today asking the D.C. Circuit to postpone oral argument on pending legal challenges to a final supplemental finding for the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.

“The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards are already in place, saving thousands of lives every year, and helping protect our families and communities from toxic pollution,” said EDF Senior Attorney Graham McCahan. “Virtually every power plant in America is already in compliance with the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. Weakening them would be a serious threat to the safety of our food, air and water. We will continue to vigorously defend these critical health protections.”

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards reduce hazardous air pollutants – including mercury, arsenic, chromium, and hydrochloric acid gas – from power plants. These pollutants are hazardous to human health even in small doses – for instance, mercury causes brain damage in developing children; metal toxics like chromium and nickel cause cancer; and acid gases cause serious lung diseases.

In June 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that EPA should have considered the costs of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards in its initial, or threshold, decision to address these hazardous pollutants. (EPA had determined that the public health benefits of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards were up to $90 billion annually, and far exceeded compliance costs, and   EPA considered costs in establishing the pollution limits.) The Supreme Court did not overturn the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, but it did remand the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for further consideration.

In April, 2016, EPA issued a final supplemental finding, in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directive, about the costs and benefits of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. The supplemental finding confirmed that the cost of compliance for the standards is eminently reasonable when considered in light of the serious public health and environmental hazards of toxic emissions from power plants. Opponents then sued over the supplemental finding. That is the case now under consideration by the D.C. Circuit – the case the Trump Administration is now trying to delay.

This is the latest in a long series of steps the Trump Administration has taken to revisit a range of important public heath protections, including asking the D.C. Circuit to stop working on litigation around the Clean Power Plan, the carbon pollution standards for new, modified and reconstructed power plants, and the ground-level ozone (or smog) standards.

The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards case has already been fully briefed, and oral argument is already scheduled for a few weeks from now, on May 18th.

EDF has been advocating for these life-saving standards for years. We joined with allies to defend the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards in court every step of the way, and we are a party to the current case.

You can find more about the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, including all legal briefs, on EDF’s website. 

(Chicago, IL – April 12, 2017) Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) joined a coalition of clean energy, public health, and consumer advocates today to support Illinois’ Future Energy Jobs Act in the Northern District of Illinois U.S. District Court.

Illinois is asking the court to dismiss a complaint against the law’s zero-emissions policy. EDF, Citizens’ Utility Board, Respiratory Health Association, and Elevate Energy submitted an amicus, or “friend of the court,” brief in support of Illinois in the case (Electric Power Supply Association v. Star).

“Illinois’ energy policy supports its vital efforts to reduce climate pollution and to transition to clean energy – efforts that can provide profound benefits for the health and safety of Illinois families,” said Environmental Defense Fund Senior Attorney Michael Panfil. “That’s why we’re asking the court to secure Illinois’ fundamental authority to craft a strong clean energy policy.”

The case centers on Illinois’ Future Energy Jobs Act, which includes a Zero Emissions Credit program that requires the state to procure a percentage of its power from sources that don’t emit any climate pollution. EDF is supporting Illinois’ legal right to implement its pollution-reducing policies.

In addition to the Zero Emissions Credit program, the legislation dramatically expands the state’s energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives as well as modernizes the state’s electricity system. It enables Illinois to pursue innovative technologies and practices that will help it reach its air quality goals.

New research released today offers an inside look at the methane leak detection and repair (LDAR) industry - a growing field of service providers that utilize technology to identify and repair leaking equipment at industrial oil and gas facilities. The study, titled Find and Fix: Job Creation in the Emerging Leak Detection and Repair Industry, profiles the industry and its employees and assesses future growth potential.

“What we discovered is a growing industry that creates U.S. jobs, saves oil & gas operators money and time, and improves the environment and climate,” said Marcy Lowe, CEO of Datu Research, the company that conducted the survey.

Specifically, the research, commissioned by the Environmental Defense Fund, found that the LDAR industry offers well-paying employment opportunities across the country that cannot be offshored, saves money by minimizing waste and keeping otherwise lost product in the pipe, and reduces emissions of a highly potent greenhouse gas along with other co-pollutants, thereby contributing to cleaner air for communities. 

“The research released today proves that sensible regulations coupled with the right corporate commitments can help this burgeoning LDAR industry continue to create well-paying, boots-on-the-ground jobs in communities from coast to coast,” said Ben Ratner, Director at EnvironmentalDefense Fund. “Policymakers at all levels who are serious about creating American jobs should seize the opportunity to support the fast-growing methane mitigation industry, recognizing that economic development and environmental progress can go hand-in-hand.”

Methane is an ongoing economic and environmental concern for industry.  The U.S. natural gas system—including the production, gathering, transmission and distribution of gas—is the nation’s largest industrial source of methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas. Methane emissions also result in an estimated $1.3 billion in lost product each year for the oil and gas industry (ICF, 2014). The growing leak detection and repair industry is comprised of service firms that are hired by the oil and gas industry to find and fix leaks in the system.Hiring these service firms makes it easier for oil and gas operators to address methane emissions by eliminating the need to purchase their own equipment and train in-house staff.

The research released today is based on primary data collected from 60 leak detection and repair firms in the U.S. Key findings include:

·       The leak detection and repair industry in the U/S has a national footprint, with at least 60 companies providing services to oil and gas companies in 45 states.

·       The majority (55%) of American LDAR firms are small businesses.

·       More than one-third (37%) were founded within the last 6 years, reflecting an emerging industry.

·       Companies have already experienced up to 30% business growth in states with methane regulations.

·       The industry anticipates future growth and hiring, though the rate of growth will depend on the regulatory direction at the federal and state levels.

·       Nearly a quarter (22%) of firms have 40%+ workforce diversity.

·       Jobs within the LDAR industry promise upward mobility, with annual salaries of up to $113,110. 

Datu Research’s study builds on 2014 research titled The Emerging U.S. Methane Mitigation Industry, which assessed the market landscape for companies providing solutions to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas operations. The follow-up study focuses on the subset of firms that perform leak detection and repair services specifically.

The full report, Find and Fix: Job Creation in the Emerging Leak Detection and Repair Industry, can be found at https://edf.org/methanejobs.