Complete list of press releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   

On December 15, New York regulators approved plans by the state’s largest natural gas utility, National Grid, to pilot new technology developed by Environmental Defense Fund and Google Earth Outreach to maximize the climate benefits of a three-year, $3 billion capital investment program, which includes efforts to replace 585 miles of old, leak-prone pipes on the company’s systems in Long Island and parts of New York City.

Developed using specially equipped Google Street View mapping cars, the technology makes it possible to not only identify but also accurately measure methane escaping from underground gas lines faster and more easily. Methane, the main ingredient in natural gas, is a potent greenhouse gas, with over 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 20-year timeframe. Curbing leaks quickly means big benefits for the climate.

“Reducing methane emissions is one of the quickest ways we have to protect the climate. Not every utility is comfortable inviting an environmental group to come sniffing around for leaks on their system. But National Grid has been an enthusiastic partner, going back to our project launch in 2014,” said Mark Brownstein, head of EDF’s oil and gas program. “By tackling these leaks faster, they will achieve a lot more environmental benefit for their infrastructure dollars.”

Under the agreement approved by the New York Public Service Commission (PSC), National Grid will work with EDF and Google to pilot methane reduction programs that will gather and analyze methane data to prioritize system investments and leak repairs. They are the first utility to publicly embrace and integrate this approach into their operations on an ongoing, long term basis.

Leaks are a persistent challenge for utilities, particularly in the Northeast, where infrastructure is older. Companies are required by law to address safety threats immediately, but large numbers of non-hazardous leaks can persist, often for years. For example, a pilot project two years ago identified close to a thousand low-level leaks in National Grid’s Staten Island service territory alone. Until recently, methane hadn’t been a major priority for regulators or utilities. But a growing body of scientific evidence has brought new attention to the challenge.

“This targeted approach complements our long term strategy of replacing leak prone pipe to minimize methane emissions,” said Sue Fleck, Vice President of Pipeline Safety at National Grid. “We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with EDF to assess and integrate the latest technology for detecting system leaks and prioritizing repairs and leak prone pipe replacement.”

A two-minute video on the EDF/Google Earth Outreach mapping project is available here.

Replacing pipe requires people. National Grid’s accelerated infrastructure replacement program is expected to generate 380 new jobs, according to the PSC, most of them in the New York City metro area. The initiative will also use a robot to seal cast-iron pipes and recondition steel mains from the inside. The work is expected to result in only modest increases in customer bills. The agreement approved by the PSC provides penalties for National Grid if they fail to meet their replacement/leak repair targets, and incentives if they beat them.

“We are excited that new technology powered by Google can play an important role here, to advance the measurement, analysis, and communication of environmental information,” said Karin Tuxen-Bettman, program manager for Google Earth Outreach. “Making this information more accessible can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.”

Utilities in New York and California are already publishing dynamic maps of their natural gas leaks. Sharing geographically-attributed leak data can help regulators and ratepayers track utilities’ leak management performance, and ensure cost-efficient emission reductions. For its part, National Grid is leading the way in using leak data to make better management decisions, demonstrating that new and improved data can maximize the benefits of pipeline replacement and leak repair programs.

“President-elect Trump’s nomination of Rep. Ryan Zinke as Secretary of the Interior adds to the troubling imbalance of a Cabinet that is skewed toward fossil fuel interests. My colleagues and I are concerned about several aspects of Rep. Zinke’s record, particularly his support for aggressive oil, gas and coal extraction on federal lands and his opposition to a sensible rule to reduce natural gas waste.

“America’s next Interior Secretary will be entrusted with our public lands and natural resources, which provide critical habitat for wildlife, support energy and agricultural economies, and create outdoor recreational opportunities for all to enjoy. The Department includes the Bureau of Land Management, which recently finalized a rule to reduce the unchecked waste of natural gas that is leaked or vented from operations on federal and tribal lands — squandering some $330 million per year in lost resource that, once in the atmosphere, is an extremely potent climate pollutant. Stopping this needless pollution and energy waste is in the best interest of all Americans, yet Rep. Zinke has opposed this commonsense step. He has also made conflicting statements that appear to question the validity of climate science. The next Interior Secretary needs to understand that our public lands are at risk from unchecked climate change and that fossil fuel extraction on these lands contributes to the problem. We call on him to clarify his stance on climate change and reverse course on the natural gas waste issue.

“We appreciate the constructive steps Rep. Zinke has taken on behalf of stewardship and conservation in his home state of Montana and across America. For example, he has shown independence from anti-environmental Republicans in Congress, pushing back on a number of damaging policies and declaring the sale of our public lands ‘a non-starter’ — a crucially important stance. He also provided welcome support for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which preserves irreplaceable lands across the U.S.

“Rep. Zinke has promised to ‘faithfully uphold’ President Theodore Roosevelt’s vision of public lands managed for the benefit and enjoyment of all Americans as well as generations to come. Given his mixed record overall, we expect the Senate to explore the scope and nature of that commitment during Rep. Zinke’s confirmation hearings.”

 — Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense Fund

This week, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) released new safety policies for the nation’s natural gas storage facilities. This Interim Final Rule (IFR) – launched in response to the massive gas leak at the Aliso Canyon storage facility in Southern California last year – will inscribe into law the industry’s own recommended practices for operating and maintaining the 400+  storage facilities across the country.  

STATEMENT FROM ADAM PELTZ, EDF ATTORNEY

“The massive methane leak at the Aliso Canyon gas storage field in Los Angeles revealed widespread inadequacies in how we protect the public from the impacts of these industrial sites. Until now, there were no national safety standards for these operations, and the PHMSA rule could provide baseline protections to supplement state oversight.

“However, PHMSA standards must evolve beyond a restatement of industry recommended best practices. The new standards offer scant or no detail on many safety precautions, creating immediate challenges for the state and federal regulators enforcing these new policies. To bridge this gap, PHMSA will need to both beef up the rule and rely on state expertise to ensure all gas storage wells are held to uniformly high standards. 

“As noted by The Department of Energy, this IFR is only a starting point for regulating this critical industry, and EDF will continue to work with PHMSA to make improvements to the rule, and to the way PHMSA shares authority with the states, to fix these shortcomings.”

Today, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration (RESTORE) Council approved its updated Comprehensive Plan to restore Gulf Coast ecosystems and their natural resource dependent economies following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. The plan will serve as the guide for spending more than three billion dollars in restoration and recovery funds – an integral component of one of the largest ecosystem restoration programs in U.S. history.  

National conservation organizations working on Gulf restoration – Environmental Defense Fund, the National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, Ocean Conservancy and The Nature Conservancy – issued the following statement:

“With this plan, the RESTORE Council has shown the value of bringing people together to get results – across states, agencies and interests. The RESTORE Council, including the five Gulf state governors, has provided great leadership throughout the development of this Comprehensive Plan, which will help guide the region, its communities and ecosystems to a more resilient future for generations to come.

“The plan prioritizes large-scale restoration projects that will have far-reaching benefits to the environment – as well as the communities and industries that depend on healthy ecosystems.

“Our organizations look forward to continuing to work with the RESTORE Council, leaders and community members across all Gulf states to help see this plan through to implementation. The revised plan is good for the people, wildlife and industries of the Gulf region.”

(Washington, D.C. – December 15, 2016) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit laying out a strong and comprehensive defense of carbon pollution standards for new, modified, and reconstructed power plants.

The brief, which was filed last night in North Dakota v. EPA, says:

“Fossil-fuel-fired power plants are by far the highest-emitting stationary sources of CO2, generating approximately 37 percent of all domestic man-made CO2 emissions — almost three times as much as the next ten stationary-source categories combined … No serious effort to address the monumental problem of climate change can succeed without meaningfully limiting these plants’ CO2 emissions.” (EPA’s Brief, page 9)

“EPA’s brief underscores that these standards have a firm basis in the law. These protections are vital, common sense measures that will help safeguard the public from the worst dangers of climate change,” said Martha Roberts, attorney for Environmental Defense Fund, which is a party to the case. “We look forward to helping defend them in court.”

The standards being challenged in this case establish the first-ever nationwide limits on carbon pollution from new, modified, and reconstructed fossil fuel-fired power plants. Following the Clean Air Act, EPA set the standards at levels that reflect the best demonstrated pollution controls; for new coal-fired power plants, this included partial capture and storage of carbon pollution.

EDF, other intervenors, and amicus groups will file briefs in support of EPA on December 21. EDF is joined in this litigation by 18 states, nine power companies, and eight public health and environmental organizations. Three groups have requested permission to file amicus, or “friend of the court,” briefs in support of EPA’s standards — a coalition of experts in the field of carbon capture and storage, professors who research how government policy can drive innovation and cost savings, and the Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU School of Law.

Oral argument before a three judge panel of the D.C. Circuit is scheduled for April 17, 2017.

Already, states across the country, such as Illinois and Montana, apply standards or incentives to address carbon pollution from power plants.  

In a report released earlier this month, Governors Matt Mead of Wyoming and Steve Bullock of Montana highlighted the potential for carbon capture and storage to contribute to a “long-term low-carbon” future. (Putting the Puzzle Together, page i)

In 2011, American Electric Power Chairman Mike Morris talked to investors about his company’s experience implementing a carbon capture and storage pilot project and said, “We feel that we have demonstrated to a certainty that the carbon capture and storage is in fact viable technology for the United States and quite honestly for the rest of the world.”

EDF is also a party to litigation over the Clean Power Plan, which sets the first national standards for existing fossil fuel-fired power plants. You can find all legal briefs in both cases on EDF’s website.

(RALEIGH, NC – Dec. 15, 2016) On the heels of a special legislative session on disaster relief for flood victims, the North Carolina House yesterday introduced HB3,Regulatory Reform Act of 2016, a bill that will increase the risk of future flooding by giving developers a ticket to destroy more streams. The bill would change state law to allow up to 300 feet of a stream to be damaged before restoration is required. Most at risk of flooding will be rural communities downstream of growing urban centers.

 “It boggles the mind that lawmakers returned to Raleigh to fund disaster relief for flood and wildfire victims, and then quickly introduced a bill that sets the stage for even worse flooding in the future,” said Will McDow, director of habitat markets at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Raleigh, N.C., office. “This bill will give developers a free ride to destroy more streams and increase the risk of flooding in communities that are still struggling from flood damage.”

North Carolina’s urban counties enjoy robust economic development, but storm water from new construction flows downhill toward rural communities. EDF is working with the mitigation industry and the state’s Department of Mitigation Services to ensure more efficient and effective mitigation.

(SAN FRANCISCO, CA – December 15, 2016) Investor Confidence Project (ICP) today announced the launch of the “Building Button,” a new tool based on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Energy Data Exchange Specification that standardizes the collection of data from energy efficiency projects, and makes it easy to share that information with investors, building owners, developers, and utilities.

“One of the major barriers to wide-scale adoption of energy efficiency is the hassle factor. Every investment is unique, with data lodged in incompatible spreadsheets, documents, and other digital files,” said Matt Golden, ICP Director. “The lack of uniform data standards means that transaction costs are prohibitively high. The Building Button helps solve that by establishing guidelines for all project data, streamlining the process of project development and investment.”

The Building Button integrates best practices and specifications developed by ICP and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), including the Building Energy Data Exchange Specification (BEDES), into a dictionary of terms and definitions that expresses energy efficiency data in a common language. This allows all parties to compare specifications across multiple projects with a single click, reducing underwriting and actuarial analysis costs, building trust in energy savings, and driving market demand for energy efficiency projects. Combining the Building Button with ICP’s commercial and multifamily building protocols gives investors and building owners confidence in energy savings backed by empirical, project-level data across multiple projects.

“With millions of buildings around the world in need of upgrades, the Building Button is a great complement to the Investor Confidence Project because it helps reduce uncertainty in a project’s environmental and financial performance,” said Victor Rojas, Senior Manager, Clean Energy Finance at Environmental Defense Fund. “Standardization drives finance — and, alongside the ICP system, the Building Button will help make standardized data more accessible to the market.”

ICP and its Investor Ready Energy Efficiency^TM (IREE) certification standardize the way efficiency projects are developed and brought to market by incorporating industry best practices to ensure performance, as well as measurement and verification. The ICP system makes energy efficiency upgrade projects more attractive to investors and building owners alike by providing tools to assess risk more accurately, and build trust in energy savings performance and return on investment. ICP investor-ready projects and pilots are at the forefront of a growing trend toward “pay for performance” (P4P) programs in five U.S. states and in the UK. 

In 2017, ICP will join Green Building Certification Inc. (GBCI) to create the first global underwriting standard for energy efficiency projects.

For more information on the Investor Confidence Project, visit www.eeperformance.org.

(AUSTIN, TX – December 14, 2016)

“The Service’s proposed delisting of the black-capped vireo is a clear indication that a collaborative approach to conservation, when combined with incentives, is a tremendously powerful tool for species recovery.

“The warbler wars of the mid-1990s are truly over, thanks to the efforts of Texas ranchers who have stepped up in large numbers to restore and conserve this bird’s habitat. It just goes to show what public and private investment, combined with regulatory assurances and the strong stewardship ethic of landowners, can accomplish.”

- David Wolfe, Director of Conservation Strategy and Habitat Markets, Environmental Defense Fund

(Baton Rouge, LA – December 13, 2016) Earlier today, in conjunction with Restore the Mississippi River Delta released a new analysis prepared by The Water Institute of the Gulf (WIG) that outlines opportunities for the state of Louisiana to achieve substantial cost savings as it advances its 50-year, $50-billion Coastal Master Plan. The analysis, “Changing Restoration Costs,” examines the opportunities that exist for the state to achieve substantial cost savings, particularly related to marsh creation projects over time. Marsh creation, as a category, represents the single largest category of restoration costs in the state’s Coastal Master Plan. The findings showcase the tremendous opportunity to save hundreds of millions of dollars by moving projects forward sooner, whether through private investment or public funding or though bonding funds for future restoration projects whenever possible.

The analysis focuses on large marsh creation projects using dredged material where cost savings opportunities are significant. At roughly $18 billion, these projects represent the largest category of spending of any restoration project type in the master plan. To consider how these project costs might change over time, WIG examined seven distinct, 2,000-acre locations across coastal Louisiana with similar baseline conditions and applied five different scenarios of subsidence and sea level rise over time. Using 2012 master plan cost analysis and borrow areas, the study estimated costs needed to fill these locations and then converted to 2015 costs before applying 1 percent and 2 percent annual rates of inflation over 10-year increments. The study also examined potential cost savings by selling 10, 20 and 30-year bonds to finance projects that are planned, but where construction cannot begin immediately.

Factors such as increasing inflation rates and worsening environmental conditions can dramatically increase project costs. Additionally, as project areas are exposed to increased rates of subsidence and sea level rise, water levels will deepen, requiring more material to fill, further increasing costs. By executing marsh creation projects sooner, the state can avoid these cost increases in most cases.

“Louisiana must seek ways to build on the significant work CPRA has already executed to date by accelerating the funding of restoration projects,” said Coast Builders Coalition President Scott Kirkpatrick. “With over $10 billion committed to the Louisiana coast over the next 20 years, we must find ways to advance this funding, thereby allowing us to reduce project costs and realize marsh restoration benefits sooner.”

The study also shows the potential cost-savings realized by bonding future restoration projects. In total, leveraging creative cost-savings mechanisms, such as bonding, could achieve extraordinary savings on restoration costs. In one example highlighted in the analysis, bonding a specific project resulted in cost savings of $180 million – more than double the initial project cost. In another example, bonding a future project results in a 30 percent cost savings compared to waiting 10 years to finance and construct the project.

Future scenarios of sea level rise and subsidence will heavily influence future project costs. Even under the most hopeful scenario, cost per acre for marsh creation is projected to double in 20 years. As land loss increases over time and water levels continue to increase, more areas across the coast will exceed the threshold for executing marsh creation.

“Comprehensive, large-scale restoration is urgently needed now to restore Louisiana’s coast,” said Restore the Mississippi River Delta Campaign Director Steve Cochran. “These cost examples remind us of the opportunities that accompany that urgency, and the need to leverage sediment diversions and other restoration project types to ensure their long-term success.”

For more information: Visit MississippiRiverDelta.org/ChangingRestorationCosts

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today finalized a multi-year research effort to assess the impacts of hydraulic fracturing activities on drinking water.

The final assessment omits the controversial statement that the agency “did not find evidence that these mechanisms have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States.” The statement received criticism from the EPA’s Science Advisory Board and recent media reports suggest political considerations influenced the agency’s initial messaging.

Statement from Mark Brownstein, EDF Vice President, Climate and Energy

“EPA’s initial draft misled the public about the pollution risks of unconventional oil and gas development. The revised assessment puts an end to the false narrative of risk-free fracking that has been widely promoted by industry. It opens the door for policy improvements and scientific advancements that could better protect the people and places most impacted.

“The industry and EPA know as well as anyone else that spills, leaks, and faulty well construction can pollute air, water, and land. To pretend that there is no risk, and therefore no need for safeguards to protect communities and continuously improve state regulations to keep pace with evolving field practices, runs contrary to the huge body of evidence EPA reviewed.

“EPA’s final report makes it clear there is a lot of work yet to be done to better define the risks and the practices that will reduce them.”

• Mark Brownstein, EDF Vice President, Climate and Energy

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(SAN FRANCISCO, CA – December 13, 2016) Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, John Doerr, and other global business leaders are investing more than $1 billion to fund the delivery of next generation clean energy, agriculture, and goods to people around the world. Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) will invest in technologies over the next 20 years that have the ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least half a gigaton and demonstrate “existing scientific proof of concept” as well as the potential to attract capital from other sources besides BEV. 

“Momentum toward clean energy is building in nations all over the world. In the United States alone, the clean energy market was worth $200 billion in 2015 – that’s bigger than the U.S. airline industry and the pharmaceutical business. The great technology and business leaders of Breakthrough Energy will help usher in a step change in the global clean energy economy, and hasten our move to a clean, low-carbon future that will grow jobs and save millions of lives. We wish them every success.”

• Diane Regas, Executive Director, Environmental Defense Fund 

“President-elect Trump’s nomination of ExxonMobil’s CEO for Secretary of State is another sign that he is putting the interests of the oil and gas industry ahead of the interests of the American people.

“The nomination of Rex Tillerson should be a wake-up call to Senators of both parties as they look at the full slate of nominees — including Texas Governor Rick Perry, reportedly the President-elect’s choice for Energy Secretary, who during his career has accepted more than $11 million in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry; Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), tapped to lead the Department of the Interior, who authored a bill in Congress that would have directed that department to sell off federal lands across the American West; and especially Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, chosen as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, who has long been an extreme opponent of the basic American clean air and clean water safeguards that agency is tasked with upholding.

“Where are the voices in this administration to counter the influence of oil executives and allies? Senators have an obligation to ensure a reasonable balance of voices to protect the health of all Americans. That balance is notably absent from the nominees put forward by the President-elect, who as recently as December 11 refused to accept the established science of climate change. He has no mandate to let industry rewrite America’s clean air standards or return to the high-carbon, high-pollution policies of the last century. That is not a course change that Americans support. ​ 

“As Republican and Democratic presidents alike have long understood, climate change is a defining foreign policy challenge of our time. Addressing it effectively in concert with countries around the globe will be a central responsibility of the next Secretary of State. If that job goes to the chief executive of the world’s largest shareholder-owned oil-and-gas company, he will need to demonstrate substantially different priorities than those he followed as CEO.”

• Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund

(December 12, 2016) Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the Pembina Institute welcomed the confirmation that Canada will deliver on earlier commitments to develop national methane regulations to curb these highly potent emissions from the oil and gas industry as part of Canada’s new climate plan. About one-quarter of today’s global warming is caused by methane, with emissions from the oil and gas industry a chief contributor. Canada’s climate plan prioritizes the creation of new standards to drive down 45 per cent of this industry’s methane emissions by 2025, a goal to which the Province of Alberta has also committed.

“Reducing oil and gas methane emissions can deliver a significant contribution to achieving Canada’s climate commitments and is one important step in demonstrating that Canada really is ‘back’ as a force for good in global climate action,” said Duncan Kenyon, the Pembina Institute program director, unconventional oil and gas. “Given that oil and gas methane represents one of Canada’s largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, reducing methane emissions should play a large role as part of Canada’s climate plan.”

“The central role of methane in Canada’s climate action plan shows just how critical it is to curb these emissions from the oil and gas industry,” said Drew Nelson, Environmental Defense Fund senior manager. “This is an important step as without proper regulations, the oil and gas sector would not be doing its share to meet Canada’s climate goals. Fortunately, the surge in affordable technologies has made it possible for companies to cost-effectively capture methane – making it a clear win for Canadian businesses and the environment.”

Why Methane Matters

An effective climate strategy requires aggressive action to reduce carbon dioxide and methane.  Natural gas is over 95 percent methane which is a super-charged greenhouse gas contributing to climate change, because its short-term impact is 84 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. According to data from Canada’s greenhouse gas inventory, oil and gas methane emissions are one of Canada’s largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions and are almost double the size of the next largest source of methane in Canada.

Analysis indicates that Canada’s oil and gas methane emissions can be reduced by 45 per cent below projected 2020 levels using existing and low-cost technologies. Achieving this per cent reduction across Canada is equal to eliminating 27 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, or the same climate benefit as taking every passenger car off the road in British Columbia and Alberta. Even at today’s relatively low gas prices, these reductions are estimated to add just one cent to the current price of gas.

“I am deeply concerned about reports that President-elect Trump’s transition team has demanded the names of ‘Department [of Energy] employees and contractors who have worked on forging an international climate pact as well as domestic efforts to cut the nation’s carbon output.’ This worrisome development brings to mind past witch hunts in our history – except this time the targets are scientists and other public servants seeking to leave a better world for our children and grandchildren.

“These actions have the potential to harm science, research, and policymaking, and to do damage to our efforts to reduce climate pollution. Non-partisan career public servants should not have to worry that their actions – in carrying out their duly assigned job responsibilities – will threaten their jobs or positions. It is hard to see why such a list would be created except for the purpose of punishing, excluding or attacking the work of those who were asked to focus on clean energy and climate issues. Actions like this happen during the transfer of power in authoritarian regimes, but are alien to our republican traditions. 

“Another branch of the President-elect’s transition team has already recommended shutting down the world-leading climate science work of NASA. Suppressing science and gathering the names of employees doing important clean energy work are deeply worrisome actions. We will fight to protect those working to create a healthier world, and defend this nation’s important traditions of democratic governance.”

            - Dr. Steven Hamburg, Chief Scientist for Environmental Defense Fund

(COLUMBUS – December 9, 2016) Ohio legislators early this morning passed House Bill 554, a bill that will effectively extend the freeze on the state’s clean energy standards. Ohio’s renewable energy and energy efficiency standards have been frozen for the past two years, costing the state its place as a national leader in the clean energy economy by hampering energy innovation, investment, and jobs. Before the freeze, these standards saved families money and brought huge investments into the state, supporting more than 25,000 jobs, saving Ohioans over $1 billion on their electricity bills, and slashing the Buckeye State’s air pollution. 

“Today, Ohio lawmakers decided to significantly stall the state’s clean energy efforts, putting politics over economic growth. Governor Kasich has repeatedly voiced his interest in a healthy, diverse energy mix for Ohio. The governor should continue the leadership he has demonstrated and reject this harmful legislation, so Ohio can get back to work building its clean energy economy, opening the door to well-paying jobs and millions in investment.”

• Dick Munson, Director, Midwest Clean Energy