What:

On June 25, 2013, President Obama called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate carbon pollution from existing power plants. Next week, on June 2, 2014, EPA is scheduled to release a proposal that will contain a suite of options available to states to reduce their emissions. Energy efficiency provisions may be among the options. The following is a list of national and state-based organizations that can provide reactions to the proposal.

Who:

NATIONAL GROUPS
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
Press contact: Patrick Kiker, 202.507.4043, pkiker@aceee.org
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy acts as a catalyst to advance energy efficiency policies, programs, technologies, investments, and behaviors. For information about ACEEE and its programs, publications, and conferences, visit aceee.org.

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Press contact for CPS/climate/NRDC’s original proposal: Jake Thompson, 202.289.2387, jthompson@nrdc.org
Press contact for energy efficiency benefits: Pat Remick, 202.289.2411, premick@nrdc.org
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 1.4 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC and @NRDCEnergy

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)
Press contact: Katherine Owens, 512.691.3447, kowens@edf.org
Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading national nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships. Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, and our Energy Exchange Blog. 

The Institute for Market Transformation (IMT)
Press contact: Amanda Hurley, 202.525.2883 x306, amanda@imt.org
The Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting energy efficiency, green building, and environmental protection in the United States and abroad. Much of IMT’s work addresses market failures that inhibit investment in energy efficiency. For more information, visit imt.org.

Alliance to Save Energy
Press contact: Rodney Sobin, 202.530.2234, rsobin@ase.org
Alliance to Save Energy is a coalition of prominent business, government, environmental and consumer leaders who promote the efficient and clean use of energy worldwide to benefit consumers, the environment, economy and national security. For more information visit us at www.ase.org or follow us @ToSaveEnergy. 

STATE-BASED GROUPS
Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP)
Press contact: Alicia Dunn, 781.860.9177 ext. 110, adunn@neep.org
NEEP was founded in 1996 as a non-profit whose mission is to serve the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to accelerate energy efficiency in the building sector through public policy, program strategies and education. Our vision is that the region will fully embrace energy efficiency as a cornerstone of sustainable energy policy to help achieve a cleaner environment and a more reliable and affordable energy system.

Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP)
Press contact: Suzanne Pletcher, 303.447.0078 ext 5, spletcher@swenergy.org   
SWEEP promotes greater energy efficiency in a six-state region that includes Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming — a high-growth region that is making great strides in advancing energy efficiency since 2002. Check out our site to learn about the status of energy efficiency efforts in the region, and what SWEEP is doing to help consumers, businesses, utilities, and local and state governments increase energy efficiency.

South-central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource (SPEER)
Press contacts: Doug Lewin, 512.279.0753, dlewin@eepartnership.org
Mike Gehrig, 512.448.4950, mgehrig@piercom.com
SPEER is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with a mission is to accelerate the adoption of advanced building systems and energy efficient products and services in Texas and Oklahoma. SPEER works to advance the understanding and adoption of energy efficiency as a low-cost energy resource, driver of economic growth and competitiveness, and air quality improvement strategy. SPEER designs, implements, coordinates, and supports regional projects to promote high energy performance and clean distributed energy in the built environment.                                                                                                                                                                

America’s fleet of fossil fueled power plants is the single largest source of carbon pollution in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world.

The Carbon Pollution Standards, which are expected to be announced next week, will finally put national limits on the amount of carbon pollution emitted by fossil fuel fired power plants.

The Carbon Pollution Standards for future and existing power plants are urgently needed, have broad-based support, and can ensure that America forges a strong and prosperous clean energy economy.

EPA has indicated that each state will have the flexibility to design a tailored, cost-effective plan to secure the needed emission reductions from existing plants.

Here are more facts you should know about the Carbon Pollution Standards:

Americans strongly support climate action. Public polling has found that:

• 64% of Americans believe the government should limit greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants to address climate change and improve public health.
• 61% of Americans said developing sources of clean energy should be a high or very high priority for the President and Congress.
• More than half of small business owners support limiting carbon pollution from existing power plants. Furthermore, this poll indicated that “six in 10 agree expanded use of renewable energy sources can have economic benefits for small-business owners.”

The impacts of climate disasters across the United States in recent years are staggering, and they are expected to intensify with climate change:

• In 2013, there were seven climate disasters each costing more than $1 billion, including, devastating floods in Colorado and extreme drought in Western states. 
• The 2014 National Climate Assessment (NCA) predicts that heavy precipitation events and flooding will intensify in many U.S. regions, causing deaths, destroying infrastructure, and exacerbating waterborne and airborne illnesses.
• The NCA also finds that sea-level rise will threaten power plants and energy infrastructure on both coasts and interrupt shipping and other transportation.
• Temperature increases, precipitation extremes, and weeds, insects, and diseases are expected to have increasingly negative impacts on crops and livestock, while wildfires, drought, insect infestations, and disease outbreaks damage our nation’s forests.
• The toll on public health will increase as air quality worsens. Warming is projected to make existing smog worse, leading to hospital admissions and emergency room visits for asthma attacks and premature deaths — potentially more than 4,000 per year by 2050.
• A recent study found that, as temperatures rise, summertime surface ozone (which creates smog) will increase over most of the U.S. by 2050. Smoke from wildfires will also trigger asthma attacks, chest pain, pulmonary disease, and respiratory infections, and cost thousands of lives annually.

The hidden cost of dirty energy is too high, while clean energy is prospering:

• Americans are paying the hidden cost of coal pollution, while coal plants get a free ride. Coal plant pollution causes asthma attacks, heart attacks, and premature deaths. A study from Harvard estimates that generating electricity from coal costs Americans $330 to $500 billion every single year. In fact, another study found that the damages caused by coal plants are more than double (and as much as five times greater) than the economic value of coal generation in the economy.
• Between 2008 and 2012, wind generation in the United States increased by more than 330 percent. The average of residential electricity prices in the top ten wind-producing states is 8% below the average of nationwide electricity prices for the contiguous United States. (read more here and here)
• In 2012, rooftop solar panels cost approximately one percent of what they did 35 years ago. Since 2008, as the cost of a solar module dropped from $3.40 per watt to 80 cents per watt, solar deployment has jumped by about 10 times.

Carbon pollution standards will provide regulatory certainty to power companies that are making medium- and long-term investment decisions now – decisions that have enormous environmental and economic implications for our future.  

Strong standards will also help lock in the carbon reductions we have already achieved, ensure we stay on the path to a cleaner energy economy, and help address the significant negative public health and environmental effects of generating energy from dirtier fuel sources.

Americans are already paying for those negative effects as pollution damages their health, security, and welfare. It is long past time to stop giving the biggest sources of carbon pollution in this country a free pass.

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated the Colorado River Basin as a Critical Conservation Area (CCA) under the 2014 Farm Bill’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP).

“This marks a new era in American conservation efforts, as it will expand opportunities for agricultural producers to keep working lands healthy while reducing impacts on climate, wildlife habitat and water. Particularly, this designation helps fill a critical need across the Colorado River Basin for improved irrigation infrastructure and efficiencies that benefit the producer’s bottom line and provide potential to keep more water in rivers.

“We must ensure the continued productivity of agriculture and sustainable growth in cities, while also protecting the $26 billion recreational economy that depends on a healthy Colorado River. I applaud Senators Udall and Bennet and Congressman Tipton for their leadership and thank our agricultural and conservation partners for coming together to work towards this shared goal, especially in the face of a hotter and drier future for the American West.”

• David Festa, Vice President, West Coast and Land, Water, Wildlife at Environmental Defense Fund

In a divided opinion, a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned an order of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC Order No. 745) designed to ensure demand response solutions have access to the wholesale electricity market. The majority opinion was written by Judge Janice Rogers Brown. D.C. Circuit Judge Harry Edwards issued a rigorous dissent, stating that the court’s decision is: “inconsistent with the statute, at odds with applicable precedent, and impossible to square with our [the court’s] limited scope of review.” Demand response is an innovative tool used by utilities and grid operators to reward people who use less electricity during times of peak, or high, energy demand. Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) filed a “friend of the court” brief in defense of these common sense measures. 

“Our nation’s strong interest in clean, reliable and customer-friendly power took a big step backwards today with this unfortunate court decision. Demand response relies on people, not power plants, to meet electrical demand, and is cleaner and more cost-effective than building new generation. As the U.S. advances into the clean energy economy, demand response should play an increasingly larger role in how our electricity is produced, delivered, and consumed. This order stymies that growth.

Today’s Court decision comes as a disappointment to clean energy advocates as well as families and businesses looking to lower their electricity bills. If the U.S. intends to win the race to the multi-trillion dollar, clean energy economy, we need to ensure that our nation’s policies protect our health and environment and boost economic growth by fairly valuing clean energy resources, instead of reinforcing the status quo,” said John Finnigan, Lead Counsel, Environmental Defense Fund.

This was a 2-1 panel decision in which Judge Harry Edwards forcefully dissented that the court’s opinion overturns “a promising rule of national significance” based on grounds that are “inconsistent with the statute, at odds with applicable precedent, and impossible to square with our [the court’s] limited scope of review”:     

“FERC had jurisdiction to issue Order 745 because demand response is not unambiguously a matter of retail regulation under the Federal Power Act, and because the demand response resources subject to the rule directly affect wholesale electricity prices…..The unfortunate consequence is that a promising rule of national significance – promulgated by the agency that has been authorized by Congress to address the matters in issue – is laid aside on grounds that I think are inconsistent with the statute, at odds with applicable precedent, and impossible to square with our limited scope of review. I therefore respectfully dissent.”

See Page 27 and 28 of the Opinion.

EDF believes that the dissent is rigorous and serious consideration should be given to further judicial review.

 

(Raleigh, NC) Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) today announced a collaboration with Smithfield Foods and its livestock production subsidiary, Murphy-Brown LLC, that will help farmers optimize fertilizer application to grain grown for animal feed. Efficiently applying fertilizer reduces water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, while maintaining crop yields and lowering farm input costs.

 

Fertilizer is needed to grow crops, but excess nitrogen fertilizer not absorbed by crops can run off the land and pollute lakes, streams and drinking water. Excess fertilizer also emits significant amounts of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas (GHG) 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Agriculture is the fifth largest source of GHG emissions in the United States.

“Commercial fertilizer is an often overlooked and significant opportunity to combat climate change and improve water quality,” said David Festa, EDF Vice President, Ecosystems. “Our initiative with Smithfield is an important part of a comprehensive effort underway at EDF to ensure agricultural production meets human needs for food and contributes to the resilience of our environment. By working with farmers and engaging all points along the food supply chain, we can significantly reduce fertilizer runoff, safeguard our environment and ensure farm productivity.”

 

Smithfield is a major supplier of pork products sold to Walmart, which is asking suppliers who use commodity grains like corn, wheat and soy in their products to develop plans that reduce fertilizer loss on farms. Out of 15 fertilizer optimization plans submitted to Walmart by its major suppliers, Smithfield’s plan, which features its work with EDF, was selected as “best in class” by the company.

 

“Smithfield and Murphy-Brown believe that this project will demonstrate how innovative fertilizer application practices will benefit farmers while providing additional environmental protection. Through this collaborative effort with EDF, we will be able to reach out to the local grain farmers with whom we do business and leverage the economic and environmental benefits for all involved,” said Dennis H. Treacy, Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer.

 

The new program will help farmers who sell grain to Murphy-Brown learn to use new tools and practices that more precisely match fertilizer application with their crops’ needs and improve soil health. The company, which raises hogs in North Carolina, says the goal is to have 75 percent of its Southeast grain-sourcing acres participate in a fertilizer optimization and soil health program by 2018. The program will roll out in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina this year. It will expand to grain Smithfield buys from Midwest farmers in 2015.

 

EDF estimates that the collaboration with Smithfield will reduce excess nitrogen fertilizer on over 450,000 acres and reduce GHG emissions from agriculture by over 60,000 tons. This emissions reduction is equivalent to taking approximately 13,000 cars off the road.

 

The collaboration with Smithfield and Murphy-Brown is the latest initiative undertaken by EDF to reduce fertilizer runoff and cut GHG emissions. EDF’s Sustainable Sourcing Initiative works with farmer networks to identify and reduce environmental impacts of agriculture in the supply chain. The program has helped reduce fertilizer loss by an average of 20 percent on a half million acres, while maintaining or increasing crop yields. Meeting the challenge of feeding a growing population will require increased crop yields while reducing the environmental impacts of crop production.

NEWS RELEASE

Contacts:
Joaquin McPeek, 916-492-7173, jmcpeek@edf.org
Tim O’Connor, 916-549-8423, toconnor@edf.org
Maria Bernabe, 310-735-9184, Maria.Bernabe@lung.org

(Sacramento – May 21, 2014) A new report, Driving California Forward from Environmental Defense Fund and the American Lung Association in California, provides a comprehensive health and economic benefit analysis of California’s fuels policies within the voter-supported landmark climate law, AB 32.

The report finds that the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and transportation fuels under the cap and trade (C&T) program will save Californians over $10 billion in health and societal economic costs by 2020.

“The facts show that California’s transportation fuels polices are effectively cutting pollution and protecting consumers. This report shines a light on why these policies are paramount to improving air quality and saving billions of dollars in state healthcare costs. It’s what Californians have asked for and what they deserve,” said Tim O’ Connor, Director, California Climate Initiative, EDF.

Key findings of Driving California Forward include:

• With full implementation, the LCFS and C&T will result in cumulative benefits from avoided health costs, improved energy security, and reduced social costs of carbon valued at $10.4 billion by 2020 and $23.1 billion by 2025.
• By 2025, the health benefits of the LCFS and C&T will save $8.3 billion in pollution-related health costs such as avoided hospital visits and lost work days. In addition, these policies will prevent 38,000 asthma attacks as well as 600 heart attacks, 880 premature deaths, and almost 75,000 lost work days – all caused by air pollution.

• By 2025, California’s LCFS and C&T will result in reduced consumption of 21.4 billion gallons of gasoline and 11.8 billion gallons of diesel fuel, meaning over $100 billion in reduced purchases at the pump.

• By 2025 these policies, which incentivize the adoption of low-carbon fuels, will decrease CO2 equivalent emissions by 165 million metric tons. Emissions that generate smog and soot will decrease by over 179,000 metric tons.

“As a physician, I’m all too familiar with the staggering health and financial costs associated with asthma attacks, visits to the emergency room, and lost work days triggered by unhealthy air. This report is a stark reminder that we must protect California’s landmark clean fuel policies, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard and carbon pricing for transportation fuels. These policies provide tremendous clean air and health benefits and save money for Californians,” said Dr. David Tom Cooke, Member, American Lung Association in California Board of Directors and Head of General Thoracic Surgery, UC Davis Medical Center.

The LCFS and C&T regulations are important steps in cutting pollution from transportation - the state’s leading contributor to pollution. LCFS is aimed at reducing the carbon intensity in transportation fuels as compared to petroleum-based fuels, like gasoline and diesel.

California enacted the world’s first LCFS executive order in 2007 and the law took effect in 2011. Cap and trade began operating in 2013 and will include the transportation sector starting in January 2015.

Although early savings can already be seen, the biggest benefits from the LCFS and C&T begin to accrue in the next five to ten years, once the statewide vehicle fleet achieves a major uptake of low carbon vehicles and fuels. This means that momentum to implement these policies must continue in order to enjoy these major benefits.

This report comes on the heels of the American Lung Association State of the Air 2014 report, which showed once again that California is home to the top five worst polluted cities in the country for ozone and short-term particle pollution, reinforcing the urgent need to address air pollution in the Golden State.

AB 32, and its suite of policies including the LCFS and C&T seek to address the harmful impacts of this sector by placing an economy-wide cap on greenhouse pollution in the state and reducing lifecycle emissions from transportation fuels. These policies enjoy wide support and will especially benefit lung and heart disease patients, low-income communities, children, teens and seniors, who are disproportionately impacted by air pollution and climate change.

“Driving California Forward shows that we can save lives, protect our environment, and improve our economy all at once. Cleaner air and less pollution are basic rights, not privileges in California. It’s critical we preserve the policies that strengthen the health of our communities and provide a better quality of life for future generations to enjoy,” said Dr. Robert Sawyer, Chair, Advocacy Committee, American Lung Association in California.

Today, Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps announces its expansion into China, the world’s largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Now in its seventh year, EDF Climate Corps is an innovative fellowship program that places specially trained graduate students in companies, cities and universities to save energy, money and the environment.

EDF Climate Corps fellows work to advance energy management within organizations by overcoming barriers to efficiency. By placing fellows in facilities across the U.S. and now China, EDF Climate Corps is closing the gap on resources and information needed to limit energy waste and advance low-carbon energy solutions.

“Climate change is already impacting us and we need to drive solutions for large-scale reductions in energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions that can be applicable anywhere,” Victoria Mills, managing director of EDF Climate Corps said. “By continuing to demonstrate the environmental and financial benefits of advanced energy management, EDF Climate Corps is accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

This summer, EDF will place 117 Climate Corps fellows in 102 host organizations. Five hosts are multinational companies with facilities in China: Apple, Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Cummins and Legrand. As China faces increasing urbanization, EDF Climate Corps’ work there will support greater EDF efforts to advance market-based solutions to reduce emissions and shape the future of building energy efficiency.

While EDF Climate Corps is expanding internationally, the program continues to increase its impact in the United States. Two-thirds of this year’s EDF Climate Corps fellows will work in the nine U.S. states that together consume more than half of the nation’s energy: Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Texas and Florida. In Illinois, EDF Climate Corps joined forces with the City of Chicago to complement the city’s Retrofit Chicago initiative to reduce building energy use by 20 percent over a five-year period. Fellows this summer will support building owners and operators in improving energy performance in some of Chicago’s most prominent commercial buildings, including the Merchandise Mart. 

“As a participant in the City of Chicago’s Retrofit Chicago initiative, it seemed only natural for The Merchandise Mart to work with a fellow, given EDF Climate Corps’ impressive success with building owners,” Mark Bettin, vice president of engineering at Merchandise Mart said. “As the energy market matures in Chicago, we are excited to work with EDF Climate Corps to study newer technologies and refine the building’s demand response capabilities.” 

Also as part of EDF’s alignment with Retrofit Chicago, five area organizations, including Urban Innovations, have signed on to work with EDF Climate Corps as Feature Projects through December 2014 for a deeper dive into their energy performance.

“Urban Innovations is pleased to work with EDF Climate Corps as a Feature Project given that adaptive re-use of existing buildings has always been at the core of our business and embracing sustainable operations and practices is very much a natural evolution for us,” Alfrieda Green, vice president property management at Urban Innovations said. “We look forward to leveraging the expertise and resources of EDF Climate Corps to strengthen our platform and develop an integrated approach to sustainable building operations and capital planning.”

Further, thanks to support from The Wells Fargo Foundation, EDF Climate Corps will continue its partnership with the Building Green Initiative to place fellows in minority-serving institutions to improve energy efficiency within communities most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

“We see EDF Climate Corps as a smart investment that aligns with our business as a leading financer of high-performance energy-efficient buildings,” Stephanie Rico, vice president, Environmental Affairs at Wells Fargo said. “It has returns far beyond cost savings from energy efficiency; it prepares our next generation of leaders who will join us in our efforts to help accelerate a transition to a ‘greener’ economy.”    

Since its launch in 2008, EDF Climate Corps has uncovered more than $1 billion in total energy savings for participating organizations, equivalent to eliminating 260,000 cars from the roads each year. Inspired by EDF Climate Corps’ success, producers for Showtime Network’s Years of Living Dangerously, a documentary series on climate change, tapped EDF to help tell the biggest story of our time. Last summer, producers followed three EDF Climate Corps fellows on their quests to save organizations energy and money. This Monday, May 26 at 8pm, the series will feature EDF Climate Corps and its work with participating organizations Caesars Entertainment, Office Depot and Texas Southern University.

See the full list of organizations and fellows participating in EDF Climate Corps. For more information, please visit edfclimatecorps.org. 

The Colorado River is expected to reunite with the sea – a destination it hasn’t seen in many years – thanks to the “pulse flow.”

Scientists monitoring the flow expect the two waters to meet during high tide tomorrow, May 15, 2014. It will be the first time that water from the Colorado River has completed its journey to the Upper Gulf of California since 1998.

“It is invigorating to know that water from the Colorado River will reach its natural end,” said Jennifer Pitt, Colorado River Project Director at Environmental Defense Fund. “We’ve been missing that connection for a long time.”

“The prospect of the river completing its journey and reconnecting with the sea signals that, if only briefly, a fundamental disruption of nature has been made whole again,” Pitt added.

The pulse flow was made possible by Minute 319, an exemplary water-sharing agreement between the United States and Mexico to provide multiple benefits for water users on both sides of the border. In addition to the pulse flow, the policy framework more broadly allows the U.S. and Mexico to share surpluses in times of plenty and reductions in times of drought, provides incentives for leaving water in storage, and conserves water through joint investments in projects from water users in both countries.

“The pulse flow goes beyond the Colorado River Delta,” Pitt said. “It represents a model for dealing with a changing climate in water stressed regions globally.”

Environmental Defense Fund applauds President Obama’s announcement today to increase energy efficiency in federal buildings, introduce new energy conservation standards for energy-intensive appliances, and advance solar energy development, among others.

“The President should be applauded for addressing the threat of climate change by moving our country toward a safer, healthier clean energy future. Renewable energy and efficiency offer Americans an opportunity to reduce our energy use – and energy costs — while also reducing the pollution that causes climate change. The executive actions announced today will result in sensible energy efficiency improvements, create jobs, and help both families and businesses lower their energy bills.

Today’s announcement is another important aspect of the President’s plan to address climate change. As last week’s National Climate Assessment demonstrated, we have no time to waste. We look forward to the next step, EPA’s expected announcement on June 2^nd of the first-ever limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants, our nation’s largest source of climate pollution.”

• Jim Marston, Vice President, US Climate and Energy, Environmental Defense Fund

(Washington, D.C. – May 9, 2014)  A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today unanimously upheld a clean air standard designed to reduce the soot pollution that leads to serious heart and lung diseases, and designed to improve air quality monitoring that will strengthen clean air protections for major cities. Environmental Defense Fund was a party to this case.    

In an opinion written by Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the court rejected legal challenges to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) national health-based standard for particulate matter, more commonly known as soot. The Judges also rejected legal claims against EPA’s important program to locate air quality monitors near highways in major cities.  

The decision in National Association of Manufacturers v. EPA says:

“Here, we can be brief: Petitioners simply have not identified any way in which EPA jumped the rails of reasonableness in examining the science. EPA offered reasoned explanations for how it approached and weighed the evidence, and why the scientific evidence supported revision of the NAAQS.” (page 6 of the decision)

“The national air quality standards for particulate pollution that were affirmed by the court today provide a bedrock scientific foundation to ensure healthier longer lives for our families,” said EDF attorney Peter Zalzal. “Soot is an extremely dangerous, and sometimes deadly, pollutant that causes heart attacks and asthma attacks. The sooner our nation can work together to reduce the amount of particulate pollution in our air, the sooner those afflicted by this dangerous pollutant can breathe easier.”

The U.S. once had an annual standard for particulate matter of 15 micro grams per cubic meter. Then new and compelling scientific evidence showed that particulate matter could harm human health at that level, and even below it.

In December of 2012, EPA strengthened the national annual standard for particulate pollution to 12 micro grams per cubic meter – a health-based level consistent with recommendations of the independent Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee. 

The National Association of Manufacturers, and the Utility Air Regulatory Group (UARG) — a coalition of large power companies and coal companies — sued to block these health-based air quality standards. A coalition of health and environmental experts — including the American Lung Association, Earthjustice, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club as well as Environmental Defense Fund — defended EPA’s stronger, more protective standard in court. 

This February, Judges Kavanaugh, David Tatel and Janice Rogers Brown of the D.C. Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case. Today all three ruled to uphold the standard.

The stronger, more protective particulate matter standard is just one step EPA has taken recently to reduce dangerous air pollution. The D.C. Court of Appeals upheld anotherthe Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, last month, and the U.S. Supreme Court just ruled in favor of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. 

Full and immediate implementation of the Cross State Air Pollution Rule is one of the single most important measures our nation can take to help address deadly particulate pollution resulting from power plant smokestack emissions, and meet the air quality standards upheld by the court today. 

“Time after time, courts have found that EPA’s clean air standards are solidly based in science and the law,” said Zalzal. “This decision, like the ones before it, will help us ensure longer and healthier lives for all Americans.”

(WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 7, 2014) A new peer-reviewed study, led by scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at UC-Boulder, reports much higher than estimated methane emissions in Colorado’s largest oil and gas region from associated equipment and operations. Accepted today to be published in American Geophysical Union’s Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres, this study is the latest in a series of scientific reports offering substantial evidence that major reductions in methane emissions from this sector are urgently needed. The study also reports that emissions of benzene, a known carcinogen, are seven times higher than official estimates and emissions of smog-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are twice as high as previously estimated.

The NOAA-CIRES study, part of an ongoing methane research effort coordinated by Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), comes on the heels of Colorado’s landmark regulation to limit oil and gas air pollution. Colorado is the first in the nation to directly target methane, which is commonly leaked or vented from oil and gas equipment and facilities. The new rules will curb nearly two hundred thousand tons of combined methane and VOCs annually.

“When it comes to air pollution from the oil and gas industry, Colorado is a state on the leading edge of science and regulation,” said Mark Brownstein, EDF’s associate vice president and chief counsel, US Climate & Energy. “The study underscores the importance of the steps that Colorado is taking to reduce total hydrocarbon pollution – both VOCs and methane – from oil and gas operations. I hope other states and the federal EPA are paying attention to the science and policy emerging in Colorado.”

Total methane emissions were estimated on two days in May 2012 based on methane mixing ratios in the air measured by a specially instrumented aircraft flown around the Denver-Julesburg Basin and on vertically resolved winds measured by two NOAA ground-based instruments. The portion of regional methane emissions attributed to all oil and gas activity was determined by subtracting an emission inventory of other methane sources. The study found that oil and gas operations in the basin emitted roughly 19.3 metric tonnes of methane emissions every hour, which the authors calculate as a leak rate of 4.1 percent (± 1.5) of total gas produced – an estimate almost three times higher than inventory estimates based on 2012 Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule data.

These findings reinforce the fact that methane from the oil and gas sector is a problem requiring prompt action from both industry and policymakers. Methane, the main ingredient in natural gas, is a powerful and short-lived climate pollutant that accelerates the rate of climate change, which is contributing to more frequent and more intense extreme weather events among other serious impacts on public health and welfare. Over one-third of today’s human-caused global warming is caused by short-lived climate pollutants such as methane — and is expected to continue to do so in the absence of action, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Almost universally, recent studies have shown methane leakage rates from this industry are higher than expected nationwide, undercutting the potential climate benefits of natural gas. America’s largest industrial source of methane emissions is the U.S. oil and gas industry. Targeting reductions here is critical for the U.S. to meet its climate goals. Further, the equipment used to capture methane often has the co-benefit of reducing other harmful pollution, including VOCs and toxic air pollutants like benzene. These technologies also reduce the waste of a vital national resource and frequently save producers money through the sale of captured methane.

A recent economic analysis by ICF showed that oil and gas companies can cost-effectively reduce methane emissions by 40 percent in the next five years using available technologies. The report also found that 90 percent of the methane reduction opportunities come from repairing and modifying existing infrastructure, where current EPA regulations only focus on new sources and a limited subset of all oil and gas activities.

For more information on the NOAA-CIRES study, read this blog by EDF Chief Scientist Steve Hamburg.

EDF’s Methane Research Series

In 2012, Environmental Defense Fund spearheaded its largest scientific project to date to advance the understanding of where and how much methane is lost across today’s U.S. natural gas supply chain. This collaborative series involves partnerships with nearly 100 universities, research institutions and oil and gas companies. It is divided into 16 distinct projects that will estimate methane emissions in a given area or from specific pieces of equipment. A range of sophisticated scientific techniques are being deployed across all projects. Insights from this effort are helping inform policies and opportunities to minimize methane emissions from the natural gas supply chain.

(Washington, D.C. – May 6, 2014) A sweeping new national report has found that Americans are feeling the effects of climate change right now, and that those effects are likely to get worse – although our choices today will affect how much damage we’ll see in the future.

President Obama unveiled the Third National Climate Assessment (NCA) today, with the help of several of his cabinet members, other high-ranking government officials, scientists and meteorologists.

“As this important report shows, climate change is hurting Americans today — and will continue to harm our environment, our health and our infrastructure,” said Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). “We need to work together to meet this challenge, starting with federal limits on climate pollution from power plants. We have no time to waste. That’s why it matters so much that President Obama is leading a national conversation about climate change and the extreme weather impacts we’ve all been noticing.”

The NCA is the work of more than 300 experts who looked at all available data on the effects climate change is having on the U.S. It was overseen by a 60-member Federal Advisory Committee and was reviewed by the National Academies of Sciences with input from the public.

The NCA reaches the same essential conclusions on a domestic level as the global IPCC reports that were released earlier this year. These scientific reports found that the evidence indicates, beyond a reasonable scientific doubt, that human-driven emissions of greenhouse gases are causing climate change, that damage from climate change is already occurring, and that we’ll need both mitigation and adaptation to address climate change risks in the future. 

Among the key findings in the NCA:

• “Evidence for climate change abounds …The sum total of this evidence tells an unambiguous story: the planet is warming.”
•  Average U.S. temperatures have increased by 1.3 to 1.9 degrees Fahrenheit since record-keeping began in 1895.  Most of this warming has occurred since 1970.
• The most recent decade was America’s hottest on record.
• The U.S. will likely see more warming in the next few decades – possibly up to another four degrees Fahrenheit in some areas.
• The U.S. is seeing increasingly intense heat waves in the western portion of the country, and increasingly intense flooding in the eastern portion.
• Droughts in the Southwest and heat waves everywhere are projected to become more intense in the future.
• There has been an increase in the overall strength of hurricanes and in the number of strong hurricanes in the North Atlantic since the early 1980’s. The intensity of the strongest hurricanes is projected to continue increasing as the oceans continue to warm.
• Climate change increases the likelihood of water shortages. The western U.S. relies heavily on mountain snowpack for water storage, and spring snowpack is declining in most of the West.
• There have been large reductions in glaciers and permafrost.
•  Summer sea ice in the Arctic has halved since record-keeping began in 1979. 2012 set a new record for minimum area of Arctic ice.
• Over the past century global sea level has risen by about 8 inches. Since 1992, the rate of global sea rise has been roughly twice the rate observed over the last century.
• Sea level rise has increased coastal erosion and storm surge damage in the U.S.
• Sea levels are projected to rise as much as another four feet this century.

The report also has a chapter on how climate change is affecting our ecosystems.

“Healthy ecosystems are the frontline defense against the most extreme impacts of a changing climate,” said Rebecca Shaw, senior scientist and associate vice president of Land, Water and Wildlife at Environmental Defense Fund. “With increasing droughts, floods and hurricanes, we can protect ourselves from such devastating impacts by investing in projects that boost our natural infrastructure and protect our food and water systems.”

According to the NCA, some climate change-related impacts are now unavoidable, and adaptation measures will be necessary, but the U.S. can still act to protect itself:

“[B]eyond the next few decades, the amount of climate change will still largely be determined by choices society makes about emissions. Lower emissions mean less future warming and less severe impacts.”

The U.S. has taken several steps to reduce climate pollution and is expected to take others soon. One major next step is a proposal that will set the first-ever national limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants, which are responsible for 40 percent of all carbon pollution in the U.S. The Obama Administration is expected to unveil that proposal in early June

The U.S. has already taken some steps to reduce climate pollution, and is expected to take others soon. The most important of those will be a proposal to set the first-ever national limits on power plants, which the Obama Administration is expected to unveil that proposal in early June.

“The good news is that because we know what the cause is, we also know what is needed in order to stabilize our planet,” said EDF climate scientist Ilissa Ocko. “We must come together now—locally, nationally, and internationally—and work towards a better future.”

(May 5, 2014—Baton Rouge, LA) Today, the Louisiana House of Representatives unanimously passed House Bill 490, legislation that will protect the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund from misuse. National and local conservation organizations committed to Mississippi River Delta restoration – Environmental Defense Fund, National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation and the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana – issued the following statement:

“The House took a stand for the coast today by unanimously approving House Bill 490. This bill closes the loophole on misuse of the Coastal Fund as a pass-through account. Authored by Representative Brett Geymann (R-Lake Charles), House Bill 490 protects the integrity of the Coastal Fund by ensuring it is used as the law intended: for coastal protection and restoration uses only.

“Transparent and proper use of the Coastal Fund is essential to our state’s coastal restoration efforts. This is especially true as federal decision-makers are deciding how to direct hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties from the Gulf oil disaster. Money transferred into the Coastal Fund should only be used for coastal purposes – not to balance the state’s budget.

“The people of Louisiana deserve the state’s unanimously-passed commitment to comprehensive coastal restoration. We look to the Senate to make the same choice and swiftly pass House Bill 490.”

NEWS RELEASE

Contact:
Joaquin McPeek, jmcpeek@edf.org, 916-492-7173

Senate Bill 1414 (Wolk) was voted out of committee today and is on a clear path to save Californians energy and money. The bill would ensure that state regulators and utilities use demand response programs to lower electricity bills, improve air quality, and enhance electric grid reliability.

“SB 1414 is a win-win for clean energy in California. It saves consumers money, increases the use of clean, renewable energy and reduces harmful emissions and other pollutants by empowering people, rather than power plants, to meet energy demand,” said Lauren Navarro, Attorney and California Senior Manager, Clean Energy.

Demand response is an innovative tool used by utilities to reward people who use less electricity during times of peak, or high, energy demand, when power plants are pushed to their limits and struggle to supply enough electricity. With lower demand, utilities have less need for “peaker” power plants – which are commonly used only to generate power several dozen hours per year and one of the state’s most expensive and least efficient electrical generating resources. With reduced demand easing stress on existing power plants, demand response in turn reduces the need to build new costly and dirty fossil fuel power plants. 

SB 1414 will elevate the role that demand response will play in resource planning, requiring investor-owned utilities to consider it in their resource planning. This would lead to a more competitive and economically efficient electric market.

“This bill highlights the vital role that demand response can play in our state’s clean energy future,” said Navarro. 

(Sacramento, California—April 29, 2014) Today, members of the Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications voted to make methane gas leaks discovery and repair an environmental, safety and economic priority. The bill, SB 1371, authored by Sen. Mark Leno, has dual policy goals: ensure the state maintains a focus on public safety and reduce the harmful climate change effects of fugitive methane.

Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is an extremely potent short-term climate pollutant, with a near-term global warming potential 84 times that of carbon dioxide. Currently, utilities are required to address leaks that pose an imminent threat to public safety.  However, there is no mandate to fix leaks that do not pose a hazard yet still present danger in the form of harmful climate pollution.

According to Tim O’Connor, Director of EDF’s California Climate Initiative, “Not only is natural gas leakage a significant source of global warming pollution if pipes and associated infrastructure leak methane on an ongoing basis, fugitive emissions equate to lost economic value for the state.”

Many climate change experts now warn that the potential climate benefit from the use of natural gas could be undercut if methane emissions are not curtailed. A summary of SB 1371, issued by Senator Leno’s office, states that the legislation will, “determine best practices for leak identification, leak repair, and leak avoidance adapted to the realities of each gas utility.”

The following experts are available for comment on climate impacts of fugitive methane emissions:

Environmental Defense Fund
Tim O’Connor, Director California Climate Initiative: toconnor@edf.org / (916) 549 - 8423

BlueGreen Alliance
Eric Steen, Director of Communications: Erics@bluegreenalliance.org / (612) 466-4488

Utility Workers Union of America
Jerry Acosta, Senior Region V Representative: jacosta@uwua.net / (602) 684-0552