Complete list of press releases

(Washington, D.C. – June 16, 2021) EDF joined nine other public interest organizations this week to support EPA’s efforts to undo a Trump-era rule that left millions of Americans at greater risk from dangerous air pollution and more severe climate change.

In the waning days of its term, the Trump EPA issued a Benefit-Cost Rule that would have made it harder to protect people from dangerous air pollution by distorting how the agency evaluates the benefits that Clean Air Act protections would deliver. Last month EPA Administrator Michael Regan issued an interim rule revoking the Trump-era rule and asked for comments from the public.

EDF and its allies filed a letter with EPA strongly supporting the interim rule.

“The Benefit-Cost Rule failed to acknowledge either the lifesaving benefits of Clean Air Act protections or the severe health harms from air pollution that overburdened communities continue to experience,” the groups say in their letter. “The rule also set arbitrary, unscientific criteria that limited EPA’s consideration of certain types of benefits, without applying comparable restrictions on considering costs. Its requirements would lead to misleading assessments with inaccurately low estimates of benefits, potentially obstructing critically needed public health protections.”

The groups urged EPA to follow up its interim action with a final rule to permanently rescind “this dangerous and unnecessary measure.”

EDF was joined on the letter by Clean Air Task Force, Conservation Law Foundation, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Environmental Protection Network, Institute for Policy Integrity, League of Conservation Voters, Moms Clean Air Force, Sierra Club and Union of Concerned Scientists.

EDF and five allies also filed separate legal and technical comments with EPA, and EDF Legal Fellow Ashley Maiolatesi spoke at a public hearing in support of the rescission last week.

EPA’s review of the Trump-era Benefit-Cost Rule concluded that the rule lacked a rational basis, would have limited EPA’s ability to rely on the best available science, and was not authorized under the Clean Air Act. Multiple analyses have shown that the health and environmental benefits of Clean Air Act protections vastly outweigh the costs. EPA has valued these benefits at more than $2 trillion annually, estimating that benefits between 1990 and 2020 exceeded costs by a factor of at least 30 to 1.

By rescinding the Trump-era rule, EPA removes unnecessary barriers to accounting for the full suite of life-saving benefits, and will be able to rigorously consider public health and environmental benefits when developing future Clean Air Act protections.

(Washington, D.C. – June 15, 2021) The existing regulations administered by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not provide investors or the public with vital information about the serious risks Texas power companies faced from climate change and extreme weather before this winter’s devastating power outages, according to a new report from Environmental Defense Fund and the Brookings Institution.

Winter storms that hit Texas in February caused power outages that lasted for days, led to the deaths of more than 150 people, and caused billions of dollars in damages. Experts at EDF and Brookings reviewed SEC filings of seven Texas companies – three publicly-traded power generators and four publicly-traded utilities – for their report, What Investors and the SEC Can Learn from the Texas Power Crises. They found that this year’s Texas power crisis was a foreseeable possibility, but that possibility – and increased risk from climate change in general – was not rigorously acknowledged in the companies’ financial disclosures.

“The problems that led to this year’s deadly blackouts were extreme, but they are not unique to Texas. The Securities and Exchange Commission must require better information if we’re going to protect people across America from future disasters, and that includes climate-related risk disclosures that don’t leave investors and communities in the dark,” said EDF Lead Counsel and Director of Climate Risk Strategies Michael Panfil. “We must prevent future tragedies like what occurred in Texas, and in order to do that we must act quickly to, among other things, strengthen our regulations for rigorous and reliable climate risk disclosure.”

“Scholars have been amassing evidence that financial markets know very little about how companies and municipalities are exposed to the physical impacts of climate change,” said David G. Victor, professor of innovation and public policy at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy and nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “Extreme events like what happened in Texas could become more common with climate change and offer a window into what firms are telling the markets about their physical exposure.”

What Investors and the SEC Can Learn from the Texas Power Crises analyzes the 10-K reports of the seven companies operating in the Texas power sector. The SEC requires public companies to file 10-Ks each year that disclose financial risks and plans to address them.

However, climate-related risks are often neglected compared to more traditional financial risks.

The report found that the 10-K reports of the Texas companies indicated serious weather events are unexpected, even though Texas has suffered through severe winter weather-related blackouts before. After cold temperatures caused electric failures in the state in 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and North American Electric Reliability Commission urged power generators and utilities to winterize their operations. Since then, climate change made severe weather events more likely, and advances in climate science and risk analysis have made them easier to foresee.

The seven companies studied in What Investors and the SEC Can Learn from the Texas Power Crises largely relied on boiler-plate language in their 10-K filings, did not quantify potential future damages from extreme weather, did not examine the potential that events like the blackouts could become more frequent and severe due to climate change, and did not outline potential plans to manage future extreme weather events.

The report found “consistent underreporting of climate-related risks” from the companies which has resulted in investors, suppliers, customers, and the public receiving information that is “generic and of essentially no value.”

The report concludes:

“We find that although extreme weather events endanger human life, devastate families and communities, and upend business operations and critical services, as manifested in the February 2021 Crisis, prior to the crisis companies did not provide investors with the information needed to evaluate firms’ exposure to the event and its associated risks.”

The report found that the SEC must mandate climate risk disclosures that are rigorous and reliable to elicit a full and transparent accounting of climate-related risks. Specifically, the report recommends the SEC:

• Require disclosure of relevant climate-related information needed to make informed business decisions.
• Recognize that the current system of voluntary disclosure is insufficient, and make climate risk disclosure mandatory.
• Align disclosure requirements with advances in climate science.

The report was cited by the new Initiative on Climate Risk and Resilience Law (ICRRL) in its debut filing with the SEC. It is part of Brookings’s Markets at Risk project which has explored how climate change is affecting financial markets. You can read the entire report here and the appendix here.

(WASHINGTON) Today EDF experts testified as EPA holds listening sessions on advancing new methane protections for new and existing oil and gas facilities, joining hundreds of citizens to call for strengthened standards.

“EDF urges EPA to propose and adopt protective standards for sources across the oil and natural gas sector reflecting the best available science and technology to achieve deep cuts in climate-destabilizing and health-harming pollution,” said EDF legal fellow Edwin LaMair in his testimony.

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas responsible for a quarter of our current global warming. Reducing methane emissions is critical for keeping global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius, and peer-reviewed research shows comprehensive cuts across sectors could avoid a quarter degree of warming by midcentury.

The U.S. oil and gas industry emitted 16 million metric tons of methane in 2019, with a near-term climate impact of 350 coal-fired power plants. Reducing these emissions is the fastest, most cost-effective way to slow the rate of global warming and also reduces harmful co-pollutants such as volatile organic compounds and toxic pollution like benzene that threaten the health of the roughly 9.1 million people in the U.S. living within a half-mile of an existing oil or gas well.

“Standards for oil and gas sources must be designed to benefit communities overburdened with industrial development and polluted air,” said LaMair. “Reducing emissions in these communities is critically important and EPA should ensure these communities are engaged and thoroughly heard as the agency crafts new clean air standards.”

EDF senior scientist David Lyon testified about the characteristics of oil and gas methane emissions and how our scientific understanding of them can support robust regulations.

“Our scientific understanding of oil and gas methane emissions has expanded greatly over the last decade and can inform effective regulations for reducing emissions,” said Dr. Lyon. “Emissions can almost always be mitigated once detected, sometimes with a simple repair to stop a leak, other times by implementing operational and/or equipment changes that improves a site’s efficiency.”

EDF senior attorney Rosalie Winn added in her testimony the importance of addressing outsized emissions from marginal wells, incorporating advanced monitoring, upgrading to zero-emission equipment, and tackling flaring.

“[R]ecent analyses show that most marginal wells are actually owned by large operators.  Accordingly, we urge EPA to eliminate the low-production well exemption,” noted Winn. “Ensuring broad-based coverage of significant emitting sources, including marginal wells, is supported by the latest data and can help to promote clarity and enhance compliance with the standards.”

Strengthening methane emissions rules and accelerating advanced technologies can also be an important driver of job creation. As Winn explained in her testimony, the methane mitigation industry has grown to help oil and gas companies find and fix leaks to reduce emissions and keep natural gas in the pipe. A new report outlines the rapid growth of this sector and its widespread economic footprint across the country.

“Right now, EPA has an unparalleled opportunity to seize on available, cost-effective solutions that have been effectively deployed by states and leading companies to achieve deep reductions in methane emissions in all communities across the country,” she testified.

(Washington, D.C. – June 14, 2021) Experts with the brand new Initiative on Climate Risk and Resilience Law (ICRRL) are calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission to strengthen protections from the dangers of climate change to our nation’s financial system and the millions of people who rely on it to sustain the American economy.

ICRRL is a joint initiative of Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Environmental Defense Fund, the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law, and Vanderbilt Law School. The partnership was formed to drive legal solutions that address societal and economic risks from climate change and to improve climate resilience, including in our financial sectors. ICRRL’s work formally got underway today with the launch of its new website – and with an SEC filing detailing its recommendations for climate change disclosure for businesses.

“Climate change presents grave risk across the U.S. economy, including to corporations, their investors, the markets in which they operate, and the American public at large. Unlike other financial risks, however, climate risk is not routinely disclosed to the public,” ICRRL states in its filing. “The SEC should adopt an approach that recognizes the importance of discussing climate risks in financial disclosure forms. Many impacts of climate change can be quantified and monetized, and should therefore be treated no differently than other financial risks.”

The SEC called for public input about climate change disclosures in March in an announcement that included 15 questions for consideration. Today ICRRL filed its response to that request. Among its recommendations:

• The Commission should establish mandatory climate risk disclosure requirements that produce comparable, specific, and decision-useful information for investors.
• The Commission should move quickly to establish these climate risk disclosure requirements.
• Climate risk disclosure and carbon markets are complementary policies, not substitutes.
• The Commission should solicit stakeholder input on standards, but industry participants should not have the final say.
• Industry-specific standards will help ensure that investors receive sufficiently specific and decision-useful information.
• The Commission should dedicate additional resources to enforcement and subject certain climate risk disclosures to auditing.

ICRRL also recommended adding climate risk line items to financial statements that would allow investors to know, for instance, the value of all climate pollution-producing assets owned or managed by a corporation, the total properties or other assets owned in 100-year flood zones or wildfire-prone areas, any fines or sanctions for non-compliance with environmental laws and regulation, and any plans to reduce climate pollution.

“There is widespread demand for climate risk disclosure among investors,” ICRRL states in its filing. “The proliferation of voluntary standards, many of which have already received considerable buy-in, indicates that the creation of and compliance with robust climate risk disclosure standards is already feasible for both regulators and corporations.”

You can read all of ICRRL’s recommendations in its full filing here.

ICRRL’s experts include: Romany Webb, an Associate Research Scholar at Columbia Law School and Senior Fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law whose research focuses on energy and negative emissions technologies; Michael Panfil, the Director of Climate Risk Strategies at Environmental Defense Fund; Justin Gundlach, an attorney who focuses on state-level energy and climate policy at the Institute for Policy Integrity; and Jack Lienke, an expert on the U.S. Clean Air Act and federal environmental and administrative law at the Institute for Policy Integrity; Jim Rossi, an expert on administrative and energy law at Vanderbilt Law School.

You can read more about ICRRL and its experts and explore some of the work they’ve done so far, on their new website.

A new report shows the U.S. methane mitigation industry has undergone massive growth as state and federal policy makers have acted to reduce methane pollution and waste through new regulatory requirements. Since 2017, the methane mitigation industry’s service sector has nearly doubled in size, while the number of manufacturing firms has grown by one third since 2014.

The report, Find, Measure, Fix: Jobs in the U.S. Methane Mitigation Industry, was authored by Datu Research and offers a comprehensive assessment of this growing business sector and the jobs it creates. The report identified more than 200 companies with over 750 locations across the country that provide products and services to help the oil and gas industry reduce emissions.

“In recent years we’ve seen a range of operators – from small independent producers to multi-national companies – embrace methane reductions as a critical part of doing business,” said Andrew Baxter, Director of Energy Strategy for Environmental Defense Fund. “Sensible methane standards that apply nationwide will even the playing field among operators and yield significant benefits to the economy and the environment.”

Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas responsible for 25% of today’s global warming. It is also the main component of natural gas and represents wasted product when released into the atmosphere. EDF estimates U.S. oil and gas companies emit upwards of 16 million metric tons of methane annually, representing $3 billion worth of wasted gas.

“People think you have to choose between a healthy economy and a healthy environment but the fact of the matter is we have 25 years of proof that reducing methane saves money, creates jobs and protects our climate,” said Audrey Mascarenhas, President and CEO of Questor, one of the companies profiled in the report. “It’s a win-win-win that can be achieved very cost-effectively and can be done right now to have a great impact on quality of life for all.”

As the Environmental Protection Agency and several states advance rules to limit methane pollution from oil and gas operations, the demand for services and products from this sector is expected to grow. According to the report survey, 75% of manufacturing firms and 88% of service firms anticipate hiring more employees if future state or federal methane emission policies were implemented, as is expected.

This week, EPA is preparing to gather public input as it moves forward to reduce methane pollution from new and existing oil and gas sources. Additionally, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration plans to develop new standards requiring the use of commercially available advanced leak detection technologies to control methane emissions from the nation’s gas pipelines. The agency also recently announced that pipeline operators must, before the end of this year, detail how they plan to minimize methane releases. Meanwhile, other jurisdictions including the states of New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Colorado and the Navajo Nation are also in the process of finalizing new requirements to reduce pollution and waste from the oil and gas industry.

“We have seen the methane mitigation industry grow for more than 15 years,” said Craig O’Neill, Director of Business Development for Teledyne FLIR, a company that provides optical gas imaging equipment services to the oil and gas industry. “During this time, we are proud to have provided the key imaging technology that has helped create jobs by empowering operators to reduce emissions all the while increasing efficiency in production.”

Recognizing the value in reducing this waste and associated pollution, many oil and gas companies, trade associations and investors representing over $5.3 trillion in assets support robust federal methane rules. This report underscores that smart methane policies drive job creation and grow local economies, all while curbing pollution and protecting air quality.

The report demonstrates that sensible policies from governments and companies to reduce methane waste and pollution can stimulate job growth in a field that offers good, high-paying jobs that can’t be offshored. According to the report, the starting salary for methane mitigation jobs is nearly 10% higher than the national average, while employees can earn upwards of $140,000. Additionally, most of the firms in this sector (70%) are small businesses, which are known engines of economic growth.

“Jobs in the methane reduction industry have been growing rapidly and will continue to do so as more and more companies, their investors, and the general public demand cleaner energy production,” said Isaac Brown, Executive Director of the Center for Methane Emissions Solutions. “Reinstating and expanding methane limits for the oil and gas industry will undoubtedly help grow good-paying jobs across the country in this innovative sector.”

(HARRISBURG, Pa. – June 14, 2021) Today, Pennsylvania State Senator Carolyn Comitta and Representative Dianne Herrin announced Senate Bill (S.B.) 15, and House Bill (H.B.) 1565, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Investments Act, an effort that will invest millions in proceeds from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) back into Pennsylvania communities to create jobs, protect workers, reduce consumer bills and address pollution in overburdened communities. The bill includes funding for an Environmental Justice Communities Trust Fund and an Energy Communities Trust Fund, ensuring proceeds of RGGI go to high priority areas of need.

“Sen. Comitta and Rep. Herrin are showing how to lead on climate by addressing the issue head-on and in doing so are listening to the majority of Pennsylvanians who want action. S.B.15 and H.B. 1565 will help ensure meaningful cuts to Pennsylvania’s carbon emissions as we work to meet the climate goals laid out by Gov. Wolf and President Biden. The time for deflection and delay is long past – these bills make clear that we need to act on climate and make investments in Pennsylvania communities now. These investments can help lift up communities impacted by pollution, as well as the workers and communities impacted by the energy transition that is well underway. As the governor reiterated this morning, linking to RGGI will support job creation and improve public health as Pennsylvania charts a course in the new energy economy that is urgently needed as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The bills represent a proactive approach to addressing the state’s carbon pollution problem and aligns with the over 70% of Pennsylvanians in recent polling who want a reduction in carbon emissions from the state’s power sector, the fourth dirtiest in the nation. The RGGI program has been under active consideration and discussion in Pennsylvania for several years, with a widely-attended public hearing in December and with multiple advisory committees voting in recent weeks in favor of advancing a final rule to link the state with RGGI.

RGGI is a cap-and-invest program with quarterly auctions of carbon allowances purchased by polluters that generate proceeds for participating states. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Investments Act leverages these proceeds through investments in clean energy and energy efficiency and helps provide fairness to workers and communities impacted by the energy transition and air pollution. It is estimated that RGGI can bring over $500 million in proceeds to Pennsylvania in the first year alone. These investments can accelerate job creation and cement the state’s role as a leader in the transforming energy economy, while growing the state’s role as a net energy exporter.

• Mandy Warner, Director of Climate and Clean Air Policy, Environmental Defense Fund

(June 11, 2021) EDF filed comments in two matters related to clean vehicles today, as the momentum for increased deployment of zero-emission cars, trucks and buses in America continues to surge ahead.

“People across the country are racing to join the effort to transition to zero-emission vehicles that will save lives, create American jobs, and protect our climate. With these comments, EDF is supporting both California’s authority and its latest efforts to lead the charge,” said EDF senior attorney Alice Henderson.

In Washington, D.C., EDF joined 11 other heath, environmental and science groups to file comments with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration supporting its proposal to reverse a Trump-era rule that undermined states’ clean cars authority.

The Clean Air Act directs EPA to grant California waivers of federal preemption to set more protective standards for vehicular air pollution, and allows other states to adopt them. That right has been established for more than half a century. Thirteen states (Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington) and the District of Columbia have adopted California’s greenhouse gas and zero-emission vehicle standards.

Then in 2019, the Trump Administration – through both NHTSA and EPA – took the unprecedented and unlawful step of declaring state greenhouse gas and zero-emission vehicle standards preempted under federal law and revoking that waiver. In today’s comments, EDF and its allies urged NHTSA to finalize a repeal of its part of the Trump Administration’s action.

EDF was joined on the comments by the Center for Biological Diversity, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Communities for a Better Environment, Conservation Law Foundation, Earthjustice, Consumer Federation of America, Environment America, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., Public Citizen, Inc., Sierra Club, and Union of Concerned Scientists.

You can read the full filing here.

While the Biden administration considers that matter, California is moving forward with the development of historic next generation multipollutant standards that will eliminate tailpipe pollution from cars, trucks and SUVs by 2035, reinforcing the importance of its longstanding role and authority under the Clean Air Act. EDF submitted technical comments to the state’s Air Resources Board today supporting a “rigorous and transformative” program that ensures all new passenger vehicles sold in California will be zero-emission by 2035. The Air Resources Board is expected to issue a proposed rule by Fall.

You can read EDF’s full comments here.

“Building a healthier, safer environment for the communities most impacted by pollution requires committed leaders who are willing to tackle environmental injustice head-on. We thank Sen. Booker and Rep. McEachin for introducing legislation today to clean up many of the worst sources of legacy pollution that have plagued these communities for generations.

“Among other important provisions, the Environmental Justice Legacy Pollution Cleanup Act of 2021 will provide funding to replace lead water pipes, remediate lead-based paint in low-income homes, replace air polluting school buses with zero-emission buses, and fund urban tree planting initiatives to plant tens of millions of trees in low-income communities.

“Lead service lines – the lead pipes connecting homes to drinking water mains under the street – are more likely to be located in low-income communities and communities of color. Exposure to lead has been shown to cause harm to children’s brain development as well as putting adults at higher risk of heart disease. The funding in this bill will address the inequities of our country’s toxic legacy of lead service lines.

“This bill also strives to improve air quality by replacing most diesel school buses with zero emission school buses in the most disadvantaged school districts. Diesel school buses emit high levels of pollution, leading to dirty air that puts children – especially in low-income communities – at risk for respiratory illness, heart disease and reduction in cognitive performance.

“Sen. Booker and Rep. McEachin have long been champions for environmental justice, and we applaud them for their continued leadership in the fight for clean air, clean water and healthy communities for everyone.”

• Elizabeth Gore, Senior Vice President for Political Affairs

The State Senate yesterday confirmed Rory Christian, former Director of New York Clean Energy at Environmental Defense Fund from 2013 to 2019, as Commissioner of the New York State Public Service Commission. As a member of the Commission, Christian will work to regulate the state’s electric, gas, steam, telecommunications, and water utilities.

“Rory Christian is a proven leader that will help guide New York toward a clean, healthy and affordable future. His breadth of experience will serve to meet the state’s climate challenges and achieve the goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act to protect families, vulnerable communities and the environment.”

• Mary Barber, Director, Regulatory and Legislative Affairs

“EPA’s announcement today that it will reconsider strengthening our protections against particle pollution is a vital step towards fulfilling the agency’s legal obligation to protect the health of all people. Our current standards for this dangerous pollutant are inadequate to safeguard Americans against the heart attacks, asthma attacks and premature deaths that are linked to it. The previous administration’s refusal to strengthen our national health-based standards for deadly particles was not based on rigorous science, and it burdened frontline communities as it did not consider the environmental justice impacts of insufficiently protective standards.

“We now urge EPA to act swiftly and avoid any further delay in reviewing these crucial clean air safeguards, and to put truly protective, science-based standards in place. Millions of people across America have been living with unhealthy, and sometimes lethal, levels of particle pollution for far too long.”

- Rachel Fullmer, Environmental Defense Fund senior attorney

Today, ten of the nation’s leading environmental organizations, including League of Conservation Voters, Environmental Defense Fund, Climate Power, NRDC Action Fund, National Wildlife Federation, Climate Reality Project, Interfaith Power & Light, Earthjustice, Environment America, and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, are kicking off a week of action on climate change. The groups will be rallying their millions of members to contact their representatives in Congress and ask them to speak out on the importance of climate and justice investments in President Biden’s landmark American Jobs Plan.

With a summer of extreme heat, unprecedented drought, record-breaking superstorms, and devastating wildfires already underway, the American public is calling for bold action to reduce carbon pollution that contributes to climate change and accelerate the transition to clean energy. The American Jobs Plan would transform American infrastructure, rebuild the economy, create good-paying, family-sustaining jobs, jumpstart clean energy development, and fight climate change in the process. It also commits 40% of the benefits of these investments to communities who’ve historically borne the brunt of pollution and environmental injustices.

“The American Jobs Plan highlights the importance of building a comprehensive infrastructure plan that centers climate, resilience, workers, and local communities,” said Abby Tinsley, Associate Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs at the National Wildlife Federation. “This transformative proposal represents a significant step forward for addressing climate change, investing in natural infrastructure, and moving toward a carbon-free economy.”

“The Clean Electricity Standard (CES) is a critical element in the American Jobs Plan that would propel our nation towards 21st century infrastructure, economic growth, and environmental equity,” said Jennifer Rennicks, Senior Policy and Communications Director at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “A Clean Electricity Standard will help us get to a 100% carbon-free electric grid by 2035 and serve as the cornerstone for our broader clean energy transformation that could create millions of well-paying jobs, improve public health, and reduce bills.”

“The American people deserve a healthier and more secure future, and that requires an economy that embraces the clean energy revolution,” said John Bowman, senior advisor to the NRDC Action Fund. “The American Jobs Plan is a promise to our kids and their kids that they will inherit a stronger country and a planet on the mend. We can’t let them down.”

“We’re asking our two million members to go all-in to demand action. Congress needs to go bold and pass an American Jobs Plan that dramatically cuts climate pollution from transportation and power plants, prioritizes environmental justice, and creates good jobs. This is a pivotal moment for climate action,” says Elizabeth Gore, Senior Vice President Political Affairs, Environmental Defense Fund.

“We need to be quick, sweeping, and ambitious if we want to stem the impacts of the climate crisis and secure Americans’ rights to clean air, clean water, and a healthy climate,” said Jessica Ennis, Legislative Director for Climate and Energy at Earthjustice. “The American Jobs Plan is the kind of bold legislation we need to quickly and equitably reduce our emissions and create a booming clean energy economy that leaves none of our underserved communities behind.”

“This is our climate moment, the moment we can create millions of jobs AND tackle climate change,” said Climate Power Executive Director Lori Lodes. “Halting the worst

impacts of the climate crisis means passing the American Jobs Plan. And it means we need lawmakers in Washington DC to understand their constituents are demanding they support this plan to build a better future that stops climate change, creates jobs, and brings

justice to people long left behind.”

“Climate action is our greatest chance to stimulate economic growth and enable an equitable national recovery from COVID-19,” said Hal Connolly, policy director at The Climate Reality Project. “The American Jobs Plan is a necessary investment in our collective future, and voters overwhelmingly support these common-sense measures to create good-paying, green jobs, fight the climate crisis, and support equity and opportunity in communities most impacted by environmental injustice. This is a make-or-break moment to finally modernize our national infrastructure and accelerate a just transition to a clean energy economy. We can’t afford to let this critical opportunity pass us by.”

“Ever-worsening hurricanes, droughts and forest fires don’t have to be our future,” said Lisa Frank, executive director of Environment America’s Washington Legislative Office. “We can power our lives with clean, green, renewable energy, and we can do it more easily and cheaply than ever before. Environment America, our 29 state offices and our members across the country are urging Congress to tackle the two largest sources of global warming pollution by investing in clean energy and clean transportation this year.”

“This summer is our best chance in history to enact transformational economic recovery and climate legislation into law,” said LCV President Gene Karpinski. “It’s time for Congress to pass the full American Jobs Plan — the plan that centers climate, clean energy, high-quality jobs, and justice and has the backing of labor unions, environmental justice leaders, businesses, local leaders from across the country, and the vast majority of voters on both sides of the aisle.”

“We need bold economic recovery and infrastructure legislation that safeguards Creation, addresses the harms of climate change and pollution caused by fossil fuel extraction and related industries, and creates family and community sustaining jobs while fulfilling our moral obligation to leave a habitable world for future generations,” said Rev. Susan Hendershot, President at Interfaith Power & Light.

“Today’s announcement from General Motors that it will support the California Framework and national clean car standards that accelerate the pathway to zero-emitting vehicles is very welcome news. GM is again showing its leadership as the nation transitions to cleaner cars, freight trucks and buses.

“On his first day in office, President Biden issued an executive order that began the process of modernizing the American auto industry, making our air cleaner, and cutting climate pollution from its largest source. Today’s action by GM demonstrates that companies seeking to prosper in the new global marketplace of zero-emitting vehicles — and take responsible action on climate change — will rise to the President’s challenge.

“If we’re going to reduce pollution and compete with Europe and China, we’ll need bold action from both the public and private sectors. That means moving to zero-emission new cars by 2035 and zero-emission new trucks and buses by 2040. That will require rigorous emission standards that eliminate harmful climate and air pollution, and investments that ensure these clean zero-emitting vehicles are built by American workers.

“Together, the government and the auto industry can act to create jobs, reduce pollution in our communities, and save families money at the gas pump. GM’s announcement today is a signal that progress towards that cleaner future is becoming unstoppable.”

- Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund

(Raleigh – June 9, 2021) Today Governor Roy Cooper issued an executive order that will rapidly expand North Carolina’s offshore wind industry, setting bold targets for 2030 and 2040. This commitment can help North Carolina reach its Clean Energy Plan goal of a 70% reduction in power sector emissions by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050.

“The Governor’s announcement of Executive Order 218 today signals that North Carolina isn’t watching from the sidelines when it comes to offshore wind - our state is ready to seize the moment and claim billions of dollars for the state’s economy while reaping the priceless benefits of a cleaner, healthier, more resilient energy system. The joint effort, spanning the Department of Commerce, Department of Environmental Quality, and the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, demonstrates the broad consensus around benefits that offshore wind, and its manufacturing base, will bring to North Carolina workers and communities.

The bold targets set by this order, and the creation of the Offshore Wind Interagency Workgroup underscores the state’s commitment to leading on offshore wind, and puts the state in a strong position to compete for as much of the burgeoning $140 billion industry as possible.

Meeting North Carolina’s climate and clean energy goals will require a combination of smart policies to reduce carbon pollution and accelerate clean energy. Offshore wind will play a key role in reducing power sector carbon pollution with proven, reliable, pollution-free energy.”

• Michelle Allen, Project Manager for Environmental Defense Fund’s North Carolina Political Affairs team at EDF

(Boulder, Co — June 8, 2021) With a final vote today, the Colorado House of Representatives sent an amended version of HB21-1266 (“Environmental Justice Disproportionate Impacted Community)” to the Governor’s desk. The legislation establishes an enhanced framework for improving environmental justice outcomes in Colorado, including by strengthening air pollution monitoring and centering equity in decision-making through the creation of a task force with robust community representation.

As amended, the bill also includes some limited climate provisions designed to provide further direction to the Air Quality Control Commission as it implements existing state law requiring the adoption of regulations to cut climate pollution 26% by 2025, 50% by 2030 and 90% by 2050 below 2005 levels. While the further direction on industrial and oil and gas sector emissions represents some progress, a huge responsibility remains for the Air Quality Control Commission to fully and comprehensively address their clear obligation under existing Colorado law to cut pollution at the pace and scale consistent with scientific recommendations.

“With important leadership from the legislature, HB21-1266 makes progress on Colorado’s mandate to address air pollution in disproportionately-impacted communities. Yet even with the passage of this bill, Colorado remains far off track from achieving its science-based climate goals. As intensifying climate impacts threaten Colorado’s communities and economy, the Air Quality Control Commission has a responsibility to implement existing law and adopt a comprehensive set of regulations that meets the urgency of the climate crisis,” said Pam Kiely, Associate Vice President of U.S. Climate at EDF.

Colorado is far off track for meeting its 2025 and 2030 targets for reducing climate pollution. According to EDF’s analysis of the amended bill, these new provisions will not get the state back on course:

• Nearly half (48%) of Colorado’s greenhouse gas emissions are not covered by the new provisions, leaving pollution sources such as fossil fuel use untouched by the bill’s new sectoral targets.
• While Colorado is required to slash pollution across the economy by at least 26% by 2025, the state is currently projected to achieve only a 13% reduction. Despite the urgency, the legislation only outlines a specific 2025 reduction requirement for one sector — which is not sufficient to close the gap.
• This lack of near-term action could result in roughly 100 million metric tons of additional climate pollution over the upcoming decade.

(WASHINGTON – June 8, 2021) A paper published in the journal Nature Communications today on World Oceans Day finds that public and private investment lags far behind what’s needed to ensure a thriving, resilient and sustainable ocean economy — but that solutions exist.

The paper, “Financing a sustainable ocean economy,” is authored by an international group of economists and ocean policy experts. It identifies key barriers to financing and ways to mitigate them in order to support jobs, livelihoods, food security, nutrition and ocean health. Environmental Defense Fund’s Executive Vice President Amanda Leland and Senior Director for Oceans Climate Strategies Tim Fitzgerald are among the paper’s co-authors.

“In the fishing industry, women experience unequal access to capital to start or grow their own business, despite making up nearly half (60 million) of the global workforce,” said Leland. “This has real consequences for their ability to earn a stable living and provide for their families. While better financing is needed for the entire ocean economy, women especially need more and better financing options.”

A sustainable ocean economy requires more and better financing that generates, invests, aligns and accounts for financial capital to achieve sustained ocean health and governance, the paper states. Ocean finance can play a vital role in supporting sustainable development of the ocean economy by directing investment to activities and policies that minimize risk while maximizing social equity and environmental sustainability. However, the current finance gap for achieving this vision is large, the authors conclude, and access to sustainable investment capital remains limited and not equitably distributed.

The paper estimates the size of the global ocean economy — including shipping, fishing, offshore wind, tourism and marine biotechnology — to be USD $1.5 trillion, and prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, projected to grow to USD $3 trillion by 2030.

The paper notes four main barriers to increasing sustainable ocean finance: a weak policy and regulatory environment for attracting finance; a lack of high-quality, investable projects with appropriate deal size and risk-return ratios; too few projects that are attractive to investors; and a higher relative risk profile of ocean investments compared to land investments.

The paper points out that human-caused climate change and unsustainable use of the ocean and its resources has led to the depletion of fish populations and biodiversity, and increased pollution and habitat damage — and that a total of 66% of the ocean will experience impacts in key areas. These impacts will “affect the global ocean economy through impacts on livelihoods, food security, and income of marine resource dependent communities, and is expected to be worse in the tropics. Further, the ocean’s role in supporting cultural, recreational, and intrinsic values for human well-being is likely to be diminished due to the projected long-term loss and degradation of marine ecosystems,” the paper states.

“These costs and projected impacts from climate change are precisely why — on this World Oceans Day — global governments must come together with the same urgency as the Paris climate agreement to declare sustainable ocean economy financing as a central pillar in our fight for a sustainable, equitable and livable planet,” said Fitzgerald.

The paper’s authors find several opportunities for action for a more sustainable ocean economy, including:

· Establish effective and stable regulatory and policy environments to attract investment and funding.

· Strengthen knowledge, data and human capacity.

· Stop existing financing and insuring activities that undermine a sustainable ocean economy (e.g., harmful fishing subsidies).

· Increase and redirect public investment toward a sustainable ocean economy.

· Boost new approaches to insurance to de-risk sustainable ocean investments.

· Develop public-private partnerships to stimulate the flow of investible ocean deals.

“A lack of financing can scupper even the best ocean policies and practices,” says Leland. “Our paper seeks to highlight the current barriers to financing a sustainable ocean economy, offer solutions to overcome these barriers, and help transition to an ocean economy that is viable and inclusive for all, especially women, youth and indigenous communities.”