Complete list of press releases

(AUSTIN, TX) A report released today by Environmental Defense Fund and grid reliability expert Alison Silverstein concludes that Texas’ competitive electricity market can meet future demand growth, increase grid resilience and keep energy costs down by leveraging demand-side solutions like energy efficiency, demand response and energy storage.

This report is the first to clearly outline the relationship between supply and demand for resource adequacy in Texas and present how demand-side resources can fit within Texas’ existing competitive electricity market.

Download “Resource Adequacy Challenges in Texas: Unleashing Demand-Side Resources in the ERCOT Competitive Market.”

“ERCOT’s successful competitive market has relied almost solely on the supply side of the equation,” said report author Alison Silverstein. “Demand-side management is ready for prime time, and Texas is ready for a new wave of market competition that will keep the lights on, keep costs down and reduce climate emissions and local air pollution.”

Demand-side resources include energy efficiency, demand response, distributed generation, energy storage, and a variety of automation and energy management systems. Demand-side options serve customers directly and can be aggregated and integrated onto the grid as resources to balance supply by enhancing real-time grid operations and long-term resource adequacy.

Products, technology and programs that reduce or manage electric demand have always been part of ERCOT’s competitive market. But they have not been used as much as they could to spur competition, create jobs and help maintain a safe reserve margin. Meeting electricity demand continues to be accomplished primarily by increasing generation capacity to meet projected total demand.

“Texas’ growing population and more extreme heat days caused by climate change will continue to strain our electric grid, endanger public health and disproportionately burden low-income communities who can’t afford to crank up the A/C,” said John Hall, Director, Regulatory & Legislative Affairs for EDF. “We cannot build our way out of this. Demand-side solutions are the cheapest sources of new electricity. They’re certainly cheaper than building new power plants, and they are often more cost-effective than utility scale wind and solar.”

“EDF was instrumental in changing Texas law twenty years ago to throw out a Texas-sized Welcome Mat to renewable energy, and in came the investment and innovation,” said Pat Wood III, president of Hunt Energy Network and former chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. “If you want to see the future of electric power, look at Texas’ ERCOT market. And if you want to really understand the drivers, read Alison Silverstein’s excellent report. She and EDF have put forth a reasonable set of proposals to ensure the ERCOT market continues to deliver value and benefits for customers.”

The report outlines specific policies and market protocols Texas leaders can pursue to maximize demand-side resource potential. For example:

• Eliminate barriers to competition: Texas should eliminate the legislative and regulatory barriers that make it harder or less attractive to deploy demand-side resources, including any barriers to their participation in the ERCOT competitive market.
• Rely more heavily on energy efficiency: Energy efficiency measures, standards, programs and requirements should be strengthened, and local governments should be allowed to set higher or more aggressive standards for their region.
• Maximize energy impact of state funding: The state should require that any facilities planning renewable energy additions that use public funds first undergo an energy efficiency audit to ensure that the resulting project uses public money prudently, to save energy overall and to avoid over-investing in unnecessary infrastructure.
• Support local and government investment: The state should create new funding mechanisms to support local and governmental investments in demand-side management programs and technology.

“We know that the COVID-19 pandemic will have a significant economic impact on Texas and electric demand,” said Hall. “However, we expect the trends outlined in this report to hold true for the next decade. Texas will continue to grow, summer temperatures will continue to rise, and electricity demand will increase. Texas will bounce back, and we think smart electricity policy will help us bounce back better and smarter.”

(WASHINGTON, D.C. –  May 14, 2020) The majority of gene edited crops will no longer be subject to oversight by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under revised regulations issued today by the Trump Administration.

Multiple environmental groups, consumer organizations, biotech crop developers and food industry stakeholders have expressed concerns with provisions that allow crop developers to self-determine whether their products are subject to regulation and release products into the market without any record.

“The public should be able to trust that USDA ensures a safe and transparent path to developing a climate resilient food supply, but this rule undermines that trust.

“Concerns about oversight, risk assessment and transparency were ignored in the USDA rule released today, which reverses the requirement that USDA provide safety evaluations prior to release of most genetically engineered plants into the environment, unless the crop developer requests the evaluation. 

“While we support efforts to reduce the time and expense of bringing new products to the marketplace, this decision to largely deregulate gene edited plants is shortsighted and irresponsible.

“This rule will result in inadequate safeguards for human health and the environment, and the lack of transparency is likely to undermine consumer support of genetically edited products.

“While the majority of gene edited crops are likely to be safe and beneficial to society, enhancing food security as climate extremes threaten crop yields, the adopted regulations threaten rather than increase our potential to use this technology.”

• Doria Gordon, lead senior scientist, Environmental Defense Fund

(Washington, D.C. – May 8, 2020) Environmental Defense Fund will sue EPA if the agency does not does not release documents related to the rollback of America’s popular and successful Clean Car Standards.

EDF sent a formal Notice of Intent to Sue to EPA and Administrator Andrew Wheeler today.

“The Clean Car Standards protect human health and the environment, and save families money. The Trump administration’s rollback will cause more than 18,000 premature deaths, as well as more asthma attacks and other lung problems, and will cost Americans hundreds of billions of dollars at the gas pump,” said EDF lead attorney Peter Zalzal. “The Trump administration’s withholding of these documents is highly irregular and undermines the American people’s right to know what their government is doing – especially in light of the profound impact this rollback will have on human health and climate security.”

The documents in question were first revealed in a letter from U.S. Senator Tom Carper to EPA’s Inspector General. They reportedly show that EPA career staff were blocked from even seeing the replacement rule for the Clean Car Standards – a rule that the agency is supposed to have co-authored. The documents also reportedly show that when EPA career staff were allowed to offer technical comments, they were instructed to do so in hardcopy, in an apparent attempt to avoid legally required public release.

The Clean Air Act requires that EPA add all interagency review materials to the public rulemaking docket so the public can see them. While some of these materials are now in the docket, the documents described in Senator Carper’s letter are missing.

EPA’s failure to docket key materials is the latest development in a rulemaking process that was rife with other errors and irregularities. The omission is especially notable because of other documents that EPA has made public, which indicate that administration officials believe the rollback is legally vulnerable. The public documents include a White House email transmitting interagency comments that states, “The legal justification is lacking in actual justification for the Final Rule. It does not do enough to explain why 1.5 is the right stringency level as a matter of fact or why it is proper as a matter of law.” (Document docketed here, titled “3-19-2020 Interagency Comments.”)

If EPA does not disclose the documents mentioned in Senator Carper’s letter, EDF can file suit in 60 days in federal district court. EDF has also said that, in addition to this lawsuit over the withholding of critical documents, it intends to take legal action over the rollback of the Clean Car Standards in the near future.

(Washington, D.C. – May 6, 2020) Tomorrow a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will hear oral argument via teleconference in a case about dangerous, and often deadly, air pollution that blows across state borders. New York, New Jersey, Environmental Defense Fund and several allies are parties to the case.

New York, the city of New York, and New Jersey are suing EPA for failing to protect millions of New Yorkers from smog-forming pollution from upwind coal smokestacks, industrial facilities, and oil and gas activities in neighboring states. New York petitioned EPA for help protecting human health and restoring clean air under the Good Neighbor provisions of the Clean Air Act, which are designed to handle such problems, but EPA denied the petition.

“Smog does not respect state lines. The lives and health of millions of people in New York are at risk because of deadly air pollution from neighboring states,” said EDF attorney Liana James. “The Good Neighbor provisions of the Clean Air Act exist so that downwind states don’t have to struggle with dangerous pollution alone. EPA must carry out its responsibility under the Clean Air Act to enforce these safeguards and protect people.”

Smog is linked to premature deaths, asthma attacks and long-term lung damage. States that are working to reduce smog are often undermined by the dirtier air that blows across their borders from coal plants and other sources in upwind states. A new study found that, in most states, about half the premature deaths caused by poor air quality are linked to pollution that blows in from other states. In New York, almost two-thirds of those premature deaths are due to cross-state air pollution.

The Clean Air Act obligates EPA to safeguard downwind states against smog-forming pollution from coal-fired power plants and other sources in upwind states, under what are known as the Good Neighbor provisions. In March of 2018, New York asked EPA for help with pollution from hundreds of sources in nine upwind states: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. New York argued that that out-of-state pollution significantly interfered with its ability to meet national health-based smog standards, but EPA denied the state’s petition.

New York, the city of New York, and New Jersey then sued. EDF, the Adirondack Council, and Sierra Club are supporting the states in court.

Trump’s EPA has also denied requests from Maryland and Delaware for help with dangerous border-crossing pollution. Both states sued; EDF is part of a coalition of health, environmental and community groups supporting those states in court as well. The D.C. Circuit is now deliberating on that case.

Oral argument in New York, the city of New York, and New Jersey’s case will be held by teleconference at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow by judges Srinivasan, Griffith and Millett. Audio of the oral argument will be live-streamed – you can listen to it here.

(AUSTIN, TX) In an online hearing today, the Texas Railroad Commission turned its attention to the enormous volume of needless waste and pollution generated by the oil and gas industry’s practice of venting and flaring off millions of tons of methane every year. The renewed focus on flaring came as commissioners ended talk of capping state oil production through a process called proration. 

Chairman Wayne Christian reinforced concerns raised by large and small producers, mineral rights groups, investors, and environmental advocates, noting flaring is “not something that is going to go away when the industry recovers, unless we do something about it now.” Chairman Christian has instructed a panel of industry trade groups to provide recommendations to reduce flaring for the commission’s June 16 hearing.

“Flaring has remained high on the list of industry and stakeholder concerns on both sides of the proration debate. In fact, the calls for action have only become louder. It would be a huge mistake for companies or the commissioners to ignore them. Nor can the commission hand the problem back to industry alone to deal with. The spectrum of voices speaking out on flaring these past few weeks shows the range of stakeholders who need to be at the table.

“New data highlights the urgency to reduce what is now both a major source of local and climate pollution. Flaring and methane emissions are two halves of the same problem. Reducing waste and pollution from routine flaring should be part of both short and long-term solutions as operators and the Railroad Commission consider different paths back from the current crisis.”

• Colin Leyden, Director, Regulatory and Legislative Affairs

(WASHINGTON – May 5, 2020) EDF today announced it is joining “RISE UP – A Blue Call to Action” joining dozens of civil society and philanthropic organizations urging governments and businesses to take bold actions to safeguard the ocean.

Our ocean biodiversity is in deep crisis. Collapsing fish populations, coral reef die-offs and disappearing ocean wildlife are evidence of the escalating ocean threats brought about by overfishing, ocean warming, acidification, habitat loss, pollution and multiple other stressors. Taken together, these threats are eroding the ocean’s ability to function as a planetary life support system, including providing food security, jobs and poverty alleviation for millions of people around the world.

“Our oceans are essential to all life on earth and they need greater protection, particularly in light of the added stresses brought on by climate change. Our ability to feed the planet, provide secure jobs, alleviate poverty and bolster human well-being depends on the health of our oceans,” said Eric Schwaab, senior vice president for EDF Oceans. “That’s why today EDF is joining our partners at Oceano Azul Foundation, Ocean Unite and Oak Foundation, along with many other committed supporters, to join the Blue Call to Action to protect our oceans — so people and nature can prosper together.”

The RISE UP initiative was started in May 2019, when the Oceano Azul Foundation partnered with Ocean Unite and Oak Foundation to bring together representatives of fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, ocean conservation organizations and foundations to agree on common priorities and solutions needed to tackle the ocean crisis and raise the level of ambition for action.

Despite mounting scientific evidence of the severity of the accumulating threats to the world’s oceans, the international response by governments and businesses has not been enough to defend the ocean’s biodiversity and its vital capacity to sustain marine life, produce oxygen, sequester carbon and provide food and livelihoods for billions of people, EDF said.

“We are entering one of the most important decades for ocean conservation in our lifetimes,” said Schwaab. “The decisions we make in the coming years — at the international, national and local levels — will determine the future health of the oceans for centuries to come.”

By partnering with RISE UP, EDF is joining an influential group of ocean conservation organizations and foundations, indigenous peoples and fishers all committed to spearheading bold solutions needed to tackle the ocean challenges we face.

As countries engage in international discussions about biodiversity, ocean conservation and climate change, RISE UP has issued a blueprint for the actions needed to ensure the protection of the ocean and the people who depend on it. The EDF Oceans Program underscored the importance of the following platform elements:

- Sustainably manage the world’s fisheries and safeguard the livelihoods they support; stop overfishing and destructive fishing; and protect and restore threatened and endangered species, habitats and ecological functions. 

- Strengthen the ability of local coastal communities, indigenous peoples and small-scale fishers to conserve biodiversity, safeguard food security, build climate resilience and eradicate poverty.

- Establish a global network of marine protected or conserved areas that are fully or highly protected to provide climate, food security, livelihood and biodiversity benefits.

EDF is already working with partners to begin tackling many of these ambitious goals.

“EDF embraces the approach of RISE UP, which calls for tackling overfishing and other ocean stressors,” said Schwaab. “We know from the science that by taking care of fish, we can enhance the resilience of coral reefs, marine food webs and the coastal communities dependent on fishing for their livelihoods and food security.” 

EDF also acknowledges the strong correlation between the success of marine protected areas and the implementation of sustainable fisheries management at scale. EDF strongly endorses the critical need to include vulnerable coastal communities, indigenous peoples and small-scale fishers as co-managers of their fisheries, where climate impacts are greatest. 

EDF has a successful track record of helping fishers secure tenure for long-term sustainability in many places around the globe. For example, our work with partners in Belize has led to the establishment of a nationwide system of co-management zones, expanded MPAs and, most recently, national legislation to create sustainable fisheries. And, our work through EDF’s Virtual Fisheries Academy gives local partners access to tools than can empower transformations in small-scale fisheries critical for sustaining vulnerable coastal communities.

Although EDF is not endorsing every RISE UP goal or action, the Blue Call to Action offers a critical opportunity to work collaboratively with a diverse group of organizations and interests toward the common goal of ocean recovery.   

“We encourage decision-makers and key stakeholders in all countries to work toward agreement on the critical actions that will give our blue planet the best chance of survival,” said Schwaab. “They need to work expeditiously in their own countries as well as globally to ensure the necessary changes are made in both policy and action.”

(Washington, D.C. – May 5, 2020) EDF joins allies supporting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission today for virtual oral argument in a case that will have a vital impact on America’s clean energy future.

This morning a three judge D.C. Circuit panel will hear argument by teleconference about FERC’s Order 841 – an order that permits energy storage to compete fairly in wholesale power markets. EDF is supporting the order.

“FERC’s order 841 creates an even playing field for energy storage to compete with traditional fossil fuel generators, which is an essential step to realizing cleaner, healthier air and a clean energy future for America,” said EDF attorney Michael Panfil. “Order 841 removes market barriers for energy storage and unlocks its enormous public health, environmental and cost-saving potential.”

FERC’s Order 841 “remove[s] barriers to the participation of electric storage resources” in wholesale power markets. The order could catalyze energy storage deployment by up to 50 gigawatts, according to expert analysis. The order unlocks critical benefits from such deployment while carefully respecting longstanding state authority to craft climate, clean air and clean energy policy.

Opponents, including an association of traditional utility companies and NARUC, have sued to block the rule. They will argue against it today, opposite attorneys for FERC.

EDF is intervening in the case in support of FERC’s order, along with NRDC and VoteSolar, both represented by EarthJustice.

A coalition of clean energy trade associations including the Energy Storage Association, the Solar Energy Industries Association, and the Advanced Energy Economy, also intervened in the case in support of FERC Order 841. A coalition of state Attorneys General and a coalition of innovative tech companies including Sunrun, Tesla, Vivint Solar Developer, and ENGIE Storage Services have filed amicus briefs in support of the order.

The case will be heard at 9:30 ET this morning by Judges Rogers, Garland and Wilkins.

(AUSTIN, TX) Long known for waste and pollution, the flares burning at oil and gas sites across the Permian Basin could also be among the region’s largest methane emitters. A new helicopter survey by researchers with the Environmental Defense Fund found that more than one in every 10 flares they looked at was either unlit – venting uncombusted methane straight to the atmosphere – or only partially burning the gas they were releasing.

Based on infrared images gathered from hundreds of facilities, the scientists calculate that Permian flaring accounts for more than 300,000 metric tons of methane pollution a year – 3.5 times more methane than current EPA estimates. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, human sources of which are responsible for more than a quarter of the warming we’re experiencing today. It’s also the main ingredient in natural gas.

Photos, video, a map and other images for media are available here.

One of the largest oilfields on Earth, the Permian straddles Texas and New Mexico, neither of which regulates flaring effectively. The new data shows that far more methane than previously known is entering the atmosphere unburned, multiplying the already serious climate impact.

“Flaring and methane are two halves of the same problem. The data shows you can’t fix one without the other,” said Colin Leyden, EDF director of regulatory and legislative affairs. “Reducing waste and pollution from routine flaring should be part of both short and long-term solutions as operators and the Railroad Commission consider different paths back from the current crisis.”

Drive for solutions

According to satellite data, Permian operators sent 280 billion cubic feet of gas worth about $420 million up their flare stacks in 2019 – more than enough to supply every home in Texas. To date, Texas and New Mexico have not made flaring or methane a regulatory priority. But policymakers in both states now have important opportunities to step up critical safeguards.

The Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas operations, has been increasingly concerned with flaring waste. Next week, commissioners will have a chance to include flaring as a metric in a policy called “proration,” which allocates production limits among state producers based on a variety of factors. (Often described as way to raise prices, proration authority actually rests on a statutory obligation to prevent waste of natural resources and protect property rights.)

“For seven years, the commission has stamped ‘yes’ on 27,000 flaring permit applications,” said Leyden. “Proration offers an ideal chance to stand up for all Texans and address the most obvious waste occurring in the oil patch.”

New Mexico currently lacks any requirements to reduce oil and gas methane emissions. As a result, methane waste costs New Mexico taxpayers an estimated $43 million a year in missed revenue. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has made addressing methane a priority for her administration and has pledged to enact a nation-leading suite of methane waste and pollution controls.

“Flaring wastes hundreds of millions of dollars a year worth of valuable resources that belong to the people of New Mexico,” said Jon Goldstein, EDF director of regulatory and legislative affairs. “Without proper safeguards, it also poses a serious threat to public health and the climate. Both waste and pollution from flares must be a part of a comprehensive suite of controls as the state moves to enact methane regulations this year.”

Wave of new data

Although flaring waste and localized emissions are a familiar problem by now, this is the first effort ever to assess the methane associated with flaring in the region. It is the latest product of EDF’s year-long PermianMAP initiative to measure methane emissions using aircraft, stationary towers and ground-based mobile sensors.

The helicopter survey shows that malfunctioning flares are not just an intermittent issue. Fully 25% of problem flares initially identified had recurring emission problems at a later visit. The survey comes on the heels of satellite data released last week showing total oil and gas methane emissions in the Permian are 3.5 times higher than federal inventories indicate, which in turn parallels previous results from EDF’s PermianMAP work.

(NEW YORK) Findings published today in the journal Science Advances show that oil and gas operations in America’s sprawling Permian Basin are releasing methane at twice the average rate found in previous studies of 11 other major U.S. oil and gas regions. The new study was authored by scientists from Environmental Defense Fund, Harvard University, Georgia Tech and the SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research.

“These are the highest emissions ever measured from a major U.S. oil and gas basin. There’s so much methane escaping from Permian oil and gas operations that it nearly triples the 20-year climate impact of burning the gas they’re producing,” said co-author Dr. Steven Hamburg, chief scientist at EDF. “These findings demonstrate the rapidly growing ability of satellite technology to track emissions like these and to provide the data needed by both companies and regulators to know where emissions reductions are needed.”

Photos, video, a map and other images for media are available here.

Based on 11 months of satellite data encompassing 200,000 individual readings taken across the 160,000 square-kilometer basin by the European Space Agency’s TROPOMI instrument from May 2018 to March 2019, Permian oil and gas operations are losing methane at a rate equal to 3.7% of their gas production. The wasted methane – which is the main component in natural gas – is enough to supply 2 million U.S. households.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, human emissions of which cause over a quarter of today’s warming. Reducing methane from oil and gas operations is the fastest, most cost-effective way to slow the rate of warming, even as the necessary transition to a net-zero carbon economy continues.

Findings highlight crucial new applications

Satellites offer an important new methane measurement tool that can cover large areas faster and more frequently than conventional methods. They can also provide data on gas producing regions around the world that are impossible to reach by aircraft or from the ground.

“Advances in satellite technology and data analytics are making it possible to generate regular and robust information on methane emissions from oil and gas operations even from the most remote corners of the world,” said Mark Brownstein, EDF senior vice president for Energy. “It’s our goal to use this new data to help companies and countries find, measure, and reduce methane emissions further and faster, and enable the public to both track and compare progress.”

Launched in 2017, the TROPOMI instrument used in the study offers more precise measurements, higher resolution and better coverage than its forerunners. It is part of an emerging ecosystem of methane-tracking satellites with a growing range of capabilities, including one with even higher precision currently being developed by EDF subsidiary MethaneSAT LLC for launch in 2022. MethaneSAT will track oil and gas methane around the globe on a near-weekly basis, identifying and measuring smaller emission events and more widely dispersed sources not discernable with current technology.

Permian emissions challenge

The Permian Basin has emerged as one of the world’s most prolific oil-producing regions in recent years, producing 3.5 million barrels of crude and 11 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (about 30% and 10% of the respective U.S. totals in 2018).

Today’s new peer-reviewed findings validate a set of ground-based and airborne measurements released two weeks ago by EDF’s PermianMAP initiative, which found methane escaping from oil and gas operations in the most productive part of the basin at a rate of 3.5%. That project is currently collecting a year’s worth of methane data across a 10,000 square-kilometer study area within the basin via fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, towers, and ground-based mobile sensors.

High leakage rates in the Permian imply the opportunity to greatly reduce methane emissions in this sprawling oil and gas producing region, through better infrastructure design and development, more effective operations and better regulation at both the state and federal levels.

The TROPOMI study uses the latest technology and methods available to analyze and present data, a process that currently takes a great deal of time and effort. But researchers are quickly learning how to automate and accelerate these complex calculations. The MethaneSAT project, for example, is expected to deliver data based on weekly measurements in near-real time.

“Early TROPOMI images showed that the Permian was one of the largest methane hotspots in the U.S. But the satellite was new, and data analysis hadn’t even started. Quantifying emissions and deriving a leak rate for a huge area was a big, hands-on effort, even with the best tools,” said EDF’s Dr. Ritesh Gautam, one of the study’s lead researchers. “Studies like this are expanding those boundaries. MethaneSAT and missions that follow will be more capable, delivering more data much faster, in ways that are more actionable by stakeholders.”

(LONDON) A new scientific paper built on European Space Agency data shows oil and gas production in America’s sprawling Permian basin is releasing methane, a potent greenhouse gas, at a 15 times higher rate than targets set by global producers including Shell and BP. The study was authored by scientists from Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Harvard University, Georgia Tech and the SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research.

“These are the highest emissions ever measured from a major U.S. oil and gas basin. There’s so much methane escaping from Permian oil and gas operations that it nearly triples the 20-year climate impact of burning the gas they’re producing,” said co-author Dr. Steven Hamburg, Chief Scientist at EDF. “These findings demonstrate the rapidly growing ability of satellite technology to track emissions like these and to provide the data needed by both companies and regulators to know where emissions reductions are needed.”

Photos, video, a map and other images for media are available here.

Based on 11 months of satellite data encompassing 200,000 individual readings taken across the 160,000 square-kilometer basin by the ESA’s TROPOMI instrument from May 2018 to March 2019, the researchers estimate a 3.7% methane loss rate from Permian oil and gas operations. The wasted methane – which is the main component in natural gas – is enough to supply 2 million U.S. households.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, human emissions of which cause over a quarter of today’s warming. Reducing methane from oil and gas operations is the fastest, most cost-effective way to slow the rate of warming, even as the necessary transition to a net-zero carbon economy continues.

Implications for Europe

“At a time when Europe is debating gas’ role in the energy transition, Europe’s own satellite shows natural gas production can be a significant source of methane pollution,” said Poppy Kalesi, Environmental Defense Fund, Global Energy Policy Director. “It’s a fact we cannot ignore.”

“The EU has a clear duty to set standards for the gas it consumes. Without a strong methane policy, there is no assurance that gas is making a positive contribution in the transition to a net zero greenhouse gas future,” added Kalesi.  

About half of all internationally traded gas is consumed by Europe, and EU imports are increasing. The EU sources its gas from countries like Russia, the US, and Algeria, nations all with sizeable methane emissions, according to International Energy Agency’ Methane Tracker database.

Satellite technology opens new doors

Launched in 2017, the TROPOMI instrument used in this study offers more precise measurements, higher resolution, and better coverage than prior satellites. It is part of an emerging ecosystem of methane-tracking satellites with a growing range of capabilities, including one with even higher precision currently being developed by EDF subsidiary MethaneSAT LLC for launch in 2022. MethaneSAT will track oil and gas methane around the globe on a near-weekly basis, identifying and measuring smaller emission events and more widely dispersed sources not discernable with current technology.

“Advances in satellite technology and data analytics are creating the ability to generate regular and robust information on methane emissions from oil and gas operations even from the most remote corners of the world,” said Mark Brownstein, EDF Senior Vice President for Energy. “It’s our goal to use this new data to help companies and countries find, measure, and reduce methane emissions further and faster, and enable the public to both track and compare progress.”

(April 21, 2020 - New York, NY) “Earth Day in the time of COVID-19 is more urgent than ever. This crisis has made the 50th Earth Day a profound reminder that our mission is not only about the world, but about all the people in it. So let’s honor it by pledging to help everyone, especially those who have suffered the most.

“Now is the time to commit to cleaning up the air pollution that causes conditions like heart and lung disease and increased asthma attacks, all of which put people at higher risk for severe illness from the coronavirus—and address inequities that have hurt so many communities. As this disease runs its unjust course through our nation, we must all join with those who have been fighting discrimination for decades in an effort to bring about the healthier, fairer society we hope to be. Though the pathogen doesn’t discriminate, our public health outcomes always have, because of unequal exposure to pollution and unequal access to treatment.

“As we focus on the urgent need to address the coronavirus pandemic and its serious economic consequences, we should ensure that we don’t leave a mess for our kids. We have the chance to create jobs and rebuild a better, cleaner and healthier economy. We can reduce climate pollution, which would not only protect our children’s generation but also reduce traditional air pollution. We can invest in the electrification of our truck fleet, upgrade public transportation to world class standards, boost clean energy, and build natural infrastructure to protect our communities and food supply. All of it will create jobs and protect our health and safety in the future.

“We should also resolve to continue fighting the Trump administration’s three and half year long attack on environmental protection. They have pushed to allow more mercury, acid gases and carbon pollution in our air, weakened protections on toxic chemicals and utterly ignored the growing damage from climate change. The real world consequences will be more asthma attacks, more heart and lung disease and a more dangerous future. The Trump administration has, in nearly all its actions, shown a disdain for science and facts – with devastating results.”

• Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense Fund

(San Juan) Today, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) filed its reply brief regarding the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s (PREPA) Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) outlining how the utility will manage the archipelago’s electric grid and energy resources over the next 20 years.

“This week marks a milestone - the 20-year plan for Puerto Rico’s energy future is in the final stages of development. If done right, this plan has the potential to completely modernize the electric grid and provide communities on the island with cleaner, more reliable electricity, which is certainly something to celebrate on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day,” said Daniel Whittle, EDF’s Senior Director of Caribbean Initiatives.

Following the IRP filing in February, the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB), which oversees the quality and reliability of PREPA’s electricity services, raised three main questions about the plan. A short summary of EDF’s responses is shown in italics.

1. Should rooftop solar arrays be used in lieu of utility-scale solar to improve Puerto Rico’s electric system?
   Both rooftop and utility-scale solar are important renewable energy resources. EDF recommends that PREB evaluate rooftop and utility-scale solar on a level playing field and approve an IRP that optimizes the use of both.
2. Should existing hydroelectric facilities be rehabilitated?
   There is insufficient information about existing hydroelectric facilities provided in the proposed IRP. EDF recommends that PREPA conduct a thorough study on the potential of refurbishing and upgrading of hydroelectric facilities. The results of such a study should be released to the public long before PREPA takes any action in regards to the facilities.
3. Should PREPA integrate the usage of cloud-based power plants, known as Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) that work remotely to aggregate independent energy resources in different locations into a single network?
   PREPA’s IRP did not address VPP technology, but EDF explained that VPPs offer a decentralized, consumer-centric solution which, when implemented correctly can reduce the cost of electricity for consumers by lowering or deferring grid investment costs.

EDF’s reply brief also addresses issues regarding PREPA’s reliance on liquified natural gas and supports arguments made by other intervening parties that the Energy Bureau should promote the expedited deployment of solar power with battery storage.

EDF has been actively involved throughout the IRP process and is developing an innovative project to demonstrate the feasibility of distributed energy resources, including microgrids, which can reduce the island’s dependence on fossil fuels. These systems can be designed to connect to the larger grid to provide cleaner, more reliable energy every day, and can separate from the grid during emergencies to keep the lights on in parts of the island that need it most. For more information, visit www.edf.org/PuertoRico.

(TRENTON, NJ) New Jersey state leaders today committed an estimated $80 million a year to programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, boost clean energy, create jobs and protect the health of residents in environmental justice communities. Funding will come from proceeds of the state’s cap-and-trade program, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), and support projects like truck and bus electrification, which will help address transportation emissions, the region’s largest source of pollution. The plan will also establish a New Jersey Green Bank, which will leverage public and private financing to help stimulate the state’s clean energy economy, while improving capital access for projects that serve those traditionally underserved by the green economy.

“The RGGI spending plan is a shot in the arm for New Jersey’s clean economy and its most vulnerable at a time when we need it most. By accelerating the electrification of trucks and buses throughout the state, with a heavy focus on projects that help environmental justice communities, this plan will improve air quality, reduce climate-warming greenhouse gases and save lives.”

• Mary Barber, Director, Regulatory and Legislative Affairs, Environmental Defense Fund

(Washington, D.C. – April 17, 2020) The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit should vacate EPA’s “unlawful replacement” for the Clean Power Plan and remand the issue to the agency so it can swiftly establish meaningful protections against carbon pollution from existing power plants, according to public health and environmental advocates.

Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Clean Air Task Force on behalf of its clients, and ten other public health and environmental organizations filed their opening brief with the D.C. Circuit today in litigation against what they call the “cynically misnamed Affordable Clean Energy Rule (ACE).”

“The Rule is a blatant abdication of EPA’s statutory duty to protect the public from air pollution that the agency itself has repeatedly found poses grave and imminent dangers to health and welfare,” the groups say in their brief. “Rather than cutting dangerous carbon dioxide pollution from power plants, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a rule that distorts the law and facts, accomplishes negligible emission reduction, and hamstrings the agency’s future authority.” (Brief, pages 5 and 1)

Last June, the Trump administration finalized an effort to scrap the Clean Power Plan and replace it with the ACE rule. The Clean Power Plan was the historic effort to address climate change by establishing America’s only nationwide limit on carbon pollution from existing power plants. The ACE rule will yield no meaningful reduction in dangerous climate pollution — and could even lead to increases in harmful soot- and smog-forming pollution in many parts of the country.

The brief argues that EPA’s decision to repeal the Clean Power Plan was based on a fundamental misreading of the Clean Air Act that would force EPA to ignore common-sense, cost-effective emission reduction measures and would “frustrate the Act’s capacity to reduce the enormous amount of climate pollution emitted by fossil fuel-fired power plants.) As the brief points out, “a revised rule, based on the [Clean Power] Plan’s framework but using current data, could achieve nearly twice as much CO₂ reduction by 2030 at less than the original estimated cost.” (Brief, pages 2 and 4)

The brief also argues the ACE rule unlawfully fails to establish any minimum requirements for reduction in pollution from existing coal-fired power plants and violates the Clean Air Act by placing no limits on the large and growing amounts of climate pollution emitted by gas- and oil-fired power plants.

The American Lung Association, American Public Health Association, Appalachian Mountain Club, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Center for Biological Diversity, Clean Air Council, Clean Wisconsin, Conservation Law Foundation, Environmental Law & Policy Center and Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy joined EDF, NRDC, Clean Air Task Force and Sierra Club on today’s brief.

23 states and eight local governments, nine power companies, and several clean energy trade associations are also suing EPA over the ACE rule.

A diverse and growing number of experts and organizations have also notified the court that they intend to file amicus, or “friend of the court,” briefs opposing the rollback of the Clean Power Plan. That group includes five of the nation’s most prominent health and medical associations, the Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU Law School, seven leading experts in administrative law, one of the authors of the Clean Air Act, organizations dedicated to the conservation of national parks, a group of leading climate scientists and economists, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

“Under Administrator Andrew Wheeler, EPA is expected to finalize a decision today that would undermine the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for coal-fired power plants. That decision, if it stands, means Americans will have more deadly pollution in our air and water. Weakening these effective, affordable standards is a terrible idea.

“With today’s expected announcement, Wheeler will have taken five steps in six weeks that would mean more human suffering and leave Americans in more danger from air pollution: restricting the agency’s use of health science; giving polluters wide latitude to evade our environmental laws; unraveling our Clean Car Standards; refusing to strengthen our health protections against soot; and now this effort to undermine our protections limiting the most toxic contaminants in the air we breathe. Wheeler has done all this while the rest of America has been fighting a pandemic that causes deadly respiratory problems. The potential damage is – literally – breathtaking.

“Wheeler’s plan for the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards would allow U.S. power plants to emit more mercury and lead each year, both of which get into our air, water and food and cause brain damage in babies and young children. It would allow more arsenic and acid gases. EPA’s own analysis shows the existing safeguards against these pollutants save up to 11,000 lives and prevent thousands of illnesses each year.

“Since Mr. Wheeler first proposed his plan, it has been opposed by almost every part of American society. The power sector is already meeting the standards he wants to roll back, having long ago made investments and planning decisions in light of them. Power sector leaders, labor leaders, the Chamber of Commerce, Members of Congress from both parties, health experts and many other Americans have all asked the administration to leave the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards alone. Mr. Wheeler, however, ignored them all and insisted on this giant leap in the wrong direction.

“The Mercury and Air Toxics standards are a resounding success. They have already reduced mercury pollution from coal plants by more than 80 percent since they were finalized in 2012. Thanks to these vital clean air protections, we all have less poison in the air we breathe and the food we eat. The Wheeler plan would undermine these critical life-saving pollution reductions. EDF will take legal action to strenuously defend the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for all Americans.

- Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund