The impacts of climate change are being seen across the globe now and more are projected in the future. Scientific evidence shows that human factors are the main cause.
This in turn leads to impacts such as shifting seasons, rising sea-levels, disappearing Arctic sea-ice and more intense heat waves. By rapidly cutting emissions of greenhouse gases we can lessen the risks of dangerous climate change. Read more about why 1. We are one of the leading NGOs pushing for a strong and fair global agreement that supports sustainable development, working closely with governments, businesses and NGO colleagues.
There's still much work to do to finalise sustainability criteria for carbon offsets and alternative fuels, to push more countries to join the scheme, and to set a science-based emissions trajectory for aviation in line with the Paris Agreement.
Reducing emissions from burning fossil fuels is just one part of the picture. In August , EPA issued two amendments i. These amendments removed transmission and storage segments from covered oil and gas source categories, rescinded NSPS applicable to those sources, and rescinded methane-specific requirements for the production and processing segments under Section b of the Clean Air Act.
In the amendments, EPA declared that there are no emissions impacts or potential costs from removing the methane requirements for new, reconstructed, and modified sources in the production and processing segments. The EPA justified the amendments with the claim that the current methane limits are redundant with the NSPS volatile organic compounds VOCs requirements in the production and processing segments e.
Operators new oil and gas wells must now follow the methane rule, which required them to find and repair leaks and capture natural gas from the completion of hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells. They must also limit emissions from new and modified pneumatic pumps, and from several types of equipment used at natural gas transmission compressor stations, including compressors and pneumatic controllers.
When it issued the rule in , EPA estimated it could prevent the emission of , short tons of methane in the equivalent of 11 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in addition to reducing other harmful air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds VOCs, which are ozone-forming pollutants.
Regardless of the regulatory approach, EPA continues to work with industry and states through its voluntary Natural Gas STAR program to reduce methane from existing oil and gas operations.
In addition, Executive Order would require the Department of Interior to review a rule that rescinded the methane emissions rule from wells on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and Indian lands.
The rule placed the first limits on flaring natural gas and increased disclosure requirements. Furthermore, it prohibited venting except in specified circumstances, required pre-drill planning for leak reduction, and increased use of leak-detection technology.
Other industrial sectors, such as refineries and cement kilns, have been regulated for certain pollutants, including particulate matter PM , sulfur dioxide SO2 , and dioxides of nitrogen NOx , since the Clean Air Act became law in Section of the act requires the regulation of pollution from new, modified, and reconstructed facilities through the New Source Performance Standards NSPS program.
NSPS are technology-based standards that apply to specific categories of stationary sources. NSPS for pollutants are regularly strengthened by EPA to safeguard human health and the environment as technology advances and new pollution controls become more economically feasible.
Supreme Court case Massachusetts v. Tags Industry Regulation. Carbon Capture and Storage: Carbon capture and storage CCS is a technology that captures carbon dioxide emissions from factories and power plants and stores them underground.
CCS technologies can capture up to 90 percent of carbon emissions from a facility. Almost a dozen commercial-scale carbon capture projects are operating around the world with 22 more in development. Learn more about carbon capture.
Buildings Greenhouse gas emissions from buildings result primarily from powering lighting fixtures, appliances, and heating and cooling systems. There are many ways to increase the energy efficiency of buildings, including installing more efficient lighting, EnergyStar-certified appliances like hot water heaters, and better insulation.
Greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by making power on-site with renewables and other climate-friendly energy resources. Examples include rooftop solar panels, solar water heating, small-scale wind generation, fuel cells powered by natural gas or renewable hydrogen, and geothermal energy. Transportation Chevrolet Volt. Build Resilience to Climate Impacts Climate change will continue, and accelerate, in the years ahead, with significant impacts on the health of our oceans, forests, freshwater, and our towns and cities.
These leaders consider many important questions like: What impacts like droughts, heat waves, floods, sea-level rise are expected to affect our area? How many people and species in our area could be harmed by those changes? Will we feel the impacts very soon or not until many years from now? Resilience Planning Local Actions: Local communities are seeking to build resilience as coastal cities, farms, and other areas experience more climate impacts.
Many cities have committed to innovative and cost-effective solutions, and more cities complete adaptation plans every year. State Actions: Several states are recognizing the need for adaptation planning, and have started taking steps to make sure they are ready for climate impacts. The Federal Role: The federal government can play an important role by supporting research into climate science and impacts, updating Federal Emergency Preparedness Plans to include potential climate change impacts, providing planning tools to help communities and businesses identify what is at risk, and funding education and training programs to ensure citizens are fully informed.
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