Union of Concerned Scientists

OCTOBER 15, 2024

One scope is the narrow carbon picture , the one that you’ll hear about most readily: what these approaches mean in terms of how much carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) comes out of a gas plant’s smokestack, or how much less a plant can be said to be emitting. And we don’t need to have all the answers to make a difference.

Renewable Energy 292

Renewable Energy Fossil Fuels Electricity Nitrogen Oxides 292

Union of Concerned Scientists

MARCH 23, 2023

And fossil fuel power plants may not stick to their retirement schedules for a variety of reasons. In 2021 alone, the plants slated for retirement emitted more than 28,000 tonnes of nitrogen oxides (NO x ), 32,000 tonnes of sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), and 51 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), according to EIA data.

Fossil Fuels 216

Fossil Fuels 2023 Clean Energy Nitrogen Oxides 216

Law Columbia

MARCH 18, 2025

The burning of fossil fuels and other human activities are continuing to cause rapid temperature rise. Scientists have identified a number of land- and ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approaches. Marine CDR approaches appear to hold great potential for uptake and sequestration of carbon dioxide.

Carbon Dioxide 59

Carbon Dioxide Ocean Clean Water Act Fossil Fuels 59

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 20, 2023

Compared to carbon dioxide (CO2), methane doesn’t linger for long in the atmosphere after being emitted. New science has shown that the largest fossil fuel, dairy, and waste methane super-emitters contribute a sizeable fraction of the total methane emissions in the regions the study authors monitored.

Fossil Fuels 310

Fossil Fuels Paris Agreement Climate Change 2030 310

PA Environment Daily

JANUARY 23, 2025

Plastics are made from fossil fuels and over 16,000 different chemicals. Because plastics are produced from fossil fuels the lifecycle of plastics has a huge carbon dioxide footprint and is a driver of climate change. Plastics break down into smaller particles called microplastics and nanoplastics.

Fossil Fuels 103

Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide Regulations 2025 103

Union of Concerned Scientists

FEBRUARY 15, 2024

California’s transportation fuel policy is knee deep in cow poop, and it’s not a good look. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is considering amendments to its Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) regulation, but indicated they have no plans to address the problems caused by counter-productive subsidies for manure biomethane.

Fossil Fuels 306

Fossil Fuels Regulations Renewable Energy Carbon Dioxide 306

Union of Concerned Scientists

APRIL 24, 2023

Ethylene oxide is a chemical that is massively produced by fossil fuel industries. Since 1940, almost all industrial ethylene oxide is produced in this energy intensive process that is a heavy emitter of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Ethylene is made from petroleum ( crude oil and refined products).

Fossil Fuels 279

Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide Greenhouse Regulations 279

Union of Concerned Scientists

AUGUST 10, 2023

thus, it is crucial that we address carbon emissions from power plants. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently published a proposed rule which would limit carbon pollution from fossil fuel burning power plants, a move which is critically important, statutorily required, and long overdue.

Air Pollution 235

Air Pollution Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide Climate Change 235

Union of Concerned Scientists

NOVEMBER 15, 2022

It is 80 times stronger than carbon dioxide (CO2) at trapping heat on short timescales. Methane emissions come from two main sources : fossil fuels and agriculture—primarily animal-based agriculture. At COP27, 636 registered attendees are lobbyists for the fossil fuel industry.

Fossil Fuels 278

Fossil Fuels Paris Agreement 2030 Climate Change 278

Legal Planet

JUNE 4, 2021

Now the same district court has gone further, again in favor of environmental groups but now against Royal Dutch Shell (“Shell”) , the world’s largest non-state-owned fossil fuel company. In the face of disappointing legislation and regulation, activists have increasingly turned to courts in the last fifteen years.

Carbon Dioxide 246

Carbon Dioxide Fossil Fuels Climate Change 2010 246

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 11, 2024

Switching from fossil fuels like gasoline to increasingly clean electricity sources is vital for hitting climate and air pollution goals. However the long term drop in per person gasoline use is likely due to fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards that have made gasoline vehicles more efficient over the prior decades.

Carbon Dioxide 265

Carbon Dioxide 2005 Electricity Nitrogen Oxides 265

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 20, 2022

Power companies will therefore have to pay more for the fuel, but utilities are generally allowed by state regulators to pass those cost increases onto their customers in the form of higher electricity rates. These claims just add to the deluge of greenwashing and disinformation from the fossil fuel industry.

Fossil Fuels 319

Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide Electricity Natural Gas 319

Union of Concerned Scientists

MAY 25, 2023

This includes loopholes related to biomethane, whereby heavily polluting fossil fuel-fired hydrogen production facilities—the very facilities the tax credit is trying to incentivize a shift away from—can cloak themselves as “clean” and reap full tax credit rewards, without having done anything but pushed around paper.

Fossil Fuels 216

Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide Clean Energy Carbon Emissions 216

Union of Concerned Scientists

AUGUST 17, 2023

We need more electricity to transition our homes and cars off fossil fuels, but we can’t afford to let that electricity come from more gas power plants. Over the year, those plants emitted 661 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, more than 13% of the US’s energy-related carbon dioxide emissions.

Fossil Fuels 239

Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide Nitrogen Oxides Electricity 239

PA Environment Daily

JULY 11, 2024

On July 11, the House-- by a vote of 127 to 75 -- and the Senate-- by a vote of 37 to 12 -- passed and sent to the Governor Senate Bill 831 (Yaw-R- Lycoming) establishing a framework for authorizing the geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide through injection wells. This practice could be widespread in a carbon-constrained world.

Carbon Dioxide 87

Carbon Dioxide Clean Energy Fossil Fuels Conservation 87

Union of Concerned Scientists

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

Responsible for 12 percent of all US global warming emissions from human activities, methane traps significantly more heat per molecule than carbon dioxide, making it 86 times more harmful for the first 20 years after it is released into the atmosphere. Its primary component is methane.

Clean Energy 343

Clean Energy Nitrogen Oxides Fossil Fuels Electricity 343

PA Environment Daily

MARCH 31, 2023

However, industry proponents positioned to capitalize on the proliferation of carbon capture and sequestration and the projects that depend on it are aggressively pursuing its development despite wide-ranging risks and diminishing returns,” said Sarah Carballo of FracTracker Alliance. The DEP has struggled with staffing for years.

Regulations 98

Regulations Carbon Dioxide Fossil Fuels Environmental Protection 98

Union of Concerned Scientists

AUGUST 24, 2022

Methane pollution from manure lagoons at dairies and other confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) is a big problem, and regulators in California have been using the LCFS as a mechanism to support the capture of this methane for use in the transportation sector.

Technology 303

Technology Technology Carbon Dioxide Electricity 303

Legal Planet

JULY 12, 2023

The bench trial took place last month in the state capitol, Helena, where 16 youth plaintiffs ages 5 to 22 made the case that Montana’s unwavering promotion of fossil fuels violates the state constitution’s guarantee to a “clean and healthful environment.” Whether Montana’s GHG emissions can be measured incrementally.

Fossil Fuels 246

Fossil Fuels Climate Change Greenhouse Clean Air Act 246

Union of Concerned Scientists

DECEMBER 14, 2023

Winter is once again here, bringing great festivities and respite via holidays, but also great worries to energy regulators, grid operators, and communities about dangerous winter storms that can spread across large parts of the United States and negatively affect electric grid reliability.

Electricity 319

Electricity Fossil Fuels 2011 2014 319

Law Columbia

MARCH 27, 2025

City of New York , plumbing and building trade groups challenged New York Citys Local Law 154 of 2021 , a piece of legislation that prohibits fossil fuel combustion in most new buildings. In other words, EPCAs text and structure clearly intended to avoid a patchwork of conflicting and unpredictable regulations.

Law 59

Law Natural Gas Fossil Fuels Regulations 59

Legal Planet

JUNE 30, 2022

CT , the Supreme Court said this: We hold that the Clean Air Act and the EPA actions it authorizes displace any federal common law right to seek abatement of carbon-dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel fired power plants. Regulating power plant emissions is a complex undertaking. at 528–529. Now, in West Virginia v.

Carbon Dioxide 130

Carbon Dioxide 2011 Air Pollution Clean Air Act 130

PA Environment Daily

AUGUST 26, 2024

This free, morning-long, conference is presented by the Center for Energy Policy and Management and will include panel discussions on the basics of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), Pennsylvania’s efforts to regulate this emerging industry, and proposed CCS activity in the Appalachian region.

Carbon Dioxide 108

Carbon Dioxide Fossil Fuels Atmosphere Regulations 108

Greenbuilding Law

JUNE 5, 2022

With proposed federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions by the Securities and Exchange Commission requiring GHG disclosure and new state statutes, including a new Maryland law that requires not only disclosure, but also a mandated reduction in GHG emissions, a greater appreciation of the subject of GHG appears in order.

Greenhouse 98

Greenhouse Carbon Dioxide Atmosphere Fossil Fuels 98

Law Columbia

OCTOBER 25, 2017

We know that burning fossil fuels is the main cause of anthropogenic climate change, and that climate change is the source of adverse impacts on communities and even regional and national economies. by Justin Gundlach. These points are largely undisputed. Peter Frumhoff led off, presenting two key points.

Fossil Fuels 52

Fossil Fuels Climate Change Clean Air Act Sea Level 52

Union of Concerned Scientists

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Moreover, these costs are easily outweighed by the benefits of avoided climate change impacts, such as hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, fires, and flooding, as well as the avoided costs of adverse health effects from polluted air caused by the combustion of petroleum-based liquid fuels, estimates that were beyond the scope of this study ( here ).

Electricity 291

Electricity Biofuels Technology Technology 291

Legal Planet

MARCH 6, 2023

Hydrogen’s supply-side has been buttressed by incentives from state and federal governments, refineries and utilities looking to extend the life of fossil fuel infrastructure, and renewable energy companies seeking to take advantage of the huge amounts of clean energy needed to produce green hydrogen.

Natural Gas 147

Natural Gas Fossil Fuels Carbon Emissions Carbon Dioxide 147

Clean Energy Law

MARCH 11, 2021

The draft MOU detailed the cap-and-invest program and outlined model rules that jurisdictions could use to draft their own implementing legislation or regulations. fossil-based gasoline and diesel). Affected Fuel” is defined as “the fossil fuel components of motor gasoline and on-road diesel fuel.”

Carbon Emissions 130

Carbon Emissions Fossil Fuels Regulations Greenhouse 130

A Greener Life

JUNE 19, 2024

Since then, the Conservative government has made a series of U-turns on its own net zero policies, attacked Labour’s green spending plans, and doubled down on its support for new fossil fuel projects, approving more than 100 new North Sea oil and gas licences. This comes as DeSmog and Democracy for Sale reveal that £6.8 percent (£1.8

Fossil Fuels 52

Fossil Fuels 2024 2019 Conservation 52

Ocean Conservancy

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Recent science doesn’t support this optimism, as new studies show that the increased release of Black Carbon, one of the most potent climate change forcers—as well as soot, carbon dioxide, methane and ozone from more traffic in the Arctic—could lead to a 20% increase in the global heating that is causing warmer ocean temperatures.

Ocean 101

Ocean Sea Level Fossil Fuels Carbon Dioxide 101

Law Columbia

APRIL 18, 2023

Since 2019, more than seventy local and state jurisdictions have followed Berkeley’s lead in requiring or strongly incentivizing all-electric or fossil-fuel-free new buildings, with more considering similar approaches. can be fueled by natural gas), and must base these options on a defensible “one-for-one” basis.

Conservation 122

Conservation Natural Gas Fossil Fuels Government 122

Legal Planet

OCTOBER 10, 2022

The Governor approved a notable slate of climate legislation with a package that includes more stringent greenhouse gas (GHG) emission targets and measures designed to reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels. In signing these bills, the Governor touted the state as the most aggressive actor on climate in the nation. Clean Energy.

2021 130

2021 2022 Sea Level Clean Energy 130

Legal Planet

SEPTEMBER 3, 2021

Because methane has 28 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide and a shorter atmospheric life of only 12 years, immediate action to reduce methane emissions —including from agriculture—is critical to slow our warming climate, especially in light of expanding global populations and food demand.

Carbon Dioxide 147

Carbon Dioxide 2013 Nitrogen Oxides Carbon Monoxide 147

Ocean Conservancy

JUNE 13, 2024

The 2023 strategy is more ambitious than the earlier one it replaces and covers full life cycle (also known as well-to-wake or WtW) emissions of all greenhouse gases (GHG), not just those from burning fuel onboard and not just carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). Several regulatory and market drivers can help explain this conundrum.

Natural Gas 125

Natural Gas Ocean Ground-Level Ozone Greenhouse 125

Law Columbia

MARCH 14, 2024

In the first months of 2024, legislators in four states— Maryland , Massachusetts , New York , and Vermont —have pushed for legislation that would collectively require large fossil fuel producers and refiners to pay for hundreds of billions of dollars of state-level climate adaptation infrastructure.

Fossil Fuels 64

Fossil Fuels Climate Change Regulations Carbon Dioxide 64

Law Columbia

MAY 28, 2021

This week’s advancements offer two new models for local governments looking to require or promote building electrification: air pollution and land use regulation. 2317, which would amend the City’s building code to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new and renovated buildings to 50 kilograms of carbon dioxide per million BTUs.

Air Pollution 59

Air Pollution Regulations Fossil Fuels Natural Gas 59

Greenbuilding Law

MAY 1, 2022

But make no mistake, the larger issue is the regulation for the first time of GHGs (including carbon) which will literally change the structure of the global economy, our political order, market capitalism and even our biological selves.”. In 2020, carbon dioxide accounted for about 79% of all U.S. emission trends.

Greenhouse 52

Greenhouse Carbon Dioxide Fossil Fuels Atmosphere 52