Complete list of press releases

A new study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute for the Environment, Boston University School of Public Health and the Environmental Defense Fund finds that pollution from oil and gas venting and flaring results in $7.4 billion in health damages, more than 700 premature deaths and 73,000 asthma exacerbations among children annually. Researchers also conclude that emissions are underreported and controlling emissions is not only profitable for operators, but also can significantly improve public health in surrounding communities. 

Oil and gas producers worldwide use venting and flaring to release or burn away excess natural gas in crude oil production. The practice contributes to air pollution in surrounding and downwind communities resulting in increased risk of hospitalizations, emergency room visits, worsening asthma and even premature death.  

“Being able to combine information from what states are reporting with satellite retrievals helped us quantify the emissions from this sector better than just relying on one source,” said Sarav Arunachalam, deputy director of the UNC Institute for the Environment and senior author of the study. “Using a comprehensive multipollutant modeling framework as shown in our study is needed to assess the overall air quality impacts of this sector, instead of just focusing on one pollutant. “  

According to the study, published in GeoHealth, flaring and venting activities contribute an estimated $7.4 billion in health risks and 710 premature deaths annually in the U.S. Of those deaths, 360 are attributable to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ozone (O3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Fine particulate matter is widely known to cause adverse health effects, but researchers say impacts from O3 and NO2 should not be overlooked.   

"Our research shows that oil and gas flaring can have substantial health impacts, and that a large portion of these impacts come from NO2 and O3, two air pollutants which are commonly not considered in health impact assessments,” said co-author Jonathan Buonocore, an assistant professor of environmental health at Boston University School of Public Health. 

Quantifying emissions for flaring and venting in the oil and gas industry has been difficult historically due to the intermittent nature of the practice and how those emissions are reported. The research team used satellite images from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite instrument on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite to observe flaring and venting activities in combination with state and local reported data and found emissions that were up to 15 times higher for fine particulate matter, two times higher for sulfur dioxides and 22% higher for nitrogen oxides than what was reported in the U.S. EPA’s National Emission Inventories . These emissions contribute to health harming air pollution in oil and gas basins and surrounding areas and exceedances in ozone ambient air quality standards. 

Texas, Pennsylvania and Colorado had the highest health burdens in this analysis, accounting for 45% of the total number of flaring and venting air pollution excess deaths. 

Researchers also found the air quality health burdens of flaring and venting fall disproportionately on low-income, Hispanic and Native American communities. Of the total early deaths caused by flaring and venting, one in three occurred in low-income census tracts, 30% occurred in Hispanic/Latino census tracts and 10% occurred in Native American census tracts. Of the 73,000 childhood asthma cases, 40% occurred in Hispanic/Latino census tracts. 

Researchers are hopeful these new insights will have significant benefits on air quality and  human health by reducing emissions from flaring and venting activities. 

“This research provides more evidence of the problem of excessive venting and flaring in the oilfield,“ said Hillary Hull a co-author of the study and director of research and analytics at the Environmental Defense Fund. “This practice wreaks havoc on our climate, worsens quality of life and creates more health risks for people who live near this activity. State and national policies designed to put an end to this dangerous practice are sorely needed to protect the health and well-being of these communities.” 

“The recent MethaneSat mission launched to monitor oil and gas projects and specifically identify, in near real-time, large sources of methane that some satellite missions may miss will further assist to quantify emissions from this sector in an unprecedented manner, and to develop mitigation measures for addressing climate change in addition to solving air quality problems,” added Arunachalam. 

(Washington, D.C. – March 12, 2024) A year and a half after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) accelerated the U.S. markets for electric vehicle and battery manufacturing, a new report by Environmental Defense Fund and WSP USA finds continued strong growth.

The report, U.S. Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Investments and Jobs: Characterizing the Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act after 18 Months, finds that in the last nine years manufacturers have announced $188 billion in investments in electric vehicle and EV battery manufacturing in the U.S. and 195,000 direct EV-related U.S. jobs. Most of those announcements occurred in the last 18 months since passage of the IRA.

"American electric vehicle manufacturing continues to race forward, driven by historic federal policies that have catalyzed tremendous investment and job creation,” said Ellen Robo, manager of transportation and clean air policy at Environmental Defense Fund. “The U.S. is creating zero-emitting cars that save money at the gas pump, and communities across the country will benefit from cleaner air and a stronger economy.”

EDF and WSP originally released a report on electric vehicle manufacturing and job growth one year ago, updated it six months ago, and again today. Each update has shown extraordinary increases in both investments and jobs:

• One year ago, EDF and WSP found $120 billion in announced investments in U.S. electric vehicle and EV battery manufacturing facilities over the previous eight years. The report released today found those investments had soared to $188 billion – a more than 50% increase from one year ago.
• 61% of the announced EV investments in today’s report ($114 billion) have occurred since passage of the IRA 18 months ago.
• Electric vehicle-related job growth has also skyrocketed, from 143,000 announced jobs in the EV sector in the report one year ago to 195,000 today.
• 51% of those jobs (about 100,000) were announced since passage of the IRA 18 months ago.
• The announced investments are expected to create more than 876,000 additional jobs in the broader economy.

Today’s report finds that Georgia continues to lead the states in both EV investments ($31.2 billion) and announced jobs (38,700). Michigan has more than $20 billion in announced manufacturing investments, and North Carolina showed a meteoric increase of $9 billion in announced EV investments in the last six months – to more than $19 billion today. Illinois also showed steep increases in both EV investments and announced jobs and is now in the top ten U.S. states for both.

The updated report also finds nationwide EV and battery production capacity remains high. Based solely on concrete announcements already made today, by 2027 U.S. manufacturing facilities will be able to produce:

• Approximately 5.5 million new electric vehicles each year, about 35% of all new cars sold in the U.S. in 2023.
• 1,099 gigawatt-hours of EV batteries, enough to supply 12.3 million new passenger electric vehicles each year, about 80% of all new cars sold in the U.S. in 2023.

You can read the full report here.

EDF and WSP’s earlier analyses are here: March 2023 and August 2023.

EDF also just released a separate analysis, Recent EV manufacturing investments in the U.S. are outpacing every other region, showing that private investments in the U.S. since 2021 are higher than every other region of the world and are more than three times higher than U.S. investments from 2016 to 2020.

A new study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institute for the Environment, Boston University School of Public Health and the Environmental Defense Fund finds that pollution from oil and gas venting and flaring results in $7.4 billion in health damages, more than 700 premature deaths, and 73,000 asthma exacerbations among children annually. Researchers also conclude that emissions are underreported and controlling emissions is not only profitable for operators, but also can significantly improve public health in surrounding communities. 

Oil and gas producers worldwide use venting and flaring to release or burn away excess natural gas in crude oil production. The practice contributes to air pollution in surrounding and downwind communities resulting in increased risk of hospitalizations, emergency room visits, worsening asthma and even premature death.

“Being able to combine information from what states are reporting with satellite retrievals helped us quantify the emissions from this sector better than just relying on one source,” said Sarav Arunachalam, deputy director of the UNC Institute for the Environment and senior author of the study. “Using a comprehensive multipollutant modeling framework as shown in our study is needed to assess the overall air quality impacts of this sector, instead of just focusing on one pollutant. “

According to the study, published in GeoHealth, flaring and venting activities contribute an estimated $7.4 billion in health risks and 710 premature deaths annually in the U.S. Of those deaths, 360 are attributable to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ozone (O3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Fine particulate matter is widely known to cause adverse health effects, but researchers say impacts from O3 and NO2 should not be overlooked.

“Our research shows that oil and gas flaring can have substantial health impacts, and that a large portion of these impacts come from NO2 and O3, two air pollutants which are commonly not considered in health impact assessments,” said co-author Jonathan Buonocore, an assistant professor of environmental health at Boston University School of Public Health.

Quantifying emissions for flaring and venting in the oil and gas industry has been difficult historically due to the intermittent nature of the practice and how those emissions are reported. The research team used satellite images from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite to observe flaring and venting activities in combination with state and local reported data and found emissions that were up to 15 times higher for fine particulate matter, two times higher for sulfur dioxides and 22% higher for nitrogen oxides than what was reported in the U.S. EPA’s National Emission Inventories (NEI). These emissions contribute to health-harming air pollution in oil and gas basins and surrounding areas and exceedances in ozone ambient air quality standards.

Texas, Pennsylvania and Colorado had the highest health burdens in this analysis, accounting for 45% of the total number of flaring and venting air pollution excess deaths.

Researchers also found the air quality health burdens of flaring and venting fall disproportionately on low-income, Hispanic and Native American communities. Of the total early deaths caused by flaring and venting, one in three occurred in low-income census tracts, 30% occurred in Hispanic/Latino census tracts, and 10% occurred in Native American census tracts. Of the 73,000 childhood asthma cases, 40% occurred in Hispanic/Latino census tracts.

Researchers are hopeful these new insights will have significant benefits on air quality and  human health by reducing emissions from flaring and venting activities.

“This research provides more evidence of the problem of excessive venting and flaring in the oilfield,“ said Hillary Hull a co-author of the study and director of research and analytics at the Environmental Defense Fund. “This practice wreaks havoc on our climate, worsens quality of life and creates more health risks for people who live near this activity. State and national policies designed to put an end to this dangerous practice are sorely needed to protect the health and well-being of these communities.”

“The recent MethaneSat mission launched to monitor oil and gas projects and specifically identify, in near real-time, large sources of methane that some satellite missions may miss will further assist to quantify emissions from this sector in an unprecedented manner, and to develop mitigation measures for addressing climate change in addition to solving air quality problems,” added Arunachalam.

New Delhi, India - Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF) launched the "Navigating Carbon Pricing: The G20 Experience and Global South Prospects” report today. The report delves into the complex landscape of carbon pricing, examining its application within the G20 nations and the potential implications for emerging economies in the Global South.

The report offers a comprehensive analysis of various carbon pricing instruments currently in existence, providing valuable insights into their socio-economic challenges and how they can be most effective in climate change mitigation within both industrialized and emerging economies. By exploring the experiences of G20 nations, it highlights the diverse approaches to carbon pricing and identifies key lessons that can inform effective policy development in other regions.

Carbon pricing mechanisms are evolving as a prominent instrument in the fiscal policy toolkit of governments to reduce emissions as well as augment government revenues. This growth in its wider usage, from its early adoption within European climate policy, mirrors the increasing commitment from major economies, particularly in developing mitigation instruments that can be supportive of domestic mitigation.

“Within this context, the report provides an overview of the experience of carbon pricing across the world. It focuses on the benefits of these instruments, the challenges that impede wider adoption, and the solutions that can lead to the faster uptake of these tools by emerging economies. In particular, two sets of issues can slow down the implementation or impact of carbon taxes or emissions trading systems: lack of capacity to design and implement the instruments, and the need to understand and protect vulnerable communities for potentially negative social impacts of their adoption,” Pedro Martins Barata, AVP, Carbon Markets & Private Sector Decarbonisation at EDF, and the lead author of the report, said.

The report also reviews existing evidence, which indicates that the social impacts of existing carbon pricing regimes have largely been overstated and that, where such impacts are evident, there are design elements that can mitigate and reverse any negative social and income effects of the proposed carbon pricing instruments.

Implementing carbon pricing will need substantial capacities and resources

Further, the report sheds light on ongoing capacity building initiatives aimed at supporting the implementation and enforcement of carbon pricing policies. It identifies best practices and opportunities for collaboration to enhance the effectiveness and equity of carbon pricing frameworks worldwide.

“The report looks at existing capacity building efforts and initiatives and argues for more coordination across initiatives and a focus on sharing lessons across the Global South. This is particularly important given the growing interest and momentum in Latin America, Africa, and Asia on carbon taxes, emissions trading, and crediting mechanisms,” said Hisham Mundol, EDF’s Chief Advisor in India.

The report highlights the gaps in the prevalent capacity building initiatives as:

a) weak coordination between such initiatives resulting into fragmented approach and inconsistent quality standards,

b) lack of sustainability of capacity or no institutionalisation of capacities,

c) lack of efficient stakeholder engagement mechanisms, particularly inadequate engagement of the private sector.

Effective capacity-building efforts require a champion entity within each country that is tasked with the development of a carbon pricing instrument, the report states.

The success of carbon pricing policies relies in part on participating countries’ capacities to embed such approaches within existing domestic policy, legal, regulatory, taxation and finance frameworks. While the infrastructural capacity needs (Registry, MRV, etc.) can be identical across nations, capacity needs for implementing particular policies will need country specific economic analysis, like emissions modelling, stakeholder engagement, market-based policy design, financing, legal frameworks and institutional arrangements.

"Carbon pricing mechanisms are increasingly becoming a prominent tool in the fiscal policy toolkit of governments worldwide, serving to mitigate emissions and bolster government revenues. Within the Indian context, the significance of this report on carbon pricing and the ensuing discussions is particularly noteworthy, especially in light of the Government of India's 2023 amendment to the Energy Conservation Act, which lays the groundwork for the implementation of a domestic Carbon Credit Trading Scheme," Mannat Jaspal, Associate Fellow at ORF, and one of the co-authors of the report, said.

The next wave of carbon markets

While lessons from Global North regarding the social and economic dimensions of carbon pricing are valuable, there is an exciting prospect of South-South engagement in mutual learning and sharing of experience, the report states. Global South will have both challenges and advantages in accelerating their move in the carbon markets space. At one hand these countries will have to overcome the lack of resources, data poverty, issue of incipient electricity and overall energy market liberalisation, lack of access to capital, and focus on universal energy access, while on the other hand Global South economies are growth engines and as they build out their economy and infrastructure, they have the opportunity to do so in low-carbon fashion and break the link between emissions and growth, including through leapfrogging technologies.

For more information or to schedule interviews with the authors of the report, please contact Tejas Patel at tpatel@edf.org

Additional Reading:

Carbon pricing – an important discussion often un-percolated

The concept of carbon pricing essentially means internalising the external costs of carbon emissions. While the attempts to address the environmental externalities dates back to 1920s, its evolution over time has given us the contemporary carbon pricing mechanisms. Of which mandatory carbon pricing is primarily practiced through carbon taxes and cap-and-trade or emissions trading systems.

Though these instruments have gained prominence in recent decades, particularly in response to growing concerns about climate change and the need for low-carbon transition of economies, only a handful of countries could successfully implement these instruments in place, the numbers are much lesser amongst the emerging economies. The first carbon tax was introduced in Finland in 1990 and the first large-scale cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions (EU Emissions Trading System) was established in the European Union in 2005. Yet the three decades of carbon pricing still has limited knowledge in the public domain and limited experiential evidence for diverse economies, particularly the emerging economies. Hence, the case of carbon pricing remains curious and challenging for countries with limited capacities and resources.

Carbon pricing is important and useful for the following benefits:

a) Correcting market failures or enhancing economic efficiency by placing a price on carbon which incentivises entities to reduce emissions,

b) Stimulate investment in low-carbon and energy-efficient developments, and

c) Generate substantial revenue for governments which can be reallocated to support climate-related initiatives and social and economic transitions.

However, these benefits come with a complex tapestry of socio-economic challenges. These ranges from the equity concerns of disproportionate burdening of vulnerable or marginalised populations, to the loss of competitiveness in carbon-intensive industry sectors, or the differential impacts in different geographies, like rural vs. urban or regions with different energy mix or resource profiles, etc. For example, regressivity of a carbon pricing policy can exacerbate energy poverty by trapping the energy-poor households (still relying on traditional biofules) in their current state of lack of access to electricity or improved cooking fuel or transport services. These impacts are highly dependent on the unique features of a given jurisdiction, including economic development status, circumstantial factors, like, the income or energy consumption patterns, regional disparities, and re-investment policies.

Hence, it is crucial for governments to evaluate their national circumstance and complement carbon pricing policies with other fiscal policies and mitigation instruments. The report talks about the tools to address such challenges, like revenue recycling through direct transfer to vulnerable populations or revenue distribution in clean technological or infrastructural investments, etc. 

The state of Texas filed a lawsuit today to block the Environmental Protections Agency’s protective limits on methane pollution from new and existing oil and gas sources – safeguards that will reduce tens of millions of tons of climate-damaging methane and other toxic, smog-forming pollution from oil and gas leaks, venting and flaring.

“EPA’s commonsense oil and gas methane protections deliver vital reductions in climate and health-harming pollution. The standards are the culmination of a rigorous public process and reflect the input and support of a wide variety of stakeholders, including states, Tribes, community groups, technology providers, and leading oil and gas operators. EPA’s final methane protections for the oil and gas sector are firmly rooted in the extensive factual record before the agency and EPA’s core authority, reinforced in recent years by Congress, to address harmful methane pollution under the Clean Air Act. Environmental Defense Fund looks forward to vigorously defending these standards in court and helping to realize their benefits for communities long overburdened by oil and gas pollution.”

            - Rosalie Winn, EDF Director and Lead Counsel for Methane and Clean Air Policy

(Washington, D.C. – March 8, 2024) Two new analyses by Environmental Defense Fund show strong growth in both electric vehicle (EV) sales and manufacturing investments in the U.S.

In the last three years, the U.S. has had more private investments in EV manufacturing than any other region of the world – an amount that has more than tripled since 2021, when compared to the previous five years – and domestic EV sales in 2023 outpaced almost every prediction that industry experts made prior to that year.

“Despite some recent suggestions to the contrary, actual data show the U.S. markets for electric vehicles are flourishing. Sales are better than experts had very recently expected they would be, and the U.S. is now leading the world race for new EV manufacturing investments,” said Ellen Robo, manager of transportation and clean air policy at Environmental Defense Fund.   

For the first analysis, EDF used data from Atlas Public Policy’s Global Private Investment Dashboard, which includes EV investment information going back to 2016. Our analysis found that between 2016 and 2020 more than 60% of total global EV investments were in China, and only about one-quarter of investments were in the U.S.

Since 2021 that balance has changed dramatically, with the U.S. investing $167 billion – more than any other region. China’s share of investments in that time frame dropped to less than one-quarter of global investments.

That time period – 2021 until now – also saw substantial changes to U.S. policies supporting EV manufacturing and jobs, including both production and consumer tax credits under 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act.

EDF and WSP also previously released a similar analysis focused on U.S. EV manufacturing investments. That analysis included investments only with specifically announced facility locations and start dates. It showed very significant but slightly more conservative investment values than the Atlas data, which includes all investments allocated to a specific country.

See more on our fact sheet.

EDF’s second analysis found that EV sales are going further and faster than most experts thought they would as recently as 2019 to 2022.

EDF identified 13 different sources that produced EV sales forecasts for the U.S. and collected the 35 forecasts these institutions made from 2019 through 2022. Actual EV sales in 2023 outperformed all but five of them, as more than 1.4 million electric vehicles (EVs) were sold.

See more on our fact sheet.

“The Securities and Exchange Commission just voted in favor of a climate risk disclosure rule that will help protect our country’s economy and people’s financial security, from Wall Street to Main Street, from the destruction caused by climate change.

“Climate disasters have been a serious and growing threat to our economy for quite a while now, and investors have been waiting for better information to help them navigate that threat. For many years, the SEC has required publicly traded companies to disclose a wide range of financial risks that they face. This new rule will require them to include vital information about climate risk in that long-established tradition. It will allow investors to make wiser, better-informed decisions – which will in turn protect not just businesses but families, retirees, anyone who has a 401(k) or a pension, and everyone who has any savings in the stock market.

“A chorus of businesses and investors have already voiced their support for mandatory climate risk disclosure. Many businesses already disclose climate risk data through voluntary frameworks, and the SEC’s standards will bring improved rigor and consistency. The SEC has a responsibility under the law to protect investors and markets from evolving risks, like climate financial risk. Their vote today is an essential and overdue step toward meeting that responsibility.

“Now the SEC should continue building on the strong foundation it set today, so we can make sure investors have the reliable, transparent information they need as threats from climate change continue to grow. Across our economy, businesses, consumers, and investors will all benefit from strong safeguards.”

            - Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund

(RICHMOND, VIRGINIA – March 6, 2024) - State lawmakers are soon concluding their legislative actions during the 2024 General Assembly, advancing some key climate resilience efforts and leaving others on the table. 

Notably, legislators passed HB 1458 with bipartisan support, a bill that aims to strengthen Virginia’s approach to resilience governance and align statewide climate adaptation efforts. If signed into law and granted funding, this bill will enable a standalone Chief Resilience Officer to coordinate resilience efforts across state agencies and support regional and local community resilience initiatives. Legislators also passed HB 673 with bipartisan support, ensuring the Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund gives additional weight to low-income and nature-based applications for flood resilience and hazard mitigation projects.  

Resilience bills that did not move forward include HB 863, a bill that would require sellers to disclose a property’s past flood history and known flood risk to homebuyers. In addition, HB 357 did not advance, which would have created a work group to advise on wetlands protection and restoration strategies in the face of a changing climate. 

“Increasing flooding from sea level rise, extreme rain and other climate impacts threaten lives and livelihoods across the Commonwealth. Continued legislative progress is critical to ensuring Virginia remains a national leader in resilience and climate adaptation.  

“Environmental Defense Fund was one of the 39 stakeholders who participated in the 2023 Resilience Coordination Working Group that offered recommendations that serve as the basis for HB 1458. A standalone Chief Resilience Officer will demonstrate Virginia’s continued leadership and commitment to effectively addressing the climate impacts our communities face. 

“We commend lawmakers for passing such proactive legislation and urge Governor Youngkin to sign these key bills. Moving forward, we also urge budget negotiators to include funds in their final budget that effectively operationalize the promise of HB 1458.” 

Background:  

• HB 1458 was introduced by Freshman Del. Phil Hernandez from Norfolk and enables actions by a standalone Chief Resilience Officer, in addition to codifying important transparency commitments for Virginia’s resilience funding programs, the Community Flood Preparedness Fund and the Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund.  
• HB 673 was introduced by Freshman Del. Michael Feggans from Virginia Beach to ensure the Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund prioritizes applications from low-income localities and nature-based projects. 
• HB 863 was introduced by Del. Phil Hernandez to require disclosure of past flooding history and known flood risk for homebuyers and sellers. Virginia has minimal flood disclosure requirements, despite the high costs of flooding, which puts homebuyers and renters at risk.  
• HB 357 was introduced by Del. Shelly Simonds from Newport News, which would have created a work group to advise on wetlands protection and restoration strategies for the Commonwealth in the face of sea level rise and other climate impacts. 

-Emily Steinhilber, Director, Climate Resilient Coasts and Watersheds, Virginia, Environmental Defense Fund  

(Washington, DC – March 5, 2024) — Three new conservation agreements announced today by the Biden-Harris administration will yield up to 400,000 acre-feet of water savings in Lake Mead. All three agreements, totaling nearly $160 million in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, involve California water districts. 

Kevin Moran, associate vice president for regional affairs at the Environmental Defense Fund issued the following statement in response: 

“Today’s conservation agreements, taken in conjunction with the 21 prior agreements across the Colorado River Basin, are an important step in the right direction. The river is at a critical inflection point. Stark climate shifts and rapid population growth mean we must reduce our draw on the river if this critical lifeline for millions of Americans is to survive. The conservation agreements will give us some degree of certainty and buy us time as we work on longer term issues that must be addressed for the sake of the communities, farms, industries, and treasured landscapes that all rely on a viable, flowing Colorado River.”  

The conservation agreements announced today include: 

• A second agreement with Coachella Valley Water District, which commits up to 30,000 acre-feet of conserved water through 2026; 

• An agreement with Palo Verde Irrigation District in cooperation with Metropolitan Water District, which commits up to 351,063 acre-feet of conserved water through 2026; and 

• An agreement with Bard Water District in cooperation with Metropolitan Water District, which commits up to 18,090 acre-feet of conserved water through 2026. 

More on the Colorado River crisis and resilience efforts.

(Nairobi, Kenya - Tuesday, March 5) Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) applauds the Sixth Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) for recently adopting a global resolution on air pollution, marking an essential step toward combating a significant global health and environmental crisis. UNEA is the world’s highest-level decision-making body for environmental issues, with 193 member states. Sarah Vogel, EDF’s Senior Vice President for Healthy Communities, celebrated the resolution’s strengths and noted critical areas for improvement in the following statement:

"This resolution takes a comprehensive stance, recognizing air pollution's multifaceted impacts on health, ecosystems and the economy. It underscores the necessity of regional and global cooperation, alongside capacity building and technological advancements, for air quality monitoring. It rightly calls for policies that tackle air pollution and climate change together, highlighting the potential to accelerate solutions that advance health and climate benefits.

"Despite these strengths, EDF points out critical areas for improvement, such as the lack of defined funding mechanisms and strategies, particularly for supporting developing countries. The resolution's reliance on voluntary actions instead of binding commitments may present significant challenges to driving meaningful change, especially in nations with severe air pollution. Moreover, there's an urgent need for countries to increase their capacities to monitor air pollution and track progress on their efforts to reduce it, while protecting vulnerable populations.

"Centering environmental justice requires integrating air pollution management with broader policy areas—such as urban planning, energy, transport and agriculture—and designing public engagement initiatives to empower those most affected. We call on leaders across sectors to pursue policy and financing instruments that will help abate air pollution and accelerate the transition to renewable energy, as well as stringent legal frameworks to strengthen and enforce air quality standards."

(VANDENBERG SFB, LOMPOC CA – March 4, 2024) Just after 2:00pm Pacific Time today MethaneSAT is scheduled to lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon9 rocket (live video will be posted here). The groundbreaking satellite is designed to help protect the Earth’s climate by accelerating reductions of a powerful greenhouse pollutant, focusing first on oil and gas operators, the world’s largest industrial source of methane emissions.

A digital media kit with photos, videos and graphics is available HERE.

Developed by a subsidiary of the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund, MethaneSAT will see and quantify total methane emissions over wide areas that other satellites can’t and identify large emitters in places they aren’t looking. Data from MethaneSAT will enable both companies and regulators to track emissions, and give stakeholders – citizens, governments, investors, and gas importers – free, near-real time access to the data, and the unprecedented ability to compare the results against emission goals and obligations.

“Cutting methane pollution from fossil fuel operations, agriculture and other sectors is the single fastest way to slow the rate of warming as we continue to decarbonize our energy systems,” said EDF President Fred Krupp. “To do that requires comprehensive data on this pollution on a global scale. MethaneSAT will show us the full scope of the opportunity by tracking emissions to their source.”

Krupp announced MethaneSAT in a 2018 TED Talk as part of the TED Audacious Project. EDF has been a global leader in methane science and solutions for more than a decade, putting the problem on the map by organizing a pioneering series of 16 independent studies that showed methane emissions across the U.S. oil and gas supply chain were 60% higher than EPA estimates at the time. MethaneSAT is a direct outgrowth of these efforts.

“MethaneSAT’s superpower is the ability to precisely measure methane levels with high resolution over wide areas, including smaller, diffuse sources that account for most emissions in many regions,” said Steven Hamburg, EDF Chief Scientist and MethaneSAT project leader. “Knowing how much methane is coming from where and how the rates are changing is essential.”

Circling the Earth 15 times a day, MethaneSAT will measure changes in methane concentrations as small as three parts per billion. High sensitivity together with high resolution and a wide field of view will enable MethaneSAT to see the whole emissions picture (see more detail here).

These unique capabilities usher in a new era of transparency for the industry. Interactive emissions data will be available to anyone directly from www.MethaneSAT.org and on Google Earth Engine, a premier geospatial data platform used by over 100,000 experts and analysts.

MethaneSAT was made possible entirely by the support of EDF donors and our partnership with the Government of New Zealand. Among the largest contributors to MethaneSAT are the Bezos Earth Fund, Arnold Ventures, the Robertson Foundation and the TED Audacious Project.

“Methane emissions have been overlooked and hard to detect for far too long,” said Dr. Kelly Levin, Chief of Science, Data and Systems Change at the Bezos Earth Fund. “MethaneSAT changes the equation, putting science and data front and center. From the sky, it can see what others can’t, helping good actors and holding bad actors accountable. The Bezos Earth Fund is proud to be a partner in this adventure.”

In December, EDF joined with Bloomberg Philanthropies, the International Energy Agency, RMI and the UN Environment Programme’s International Methane Emission Observatory on a new, first-of-its-kind initiative to hold companies and governments more accountable for their methane management.

“You can’t manage what you can’t measure, and that’s certainly true when it comes to cutting methane, one of the biggest drivers of climate change,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions and Founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies. “Data from this satellite will help us to better measure methane emissions and target their sources, bringing more transparency to the problem, giving companies and investors the information they need to take action, and empowering the public to hold people accountable.”

In addition to identifying emission sources and rates for a given region, MethaneSAT will make it possible to compare emission loss rates across major oil and gas regions worldwide and performance over time. Analytics developed specially for the mission will trace those emissions back to their sources within those target regions.

“We have consistently seen the power of strong data to win robust regulatory safeguards and better operating practices in the industry. Good science lays the groundwork for better decisions,” said Mark Brownstein, EDF Senior Vice President, Energy Transition.

In January the Biden Administration proposed rules for a fee on excess methane emissions, which will require accurate emissions reporting. European legislation agreed to in November charts a pathway toward requiring empirical emissions data from gas importers, while Japan and Korea – two of the largest LNG buyers – have launched plans to begin requiring emissions data from suppliers.

As methane standards are incorporated into national policy and trade agreements, MethaneSAT will help ensure targets are being met, and make clear where claimed reductions fall short.

Over 150 countries have signed the Global Methane Pledge to cut their collective methane emissions at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030. At COP28, over 50 companies announced the Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter, committing to virtually eliminate methane emissions and routine flaring. 

In addition to parent organization EDF, MethaneSAT partners include Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and the New Zealand Space Agency. The combined mission team has over 70 experts worldwide with experience in spaceflight, remote sensing, and data analytics.

The satellite was built in Colorado by the Space & Mission Systems unit of BAE Systems, Inc. (formerly Ball Aerospace) and Blue Canyon Technologies.

(VANDENBERG SFB, LOMPOC CA – March 4, 2024) Just after 4:00pm Pacific Time today MethaneSAT effectively detached from SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that carried the emissions monitor into space. The groundbreaking satellite is designed to help protect the Earth’s climate by accelerating reductions of a powerful greenhouse pollutant, focusing first on oil and gas operations, a major source of methane.

A digital media kit with photos, videos and graphics is available HERE.

Developed by a subsidiary of the global non-profit Environmental Defense Fund, MethaneSAT will see and quantify total methane emissions over wide areas that other satellites can’t and identify large emitters in places they aren’t looking. Data from MethaneSAT will enable both companies and regulators to track emissions, and give stakeholders – citizens, governments and investors – free, near-real time access to the data, and the unprecedented ability to compare the results against emission goals and obligations.

“Cutting methane pollution from fossil fuel operations, agriculture and other sectors is the single fastest way to slow the rate of warming as we continue to decarbonize our energy systems,” said EDF President Fred Krupp. “To do that requires comprehensive data on this pollution on a global scale. MethaneSAT will show us the full scope of the opportunity by tracking emissions to their source.”

Krupp announced MethaneSAT in a 2018 TED Talk as part of the TED Audacious Project. EDF has been a global leader in methane science and solutions for more than a decade, putting the problem on the map by organizing a pioneering series of 16 independent studies that showed methane emissions across the U.S. oil and gas supply chain were 60% higher than EPA estimates at the time. MethaneSAT is a direct outgrowth of these efforts.

“MethaneSAT’s superpower is the ability to precisely measure methane levels with high resolution over wide areas, including smaller, diffuse sources that account for most emissions in many regions,” said Steven Hamburg, EDF Chief Scientist and MethaneSAT project leader. “Knowing how much methane is coming from where and how the rates are changing is essential.”

Circling the Earth 15 times a day, MethaneSAT will measure changes in methane concentrations as small as three parts per billion. High sensitivity together with high resolution and a wide field of view will enable MethaneSAT to see the whole emissions picture (see more detail here).

These unique capabilities usher in a new era of transparency for the industry. Interactive emissions data will be available to anyone directly from www.MethaneSAT.org and on Google Earth Engine, a premier geospatial data platform used by over 100,000 experts and analysts.

MethaneSAT was made possible entirely by the support of EDF donors and our partnership with the Government of New Zealand. Among the largest contributors to MethaneSAT are the Bezos Earth Fund, Arnold Ventures, the Robertson Foundation and the TED Audacious Project.

“Methane emissions have been overlooked and hard to detect for far too long,” said Dr. Kelly Levin, Chief of Science, Data and Systems Change at the Bezos Earth Fund. “MethaneSAT changes the equation, putting science and data front and center. From the sky, it can see what others can’t, helping good actors and holding bad actors accountable. The Bezos Earth Fund is proud to be a partner in this adventure.”

In December, EDF joined with Bloomberg Philanthropies, the International Energy Agency, RMI and the UN Environment Programme’s International Methane Emission Observatory on a new, first-of-its-kind initiative to hold companies and governments more accountable for their methane management.

“You can’t manage what you can’t measure, and that’s certainly true when it comes to cutting methane, one of the biggest drivers of climate change,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions and Founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies. “Data from this satellite will help us to better measure methane emissions and target their sources, bringing more transparency to the problem, giving companies and investors the information they need to take action, and empowering the public to hold people accountable.”

In addition to identifying emission sources and rates for a given region, MethaneSAT will make it possible to compare emission loss rates across major oil and gas regions worldwide and performance over time. Analytics developed specially for the mission will trace those emissions back to their sources within those target regions.

“We have consistently seen the power of strong data to win robust regulatory safeguards and better operating practices in the industry. Good science lays the groundwork for better decisions,” said Mark Brownstein, EDF Senior Vice President, Energy Transition.

In January the Biden Administration proposed rules for a fee on excess methane emissions, which will require accurate emissions reporting. European legislation agreed to in November charts a pathway toward requiring empirical emissions data from gas importers, while Japan and Korea – two of the largest LNG buyers – have launched plans to begin requiring emissions data from suppliers.

As methane standards are incorporated into national policy and trade agreements, MethaneSAT will help ensure targets are being met, and make clear where claimed reductions fall short.

Over 150 countries have signed the Global Methane Pledge to cut their collective methane emissions at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030. At COP 28, over 50 companies announced the Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter, committing to virtually eliminate methane emissions and routine flaring. 

In addition to parent organization EDF, MethaneSAT partners include Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and the New Zealand Space Agency. The combined mission team has over 70 experts worldwide with experience in spaceflight, remote sensing, and data analytics.

The satellite was built in Colorado by the Space & Mission Systems unit of BAE Systems, Inc. (formerly Ball Aerospace) and Blue Canyon Technologies.

President Joe Biden has nominated Judy Chang, David Rosner, and Lindsay See to serve as Commissioners on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The nominees would fill two empty seats on FERC and replace Commissioner Allison Clements once her term expires in June.

“FERC plays a crucial role in ensuring that we have a modern energy system to provide reliable, healthy, and affordable electricity for everyone. Having a full complement of Commissioners at FERC will allow them to make and implement the important decisions before them. We look forward to a robust confirmation process before the Senate.”

            - Ted Kelly, EDF Senior Attorney, Markets and Regulation

(WASHINGTON – March 1, 2024) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today took important steps to strengthen safeguards intended to prevent toxic chemical disasters at thousands of industrial facilities across the country.

EPA announced its final updates to the Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention rule, strengthening the Risk Management Program (RMP), a Clean Air Act requirement for the agency to provide protections to prevent and respond to chemical accidents at industrial facilities. “EPA’s action today is a foundational step toward protecting the health and safety of communities and workers on the fenceline of the petrochemical industry,” said Dionne Delli-Gatti, associate vice president, Community Engagement at Environmental Defense Fund. “This rule includes important additional safeguards to hold polluting facilities accountable for the risks they pose to communities.”

“People living near the thousands of industrial sites that use extremely toxic and flammable substances face the risk of chemical leaks, fires, spills, explosions and other potentially catastrophic events,” said Dominique Browning, vice president at Moms Clean Air Force. “Over one in every three school children in the U.S. attends a school within the danger zone of these facilities. Children are uniquely vulnerable to the health impacts caused by toxic chemical exposures such as respiratory illnesses and cancers. Moms—and all caregivers—support EPA’s important step in the strengthening of the Risk Management Program. We urge EPA to swiftly implement and enforce the new rules to help protect the health and safety of all children.”

The RMP rule requires facilities that use hazardous substances to develop a plan to evaluate risks from chemical releases, take steps to prevent them from happening and develop detailed emergency response plans. These plans are critical to help prevent chemical disasters and guide first responders and nearby communities to prepare for and respond to chemical disasters if they occur. Today’s standards will require a series of improvements to these plans, including increased evaluation of risks associated with climate change and requirements for certain high-risk facilities to consider and implement safer alternative technologies.

Toxic chemical disasters are far too common, and many facilities that process hazardous chemicals are located in areas facing greater risks from severe weather driven by climate change. In 2023, a chemical disaster occurred nearly every day in the U.S. A stronger, more protective RMP rule can help to prevent harm to communities, especially those on the fenceline of the chemical industry that face the greatest risks from exposure to this pollution.

These protections can also help to advance environmental justice—recent EDF research on who is bearing the burden of exposure to petrochemical pollution adds to a growing body of evidence indicating that communities of color are more at risk than others.

The updated rule contains a number of other provisions intended to safeguard public health and safety, including requiring consideration and implementation of safer alternatives, requiring back-up power for air pollution monitoring equipment and increased transparency and community access to facilities’ plans.

EDF and Moms Clean Air Force submitted joint comments to EPA in support of a strong final RMP rule when the agency first announced the updates in the fall of 2022.

(February 29, 2024) - Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Regional Plan Association (RPA), in collaboration with other stakeholders and partners, released a new report, Measuring Resilience, that identifies ways to quantify climate resilience. This work drew from both stakeholder and academic knowledge and addresses a gap of effective and reliable tools that measure how well communities, ecosystems and infrastructure withstand acute or avoid chronic climate impacts, such as flooding or storm damage.  

Within the report, EDF and RPA provide a set of indicators and metrics that can be used to measure a community’s resilience across a specific geography, paving the way for more user-friendly ways to answer the question: “How resilient are we?” at the level of a neighborhood, city or state. The report describes the importance of using resilience indicators in combination with available resources that measure vulnerability and climate hazards, as well as utilizing both science and community knowledge.  

According to EDF and RPA, reliable indicators will empower advocates, community organizations, government agencies and elected officials to make more informed and effective decisions about resilience planning and investments, as well as track and assess progress over time. 

"We are already experiencing the impacts of climate change in New York City and across the world. Just a few months ago, and more and more regularly, we dealt with extreme rainfall and flooding affecting lives, property and how we get to work and school," said Kate Boicourt, director for EDF’s Climate Resilient Coasts and Watersheds program in New York and New Jersey. "Leaders have effective ways to measure how devastating those impacts are and identify who is most vulnerable. But until now, there haven't been many established methods to measure how resilient a community is to those impacts. In Measuring Resilience, we identify evidence-based and community-informed metrics that will now allow decision makers to measure resilience effectiveness, track progress and improve management and policies over time."

“Many of our region’s communities are facing significant and worsening risks from the impacts of climate change, including coastal and heavy rainfall flooding,” said Robert Freudenberg, vice president for Energy & Environment at Regional Plan Association. “As neighborhoods, cities and states mobilize to plan for and implement adaptation programs and projects in response, the metrics presented in Measuring Resilience offer a variety of factors to quantify success and improve outcomes. Investments in resilience will be some of the largest we’ll make in the next generation. Measuring the success of those investments through improved levels of resilience will help to ensure that we are making the right decisions in the right places.”    

"New Yorkers need to understand if NYC is ready for climate change," said Amy Chester, managing director for Rebuild by Design. "Having indicators to measure our success will help communities understand our progress, highlight places that need improvements, and give tools that we can all use to hold our policy makers accountable." 

"The complexity of climate resilience and adaptation calls for strong metrics and yet adaptation solutions depend on geography, community perspectives, environmental considerations, range of climate risks and more. For this reason, developing climate adaptation metrics is a major challenge. The Waterfront Alliance was pleased to contribute to this effort to develop more clear indicators for climate adaptation and proud to have been a partner in the Measuring Resilience report.  We are eager to use metrics for better and clearer advocacy for a more livable future," said Cortney Koenig Worrall, president and CEO of Waterfront Alliance.

“Establishing clear and measurable goals is an opportunity to establish direction for policy, investments and collaborations, and this report is an important step in providing good guidance on how to set and measure climate resiliency targets. We are pleased to see trees and the urban forest included as a part of how New York City and beyond can measure and build their resiliency to flooding, extreme heat, and other climate impacts,” said Tami Lin-Moges, interim director of the Cities Program for The Nature Conservancy in New York. “The urban forest and green spaces are vital to helping New York City become more adaptive and resilient to the effects of climate change, and ensuring a healthier and safer future for all.”