Most Americans don’t realize how many decades it has taken for humans to recognize the dire threat posed to our world by climate change and to tackle the issue. It was only in the middle of the 20th century that humans first saw our planet from space — a small blue marble surrounded by clouds, covered by many oceans, and vegetation – a fragile sphere.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter, gave a prescient speech to the nation, saying that, except for war, the coming energy crisis would be “the greatest challenge that our country will face during our lifetime.”
It wasn’t until 1988 that the United Nations Environmental Program and the World Meteorological Organization established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to study climate changes caused by human activities. And only after decades of study and dozens of multinational summits have we clearly identified the pervasive threat of climate change from human-caused greenhouse gases accumulating in our atmosphere.
It was just two years ago, at the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, that the U.S. and European Union introduced the Global Methane Pledge to cut methane emissions at least 30% by 2030. Reaching this goal, known as “30×30,” is the best chance of slowing global warming in the coming decades since methane is such a potent greenhouse gas. 155 countries have now signed the Pledge. And at the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai last November, the delegates for the first time agreed on the need to phase out fossil fuels and reiterated that the most important near-term goal must be to slash methane at least 30% by 2030.
Energy Vision’s mission has long been analyzing the specific renewable fuel strategies and technologies that could enable the U.S. and other countries to end their dependence on fossil fuels. So we felt well equipped to identify what concrete steps would enable this country to live up to our commitment to reach 30×30.
Meeting the Methane Challenge, authored by our Research and Publications Director, Michael Lerner, spells out – chapter and verse – how it can be done. Full compliance with the EPA’s just announced New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for oil and gas production would cut U.S. methane emissions 17.5%. Construction of 4,700 anaerobic digesters (ADs), the main strategy for capturing the huge stream of methane emissions from decomposing food wastes and agricultural manure, would take off another 13.6%. Together that would exceed the 30×30 goal!
We urge our members and friends to read the summary here and to check out the report itself, which is available on our website.
Moving forward, Energy Vision’s focus lies in four areas:
- Bringing the findings of our report to key government leaders on the importance of strong enforcement of the new EPA NSPS rules, and of creating incentives for corporate innovators in the anaerobic digester sector to build the thousands of methane-trapping digester facilities that can get our country all the way to 30×30 and beyond.
- Educating state policymakers on the value of the AD strategy for methane reduction and of creating policy incentives for the production and use of the lowest carbon vehicle fuels
- Forming a strong collaboration with U.S. environmental justice communities to embark on methane reducing projects. We aim to facilitate replicating the brilliant Green Era Project in Chicago, which has built a new digester to turn the captured methane from local food wastes into clean fuel and to produce bio-fertilizer for its urban farm, which is growing fresh fruits and vegetables for the community.
- Collaborating with municipal governments and engineering firms to plan their AD projects.
It’s taken decades for humans to recognize the need to fight climate change, but we need to take action immediately, with just a few years to slash methane in the critical window to 2030. The new course that Energy Vision has charted can put us on the path to a truly sustainable way of living if we act now.
All of us at Energy Vision owe enormous thanks to you, our members and donors, for the support that is enabling us to do this groundbreaking work. We hope you will share our news with your network and bring us your questions and suggestions on other ways you can participate in our outreach.
