North Country Earth Action
|
Please Click buttons to the left for further information:
|
What is Net zero by 2050?
That emissions going into the atmosphere is equal to decarbonization offset on the earth.
What is The Public Trust Doctrine?
The public trust doctrine is the principle that the sovereign holds in trust for public use some resources such as shoreline between the high and low tide lines, regardless of private property ownership
What is the Commons?
- The Commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable earth. These resources are held in common, not owned privately. Wikipedia
What is the Green New Deal?
http://www.vimeo.com/grandmothers4aGND/APathForward
The Green New Deal is still a proposal;
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-resolution/109/text
Changing climate is causing sea levels to rise and an increase in wildfires, severe storms, droughts, and other extreme weather events that threaten human life, healthy communities, and critical infrastructure; global warming at or above 2 degrees Celsius beyond pre industrialized levels will cause--
(A) mass migration from the regions most affected by climate change;
(B) more than $500,000,000,000 in lost annual economic output in the United States by the year 2100;
(C) wildfires that, by 2050, will annually burn at least twice as much forest area in the western United States than was typically burned by wildfires in the years preceding 2019;
(D) a loss of more than 99 percent of all coral reefs on Earth;
(E) more than 350,000,000 more people to be exposed globally to deadly heat stress by 2050; and
(F) a risk of damage to $1,000,000,000,000 of public infrastructure and coastal real estate in the United States;
Then:
Global temperatures must be kept below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre industrialized levels to avoid the most severe impacts of a changing climate, which will require--
(A) global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from human sources of 40 to 60 percent from 2010 levels by 2030; and
(B) net-zero global emissions by 2050;
Whereas, because the United States has historically been responsible for a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions, having emitted 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions through 2014, and has a high technological capacity, the United States must take a leading role in reducing emissions through economic transformation
This is the Biden Plan as opposed to the Green New Deal:
(some critics warn that it includes reliance on biomass which is a big carbon polluter and removes trees to create fuel)
Biden Plan:
https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/11/11/biden-climate-change/
Why is the Department of the Interior important?
Projected new Secretary: Deb Haaland
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is a federal executive department of the U.S. government. It is responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, territorial affairs, and insular areas of the United States. About 75% of federal public land is managed by the department, with most of the remainder managed by the United States Department of Agriculture's United States Forest Service.[3] The department was created on March 3, 1849.
Drawdown and climate issue concepts:
What does 350 degrees mean?
350.org is an international environmental organization addressing the climate crisis. ... The 350 in the name stands for 350 ppm (parts per million) of carbon dioxide, which has been identified as the safe upper limit to avoid a climate tipping point.
What does zero emissions mean?
A zero-energy building, also known as a zero net energy (ZNE) building, net-zero energy building (NZEB), or net zero building, is a building with zero net energy consumption, meaning the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is roughly equal to the amount of renewable energy created on the site, or nearby.This definition doesn't account for the type of energy used, though. Where this becomes important is if the building uses natural gas, propane, or some other fuel besides electricity.
Zero GHG emissions by 2050 means the targeted date for not putting any more emissions into the atmosphere
as the last possible time to keep the emissions from continuously aggregating to a tipping point.
What does de carbonization mean?
The term decarbonization literally means the reduction of carbon or the conversion to an economic system that sustainably reduces and compensates the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂)
GGEA greenhouse gas is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range. Greenhouse gases cause the greenhouse effect on planets. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Electric decarbonizing means utility scale renewable transmission, distribution and storage, inferring hydro use and phasing out of Fossil fuels. Wikipedia
What does drawdown mean?
this means a concerted effort to keep fossil fuels in the ground; it is when greenhouse gas emission levels in the atmosphere start to decline. Drawdown is a handbook of 100 possible ways to address climate crisis by Paul Hawkin. The CCP.org initiative is based on this research
What is Carbon Capture.
Sequestration, direct air capture, agriculture and forestry decarbonizing
Extraction by technology from the atmosphere
What is a carbon tax?
A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon content of fuels, generally in the transport and energy sector. Carbon taxes intend to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by increasing the price of fossil fuels and decreasing the demand for them. Carbon taxes are a form of carbon pricing. Wikipedia
What is carbon offset?
Carbon offsets compensate for your emissions by canceling out greenhouse gas emissions somewhere else in the world. The money you pay to buy offsets supports programs designed to reduce emissions.
There are also industry mandated offsets.
What is Cap and Trade?
Cap and TradeEmissions trading is a market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing the emissions of pollutants. A central authority allocates or sells a limited number of permits that allow a discharge of a specific quantity of a specific pollutant over a set time period. Wikipedia
What is a micro grid?
a small scale power grid that can operate independently or in conjunction with the area's main electrical grid. The practice of using a microgram is known as distribute, dispersed, decentralize, district or embedded energy distribution.
What are photovoltaics and the extractive materials required to create thin film solar panels?These might include cadmium telluride or copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS for short).
What is PV( Photovoltaic?)
https://www.igfmining.org/minerals-green-economy-solar-panels-lithium-ion-batteries/
To meet ambitious national and international emissions reduction targets like the Paris Agreement, low-carbon technologies are essential. One of the most prominent technologies is solar photovoltaic (PV), which converts sunlight into electricity. Last year, solar PV became the fastest growing source of new energy, surpassing all other forms of power generation. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the global capacity of solar PV will be greater than the current power capacity of India and Japan combined within five years.
(What are the extractive minerals and issues around equitable extraction?)
Increased investment in solar PV also brings demand for the minerals in the technology, including aluminum, cadmium, copper, gallium, indium, iron, lead, nickel, silica, silver, tellurium, tin and zinc. Solar PV technology increases the need for energy storage units, both in the form of individual batteries for private use and on a large scale in electrical grids. This leads to demand for the minerals in lithium-ion batteries such as aluminium, cobalt, iron, lead, lithium, manganese, nickel and graphite.
Sourcing country governments can seize the economic opportunities that demand from solar PV generates to provide concrete benefits for their citizens, including improved livelihoods, public services and infrastructure. However, governments also face the challenge of managing potential negative impacts on human rights and the environment.
What is a land sink? What is an ocean sink?
natural environments where carbon is stored and enriches the environment; peat bogs are carbon sinks; forests are carbon sinks, no till cover cropped farmland and prairie are carbon sinks. 80% of the worlds trees have already been logged. Just letting our midwestern prairies grow back to their original would address our carbon emissions
National, International
Where politics intersects with the climate crisis:
What is the IPCC?
“The IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) was created in 1988 asa group of top scientists to issue periodic reports on the state of climate; In 2018 it warned that the world has a decade left for unprecedented global efforts to avoid climate collapse by rapidly slashing emissions and transitioning to renewable energy and conservation. The timeline is probably overly optimistic in view of the rapid acceleration of extreme weather and global warming.
What is the EPA?
Projected new Secretary under Biden:
Michael Regan, presently North Carolina's environmental regulator
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters.. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order..The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate. The agency is led by its administrator, who is appointed by the president and approved by the Senate. The EPA is not a Cabinet department, but the administrator is normally given cabinet rank.
The Office Of Water (OW) is the federal office of the EPA that is responsible for implementing both the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, which ensures that drinking water is safe, and supports the protection and restoration of United States governed oceans, watersheds, and other aquatic ecosystems in order to protect our environmental and public health.With each person on earth requiring roughly 20 to 50 liters of clean, safe water for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene the impacts of a world without clean water would be catastrophic. With more than 70% of all clean water being used for irrigation and agriculture a reduction in clean water would most likely lead to issues of food insecurity, as well as decreased health outcomes.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1709/text?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22scientific+integrity+act%22%5D%7D&r=1&s=1
What is the Scientific Integrity Act?
www.ucsusa.org/about/news/scientific-integrity-act“The Scientific Integrity Act would protect scientists from political interference, and make sure that they can carry out their research and share it without fear of retaliation. It would prevent political appointees from altering or suppressing scientific findings and make sure the best available science informs policy.
What is the Clean Power Plan?
The Clean Power Plan was the nation’s first-ever carbon standard for power plants. Attacked by fossil fuel interests and the Trump administration, it was ultimately repealed and replaced by the weak and ineffectual “Affordable Clean Energy” rule.
Under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is legally obligated to regulate carbon dioxide from major sources in the United States. That’s why, in 2015, the EPA released its first standard aimed at cutting carbon from power plants, known as the “Clean Power Plan.” The power sector is second only to the transportation sector as a source of US carbon emissions.
The EPA is still legally responsible for setting power plant carbon standards under the Clean Air Act, consistent with the its statutory responsibility to protect public health and welfare. The Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy rule does not meet that requirement and is now being challenged in court.. This is (the ONLY federal directive to ever include emissions regulations) and NOWHERE does it DEMAND emission regulation of CO2.
What is the Clean Air Act?
The Clean Air Act of 1963 is a United States federal law designed to control air pollution on a national level. It is one of the United States' first and most influential modern environmental laws, and one of the most comprehensive air quality laws in the world. Wikipedia
What is FERC?
One agency that we should closely work on is FERC, which among things controls approval of interstate gas pipelines which we want to stop. Trump just fired the head of FERC for making a ruling that was seen as supportive of renewable energy and for supporting the concept of carbon pricing. In NY, the carbon pricing proposal has been embraced by the renewable energy industry, CCL and by the mainstream energy media, and it could become the national model if enacted. Other groups have opposed the NY ISO proposal as too regressive. Nationally, Beyond Extreme Energy focuses on FERC. (I did not see anything in the climatepresident.org proposals re FERC, though I could have missed it)
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is the United States federal agency that regulates the transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas in interstate commerce and regulates the transportation of oil by pipeline in interstate commerce. Wikipedia
What is the Clean Water Act?
establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. The basis of the CWA was enacted in 1948 and was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, but the Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972. "Clean Water Act" became the Act's common name with amendments in 1972.
Under the CWA, EPA has implemented pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. EPA has also developed national water quality criteria recommendations for pollutants in surface waters.
The CWA made it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained:
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
What is the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
NYS and New England RGGI
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is the first market-based regulatory program in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. RGGI is a cooperative effort among the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont to cap and reduce CO2 emissions from the power sector.
In 2014 participating RGGI states set a cap of 91 million short tons of CO2. Since 2015, the RGGI CO2 cap has declined by 2.5 percent each year through the end of 2020, representing a steady decline in CO2 emissions from the power sector.
Each RGGI state has an individual CO2 Budget Trading Program. These programs are implemented through state regulations and/or legislation, but are regionally linked through CO2 allowance reciprocity, meaning an allowance issued by any participating state will be recognized by the other participating states. Due to this reciprocity, the RGGI states comprise a single regional carbon allowance market.
The RGGI participating states have each chosen to auction nearly all CO2 allowances and to invest the proceeds in consumer benefit programs to build a clean energy economy. These investments reduce greenhouse gas emissions and generate important consumer benefits, including lower energy bills, greater electric system reliability, and more jobs.
Pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by NYSERDA and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), NYSERDA is responsible for administering periodic auctions for the sale of the emissions allowances. The proceeds from the sales of these allowances will be used by NYSERDA to administer energy efficiency, renewable energy, programs for disadvantaged communities, and/or
is the first mandatory market based program in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. RGGI is a cooperative effort among the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia to cap and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the power sector.[1] RGGI compliance obligations apply to fossil-fueled power plants 25MW and larger within the ten-state region.[2] As of 2020, Pennsylvania is pending RGGI membership with an anticipated start in early 2022.[3]
RGGI establishes a regional cap on the amount of CO2 pollution that power plants can emit by issuing a limited number of tradable CO2 allowances. Each allowance represents an authorization for a regulated power plant to emit one short ton of CO2. Individual CO2 budget trading programs in each RGGI state together create a regional market for CO2 allowances.[4]
The RGGI states distribute over 90 percent of allowances through quarterly auctions.[5] These allowance auctions generate proceeds, which participating states are able to invest in strategic energy and consumer benefit programs. Programs funded through RGGI have included energy efficiency, clean and renewable energy, greenhouse gas abatement, and direct bill assistance.
An initial milestone program's development occurred in 2005, when seven states signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) announcing an agreement to implement RGGI.[6] The RGGI states then established individual CO2 budget trading programs, based on the RGGI Model Rule. The first pre-compliance RGGI auction took place in September 2008, and the program became effective on January 1, 2009. The RGGI program is currently in its fourth three-year compliance period, which began January 1, 2018.[7]
What is NYSERDA
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, established in 1975, is a New York State public-benefit corporation, located in Albany, New York, with regional offices in New York City, Buffalo, and West Valley. NYSERDA
Mission: "To conserve, improve and protect New York's natural resources and environment and to prevent, abate and control water, land and air pollution, in order to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state and their overall economic and social well-being."
http://www.vimeo.com/grandmothers4aGND/APathForward
The Green New Deal is still a proposal;
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-resolution/109/text
Changing climate is causing sea levels to rise and an increase in wildfires, severe storms, droughts, and other extreme weather events that threaten human life, healthy communities, and critical infrastructure; global warming at or above 2 degrees Celsius beyond pre industrialized levels will cause--
(A) mass migration from the regions most affected by climate change;
(B) more than $500,000,000,000 in lost annual economic output in the United States by the year 2100;
(C) wildfires that, by 2050, will annually burn at least twice as much forest area in the western United States than was typically burned by wildfires in the years preceding 2019;
(D) a loss of more than 99 percent of all coral reefs on Earth;
(E) more than 350,000,000 more people to be exposed globally to deadly heat stress by 2050; and
(F) a risk of damage to $1,000,000,000,000 of public infrastructure and coastal real estate in the United States;
Then:
Global temperatures must be kept below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre industrialized levels to avoid the most severe impacts of a changing climate, which will require--
(A) global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from human sources of 40 to 60 percent from 2010 levels by 2030; and
(B) net-zero global emissions by 2050;
Whereas, because the United States has historically been responsible for a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions, having emitted 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions through 2014, and has a high technological capacity, the United States must take a leading role in reducing emissions through economic transformation
This is the Biden Plan as opposed to the Green New Deal:
(some critics warn that it includes reliance on biomass which is a big carbon polluter and removes trees to create fuel)
Biden Plan:
https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/
- Ensure the U.S. achieves a 100% clean energy economy and reaches net-zero emissions no later than 2050. On day one, Biden will sign a series of new executive orders with unprecedented reach that go well beyond the Obama-Biden Administration platform and put us on the right track. And, he will demand that Congress enacts legislation in the first year of his presidency that: 1) establishes an enforcement mechanism that includes milestone targets no later than the end of his first term in 2025, 2) makes a historic investment in clean energy and climate research and innovation, 3) incentivizes the rapid deployment of clean energy innovations across the economy, especially in communities most impacted by climate change.
- Build a stronger, more resilient nation. On day one, Biden will make smart infrastructure investments to rebuild the nation and to ensure that our buildings, water, transportation, and energy infrastructure can withstand the impacts of climate change. Every dollar spent toward rebuilding our roads, bridges, buildings, the electric grid, and our water infrastructure will be used to prevent, reduce, and withstand a changing climate. As President, Biden will use the convening power of government to boost climate resilience efforts by developing regional climate resilience plans, in partnership with local universities and national labs, for local access to the most relevant science, data, information, tools, and training.
- Rally the rest of the world to meet the threat of climate change... He will not only recommit the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate change – he will lead an effort to get every major country to ramp up the ambition of their domestic climate targets. He will use America’s economic leverage, power of example and integrate climate change into our foreign policy and national security strategies, as well as our approach to trade.
- Stand up to the abuse of power by polluters who disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income communities.The Biden Administration will take action against fossil fuel companies and other polluters who put profit over people and knowingly harm our environment and poison our communities’ air, land, and water, or conceal information regarding potential environmental and health risks. The Biden plan will ensure that communities across the country from Flint, Michigan to Harlan, Kentucky to the New Hampshire Seacoast have access to clean, safe drinking water. And he’ll make sure the development of solutions is an inclusive, community-driven process.
- Fulfill our obligation to workers and communities who powered our industrial revolution and subsequent decades of economic growth. We’re not going to leave any workers or communities behind.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/11/11/biden-climate-change/
Why is the Department of the Interior important?
Projected new Secretary: Deb Haaland
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is a federal executive department of the U.S. government. It is responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, territorial affairs, and insular areas of the United States. About 75% of federal public land is managed by the department, with most of the remainder managed by the United States Department of Agriculture's United States Forest Service.[3] The department was created on March 3, 1849.
Drawdown and climate issue concepts:
What does 350 degrees mean?
350.org is an international environmental organization addressing the climate crisis. ... The 350 in the name stands for 350 ppm (parts per million) of carbon dioxide, which has been identified as the safe upper limit to avoid a climate tipping point.
What does zero emissions mean?
A zero-energy building, also known as a zero net energy (ZNE) building, net-zero energy building (NZEB), or net zero building, is a building with zero net energy consumption, meaning the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is roughly equal to the amount of renewable energy created on the site, or nearby.This definition doesn't account for the type of energy used, though. Where this becomes important is if the building uses natural gas, propane, or some other fuel besides electricity.
Zero GHG emissions by 2050 means the targeted date for not putting any more emissions into the atmosphere
as the last possible time to keep the emissions from continuously aggregating to a tipping point.
What does de carbonization mean?
The term decarbonization literally means the reduction of carbon or the conversion to an economic system that sustainably reduces and compensates the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂)
GGEA greenhouse gas is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range. Greenhouse gases cause the greenhouse effect on planets. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Electric decarbonizing means utility scale renewable transmission, distribution and storage, inferring hydro use and phasing out of Fossil fuels. Wikipedia
What does drawdown mean?
this means a concerted effort to keep fossil fuels in the ground; it is when greenhouse gas emission levels in the atmosphere start to decline. Drawdown is a handbook of 100 possible ways to address climate crisis by Paul Hawkin. The CCP.org initiative is based on this research
What is Carbon Capture.
Sequestration, direct air capture, agriculture and forestry decarbonizing
Extraction by technology from the atmosphere
What is a carbon tax?
A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon content of fuels, generally in the transport and energy sector. Carbon taxes intend to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by increasing the price of fossil fuels and decreasing the demand for them. Carbon taxes are a form of carbon pricing. Wikipedia
What is carbon offset?
Carbon offsets compensate for your emissions by canceling out greenhouse gas emissions somewhere else in the world. The money you pay to buy offsets supports programs designed to reduce emissions.
There are also industry mandated offsets.
What is Cap and Trade?
Cap and TradeEmissions trading is a market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing the emissions of pollutants. A central authority allocates or sells a limited number of permits that allow a discharge of a specific quantity of a specific pollutant over a set time period. Wikipedia
What is a micro grid?
a small scale power grid that can operate independently or in conjunction with the area's main electrical grid. The practice of using a microgram is known as distribute, dispersed, decentralize, district or embedded energy distribution.
What are photovoltaics and the extractive materials required to create thin film solar panels?These might include cadmium telluride or copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS for short).
What is PV( Photovoltaic?)
https://www.igfmining.org/minerals-green-economy-solar-panels-lithium-ion-batteries/
To meet ambitious national and international emissions reduction targets like the Paris Agreement, low-carbon technologies are essential. One of the most prominent technologies is solar photovoltaic (PV), which converts sunlight into electricity. Last year, solar PV became the fastest growing source of new energy, surpassing all other forms of power generation. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the global capacity of solar PV will be greater than the current power capacity of India and Japan combined within five years.
(What are the extractive minerals and issues around equitable extraction?)
Increased investment in solar PV also brings demand for the minerals in the technology, including aluminum, cadmium, copper, gallium, indium, iron, lead, nickel, silica, silver, tellurium, tin and zinc. Solar PV technology increases the need for energy storage units, both in the form of individual batteries for private use and on a large scale in electrical grids. This leads to demand for the minerals in lithium-ion batteries such as aluminium, cobalt, iron, lead, lithium, manganese, nickel and graphite.
Sourcing country governments can seize the economic opportunities that demand from solar PV generates to provide concrete benefits for their citizens, including improved livelihoods, public services and infrastructure. However, governments also face the challenge of managing potential negative impacts on human rights and the environment.
What is a land sink? What is an ocean sink?
natural environments where carbon is stored and enriches the environment; peat bogs are carbon sinks; forests are carbon sinks, no till cover cropped farmland and prairie are carbon sinks. 80% of the worlds trees have already been logged. Just letting our midwestern prairies grow back to their original would address our carbon emissions
National, International
Where politics intersects with the climate crisis:
What is the IPCC?
“The IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) was created in 1988 asa group of top scientists to issue periodic reports on the state of climate; In 2018 it warned that the world has a decade left for unprecedented global efforts to avoid climate collapse by rapidly slashing emissions and transitioning to renewable energy and conservation. The timeline is probably overly optimistic in view of the rapid acceleration of extreme weather and global warming.
What is the EPA?
Projected new Secretary under Biden:
Michael Regan, presently North Carolina's environmental regulator
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters.. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order..The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate. The agency is led by its administrator, who is appointed by the president and approved by the Senate. The EPA is not a Cabinet department, but the administrator is normally given cabinet rank.
The Office Of Water (OW) is the federal office of the EPA that is responsible for implementing both the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, which ensures that drinking water is safe, and supports the protection and restoration of United States governed oceans, watersheds, and other aquatic ecosystems in order to protect our environmental and public health.With each person on earth requiring roughly 20 to 50 liters of clean, safe water for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene the impacts of a world without clean water would be catastrophic. With more than 70% of all clean water being used for irrigation and agriculture a reduction in clean water would most likely lead to issues of food insecurity, as well as decreased health outcomes.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1709/text?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22scientific+integrity+act%22%5D%7D&r=1&s=1
What is the Scientific Integrity Act?
www.ucsusa.org/about/news/scientific-integrity-act“The Scientific Integrity Act would protect scientists from political interference, and make sure that they can carry out their research and share it without fear of retaliation. It would prevent political appointees from altering or suppressing scientific findings and make sure the best available science informs policy.
What is the Clean Power Plan?
The Clean Power Plan was the nation’s first-ever carbon standard for power plants. Attacked by fossil fuel interests and the Trump administration, it was ultimately repealed and replaced by the weak and ineffectual “Affordable Clean Energy” rule.
Under the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is legally obligated to regulate carbon dioxide from major sources in the United States. That’s why, in 2015, the EPA released its first standard aimed at cutting carbon from power plants, known as the “Clean Power Plan.” The power sector is second only to the transportation sector as a source of US carbon emissions.
The EPA is still legally responsible for setting power plant carbon standards under the Clean Air Act, consistent with the its statutory responsibility to protect public health and welfare. The Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy rule does not meet that requirement and is now being challenged in court.. This is (the ONLY federal directive to ever include emissions regulations) and NOWHERE does it DEMAND emission regulation of CO2.
What is the Clean Air Act?
The Clean Air Act of 1963 is a United States federal law designed to control air pollution on a national level. It is one of the United States' first and most influential modern environmental laws, and one of the most comprehensive air quality laws in the world. Wikipedia
What is FERC?
One agency that we should closely work on is FERC, which among things controls approval of interstate gas pipelines which we want to stop. Trump just fired the head of FERC for making a ruling that was seen as supportive of renewable energy and for supporting the concept of carbon pricing. In NY, the carbon pricing proposal has been embraced by the renewable energy industry, CCL and by the mainstream energy media, and it could become the national model if enacted. Other groups have opposed the NY ISO proposal as too regressive. Nationally, Beyond Extreme Energy focuses on FERC. (I did not see anything in the climatepresident.org proposals re FERC, though I could have missed it)
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is the United States federal agency that regulates the transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas in interstate commerce and regulates the transportation of oil by pipeline in interstate commerce. Wikipedia
What is the Clean Water Act?
establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. The basis of the CWA was enacted in 1948 and was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, but the Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972. "Clean Water Act" became the Act's common name with amendments in 1972.
Under the CWA, EPA has implemented pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. EPA has also developed national water quality criteria recommendations for pollutants in surface waters.
The CWA made it unlawful to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained:
- EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls discharges.
- Point sources are discrete conveyances such as pipes or man-made ditches.
- Individual homes that are connected to a municipal system, use a septic system, or do not have a surface discharge do not need a NPDES permit;
- Industrial, municipal, and other facilities must obtain permits if their discharges go directly to surface waters.
- This link was suggested to us by a student named Rose in a local environmental club:
- https://www.oberk.com/watercycleglossaryofterms
- you can click on the link above or use the button at the top of the page to access the awesome information we all need to know about water and why we need to preserve its clarity. Don't forget 2022 is the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act
NYSTATE
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
What is the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
NYS and New England RGGI
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is the first market-based regulatory program in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. RGGI is a cooperative effort among the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont to cap and reduce CO2 emissions from the power sector.
In 2014 participating RGGI states set a cap of 91 million short tons of CO2. Since 2015, the RGGI CO2 cap has declined by 2.5 percent each year through the end of 2020, representing a steady decline in CO2 emissions from the power sector.
Each RGGI state has an individual CO2 Budget Trading Program. These programs are implemented through state regulations and/or legislation, but are regionally linked through CO2 allowance reciprocity, meaning an allowance issued by any participating state will be recognized by the other participating states. Due to this reciprocity, the RGGI states comprise a single regional carbon allowance market.
The RGGI participating states have each chosen to auction nearly all CO2 allowances and to invest the proceeds in consumer benefit programs to build a clean energy economy. These investments reduce greenhouse gas emissions and generate important consumer benefits, including lower energy bills, greater electric system reliability, and more jobs.
Pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by NYSERDA and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), NYSERDA is responsible for administering periodic auctions for the sale of the emissions allowances. The proceeds from the sales of these allowances will be used by NYSERDA to administer energy efficiency, renewable energy, programs for disadvantaged communities, and/or
is the first mandatory market based program in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. RGGI is a cooperative effort among the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia to cap and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the power sector.[1] RGGI compliance obligations apply to fossil-fueled power plants 25MW and larger within the ten-state region.[2] As of 2020, Pennsylvania is pending RGGI membership with an anticipated start in early 2022.[3]
RGGI establishes a regional cap on the amount of CO2 pollution that power plants can emit by issuing a limited number of tradable CO2 allowances. Each allowance represents an authorization for a regulated power plant to emit one short ton of CO2. Individual CO2 budget trading programs in each RGGI state together create a regional market for CO2 allowances.[4]
The RGGI states distribute over 90 percent of allowances through quarterly auctions.[5] These allowance auctions generate proceeds, which participating states are able to invest in strategic energy and consumer benefit programs. Programs funded through RGGI have included energy efficiency, clean and renewable energy, greenhouse gas abatement, and direct bill assistance.
An initial milestone program's development occurred in 2005, when seven states signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) announcing an agreement to implement RGGI.[6] The RGGI states then established individual CO2 budget trading programs, based on the RGGI Model Rule. The first pre-compliance RGGI auction took place in September 2008, and the program became effective on January 1, 2009. The RGGI program is currently in its fourth three-year compliance period, which began January 1, 2018.[7]
What is NYSERDA
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, established in 1975, is a New York State public-benefit corporation, located in Albany, New York, with regional offices in New York City, Buffalo, and West Valley. NYSERDA
Mission: "To conserve, improve and protect New York's natural resources and environment and to prevent, abate and control water, land and air pollution, in order to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state and their overall economic and social well-being."
