article thumbnail

Back in Black: Creating positive changes by focusing on a short-lived pollutant

HumanNature

Figure 1: Size reference for atmospheric particles (US EPA 2016) and a general structure of freshly created black carbon. Direct Environmental Effects Did you know that black carbon is the second most important warming agent in our atmosphere behind carbon dioxide (CO 2 )? Black Carbon.” Arctic Council.

article thumbnail

Ask a Scientist: Fighting Big Ag Pollution with Maps and Math

Union of Concerned Scientists

I got involved after the city filed reports and maps to support its claim that it was fulfilling the requirements of a historic 2017 settlement to find and replace Flint’s lead pipes. It is mainly methane, which is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat for the first 20 years after it is released.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

EPA Proposal to Rescind Oil and Gas Methane Regulations Has Not Been Adequately Justified and Disregards Negative Climate Impacts

Columbia Climate Law

The emissions make a significant contribution to climate change because methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas which, in the first 20 years after it is released, traps approximately 84 times more heat in the earth’s atmosphere than carbon dioxide (on a per ton basis).

article thumbnail

May 2020 Updates to the Climate Case Charts

Columbia Climate Law

EPA of a 2015 rule barring replacement of ozone-depleting substances with hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are powerful greenhouse gases. Circuit vacated the 2015 rule to the extent that it prohibited continued use of HFCs by companies that previously switched to HFCs from an ozone-depleting substance. In Mexichem , the D.C.

2020 40
article thumbnail

Sabin Center Files Amicus Brief in Support of New GHG Vehicle Emissions Standards

Law Columbia

billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. The Obama Administration set the first vehicle GHG emissions standards in 2010 for vehicles manufactured in model years 2012 through 2016, and set revised standards in 2012 for model years 2017 through 2025.

article thumbnail

These Attorneys General Are Defending the Fossil Fuel Industry, Not Their States

Union of Concerned Scientists

In 2017, Hurricane Harvey —one of the worst—drenched Houston with more than 4 feet of rain, killed at least 88 people, and caused $125 billion in damage. Since 2017, Moody has received nearly $339,000 from oil and gas companies and electric utilities as well as $300,000 from RAGA, according to Transparency USA data.

article thumbnail

Identifying the Means to an End: The Role of the Social Cost of Carbon

Arnold Porter

The SCC is a metric that seeks to capture all of the costs that emitting a ton of carbon dioxide (or equivalent amounts of other greenhouse gases such as methane) imposes on society by contributing to climate change over the hundreds of years it remains in the atmosphere. 2017); [link].]] N: Missouri v. Biden , Civ. 3d 510 (D.C.