Climate Legislature in 2021
“We have to create culture, don't watch TV, don't read magazines, don't
even listen to NPR. Create your own roadshow. The nexus of space and
time where you are now is the most immediate sector of your universe,
and if you're worrying about Michael Jackson or Bill Clinton or somebody
else, then you are disempowered, you're giving it all away to icons,
icons which are maintained by an electronic media so that you want to
dress like X or have lips like Y. This is shit-brained, this kind of
thinking. That is all cultural diversion, and what is real is you and
your friends and your associations, your highs, your orgasms, your
hopes, your plans, your fears. And we are told 'no', we're unimportant,
we're peripheral. 'Get a degree, get a job, get a this, get a that.' And
then you're a player, you don't want to even play in that game. You
want to reclaim your mind and get it out of the hands of the cultural
engineers who want to turn you into a half-baked moron consuming all
this trash that's being manufactured out of the bones of a dying world.”
―
In this post I will try to list down climate legislation here nationwide, and abroad.
January
On Wednesday the 15th; President Biden signed 15 executive orders and two directives on his first day in office. The orders reverse several key policies of the Trump administration and focus on themes including rejoining the Paris Climate Accord, revoking a permit for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, and A temporary moratorium on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge effective in June. [link] [video]
February
On Sunday the 14th; The Department of Energy announced $100M in funding for “transformative clean energy technology research.” The program is part of a multi-billion dollar effort focused on achieving net-zero emissions. [link] On Saturday the 20th; President Biden approved a major disaster declaration in Texas due to severe winter storms that began earlier this month. The declaration provides Texas with access to federal funding as the state aims to recover from widespread water supply issues, power outages, and property damage. 290 deaths across the US have been attributed to the winter storms.
[link]
March
On Monday the 29th; The Biden administration announced a series of new offshore wind initiatives. The plan aims to create over 70k jobs and generate 30 Gigawatts of energy by 2030. [link]April
On Monday the 19th; The US and China released a joint statement on climate change, pledging to cooperate with each other and other countries and strengthen the implementation of the Paris Agreement. [link] On Thursday the 22nd; The Biden administration announced new greenhouse emissions targets, aiming to reduce US emissions by 50% (from 2005 levels) by 2030. [link]
On Earthday; World leaders from 40 countries (including the US, China, Russia, and Japan) met yesterday at a US-hosted virtual climate summit, with participants announcing a wide range of climate related initiatives. [link]
May
On Monday the 3rd; The EPA proposed a new rule to phase out the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potent greenhouse gasses often used in refrigerators, air conditioners, and other applications. The rule (proposed under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020) would reduce HFC production and imports by 85% in the next 15 years. [link] On Monday the 10th through the 16th; Colonial Pipeline paid hackers a ~$5M ransom in Bitcoin to recover its systems after facing a cyberattack.[link]
On Tuesday the 18th; The International Energy Agency [IEA] released a special report outlining a path to achieve global net-zero emissions by 2050. The report focuses on a wide range of climate and energy-related initatives and includes over 400 specific milestones. [link]
On Wednesday the 25th; A Dutch court ordered Royal Dutch Shell to cut its carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. The order follows a lawsuit brought by seven activist groups in 2019, calling on Shell to cut emissions in line with the goals set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. [link]
June
On Wednesday the 2nd; The US Department of Interior suspended oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, pending new environmental review. The Interior Department order follows a temporary moratorium on oil and gas lease activities imposed by President Biden [link] On Wednesday the 9th; TC Energy confirmed plans to terminate the Keystone XL Pipeline Project, ending a decade-long battle over the project. President Biden revoked the project’s permit in January.[link]
On Saturday the 19th;A federal judge blocked the Biden administration’s suspension of new oil and gas leases on federal land, granting a preliminary injunction to 13 states that filed a lawsuit in March. President Biden called for a pause on oil and gas leasing on federal lands as part of an executive order [link]
July
On Wednesday the 14th; The European Commission unveiled a sweeping climate change plan today, aiming to turn broad goals (e.g. cutting carbon emissions by 55% before 2030) into concrete actions. The legislative proposals still require approval from EU parliament and from the 27 member states. [link] On Friday the 16th;China launched a national carbon-trading platform today. While
it is the world’s largest system of its type, the experimental first
phase is not widely expected to immediately improve emissions due to
structural limitations.[link]
August
On Friday the 6th; The Biden administration also unveiled plans to reinstate stricter EPA fuel efficiency standards that were relaxed under the Trump administration. [link] On Monday the 9th; The UN’s climate panel (the IPCC) released a highly-anticipated report on climate change today, warning that climate change is intensifying unrelentingly unless there are immediate, large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions [link]
On Wednesday the 11th; The White House called on OPEC+ to increase oil production, saying that recently-announced gradual production increases are not significant enough amid a global economic recovery[link]
On Tuesday the 31st; The UN environment agency declared the “official end” to the use of leaded gasoline in cars after Algeria stopped using the toxic fuel last month.[link]
September
On Wednesday the 8th; The Energy Department released a report showing that solar energy has the potential to power 40% of the US’ electricity by 2035, noting the milestone would require massive federal investment and policy changes. Solar energy currently represents ~3% of electricity supply in the US.[link] On Wednesday the 8th; The world’s largest direct-air carbon capture facility started operating in Iceland. “The Orca” (built by Climeworks) is an emerging technology that extracts carbon dioxide directly from air and deposits it underground.[link]
On Monday the 21st; President Xi Jinping pledged that China would stop funding new coal-fired power plants abroad in an address at the UN General Assembly [link]
October
On Monday the 18th; The EPA announced a plan to regulate “forever chemicals”, including enforceable drinking water concentration limits. The long-lasting compounds (called PFAS) are found in products from cosmetics to carpets and can increase the likelihood of cancer and other health issues. [link] On Saturday the 23th; Saudi Arabia pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060, though the pledge does not include emissions from (or plans to decrease) its oil exports for use by other countries. Saudi Arabia is the worlds largest oil exporter. [link]
On Tuesday the 26th; The UN Environmental Programme [UNEP] published its 2021 Emissions Gap report today, warning that global emissions would need to halve by 2030 to keep warming below 1.5°C this century (a key target under the Paris accord).[link]
On Tuesday the 26th;The UN’s World Meteorological Organization reported that greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere rose to record levels in 2020 and were not discernably impacted by a temporary drop in emissions during the pandemic.[link]
On Saturday the 30th;The CEOs of Exxon, BP, Shell, and Chevron testified on climate change before Congress yesterday, facing accusations that their industry misled the public about the effects of burning fossil fuels in reguard to climate change[link]
November
On the 1st through the 13th; The COP26 climate summit was held in Glasgow bringing together 120 world leaders to find common ground on climate change. Key highlights include: Indias Pledge to Carbon Neutrality by 2070; Over 100 leaders agreed to phase out deforestation and methane (reduction by 35%) by 2030; and with over 190 nations joining the Glasgow Climate Pact. [link] [link] On Monday the 15th; Royal Dutch Shell announced plans to move its headquarters to the UK and drop “Dutch” from its name, in an effort to end it's dual-location structure [link]
On Wednesday the 17th; President Biden asked the FTC to investigate whether oil and gas firms are participating in “potentially illegal conduct” related to differences in the movements of unfinished gasoline prices and the price comsumers pay. [link]
December
no decernable climate legislation in December.Special thanks to thenewpaper.co for aggregation of topics and to you, taking the time to read this
Thank you.
-Bryan