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November 25-December 1, 2023
In this week's issue:
- EPA Releases Power Sector Data for First Ozone Season Under Federal Good Neighbor Plan (November 30, 2023)
- FHWA Finalizes Climate Change Performance Measure for State DOTs and MPOs to Track Performance on Carbon Pollution, Make More Informed Decisions (November 22, 2023)
- Six Senate Democrats Urge EPA Administrator to Include Infrastructure Assessment in Final Phase 3 Heavy-Duty GHG Rule (November 15, 2023)
- Auto Dealers Call on President Biden to “Tap the Brakes” on What They Call “Electric Vehicle Mandate” in Forthcoming LMDV Rule (November 28, 2023)
- Michigan Adopts Zero Carbon Electricity Law (November 28, 2023)
- Researchers Quantify “Staggering” Contribution of Individual Coal-Fired Power Plants to Mortality (November 23, 2023)
- Study Predicts Midcentury Fossil Rebound, Higher Warming Future (November 30, 2023)
- COP 28 Kicks Off In Dubai (November 30, 2023)
This Week in Review
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EPA released power sector data for the first three quarters of 2023, which include the 2023 ozone season – the first ozone season under the federal Good Neighbor Plan (GNP). Among other things, the data show that in the 10 states in which the GNP is currently being implemented there was an 18-percent decrease in NOx emissions during the 2023 ozone season. The final GNP, adopted by EPA in March, is applicable to a total of 22 states but due to temporary court orders it is not being implemented in 12 of those states. EPA has also made available electric generating unit data and tools related to emissions, operations and impacts, including power sector data, summary data, allowance data, environmental monitoring data, power sector modeling data and environmental justice data and tools.
For further information:
https://www.epa.gov/Cross-State-Air-Pollution/good-neighbor-plan-results
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https://www.epa.gov/power-sector/data-tools
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The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced a final rule, “National Performance Management Measures; Assessing Performance of the National Highway System, Greenhouse Gas Emissions Measure.” The rule amends FHWA’s national performance management measures regulations and establishes a protocol for measuring and reporting transportation-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Further, the rule requires state DOTs and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to set declining targets for carbon dioxide and report their progress toward achieving the targets. The rule does not mandate the level of the targets but, instead, gives state DOTs and MPOs flexibility to establish targets “that are appropriate for their communities and that work for their respective climate change and other policy priorities, as long as the targets aim to reduce emissions over time.” Under the rule, state DOTs are required to set two- and four-year emission reduction targets and MPOs are required to set four-year emission reduction targets. State DOTs must establish and report their first targets by February 1, 2024.
For further information:
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Six Democratic members of the U.S. Senate sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan expressing concerns with the agency’s proposed Phase 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for heavy-duty trucks. The Senators write that they “have heard from a number of stakeholders, including manufacturers, trucking fleets and labor unions, who are concerned about the potential for unintended consequences if the GHG Phase 3 rule is finalized as proposed, without assurance that the needed and corresponding infrastructures will be deployed” causing reluctance among fleet owners to purchase zero-emission models. The Senators articulate their support for more stringent standards to reduce GHG emissions from trucks and accelerate the transition of the commercial trucking sector to zero emissions. At the same time, they urge EPA to finalize a rule that includes “a regulatory mechanism to ensure the assumed medium- and heavy-duty ZEV sales percentages that drive the stringency of the final GHG standards stay in alignment with development of the critically important battery-electric charging and hydrogen-fueling infrastructures.” In particular, the lawmakers encourage Administrator Regan to consider the approach taken in Maryland, under the State’s Clean Trucks Act of 2023, “which adopts ambitious standards but with the requirements for a rigorous assessment of infrastructure needs that could inform adjustments to the timing of when regulations take effect.” Signatories to the letter are Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
For further information:
A group of nearly 3,900 car dealers from across the country, who say they reflect “the voice of our customers” and represent all major vehicle brands, sent a letter to President Biden asking him to “slow down [his] proposed regulations mandating battery electric vehicle (BEV) production and distribution” because “[t]he reality…is that electric vehicle demand today is not keeping up with the large influx of BEVs arriving at our dealerships prompted by the current regulations.” The group is referring to EPA’s May 2023 proposed regulation for multi-pollutant emission standards for model year 2027 through 2032 light- and medium-duty motor vehicles. The proposed rule, on which EPA expects to take final action in March 2024, does not mandate the use of any specific technology, nor does it mandate that any percentage of vehicle production be zero emission. Instead, each manufacturer may choose what mix of emission control technologies is best suited for its fleet to meet the standards. Nevertheless, the auto dealers tell the President “it’s time to tap the brakes on the unrealistic government electric vehicle mandate. Allow time for the battery technology to advance. Allow time to make BEVs more affordable. Allow time to develop domestic sources for the minerals to make batteries. Allow time for the charging infrastructure to be built and prove reliable. And most of all, allow time for the American consumer to get comfortable with the technology and make the choice to buy an electric vehicle.”
For further information:
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed into law an ambitious zero carbon electricity standard and energy package that would transition the state to 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040. The Great Lakes State joins eleven others in setting a target for achieving 100 percent carbon-free power, but has one of the earliest timeframes. The law, Michigan’s Clean Energy & Jobs Act of 2023, also requires the state to get half of its energy from renewable sources by 2030, up from about 12 percent in 2022. The law also requires robust energy efficiency programs from utilities and fast tracks the permitting and siting of clean energy projects. Whitmer said that the legislation would lower household utility costs, create 160,000 jobs and bring nearly $8 billion in federal tax dollars for energy projects to the state.
For further information:
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In a study published in Science, researchers from Harvard, George Mason University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Geneva, Delft University of Technology and University of Texas find that fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions from coal-fired power plants are more than twice as likely as PM2.5 emissions from other sources to contribute to premature death in the U.S. Further, the researchers estimate that from 1999 to 2020 PM2.5 emissions from coal-fired power plants were associated with 460,000 premature deaths of elderly people in the U.S. In a commentary on the study the lead author, Dr. Lucas Henneman, writes, “It’s a staggering number, but the study also has good news: Annual deaths associated with U.S. coal power plants have fallen sharply since the mid-2000s as federal regulations compelled operators to install emissions scrubbers and many utilities shut down coal plants entirely.” In the study, “Mortality risk from United States coal electricity generation,” the authors conclude that their findings “have implications for current air pollution risk assessments, which incorrectly assume equal toxicity for ambient PM2.5 from all sources and for all locations. The research platform that we used to quantify exposure associated with individual coal EGUs [electric generating units], which accounts for pollution transport and location relative to population centers, can support more efficient regulatory efforts by producing targeted evidence of how individual EGU sources contribute to the existing health burden.”
For further information:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adf4915
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A new study by the consulting firm The Rhodium Group finds that global average surface temperatures are likely to outstrip the 2° C goal set by the Paris Climate Agreement, beyond which many climate researchers and policymakers see a “tipping point” beyond which catastrophic impacts will occur. To conduct the study, Rhodium ran more than 5,000 emissions simulations accounting for variables such as economic growth, fossil fuel prices and population. While the forecast excludes previous extreme warming outcomes (with as much as 7.8° C of warming) that were seen as possible in research from previous years, it concludes that global temperatures are very likely on track to increase by 2° C to 4° C by 2100, with a mean projection of 2.8° C. The study’s highest-confidence forecast predicts a 67 percent chance that fossil fuel consumption will peak in 2030 but that global fossil fuel consumption will only fall 20 percent by 2050, as renewable energy and vehicle electrification displacing fossil energy in East Asia, Europe, and North America, and may even rebound after 2060 as African, Middle Eastern, and Asian economies increase their demand for energy.
For further information:
A record 70,000 people from 100 countries, including several heads of state, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, a bipartisan U.S. Congressional delegation, and the energy and environment ministers from 70 nations are convening for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 28th Conference of the Parties (COP 28), in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Key issues for the conference involve how the nations of the world will fund and finance the energy transition, for developed and developing economies alike, away from uncaptured fossil fuel combustion, as well as continued discussion of a loss and damage system for nations most impacted by climate change. However, the conference also offers oil and other fossil energy companies their highest profile in the process to date, with delegate status afforded to some corporations that had been denied those roles in previous years. Dubai named Sultan al-Jaber, the CEO of the country’s state-run oil company, to organize and lead COP 28. In opening remarks, Dr. Sultan said that “the world needs to do more and seize the opportunity of COP28 to take action and keep 1.5° within reach”. The world has already warmed by about 1.3° C (2.7° F), mostly since the 1970s, and 2023 is highly likely to be the hottest calendar year ever observed.
For further information: