[✔️] April 4, 2024 Global Warming News | Methane activism, NYC demands attention, 57 companies do 80%, 2002 Bush releases gas

[Richard Pauli]

/*April *//*4, 2024*/

/[ important ACTION PLAYBOOK: ]/
*Regulate Methane Emissions*
Take Action

*1. Find your utility regulators*
Almost all energy utility companies either purchase or generate energy 
from fossil gas. Some operate their own gas-fired power plants, while 
others purchase gas-fired electricity to resell in retail markets. 
Utility companies are also responsible for delivering gas directly to 
homes and commercial buildings for heating and cooking.
- - https://www.naruc.org/about-naruc/our-mission/regulatory-commissions/
Every state has a commission that regulates utilities. These regulatory 
bodies come with a variety of names, but most are a version of Public 
Utilities Commission or Public Service Commission. Public utilities 
commissions (PUCs) play a role in regulating the natural gas 
distribution chain regardless of whether utilities are generating their 
own electricity.

To find your state’s utility regulators, open the map below, click on 
your state, and keep the tab open displaying your commissioners’ phone 
numbers. You should see 3–5 commissioners, though a few states have as 
many as 7.
- -
*2. Call each commissioner*
Next, give each office number a call. Personalize the script below for 
an authentic message (or write your own from scratch!). This script 
works no matter what type of utility regulation structure you have, but 
feel free to make it more specific using outside research on your 
state’s regulatory environment.

You’ll want to start by identifying your status as a resident of the 
state, then make sure to be concise and specific. Be polite, but don’t 
be afraid to get personal. There’s no shame in practicing before you 
call! The current script should take about 2 minutes to communicate.

If they don’t pick up, don’t worry—your voicemail will be documented. 
And if you prefer to leave a voicemail rather than talk to a real 
person, call after hours.

📞 Call Script: Methane Regulation

    Hello, my name is _______, and I'm a resident of _________. I'm
    calling today to express my concerns about methane pollution from
    our utilities and to discuss how our Public Utilities Commission
    [swap in the correct name] can play a key role in cleaning up our grid.

    As you’re probably aware, methane has 80X the global warming effect
    of carbon dioxide in the short term. It concerns me that methane
    leaks from the natural gas supply chain can actually negate the
    environmental benefits of using natural gas over coal. And methane
    poses a safety hazard due to its explosive potential.

    As a [parent? resident? scientist? someone who cares about climate
    change?], I think it’s imperative that our utilities are held to the
    highest possible standards. [ADD A SENTENCE EXPLAINING WHY CLIMATE
    ISSUES MATTER TO YOU.]

    I urge you to take stronger action in regulating methane emissions
    from utilities, like imposing stricter leak detection standards,
    efficiency requirements for aging gas infrastructure, or
    rate-setting and rules that help incentivize cleaner sources of
    electricity. You can also impose regulations that encourage the
    switch from gas heating and cooking to electrification.

    Can the Commission share what steps are currently being taken to
    address methane pollution? Please feel free to call me back at
    __________ or email me at ____________. Thanks so much for your time.

*3. Ask a friend to do it, too *
Network effects are powerful. Persuading friends and family to take 
climate action is a crucial step toward changing cultural norms and 
making real progress. Now that you’ve contacted your public utilities 
commissioners, send a note to a friend along with this playbook or the 
Climate Town video and ask them to email their own regulators. Bonus 
points if you happen to know someone who has real clout with their state 
government and you feel comfortable asking them.
https://www.climatechangemakers.org/methane-regulation-all-access?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
- -
/[ Find your commissioner - then call in an anti-methane leak rant  ]/
*National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners*
Regulatory Commissions
https://www.naruc.org/about-naruc/our-mission/regulatory-commissions/



/[ Reuters  ]/
*Citi, JPMorgan, RBC to give new climate metric in deals with New York City
*By Ross Kerber and Mehnaz Yasmin
April 3, 2024  (Reuters)
Citigroup (C.N), opens new tab, JPMorgan (JPM.N), opens new tab and 
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) (RY.TO), opens new tab will disclose a new 
climate metric under agreements between New York City Comptroller Brad 
Lander and the three large North American banks.
Lander, who oversees public retirement assets, said on Wednesday that 
the three banks will disclose their ratio of financing for low-carbon 
energy projects compared with their financing for fossil fuel projects...
A JPMorgan spokesperson said the bank found common ground with Lander on 
disclosing a clean energy financing ratio, with an understanding it 
would take some time and resources to develop a decision-useful approach...
"We plan to disclose a clean energy supply financing ratio in our 2024 
Climate Report as it aligns to our strategic objectives," she said in an 
email. "Transparency and advanced disclosures on climate performance are 
critical to showing the progress we are making."
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/citi-jpmorgan-rbc-give-new-climate-metric-deals-with-new-york-city-2024-04-03/



/[ Measuring MeCCO  Media and Climate Change Observatory  ]/
*Sounding the red alert to the world*
Issue 87, March 2024
March media coverage of climate change or global warming in newspapers 
around the globe went up 10% from February 2024. However, coverage in 
March was still down 23% from March 2023 levels. Of particular note, in 
March international wire services increased 13% from the previous month, 
while radio coverage dropped 3% from the previous month. Our Media and 
Climate Change Observatory (MeCCO) team has detected that the first 
three months of global print coverage has seen a drop 20% compared to 
the first three months of 2023. Figure 1 shows trends in newspaper media 
coverage at the global scale – organized into seven geographical regions 
around the world – from January 2004 through March 2024.
-- 
https://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/icecaps/research/media_coverage/summaries/images/87/figure1.jpg
Figure 1. Newspaper media coverage of climate change or global warming 
in print sources in seven different regions around the world, from 
January 2004 through March 2024.

At the regional level, March 2024 coverage increased in all regions from 
the previous month (except in Africa, which dropped 22%): the European 
Union (EU) rose 2%, Latin America shot up 9%, North America climbed 12%, 
Asia coverage increased 13% [see Figure 2], and Middle East and Oceania 
climate change news each surged 50%.
- - 
https://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/icecaps/research/media_coverage/summaries/images/87/figure2.jpg
Most of the world’s oil and gas companies agreed to slash their methane 
emissions by more than 80 percent by 2030 at last year’s COP28 climate 
conference, and policymakers are working to hold them to that promise. 
U.S. regulators proposed steep fines on methane emissions in January and 
struck a deal with regulators in Europe, Japan, South Korea and 
Australia last year to monitor fossil fuel companies’ methane emissions. 
But so far, it’s been hard to track companies’ progress. There are 
thousands of oil and gas facilities around the world with countless 
pieces of equipment that can leak or malfunction and release methane, 
which is odorless and invisible to the naked eye. Companies and 
regulators can measure some emissions by installing methane detectors or 
using planes or drones to fly sensors over a facility, but the data is 
incomplete and hard to compare between companies. Now, a new generation 
of satellites, led by MethaneSAT, promises to give a more complete 
picture of the oil and gas industry’s global methane emissions”.
MeCCO | University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309 mecco.colorado.edu
https://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/icecaps/research/media_coverage/summaries/issue87.html



/[ few companies doing the worst ]/
*Just 57 companies linked to 80% of greenhouse gas emissions since 2016*
Analysis reveals many big producers increased output of fossil fuels and 
related emissions in seven years after Paris climate deal

Jonathan Watts Global environment editor
Wed 3 Apr 2024
A mere 57 oil, gas, coal and cement producers are directly linked to 80% 
of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since the 2016 Paris climate 
agreement, a study has shown.

This powerful cohort of state-controlled corporations and 
shareholder-owned multinationals are the leading drivers of the climate 
crisis, according to the Carbon Majors Database, which is compiled by 
world-renowned researchers.

Although governments pledged in Paris to cut greenhouse gases, the 
analysis reveals that most mega-producers increased their output of 
fossil fuels and related emissions in the seven years after that climate 
agreement, compared with the seven years before...
- -
In the database of 122 of the world’s biggest historical climate 
polluters, the researchers found that 65% of state entities and 55% of 
private-sector companies had scaled up production.
During this period, the biggest investor-owned contributor to emissions 
was ExxonMobil of the United States, which was linked to 3.6 gigatonnes 
of CO2 over seven years, or 1.4% of the global total. Close behind were 
Shell, BP, Chevron and TotalEnergies, each of which was associated with 
at least 1% of global emissions.

The most striking trend, however, was the surging growth of emissions 
related to state and state-owned producers, particularly in the Asian 
coal sector.

This expansion, which has continued since, runs contrary to a stark 
warning by the International Energy Agency that no new oil and gas 
fields can be opened if the world is to stay within safe limits of 
global heating. Climate scientists say global temperatures are rapidly 
approaching the lower Paris target of 1.5C above the pre-industrial era, 
with potentially dire consequences for people and the rest of nature.

“It is morally reprehensible for companies to continue expanding 
exploration and production of carbon fuels in the face of knowledge now 
for decades that their products are harmful,” said Richard Heede, who 
established the Carbon Majors dataset in 2013. “Don’t blame consumers 
who have been forced to be reliant on oil and gas due to government 
capture by oil and gas companies.”
- -
The Carbon Majors research has helped to change the narrative about 
responsibility for the climate crisis by apportioning emissions to the 
entities that profit from taking fossil fuels out of the ground rather 
than the individuals that later burn and discharge them in the form of 
emissions. This ongoing study has been cited in climate lawsuits and was 
the basis for the Guardian’s 2019 series, The Polluters, which named and 
shamed the 20 companies behind a third of all carbon emissions.

The database has now been updated and was relaunched on Thursday on a 
dedicated public access website, which is hosted by InfluenceMap.

It includes a striking comparison between long-term emissions trends 
dating back to 1854, and more recent developments since the 2016 Paris deal.

The historical record encompasses 122 entities linked to 72% of all the 
fossil fuel and cement CO2 emissions since the start of the industrial 
revolution, which amounts to 1,421 gigatonnes.

In this long-term analysis, Chinese state coal production accounts for 
14% of historic global C02, the biggest share by far in the database. 
This is more than double the proportion of the former Soviet Union, 
which is in second place, and more than three times higher than that of 
Saudi Aramco, which is in third.

Then comes the big US companies – Chevron (3%) and ExxonMobil (2.8%), 
followed by Russian’s Gazprom and the National Iranian Oil Company. 
After that are two investor-owned European firms: BP and Shell (each 
with more than 2%) and then Coal India.

The 21st century rise of Asia becomes apparent when the historical 
records are compared with data from 2016-2022. In this recent period, 
the China coal share leaps to more than a quarter of all CO2 emission, 
while Saudi Aramco goes up to nearly 5%. The top 10 in this modern era 
is dominated by Chinese and Russian state entities and filled out with 
those from India and Iran. Western capitalism does not appear until the 
11th placed ExxonMobil with 1.4%, half of its historical average.

The picture may change again in the future. The United States is by far 
the world’s biggest oil and gas producer even if operations are 
fragmented among many different companies rather than one state 
behemoth. President Biden has granted licences to multiple new 
exploration projects. Gulf states are also planning to step up their output.

ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and Shell all have net zero emissions targets, 
though their definitions of that goal and methods to achieve it vary. 
Many of the companies on the list have made some investments in 
renewable energy.

Daan Van Acker, program manager at InfluenceMap, said many of the 
entities in the Carbon Majors database were moving in the wrong 
direction for climate stability. “InfluenceMap’s new analysis shows that 
this group is not slowing down production, with most entities increasing 
production after the Paris agreement. This research provides a crucial 
link in holding these energy giants to account on the consequences of 
their activities.”

Heede argues that fossil fuel producers have a moral obligation to pay 
for the damages they have caused and exacerbated through their delaying 
tactics. He cites the proposal made by Mia Mottley, the prime minister 
of Barbados, for oil and gas companies to contribute at least 10 cents 
in every dollar to a loss and damage fund.

He was also encouraged by actions to hold fossil fuel firms to account. 
As examples, he cited the billboards that sprang up in Houston, Texas, 
after a hurricane that declared: “We Know Who Is To Blame” beside the 
names of oil companies, or the campaign in Vermont to create a climate 
superfund paid for by polluters that would allay the rising costs from 
floods, storms and heatwaves.

“This is a threat to civilisation as we know it,” he said. “If business 
as usual continues we won’t have a livable planet for our children and 
grandchildren. We must collect political, corporate and political will 
to avoid the worst threat that climate change poses. We can do this.”

The Guardian approached Exxon, BP, Chevron, Total Energies, Coal India, 
Saudi Aramco and Gazprom for comment.

A spokesperson for Shell said: “Shell is committed to becoming a 
net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, a target we believe supports 
the more ambitious goal of the Paris agreement to limit global warming 
to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. We continue to make good progress 
on our climate targets, and by the end of 2023, we had achieved more 
than 60% of our target to halve Scope 1 and 2 emissions from our 
operations by 2030, compared with 2016.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/04/just-57-companies-linked-to-80-of-greenhouse-gas-emissions-since-2016



/[The news archive -  ]/
/*April 4, 2002 */

April 4, 2002: The New York Times reports:

"President Bush signed an executive order last year that closely 
resembles a written recommendation given to the administration two 
months earlier by the American Gas Association, according to documents 
released by the Bush administration.

"The executive order called for the creation of an interagency energy 
task force to accelerate the time it takes for government agencies to 
review corporations' applications for permits for energy-related 
projects, like power plants and the exploration of oil and natural gas 
on public lands. Mr. Bush signed the order last May.

"The language in Mr. Bush's executive order is similar to a passage in a 
proposed energy bill sent in March 2001 to the Energy Department by 
officials at the American Gas Association, the trade group that 
represents large natural gas companies and has given more than $500,000 
to the Republican Party since 1999."


/Archive of Daily Global Warming News 
https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/

/To receive daily mailings - click to Subscribe 
<mailto:subscribe at theClimate.Vote?subject=Click%20SEND%20to%20process%20your%20request> 
to news digest./

/Archive of Daily Global Warming News 
https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/

Privacy and Security: *This mailing is text-only -- and carries no 
images or attachments which may originate from remote servers. Text-only 
messages provide greater privacy to the receiver and sender. This is a 
personal hobby production curated by Richard Pauli
By regulation, the .VOTE top-level domain cannot be used for commercial 
purposes. Messages have no tracking software.
To subscribe, email: contact at theclimate.vote 
<mailto:contact at theclimate.vote> with subject subscribe, To Unsubscribe, 
subject: unsubscribe
Also you may subscribe/unsubscribe at 
https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/theclimate.vote

Links and headlines assembled and curated by Richard Pauli for 
http://TheClimate.Vote <http://TheClimate.Vote/> delivering succinct 
information for citizens and responsible governments of all levels. List 
membership is confidential and records are scrupulously restricted to 
this mailing list.

===
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist10.pair.net/pipermail/theclimate.vote/attachments/20240404/e841b35d/attachment.htm>