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This November, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer won her bid for reelection and for the first time in 40 years, Democrats gained a majority in the state house and senate. With this historic win comes historic opportunity. In the legislative session that started last week, Michigan has the chance to follow through on the climate goals set …

As Pennsylvania turns a new page into 2023 with new leaders at the helm, Gov. Josh Shapiro and the legislature have an immense opportunity and responsibility to usher Pennsylvania into its future — winning the clean energy jobs the state needs, protecting consumers from fossil fuel-driven price shocks on their electric bills, and dramatically cutting …

What’s Happening? EPA’s current safety assessments of new chemicals proposed for market entry often fall short of effectively protecting all members of the public from risk because they don’t consider that we may be exposed to closely related chemicals that cause similar harms. Recent Example: EPA proposed rules requiring notification of significant new uses for …

Tom Neltner, Senior Director, Safer Chemicals and Lindsay McCormick, Senior Manager, Safer Chemicals What’s New: After an extensive review process, EPA approved Denver Water’s request to extend the variance to allow the utility to administer their Lead Reduction Program for the full 15-year term. EPA touts Denver Water’s Lead Reduction Program as an “innovative and …

By Lauren Navarro & Pamela MacDougall California air regulators are currently considering adoption of the Advanced Clean Fleets rule — a purchase requirement for medium and heavy-duty fleets to adopt an increasing percentage of zero-emission trucks. This rule has the potential to be transformative. California has some of the worst air quality in the country;

By Jon Goldstein , Edwin LaMair, and Grace Smith  This week, EPA is holding public hearings on its recently proposed methane standards for oil and gas operations, which build on the agency’s initial proposal and represent a significant step forward for reducing methane pollution across the country. Federal standards are crucial for curbing methane emissions …

Texans know better than to believe the lies. But, whenever severe weather strikes the state and the isolated electric grid is imperiled, they’re always fed them: “Green energy” is offered up as the ultimate scapegoat, facts be damned. Why doesn’t the Wall Street Journal editorial board know better? Last week, they ran a piece blaming …

This announcement builds on past successes, with a plan to accelerate action in the years to come.

The Biden-Harris administration announced the release of a Roadmap to Accelerate Nature-Based Solutions to address climate change, inequity, and nature loss. It could be the key to future resilience planning. The post Biden’s roadmap to nature-based solutions could be the key to future resilience planning. first appeared on Growing Returns.

Reducing methane now is one of the fastest ways to slow global warming in the near term, and a critical part of avoiding the worst consequences of climate change. Agricultural emissions from livestock and rice are approximately 40% of human-caused global methane emissions. At the same time, rice and livestock are key dietary staples around …

Even if we completely eliminated fossil fuel emissions today, global food system emissions would cause us to exceed our 1.5 degree warming targets, unless they are slowed down. We cannot choose between food security and environmental sustainability – they are one and the same. Urgent action is needed to shift food and agriculture from a …

A new partnership will work to reduce methane emissions from production of milk around the world.

By Vrinda Suresh, Julia Mason and Doug Rader  During the last two weeks of August 2022, delegates from across the globe gathered in New York City for the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Conference, or IGC5, to develop a new treaty to protect biodiversity in offshore waters, called the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement, or …

“Protect our groundwater rights and Texas aquifers.” That was the rallying cry for a group of landowners at a key Texas Senate committee meeting last November on the potential danger of a massive Central Texas groundwater export project. The landowners depend on groundwater from the Carrizo Wilcox Aquifer, which encompasses the Carrizo and underlying Simsboro …

As the U.S. works to stabilize the climate and foster innovative domestic industries, reducing emissions from agriculture — currently about 10% of annual emissions — is a critical piece of the puzzle. Yet federal R&D investments in agricultural climate solutions remain 35 times smaller than clean energy R&D investments. Of the limited agricultural R&D spending,

To address climate change, the U.S. is making a historic investment in farmers, ranchers and rural communities, helping them cut emissions, prepare for climate impacts that are already here, and create good jobs along the way.

The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) is the new DOE office with $20B from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act with a focus on scaling up emerging technologies through demonstration projects. EDF offers pointers to help OCED have catalytic impact.

What will it take to decarbonize the gas distribution system? EDF and partners produced a new report setting out guiding principles and strategies to inform decarbonization of the gas utility and corresponding end uses.

This post was co-authored with Katelyn Roedner Sutter, California State Director at EDF. Last month, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released their final Scoping Plan following a lengthy process of drafting, workshops, modeling and public feedback. The Scoping Plan, which is reviewed and updated every five years, is California’s roadmap for meeting its 2030 …

This blog was co-authored by Maggie Ferrato, Manager, Global Climate Cooperation and Pedro Martins Barata, Associate Vice President, Carbon Markets & Private Sector Decarbonization. With the desert sands of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt behind us, we’re looking ahead toward COP28—and the opportunity to make further progress on Article 6, a key component of the Paris Agreement.   …

On December 7, the Virginia Air Board voted to proceed with a proposed regulation ending Virginia’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a proven program in 12 states that cuts pollution and raises investments for communities. Governor Youngkin initiated this harmful and unlawful rollback earlier this year, claiming that RGGI was a “bad …

A recent poll, commissioned by EDF Action and conducted by Global Strategy Group, found broad support among majorities of Minnesotans for ambitious climate policies.

The Institute for Policy Integrity and Environmental Defense Fund submitted joint comments supporting guidance documents as important steps toward addressing the risks that climate change poses to the structural integrity of our financial system.

Water utilities are increasingly posting interactive maps online to help residents identify whether their homes are connected to lead service lines (LSLs). EDF's new blog series, Mapping Lead Pipes, will explore how utilities are approaching maps, evaluate which map features are most and least effective, and share best practices to help guide future efforts.

By Maria Doa, PhD, Senior Director, Chemicals Policy What’s the Issue? EPA grants exemptions from full safety reviews for approximately half the new chemicals submitted by the chemical industry. Once those exemptions are granted, EPA very rarely revises or revokes them—even in the face of new information. The Toxic Substances Control Act allows EPA to …