At last year's UN climate summit in Glasgow more than 100 countries signed the methane pledge promising to reduce methane emissions globally by 30% from 2020 levels. Supporters of methane also known as natural gas say it burns cleaner than coal. It can be worse than gas of small amounts leak as we've been talking about. So what brought me to this project is I was working on power plants in the United States and we had some technology that can reduce emissions automatically. And it's such a good job of publicly and transparently managing its power plant emissions.
Over a 20-year period, methane is 80 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Yet those responsible for releasing methane into the atmosphere often don’t even know how much they themselves are emitting. And methane is only one of many harmful air pollutants that result from our dependence on burning fossil fuels.
Now, research coalitions, citizen scientists and activists are using a slate of new tools to detect and report emissions. They’re also using many of the same tools to shine a light on exactly how and where other deadly fossil fuel pollutants, like nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, are affecting community health. Such data could become a critical tool for regulation, leading to greater emissions reductions.
Guests:
Davida Herzl, Co-founder and CEO, Aclima
Kendra Pinto, Four Corners Indigenous Community Field Advocate, Earthworks
Gavin McCormick, Co-founder, Climate TRACE
For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices