Hey team, and welcome back to one5c! The last week has been a big one for accountability. Some of the news is tough to take: New SEC rules could make it easier for companies to fluff up their climate credentials, a report drew a troubling connection between agricultural research and the livestock industry, and the EPA is facing major pushback on its new air-pollution limits.
But one high-flying headline sails above the rest—and it’s truly very good news. A new methane-sniffing satellite launched last week, and its ability to zero in on sources (both big and small) of the potent greenhouse gas stands to seriously level up our ability to spot the biggest polluters. Sara Kiley’s got the whole story.
Also, please welcome a new member to the one5c team! Shreya Agrawal will be with us for the next few months, and you’ll be hearing from her quite a bit. Starting…now! —Corinne
WHAT WE’RE INTO THIS WEEK
By Shreya Agrawal
Greenwatch
The SEC opens a big greenwashing window
A long-awaited Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule requiring companies to disclose climate risks and emissions is finally here. Sort of. While the regulations force large firms to report “scope 1 and 2” emissions (those are the ones produced when making products and the energy that process requires), they disregard the supply chain and consumption, or “scope 3,” emissions. Those buckets, writes the World Resources Institute, make up the majority of a company’s footprint. And some outfits don’t even have to report any emissions if their investors deem them not “significant.” Due to these loopholes, the final version “paves the way for greenwashing,” a former SEC member told The Guardian.
Good read
Cultural lessons for a warmer world
The climate crisis also has the potential to eliminate entire cultures. This is already happening in Indigenous and Creole communities along Louisiana’s fading coastline, but a surprising tool is offering a people-centered approach to climate resilience. Folklorists can help pass on customs while preparing communities for a “new reality,” writes Katie Myers for Grist. Arizona folklorist Kimi Eisele, for example, is working with a local group to collect the oral environmental histories of Indigenous peoples and other historically excluded communities in the southwestern U.S.
Study guide
A red flag for industry meddling
It can be difficult to know when scientific research might be misleading, but when an assertion pops up that goes against the well-established grain, that can be a red flag. Take the impact of livestock as an example: More than two decades of data shows that livestock production is responsible for around 37% of global methane emissions. Divergences from this data trace back to industry influence, finds a new study in the journal Climatic Change documenting the industry’s multimillion-dollar fingerprints at two major agriculture research centers. Conflicts like this are why 500 academics, experts, and universities spoke out about keeping fossil fuel money out of climate and energy research in 2022––and why all of us should give conclusions that fly against consensus extra scrutiny.
Accountability check
The risks of stifling climate speech
The United States is among the U.N. member nations that hasn’t signed the Aarhus Convention, an agreement that protects citizens’ right to peacefully protest for the planet. And a recent U.N. position paper highlights the potential damage that not safeguarding civil disobedience can create. “The environmental emergency that we are collectively facing…cannot be addressed if those raising the alarm and demanding action are criminalized for it,” says Michel Forst, the U.N. official who authored the paper. In the U.S., write Keerti Gopal and Bob Berwyn for Inside Climate News, there are 42 laws in place and 25 pending bills that restrict the First Amendment right to peaceful assembly.
Mic-drop climate stat
The number of premature deaths that could be avoided thanks to the EPA’s new limits on particulate matter pollution. The attorneys general of 24 states, though, are suing to keep the rule from going into effect—a reminder of the impact local elections can have on national policy.
Cause for optimism
This methane-tracking satellite is in a league of its own
By Sara Kiley Watson
Methane’s a climate menace. Some climate scientists estimate that the potent greenhouse gas may be responsible for up to 30% of changes we’re experiencing today. Many countries with track records of major methane emissions know this: At COP26 in 2021, the nations responsible for 45% of the global total pledged to reduce their footprint by 30% by the end of the decade. Tracking where exactly methane comes from, though, is a tricky task. The gas often comes from unattended drill sites or places where leak-detection tech and inspections can be all but nonexistent, The New York Times reports.
So, to get a better look at the biggest sources of the planet-warming molecule, companies have taken to the skies. But until last week, this crop of methane-sniffing satellites has had blind spots. For example, the European Space Agency’s TROPOMI looks for methane at the global level and across large-scale regions. The Italian Space Agency’s PRISMA and the Carbon Mapper, on the other hand, can ID smaller hotspots.
MethaneSAT—a orbiter developed by several partners including the Environmental Defense Fund that launched last week—can do both. Here’s what that means for our ability to get our global methane issues in check.
How the MethaneSAT works
One of the most crucial differences between MethaneSAT and the other gas-searching satellites is its ability to see both the big picture zones and major emitting events as well as tinier hotspots that end up releasing outsized portions of methane. Its imagers can see methane across a whole state or even a country, while being able to point the finger at exactly which drilling spot a leak is starting from (and therefore, who is responsible for fixing it). The system uses an imaging device called a spectrometer, which is able to measure the narrow part of the infrared spectrum where methane absorbs light coming from Earth.
With it, the washing-machine-sized satellite can theoretically keep tabs on 80% of global oil and gas production while it circles the Earth once every 100 minutes. That means it’s sweeping overhead 15 times every single day.
Tech that keeps fossil fuels in check
In the push to curb methane emissions, MethaneSAT stands to be a major tool for accountability and transparency. The data it produces will be publicly available through Google’s Earth Engine starting next year. Yep, anyone can see the scoop on where the methane is coming from.
The International Energy Agency and the United Nations Environment Programme are already signed on to use this data to keep their climate analyses up to date. Regular folks can use it to keep the big guys accountable, too, but major players are also lining up. Bloomberg Philanthropies is set to build a watchdog group to make sure methane commitments from COP26 aren’t all hot air.
Quitting fossil fuels also means taking a big step away from plastic. Check out one5c‘s complete guide to plastic pollution to learn how.