Taking the Methane Out of Trash

Current conditions: Cyclone Dana, currently over the Bay of Bengal, is set to touch down in eastern India tomorrow • Parts of Texas will see record-breaking or near record-breaking temperatures today and tomorrow • The state of Connecticut is under a red flag warning, with dry conditions leading to brush fires.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Simple policy changes could reduce landfill emissions by half, report says

A new report by the environmental nonprofit Industrious Labs finds that landfill methane emissions could be reduced 56% by 2050 if the Environmental Protection Agency makes a few key changes to the existing Clean Air Act. While landfills are the third largest-source of methane emissions in the U.S., only those with a certain waste capacity are required to implement gas collections systems, which extract greenhouse gasses from the decomposing waste. The report recommends expanding the number of landfills that must install collection systems, as well as requiring landfills to install or expand these systems within one year after waste is placed in a new area. The EPA has committed to updating these rules in 2025.

Industrious Labs

2. Hurricane Oscar kills seven in Cuba

Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, confirmed that Hurricane Oscar has left at least seven dead in Cuba, all in the Guantánamo region. The municipalities of San Antonio and Imias have been hardest hit, with unprecedented flooding. The storm made landfall on Cuba in Sunday, and has since been downgraded to a tropical storm as it heads toward Bermuda. Díaz-Canel said that rescue operations are ongoing, and that there are still areas that remain completely inaccessible.

3. Department of Energy funds clean energy manufacturing in former coal communities

The Biden administration announced that it’s providing $428 million in funding for 14 clean energy manufacturing projects across 15 communities with decommissioned coal facilities. This infusion of cash is intended to address critical supply chain vulnerabilities, and is expected to attract over $500 million in private capital while creating over 1,900 jobs. The selected projects focus on five areas: grid components, batteries, low-carbon materials, clean power generation, and energy efficient products. “By leveraging the know-how and skillset of the former coal workforce, we are strengthening our national security while helping advance forward-facing technologies and revitalize communities across the nation,” Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said.

4. Study: Disruptive climate protests can increase support for mainstream activists

Climate activists have quite the history of taking extreme action to make a point — blocking roads, throwing soup at works of art, and chaining themselves to oil tankers to name a few. While it always causes a stir, a new study released in Nature finds that these actions could actually be an effective means of increasing support for more moderate climate organizations.

The study’s authors conducted a survey of over 1,400 UK residents before and after the activist group Just Stop Oil shut down traffic on a major highway, which ultimately led to a 3.3% increase in support for the supposedly more moderate environmental group Friends of the Earth. This is likely due to the “radical flank effect,” in which a movement’s fringe boosts support for more mainstream activists by making them seem more reasonable in comparison. One of the study’s authors, Markus Ostarek, said that though the boost in support was modest, the study indicates that moderate groups could “use these moments of high momentum to directly negotiate with policymakers.”

Protesters assembled outside the court where Just Stop Oil campaigners Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland were given jail time after throwing tomato soup on a Van Gogh painting in 2022.Photo by Peter Nicholls/Getty Images

5. California county wins approval for state’s first carbon capture and storage project

Kern County, located in California’s Central Valley, has approved a major carbon capture and storage project spearheaded by California Resources Corp, the largest oil and gas producer in the state. The project aims to capture up to 48 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the company’s gas field operations, and inject it underground ino the Elk Hills oil field. While the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, is supportive of this tech, it faces opposition from community members and activists who are worried about leaks and prolonging reliance on fossil fuels. There are 13 other carbon storage projects pending approval in the state.

THE KICKER

Climate activists will stage a “noise demonstration” outside the office of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. today, during its annual meeting with the World Bank. They’ll use bullhorns and other noisemakers to ensure that finance ministers “cannot ignore calls for climate action.”