Author: Sarah B. Mangelsdorf

Flames rise from the flare stack towers in South Africa
Emissions
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Minimizing Methane: New Studies Find Methane Emissions Significantly Higher than Previously Thought

A new report by the International Energy Agency, released on March 13, found that for the third year in a row, methane released by the fossil fuel industry rose to an almost record high in 2023. 

Methane emissions are a significant contributor to global warming, second only to carbon dioxide. Although methane is better at trapping heat into the atmosphere, trapping almost 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide over a two-decade period, it is relatively short-lived, making it an attractive way to more efficiently …

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A River Runs Through Glacier National Park in Montana
Climate Change / Legislation
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Green Amendments and the Rise of Environmental Constitutional Rights

There has been a recent push across the country placing “green amendments” at the forefront of the fight to combat climate change and promote environmental justice. Analogous to the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights, such as freedom of speech or freedom of religion, a green amendment is an amendment to a state Constitution’s Bill of Rights that guarantees its citizens the inalienable right to clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment. These amendments serve to create a constitutional mandate that every citizen has a …

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A large construction excavator removes contaminated soil from an urban brownfield development site.
EPA / Regulations
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Leading with Lead: EPA to Implement Strategy for Lead in 2024

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency kicked off the New Year by strengthening its guidance for investigating and cleaning up lead-contaminated soil at residential properties, especially in areas where children live and play. Toward this end, the EPA lowered the recommended screening levels for lead in residential soil, from 400 parts per million to 200 ppm, for the first time in 30 years. 

While screening levels are not cleanup standard, this change is expected to assist the EPA in making site-specific cleanup decisions, which may include …

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Smoke and fumes
Climate Change / EPA
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EPA Announces Final Rule to Reduce Methane and Combat Climate Change

In recent years, the global concentration of methane present in the atmosphere has increased dramatically. In fact, in 2021, methane increased by almost 18 parts per billion in the atmosphere, the largest single year increase since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s records began in 1984. Last year was no exception, as atmospheric methane increased by 14 parts per billion, the fourth largest recorded increase.

These numbers are significant because methane is known as a “super pollutant” that is many times more potent than carbon …

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water coming out of a pipe
Groundwater Monitoring
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Green Technologies and their Impact on Groundwater: How Green is Green?

As the Biden Administration pushes to transition the country away from fossil fuels to green energy sources, we have been faced with the reality that demand for these necessary minerals could soon outpace supply. For example, electric vehicle manufactures have been searching for additional sources of lithium to meet the Administration’s call for electric vehicles to make up approximately 50 percent of all cars by 2030. Similarly, it is estimated that the world will need almost 50 percent more than its current supply of copper …

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on an flat roof there cooling air conditioning
Emerging Issues / EPA
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EPA Announces Latest Actions to Address Hydrofluorocarbons

Nearly one year after ratifying the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the Environmental Protection Agency announced two additional actions to further this initiative under the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act (AIM).  The Kigali Amendment is an international agreement aimed at phasing down the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (“HFCs”) by 80-85 percent by 2047. It also seeks to avoid up to .5 °C of global warming by 2100.

By way of background, HFCs are used in applications …

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Lithium ore
Lithium
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A Modern-Day Gold Rush – World’s Largest Lithium Mine Discovered in Nevada

A lithium mine has been discovered within the McDermitt Caldera, located along the Nevada-Oregon border. This finding is significant in that it may hold between 20 million and 40 million metric tons of this rare metal, which is nearly double the current record of approximately 23 million metric tons of lithium found this summer beneath a Bolivian salt flat. To put the magnitude of this finding further into perspective, the McDermitt Caldera is approximately 28 miles long and 22 miles wide.

Lithium is a chemical …

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Massive California Wild Fire forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes, wildfires spreading rapidly, escaping to save their lives, destroyed silhouette, natural calamity
Wildfires
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The Un-wilding of Wildfires: How We Have Added Fuel to the Flames

In their purest form, natural wildfires, most commonly caused by lightning strikes or volcanic activity, are a necessary part of the lifecycle in most ecosystems. They provide a number of important ecological benefits, such as reducing dead vegetation, stimulating new growth, and improving wildlife habitat. Indeed, a variety of plant and animal species depend on wildfires for their very survival.

However, in recent years, numerous countries, including the United States, have experienced significant wildfires that have moved far beyond these ecological benefits, leaving entire communities …

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workers in a cement factory work outdoors with a tablet planning their work and checking concrete structures
Emerging Issues / EPA
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EPA Revises Carbon Tetrachloride Risk Determination to Protect Worker Health and Fenceline Communities

Carbon tetrachloride (CTC) is a solvent used as a raw material in commercial settings to produce chemicals such as hydrofluoroolefins for refrigerants, aerosol propellants, foam-blowing agents, chlorinated compounds, and agricultural products.

Notably, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the use of CTC in consumer products in 1970. Additionally, in 1996, CTC was phased out from production in the United States for most domestic uses that did not involve manufacturing other chemicals as a result of requirements under the Montreal Protocol and the Clean Air …

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EPA Offices, Washington DC
Emerging Issues / EPA
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EPA’s New Renewable Fuel Standards Add Biofuel to the Fire

The Environmental Protection Agency issued its final rule establishing biofuel volume requirements for 2023 to 2025 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program on June 21. The Rule aims to reduce the United States’ reliance on foreign sources of oil by approximately 130,000 to 140,000 barrels of oil per day by requiring annual volumes of renewable fuels to be used in the fuel supply. While the EPA boasts that the rule reflects its ongoing efforts to “ensure stability of the program for years to come, …

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