The President of the United States, Joe Biden, has announced that a hundred countries attending the XXVI Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) held in Glasgow (United Kingdom) have pledged with its proposal to reduce methane (CH4) emissions by 30 percent by 2030.
“Together we are collectively committing to reduce our methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030 and I think we could really achieve it,” Biden said on Tuesday in the Scottish city, where on Monday he stressed that the United States was back on track. negotiating table and apologized for the fact that the administration that preceded him, that of Donald Trump, withdrew his country from the Paris Climate Agreement.
“Today about a hundred countries are signing it. That is approximately half of global methane emissions. It will make a huge difference,” added the US president who added that this initiative proposed by the United States and the European Union, It could not only help fight climate change, but also improve health, cut crop losses and reduce pollution.
On the US side, the initiative includes a series of rules on drilling for oil and gas, as well as pipelines – a sector responsible for 30 percent of emissions in the country -, as previously detailed by the House Blanca in a statement.
“By addressing methane emissions, stimulating innovations and supporting sustainable agriculture, President Biden today announces bold steps that will boost America’s clean energy economy and create well-paying jobs,” they said from Washington.
Thus, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, for its acronym in English) has explained a series of notes related to the production of gas and oil in such a way that it will propose to expand and strengthen the existing regulations on new facilities, to the par that will ask the states of the country to develop plans to reduce emissions from existing facilities, collects ‘The Hill’.
According to the Government, with these new regulations the EPA seeks to reduce methane emissions by approximately 75 percent, while reducing the presence of compounds that form mist and generate toxicity in the air.
The aforementioned White House statement also recognizes the attempts of the Department of the Interior to penalize the release or burning of excess gas, for which it will propose a regulation that requires oil and gas drillers to pay fees to the Government for what they it is released or burned.
Thus, there is talk of a tariff for oil and gas companies that emit methane above a stipulated threshold. In the same way, 775 million dollars – almost 668 million euros – will be applied in grants to help and encourage companies to stay below that ceiling, points out the CNN chain.
“The tariff and the rules must be complementary tools (…) The rules are critical because, if designed correctly, they guarantee comprehensive reductions in all areas. The tariff has the ability to increase regulations by generating reductions faster and potentially additional “, explained the leader of the Environmental Defense Fund, Jon Goldstein, to the aforementioned chain.
Regarding Agriculture, the competent Department will seek the adoption of alternative ways of managing manure that reduce emissions, renewable energy generated on farms and increased investments in innovations to address methane emissions from the sector. .
Advocates of tackling methane emissions have argued that it may be a quick way to slow global warming, as methane is more potent than carbon dioxide, an issue that was brought to light when the United Nations called in August “strong, rapid and sustained reductions” in the emissions of this gas.
