Joe Biden's government announced on Tuesday a comprehensive plan to reduce emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to global warming and is more potent in the short term than carbon dioxide.
The plan was announced as the Democratic president concluded his two-day participation in the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, an event in which world leaders seek an agreement to mitigate the climate emergency.
Biden pledged to work with the European Union and more than 80 countries to
reduce total methane emissions worldwide by 30% by 2030.
A methane pipeline in Irvine, California, California in June 2021.MIKE BLAKE / REUTERS
The centerpiece of the measures announced by the White House is a long-awaited rule by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to toughen regulations on methane in the
oil and gas sector
, such as and as stated in one of the first Biden decrees.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the
new rule will significantly reduce emissions of methane
and other pollutants and be more stringent than an Obama-era rule set in 2016.
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"As world leaders gather at this crucial moment in Glasgow for COP26, it is now very clear that the
United States is back and leading by example
in tackling the climate crisis with bold ambition," Regan said.
Oil and natural gas are the largest industrial source of methane in the country,
a very powerful pollutant that is responsible for a third of the current warming caused by human activities.
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Environmental groups believe that reducing methane is the fastest and most cost-effective measure to slow the pace of global warming.
Current regulations on emissions of this gas from oil and gas wells only apply to sources built or modified after 2015, leaving more than 90% of the nearly 900,000 wells in the country unregulated.
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The American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry's leading lobby group, has stated that it supports direct regulation of methane emissions from new and existing sources, but opposes efforts by Congress to impose rates. to
leaks
, calling them punitive and unnecessary.
Research published last year in the journal
Earth System Science Data
revealed that
human activities contribute about 60% of global methane emissions,
while agriculture accounts for about two-thirds, and fossil fuel production and use most of the rest.
End deforestation
More than 100 countries pledged Tuesday to end deforestation, which scientists say is one of the main drivers of climate change.
The UK Government said it has received
commitments from leaders representing more than 85% of the
world's
forests
to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030.
More than $ 19 billion
in public and private funds
were pledged
for the plan, which is backed by countries such as Brazil, China, Colombia, Congo, Indonesia, Russia and the United States.
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Forests are important ecosystems and an important way to
absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,
the main greenhouse gas.
But the value of timber as a commodity and the growing demand for agricultural and grazing land are leading to widespread and often illegal logging of forests, especially in developing countries.
With information from The Associated Press and
NBC News.
