Transitioning to 100% clean energy is a huge opportunity to power our economy and create good jobs without sacrificing our communities or the climate. Here’s how we do it.
Jim Pew, Attorney, Washington, D.C., Office, Earthjustice: “It’s quite simple. If you want to burn municipal waste, meet the Clean Air Act standards for municipal waste incinerators. If you want to burn industrial waste, meet the Clean Air Act standards for industrial waste.”
Food waste is a top contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. When food waste rots in landfills, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in its global warming strength. According to New York State’s inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, in 2014, landfill emissions made up about 58% of the State’s methane emissions and about 5% of its total greenhouse gas emissions.
New York's legislature passed a strong law banning single-use plastic bags, however, the state's Department of Environmental Conservation proposed regulations that would allow thicker bags to be used, undermining the law. The loophole ultimately increases the lifecycle impacts from plastic bags, from the fossil fuel extraction, to harmful chemical additives, to the bags ending up on streets and oceans, or to later be burned or added to the landfills.
“Electrifying our vehicle fleet is essential to tackling the climate crisis, as transportation contributes the most greenhouse gases to the atmosphere of any industry in the United States.”
The groups urged the administration to institute strong cultural, environmental, and due diligence standards for any mechanisms involved with the sourcing of critical minerals
Earthjustice is standing alongside a diverse group of nations, conservation organizations, scientists, and Indigenous groups, and urging the ISA to stand strong against corporate mining interests and declare a moratorium on deep seabed mining.
In honor of Earth Day and the fight for the wild spaces we love, the air we breathe, the water we drink — any gift you make for the month of April will be matched $2:$1!