History Making 2020 Climate Change Legislation Fights Our Warming Earth!

Here’s a 2009 image of Paulet Island near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Rapidly melting icebergs adversely affect wildlife and eventually climate. PHOTO CREDIT: BOB BERWYN

Greetings! Here’s some wonderful news for you on the fight against climate change. On Monday, December 21, 2020, Congress approved a huge spending bill, which is a significant step forward in the battle to banish climate change. This $2.3 trillion bill is awesome news for environmental advocates because it gives “tax breaks for renewable energy sources, initiatives to promote carbon capture storage and a significant phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that are a key culprit to the planet’s warming.”

Adding to that, this historical measure now “eliminates the Trump administration’s proposed deep cuts to federal climate science programs but adds millions to those programs for 2021.” Lindsey Griffith, Federal Policy Director at the Clean Air Task Force explained, “Passage of this bill represents real forward progress on climate change and clean energy. [It is] the most significant U.S. federal climate legislation ever.”

A significant highlight is a “bipartisan move to significantly curb the use of HFCs found in refrigeration, air conditioning, building insulation and fire extinguishing systems.” This “provision requires the Environmental Protection Agency to implement an 85% phasedown of the production and consumption so they reach about 15% of their 2011-2013 average annual levels by 2036.”

The phasedown section of the bill, “part of an international effort to reduce harmful emissions, is projected to prevent the planet from warming half a degree Celsius over the coming decades, though some scientific studies say Earth may be on an irreversible course to warming and that environmental damage will result.”

Matt Casale, Director of U.S. Public Interest Research Group’s Environmental Campaigns says, “It is imperative that we take swift action on climate change if we’re going to have any chance of avoiding its worst impacts. Phasing out HFCs – known as ‘super greenhouse gases’ – will bring significant climate relief relatively quickly.”

Other provisions of this legislation include:

  • Expansion of carbon capture technology and deployment.  Under the process, carbon emissions produced by power plants and other heavy industry are contained and injected deep into the ground, where saline rock formations can store the gas for centuries.
  • Reauthorization of an expiring program that provides industry with financial incentives to replace aging diesel engines with less polluting ones.
  • Extension and expansion of tax credits for clean energy, including wind, and a new incentive that encourages newly built power plants to be more efficient and cleaner.
  • Requirements that natural gas facilities deploy the latest technology to prevent, detect and address dangerous methane leaks, a significant contributor to climate change.

Advocates of this historic legislation say, “The steps will not only help the planet but also expand a clean energy economy.”

Stay tuned for more of my blogs!

If you see any sick or injured manatees, please call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at: 1-888-404-FWCC. They are the folks who are responsible for rescuing us in Florida.

Here’s the Save the Manatee Club link to learn more about us manatees …

www.savethemanatee.org

Here’s a cool link for you to learn more about how we’re rescued and brought into rehabilitation …

www.wildtracks.org

~ Kobee Manatee

Related Posts

NASA Reveals Solid Scientific Evidence “Climate Change” is Undoubtedly Real! (August 25, 2016)

Could Climate Change Wipe Out Coral Reef Fish? (November 8, 2017)

A National Geographic’s Top 20 Must-See Haven Sinking into Rising Waters of Climate Change! (March 9, 2017)

Are You Ready for Coastal Flooding every Two Weeks from Climate Change? (June 21, 2018)

UNESCO – Its Paramount Role in Ocean Acidification Awareness, (January 8, 2016)https://www.kobeemanatee.com/the-paramount-role-of-unesco-in-ocean-acidification-awareness/