lobbying

Biofuel refineries and toxic pollution

July 5, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

There have been decades of government support for renewable, crop-based fuels – primarily corn ethanol. In fact, it is a required component of gasoline sold in this country. The biofuels industry has long claimed ethanol to be a clean, greener alternative to petroleum.

There have been arguments all along that the environmental benefits of corn ethanol are dubious at best because of the energy required to produce the stuff. There are also issues related to burning a food crop instead of feeding it to people and that the conversion of grasslands and forests to produce it releases massive amounts of carbon.

Recently, another serious concern has emerged. A new review of industry data has found that the country’s biofuel refineries, mostly located in the Midwest, produce large amounts of toxic air pollutants, in some cases ever more than from their petroleum counterparts.

Emissions data from the country’s 275 ethanol, biodiesel, and renewable diesel plants revealed that they release carcinogenic formaldehyde as well as other potentially dangerous substances including acetaldehyde, hexane, and acrolein. In 2022, biofuel refineries released 12.9 million pounds of hazardous air pollutants, compared to 14.9 million pounds emitted by oil refineries, and the biofuel plants actually emitted more of the four chemicals just mentioned than petroleum refineries did.

The broad use of crop ethanol is the result of intensive industry lobbying. Ethanol plants are even exempt from some air pollution permitting requirements. Perhaps the time has come to revisit its pervasive and mandated use.

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Biofuel Refineries Are Releasing Toxic Air Pollutants in Farm Communities Across the US

Photo, posted February 27, 2021, courtesy of Sue Thompson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

New York Bans Some Crypto Mining | Earth Wise

December 13, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Crypto mining, the arcane process by which cryptocurrencies are generated, is incredibly energy-intensive. As of this past summer, global electricity usage for the activity is as much as 240 billion kilowatt-hours per year, which is more than many entire countries use (for example Australia and Argentina.) Crypto mining consumes as much electricity as all the conventional computer data centers in the world.

All that energy usage is problematic for the environment, but a growing practice has made it far worse. Crypto miners have been re-powering decommissioned fossil fuel power plants to produce electricity strictly for mining operations. Doing so eliminates the climate benefits achieved by shutting down those plants.

The New York State Legislature passed a bill in June that would place a two-year moratorium on permits to re-power fossil fuel plants. It does not prevent crypto mining from existing generation sources. The bill had sat on the governor’s desk until after the recent election. But in late November, Governor Hochul signed the bill despite considerable lobbying against it.

The temporary ban was heavily opposed by cryptocurrency industry groups, to no surprise. While some states actually offer tax incentives to lure crypto mining operations, supporters of the legislation hope that New York’s action may cause others to follow its lead and stop the reactivation of old fossil fuel plants.

The two-year moratorium will allow time to properly evaluate the impact of the crypto mining industry on the state’s climate goals. It is pretty obvious that reactivating old, retired fossil fuel power plants as an energy source is a move in the wrong direction.

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New York Enacts 2-Year Ban on Some Crypto-Mining Operations

Photo, posted February 27, 2021, courtesy of Ivan Radic via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Tough Day For Big Oil | Earth Wise

June 24, 2021 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

May 26th was a difficult day for big oil. Three major setbacks for the industry occurred on the same day.

A Dutch court ruled in a case against Shell, ordering the company to cut emissions by 2030 in accordance with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. The case was brought by climate activists, ultimately comprising 17,000 co-plaintiffs. The ruling will probably be appealed but it does represent a major precedent for holding polluters accountable for their actions.

That same day, shareholders of ExxonMobil replaced at least two of the company’s board members with candidates dedicated to decarbonizing the company. Having two board seats filled by climate supporters is not likely to radically transform the company, but it is a powerful rebuke of Exxon’s iconic business model of “drill, baby, drill”.

Finally, Chevron’s shareholder meeting on May 26th saw 61% of shareholders voting for the company to reduce its so-called Scope 3 emissions, meaning the pollution from all the fossil fuels it sells. In addition, 48% of shareholders voted to demand a report on Chevron’s dark money lobbying. That initiative did not carry, but nevertheless, nearly half of the company’s shareholders expressed concern about how Chevron is corrupting the political process in order to achieve its ends.

These events are examples of mainstream activism where the pressure on fossil fuel companies is not just coming from the usual environmental activists but rather from shareholders, who after all actually own the companies. The fossil fuel industry still wields enormous power, but it appears increasingly possible to challenge it and even to win.

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A landmark day in the fight against fossil fuels

Photo, posted August 15, 2014, courtesy of Mike Mozart via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.