New research finds that only about 13 percent of global methane pollution is regulated, despite the super pollutant causing at least a quarter of current global warming. To achieve the goals laid out in the Paris accord, methane pollution should be cut by 40 to 45 percent by 2030, compared to 2020 levels. But the researchers from Queen Mary University of London found methane pollution is increasing faster than at any time since the 1980s. In the US, regulators are failing to regulate methane leakage from landfills, one of the largest sources of climate pollution in the country.
The Environmental Integrity Project concluded that landfill-produced methane was responsible for the same amount of climate pollution as nearly 80 coal-fired power plants in 2021. The report notes that “fifty-four percent of the landfills reporting to the EPA’s greenhouse gas database are surrounded by communities, within a one-mile radius, that exceed national averages for people of color or residents considered low-income.” (Common Dreams, The Conversation, Phys.org, Inside Climate News, TIME $)