Biden Administration Takes Bold Steps to Combat Climate Super Pollutants

Half of today’s climate change is driven by super pollutant greenhouse gases, including methane, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and nitrous oxide (N2O). These gases are significantly more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2), making it critical to reduce their emissions.

According to experts, slashing emissions of these super pollutants is one of the fastest ways to tackle climate change. It’s not just about the environment; reducing these emissions can create good-paying clean energy jobs, prevent respiratory illnesses leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths annually, and boost food security.

Since taking office, the Biden-Harris administration has made it a priority to dramatically reduce both U.S. and global super pollutant emissions. In November 2021, they implemented a comprehensive plan aimed at slashing emissions, focusing on cutting consumer costs and protecting workers and communities.

The plan also emphasizes maintaining and creating high-quality, union-friendly jobs while fostering U.S. innovation and manufacturing of new technologies needed to tackle the climate crisis.

On the international front, President Biden has brought the world together to address methane emissions through the Global Methane Pledge. This significant commitment aims to reduce global methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030.

Moreover, President Biden signed the Kigali Amendment, an international agreement that targets the phase-down of super-polluting HFCs. This initiative has enormous potential, with the capability to avoid up to 0.5 °C of global warming by the year 2100.

All these efforts could culminate in substantial results, with projections indicating a reduction of nearly 300 megatons of super pollutants per year domestically by 2030. To put that into perspective, that’s roughly equivalent to taking 70 million gasoline-powered cars off the road.

Despite these progressions, many Republicans in Congress remain skeptical about climate change, with some even denying its existence altogether. Some have expressed their commitment to repeal the President’s Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in history, which could jeopardize good-paying jobs and undermine public health.

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is hosting a White House Summit focused on Super Pollutants. This gathering includes U.S. officials, representatives from companies, environmental organizations, unions, philanthropies, and international partners.

The aim of the summit is to announce new domestic and international initiatives to combat super pollutants while also celebrating the successes achieved so far in reducing these harmful emissions.

Among the initiatives introduced today are new efforts to advance the detection and reporting of super pollutants. These measures are a crucial step toward understanding and addressing the problem effectively.

There’s also a focus on industry leadership, with commitments from various sectors to reduce nitrous oxide emissions. This is particularly important as nitrous oxide is another super pollutant with considerable climate impacts.

In addition, new initiatives to reduce domestic methane emissions have been unveiled. These actions will contribute substantially to lowering the overall emissions footprint and improving air quality.

On the global stage, new initiatives targeting global methane emissions were highlighted. Collaborative efforts between countries will enhance the reach and effectiveness of these actions.

Today’s announcements build upon more than three years of dedicated work by the Biden-Harris administration to tackle the urgent issue of super pollutants, both domestically and internationally.