Climate Alert

The international community just took another big step forward in fighting global climate change. The 170 nations represented at the 28th meeting of the parties to the Montreal Protocol announced their agreement to phase out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

President Obama spoke to the need for a persistent and committed effort during a speech after the ratification of the agreement, “If we follow through with our commitments this agreement embodies, history will judge it as a turning point for our planet.”

Flying is in no sense easy on the earth’s climate. According to GreenSkies, an alliance of organizations and citizens concerned with aviation’s environmental effects, one flight from Europe to New York generates the same quantity of carbon dioxide emissions as the quantity emitted from heating and providing electricity for an European home for an entire year.

This past Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan’s legality was discussed in oral arguments at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Court. It is up to this court to decide if the plan infringes on the rights of states and industries to emit carbon dioxide.

We need to start recycling what we have already produced, and reuse what we have already wasted. Biofuels can and should be part of the solution.

This could signify a vital step towards advancing a more resilient and modern electric grid.