Environmental Protection Agency

Diesel Prices Jump 37% in 10 Weeks, Gas Prices Projected to Hit $6.20 by August

Tue, 24 May 2022 19:58:41 GMT

The White House is considering waiving U.S. gasoline environmental rules aimed at reducing summertime smog, hoping the waiver will combat rising pump prices, Reuters reported , citing three sources involved in the discussions.

Retailers are required to sell summer-blend gas from June 1 to Sept. 15. In the past, the U.S. government has waived those requirements regionally or nationally to deal with hurricanes or other supply issues. The Biden administration has already lifted the restriction on summer sales of E15. The waiver under consideration would apply to all grades of gasoline, the sources said.

The Reuters report indicates the blending items are things like butane and that such a move to waive the smog rules would apply to all grades of gasoline and does not signal any impact for ethanol. “These pollutants have severe impacts on public health and would likely exacerbate the inequity in air quality that BIPOC communities already bear,” activist green groups including Friends of the Earth, National Wildlife Federation and Sierra Club, wrote to EPA Administrator Michael Regan on Monday. The “potential savings from this measure are limited, while the climate impacts are irreversible. Solutions to oil price hikes lie elsewhere.”

This comes as gas prices are at record highs — a dollar more than one year ago — and one J.P. Morgan analyst predicted prices could reach $6.20 per gallon by August.

Diesel Dilemma

U.S. average retail prices for ultra-low-sulfur diesel rose more than 37% in just 10 weeks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, setting a new nominal record of $5.62 a gallon in the week ended May 9, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

(Farm Journal)

The Biden administration is considering a release of diesel fuel from federal reserves to address surging prices and the threat of supply outages on the East Coast. Officials have drafted an emergency declaration as prices have soared to record highs in recent weeks, White House spokeswoman Emilie Simons said on Twitter on Monday. Such a declaration would allow for the quick release of some of the 1 million barrels of diesel in the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve “if necessary,” she said. While the reserve only contains about one day’s supply, and might not substantially reduce diesel prices, it could prevent spot outages of the fuel, an official said. Diesel has outpaced gasoline prices because of refinery closings and because Russia was such a big supplier of refined fuels into Europe, causing ripple effects world-wide.

Possibility of Pumping More Oil?

If gas prices are so high, why aren’t shale drillers pumping more oil? The Wall Street Journal notes one reason: Their executives are no longer paid to. After years of losses, investors demanded changes to how bonuses are formulated, pushing for more emphasis on profitability. Now, executives who were paid to pump are rewarded more for keeping costs down and returning cash to shareholders. The focus on profitability over growth helps explain drillers’ muted response to the highest prices for oil and natural gas in more than a decade.

Possible Rebate for High Gas Prices?

Democrats float $500 rebate to combat gas prices. Americans would receive a $500 cash rebate under legislation being introduced today by Democratic Reps. Sean Casten (Ill.), Don McEachin (Va.) and Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) that would be paid for by eliminating tax subsidies for the fossil fuel industry.

The measure would eliminate 11 tax breaks for oil and gas companies, including for marginal wells and enhanced oil recovery. This bill comes after the House passed a bill last week that would give the Federal Trade Commission sharper teeth in preventing alleged gas price gouging by oil companies. The price gouging bill has hardly any chance of success in the Senate, where the Commerce Committee has a mark up on its own version of the price gouging bill Wednesday.

(Farm Journal)

Growing Less Dependent on Fossil Fuels

Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency says governments around the world need to do more to spur faster growth in electric vehicles.

“Electric-car sales continue to break records, but mineral supply constraints are looming,” the IEA said in its latest EV outlook. “Much more needs to be done to support charging infrastructure and heavy-duty vehicles.”

The agency suggested officials ease bottlenecks for battery materials, enhance support for EV purchases and take action to kickstart the market for heavy-duty electric vehicles. Such efforts may help reach their goal of a 350 million global EV fleet. As it stands now, EVs aren’t selling fast enough for the world to have a realistic chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change, the group said Monday.

Democrat's Green New Deal Wants to Eliminate "Farting Cows"

Sat, 09 Feb 2019 01:12:00 GMT

A proposed set of legislative goals released by a pair of Democratic freshmen members of Congress mentions getting fewer emissions from “farting cows,” but they want to work with farmers, too. The Green New Deal was released on Feb. 7 by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and aims to eliminate greenhouse gas emission while revamping the U.S. economy.

The Green New Deal has been drawing some attention because it would drastically change how many facets of the economy operate in an effort to address climate change. Components of the Green New Deal – that tries to fashion itself similar to President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal – focuses on utilizing renewable energy, cutting fossil fuels, overhauling health care and addressing the wealth divide.

The Green New Deal also contains mention of “working collaboratively with farmers and ranchers in the United States to remove pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector as much as is technologically feasible.”

The initiative aims to support family farmers, invest in sustainable agriculture practices to increase soil health and building a sustainable food system that ensures access to healthy food.

While the legislation doesn’t have much more in details about the role agriculture will play in this effort, a FAQ sheet released with the Green New Deal does paint a different picture.

In a section of the FAQ sheet asking about the difference between the goal of going “100% clean and renewable” versus “100% renewable” there is a call out about methane emissions in cattle.

“We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast, but we think we can ramp up renewable manufacturing and power production, retrofit every building in America, build the smart grid, overhaul transportation and agriculture, plant lots of trees and restore our ecosystem to get to net-zero,” the FAQ sheet reads.

Voices From Agriculture

The mention of “farting cows” drew concerns from groups representing agriculture and farmers on social media.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) has been working to address sustainability through efforts like the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB) . Also, NCBA recently released a Cost/Benefit Principles that serves as a guide for decision-making on various policy proposals regarding climate change.

“Despite all the progress we’ve made on the environmental front in recent decades, some policymakers still seem to think targeting U.S. beef producers and consumers will make a huge impact on global emissions,” says Colin Woodall, NCBA senior vice president of government affairs. “That’s why we drafted our Principles – to give the folks who are proposing new public policies the opportunity to outline the specific costs and estimated benefits of their proposals.”

You may think the #GreenNewDeal is some far out but case dream. If you're involved in #agriculture you'd better view it as a threat to your entire way of life. https://t.co/Gp6Oe53HdX
— Casey Kimbrell (@CBKimbrell) February 8, 2019

Like the part where is says "work with farmers & ranchers to create sustainable, pollution and greenhouse gas free food". So basically the gov't will retrain us how they think we should farm & ranch. No thanks!
— Brandon Bell (@bjbell60) February 8, 2019

The language is very vague. Almost like those who drafted it don't know much about agriculture in the US. Farm bill supports most of what they list.
— Jeannine Otto (@AgNews_Otto) February 7, 2019

I feel like I need more details. But I’m excited we’re having this conversation and as a rancher I’d like to be part of making things better instead of worse.
— MegRaeB.bsky.social (@MegRaeB) February 8, 2019

Lots of wiggle room, kind of like now. Define ‘feasible’..🤷🏽‍♂️
— Doug Doughty (@_dpdoughty) February 7, 2019

Research and Statistics Shows Improvement on “Farting Cows”

While much of what is suggested for agriculture is already being handled through programs funded in the farm bill, the mention of “farting cows” shows a divide between rural and urban America.

According to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), direct greenhouse gas emissions that come from cattle and their manure represents 2% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, or less than 0.4% of global emissions.

Research by Virginia Tech and USDA-ARS determined that if all livestock were eliminated from production agriculture it would only reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2.6% or 0.36% globally. However, the shift would cause changes in dietary needs as people would not be able to receive enough of several different essential dietary nutrients without animal proteins. There would be deficiencies in calcium, vitamins A and B12 and some important fatty acids. Ultimately, resulting in higher caloric diets .

“A take-home message from the study was that we need to expand the way we think about food production to account for the complex consequences of changing any individual piece within the wider food system,” says Robin R. White, a professor of Animal and Poultry Science at Virginia Tech.

The announcement of the Green New Deal is something that Sara Place, NCBA’s senior director of sustainable beef production research, hopes will serve as starting off point for a conversation between the politicians supporting it and livestock producers.

“I think it highlights the large divide between people that are interacting with the environment and growing food every day, and those that are concerned about environmental issues, but ignorant,” Place says.

The U.S. has become one of the most efficient producers of both beef and dairy in the world during the past few decades, helping curtail the amount of emissions.

Since 1977, the U.S. beef cattle herd has decreased by 33% and the same amount of beef is being produced. A Journal of Animal Science study by Dr. Jude Capper showed that comparing 1977 versus 2007 to produce 1 kg of beef it took 69.9% of the animals, 81.4% of feedstuffs, 87.9% of the water, and only 67.0% of the land required. Modern beef systems produce 81.9% of the manure, 82.3% CH4, and 88.0% N2O per billion kilograms of beef compared with production systems in 1977.

Dairy has seen wide improvements as well. A study published in the Journal of Animal Science ( Capper et al., 2009 ) showed that modern dairy production has become much more efficient. Comparing 1944 versus 2007 it takes 21% fewer cows, 35% less water and 10% less land produce 1 billion kg of milk. All while emitting 37% less of a carbon footprint. Other greenhouse gas impacts included a reduction of 24% for manure, 43% for CH4, and 56% for N2O per billion kg of milk compared with equivalent milk from historical dairying.

Even with these gains in recent history to curtail greenhouse gas emissions in beef and dairy production there still appears to be a need to share that information with political leaders.