Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) President Biden, the US's first supposed ‘climate president’, promised ‘no more drilling on federal lands, period’ during his Presidential campaign and his administration set a goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. However, on 13 th March the Biden administration undermined this climate agenda by approving the $8 billion ConocoPhillips Willow Project in Alaska, the largest oil and gas project currently proposed in the US as a way to boost the state’s economy. At its peak, it is estimated to produce up to 180,000 barrels of crude oil a day across three different sites and 200 oil wells within the 23 million-acre Nation Petroleum Reserve. The Willow Project will create one of the biggest ‘carbon bombs’ in the United States, where it is expected to create around 260 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over its 30-year lifespan, long past the point where climate scientists have warned...
Fire Danger Forecast, 15th July 2022. Copernicus EMS Waking up to ash covering the ground and the smell of smoke from wildfires in rural Italy, it was difficult to ignore the detrimental impacts we are having on the earth’s climate and wonder how travel is contributing to it – I fought with this issue as I sat watching smoke plumes… whilst being over 900 miles from home. Europe saw its hottest summer on record in 2022 with soaring temperatures contributing to wildfires in many countries including Spain, France, and Italy. On the hottest day of the year in the UK, where temperatures rose above 40C for the first time since records began, over 800 wildfires were recorded across the country. CO2 emissions, vapour trails and nitrogen oxide emissions from aviation all can be linked to rising global temperatures, and with the number of airline passengers worldwide having doubled since 2004, the concern regarding how flying is affecting global temperatures is rising. Currently, aviation emi...