Unlikely Alliance: US Joins Forces With a Surprise Ally to Combat Climate Change

Biden is cozying up to an unexpected ally in the fight against climate change. Here are the details.

Super Pollutant Showdown

The Biden Administration is stepping up its efforts to slash nitrous oxide emissions – a super pollutant – by brokering a climate deal with an unlikely partner: China.

White House Climate Summit Reveals Bold Plans

This big news came out of a White House climate summit, where they revealed plans to tackle emissions from chemical plants in the U.S. and China. Nitrous oxide is one of the worst greenhouse gasses, so cutting it would be excellent for the nation’s green agenda.

A Tale of Two Polluters

Reports highlighted that factories in both countries are spewing out this super-pollutant, which is why the U.S. has decided to take action. 

50 Million Cars Off the Road?

If they get this right, the emission cuts could be the same as taking 50 million cars off the road – at a fraction of the cost. 

The Opportunity We Can’t Ignore

“This is a big opportunity,” said Manish Bapna from the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Podesta’s Push

“It’s not a lot of the time that we find ourselves with an affordable and relatively straightforward way to eliminate emissions quickly, equivalent to tens of millions of cars on the road.” said John Podesta, Biden’s climate policy advisor.

“Cutting industrial nitrous oxide pollution is that opportunity. So I think we need to seize it together.”

Tackling Multiple Super-Pollutants

The summit wasn’t just about nitrous oxide – plans were also drawn up to combat methane and other super-pollutants. 

United Airlines Takes Flight Against Pollution

United Airlines has thrown its hat in the ring and will be putting monitors on one of its planes to track these pollutants in the U.S.

Will Companies Step Up?

But there’s a catch – they’re relying on companies to volunteer to cut their emissions, which hasn’t worked out so well in the past.

A Potent Threat to Our Planet

Nitrous oxide is a serious problem – it’s 273 times more potent than CO2 and can stick around for over a century. Plus, it’s destroying the ozone layer, which protects us from the sun’s harmful rays.

Tech to the Rescue

The good news is we apparently have the tech to cut these emissions by 99%. 

Chemical Culprits

The U.S. and China, which are behind most of these emissions, have agreed to work together to cut the emissions, which mainly come from plants making chemicals like adipic acid, nitric acid, and caprolactam – used in many products.

A 10-Year Plan

China and America decided to team up on this issue back in November, and the recent summit was so leaders and experts could lay out a plan to slash emissions within the next ten years. 

America Leads the Way

The focus at this summit was on U.S. efforts, which should pave the way for joint action with China.

Ambitious Goals

By early 2025, U.S. companies plan to cut nitrous oxide emissions by over 50% compared to 2020 levels.

Success Stories

Progress has already been made by some big companies, including Ascend Performance Materials, which has almost wiped out these emissions at their Florida plant. They did this voluntarily and are selling the reductions as carbon offsets.

ClimeCo’s Commitment

ClimeCo, another leader in nitrous oxide reduction, has also announced new projects that will slash emissions at three facilities by about 95% by 2025.

Avoiding Carbon Market Pitfalls

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen international cooperation when it comes to climate change. Back in the mid-2000s, Chinese plants cut emissions under a U.N. program, but this backfired.

Learning from the Past

The program offered money for cutting emissions, so some factories deliberately increased their emissions first. This way, they could later claim bigger reductions and earn more money. It was a messy situation, and when funding ended in 2012, things went right back to normal.

New Rules for a New Era

New rules for carbon markets aim to stop similar types of cheating. For example, Chinese factories only get paid to cut their last 10% of emissions, which means they have to reduce most of their emissions without getting paid for it.

A Potential Game-Changer

If it’s executed well, this potential U.S.-China deal could be a massive step forward in the fight against climate change. It could set a powerful example for future global cooperation. But for now, the jury is out.

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Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Drop of Light.