Top ten trends to expect to combat climate change in 2022, including the end of plastics draws closer, methane gets capped and more American cities to ban natural gas in new building construction.
Top Ten Trends to Expect to Combat Climate Change in 2022!
TOP TEN TRENDS IN COMBATTING CLIMATE CHANGE IN 2022
It’s the start of a new year, and with that comes new energy and the heightened sense of possibility. And as always, new starts. We’re going to start 2022 off with a week of positive action climate change trends, newly enacted climate change combatting laws, and legal battles to which we’ll pay close attention at The Climate Daily. Let’s start with the trends.
TREND #10: MAINSTREAM AUTOMAKERS ACCELERATE EV MANUFACTURING
Toyota said it will pour $35bn into a shift towards electric vehicles as the world’s biggest carmaker sets itself up for direct rivalry with Tesla and joins other groups in a push for carbon neutrality.
The announcement marks a major increase in Toyota’s EV targets as it aims to sell 3.5 million battery-powered vehicles annually by 2030, sparked by the launch of 30 EV models by then in a line-up including sports cars and commercial vehicles.
The company has in the past argued that a longer-term fix for global warming should be a mix of hybrids, EVs and hydrogen-powered vehicles instead of a single bet on battery-powered cars.
If Toyota’s recent announcement is any indication, we will see 2022 as the year major automakers took their collective foot off the gas and lead the charge in EV manufacturing.
#9: THE END OF PLASTICS DRAWS CLOSER
The end of plastics draws closer. As US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken recently said, “The U.S. goal is to create a tool that we can use to protect our oceans and all of the life that they sustain > from growing global harms of plastic pollution.”
Last year really began an onslaught on the plastics industry. Cities, states and entire countries have banned single use plastics like grocery bags and straws. Some 187 nations, though not the United States, have agreed to restrict international trade in plastic scrap and waste. And in November, Congress authorized $350 million for recycling and management of plastic waste, including funding to boost research, international cooperation, ocean cleanup and waste management.
The next milestone in that process could come in February, in Nairobi, Kenya, when the U.N. Environmental Assembly meets to decide if it will endorse the beginning of official negotiations over a plastics treaty.
#8: METHANE GETS CAPPED!
Methane gets capped or oil well capping will become a thing. Led by many US Republican states have created programs to rehire out-of-work oil and gas people to cap some of America’s estimated 2 million unplugged, abandoned oil and gas wells.
COP26’s focus on the elimination of methane emissions globally 30% by 20230 has established a market for well-capping companies. Our prediction is Well Done Foundation founder, Curtis Shuck, will franchise his well-capping concept, and other players will enter the field.
And if that’s not enough data for you, know this: Actor Jason Priestly is a Well Done Foundation, well-capping brand ambassador, so you know well-capping is on-trend.
#7: MORE AMERICAN CITIES WILL BAN NATURAL GAS IN NEW CONSTRUCTION
More American Cities Ban Natural Gas In New Construction
Just as 2021 was winding down to an uneventful close, the New York City Council voted to ban the use of natural gas in new buildings. The move makes New York the biggest city in America to ban or restrict the use of natural gas for cooking and heating.
the law applies to new buildings under seven stories high beginning at the end of 2023, and in those taller than seven stories in 2027. New York joins a host of other locales to restrict or prohibit the use of natural gas. Among them: Berkeley, California and 54 California communities have now adopted “gas-free buildings commitments or electrification building codes.” The latest to do so was Santa Clara County.
The city of Seattle enacted legislation that bans the use of natural gas in new commercial buildings and large multifamily buildings. And in Massachusetts, about a dozen towns have partnered with the Rocky Mountain Institute, which got a $10 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund last year, to advocate for the right to ban the use of natural gas in homes and commercial buildings. So 2022 should see more of the same.
Stay tuned tomorrow for more of The Climate Daily predictions for climate change combatting trends in 2022.