Targeting Superpollutants: A Super Climate Strategy (ECA National Call and Action Party)

Join Elders for Climate Action as we target Superpollutants, or short-lived climate pollutants, including methane, refrigerants, and black carbon. These molecules, when emitted into the atmosphere, have many times higher warming potential than carbon dioxide, making them potent greenhouse gases, responsible for nearly half of current warming. Because these pollutants tend to have short atmospheric lifetimes, by slashing emissions now we could see a cooling effect by 2050. Indeed, UN officials say “fast action on super pollutants could avoid up to 0.6°C of warming by 2050, helping keep the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal within reach.” Members of Climate Action California’s Methane & Refrigerants team will share key drivers of superpollutant emissions, as well as system-level and individual actions that can be taken to reduce them. The good news is that the paths are clear and already trodden. We just need greater awareness and concerted effort.

Register online

Confirmed Speakers:

Bill Murphy works on reducing methane from landfills and green waste at Climate Action California and the California Landfill Coalition. Bill led ECA NorCal and SoCal’s policy and legislation efforts from 2019 to 2023.

Katharine Dickson, Ph.D., brings her background in rumen microbiome science and agricultural methane emissions to working as a team co-lead for agricultural methane policy at Climate Action California. Her scientific research focused on the microbes that produce methane in livestock and strategies to reduce those emissions; she now brings that expertise to policy, helping translate the science into practical approaches to agricultural methane reduction.

Daniel Chandler, Ph.D. has been tracking developments in refrigerants and livestock-methane policy and technology for the last six years. He is co-team lead for agricultural methane and team lead for refrigerants. Dr. Chandler, along with Will Brieger, a former CARB attorney, were instrumental in getting the California Air Resource Board to pass a 2024 resolution calling for regulation of livestock methane by 2030.

Michael Mulligan is a retired Family Physician and former Public Health Officer. He is a member of the NorCal Elder Climate Action Chapter, as well as Climate Action California’s methane team.

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