Red and black ship on sea under blue sky during daytime.

Tankers shipping U.S. LNG emit more greenhouse gases than all the country's electric cars can offset

A single year of emissions from U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports by ship outweighs the climate benefits of every electric vehicle on American roads, according to a new analysis.

Phil McKenna and Peter Aldhous report for Inside Climate News.

In short:

Between 2017 and 2024, annual emissions from LNG tankers surged from 4.1 million to 18.4 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent, driven by a fivefold increase in voyages.
Most emissions stem from methane leaks during shipping, especially from poorly loaded auxiliary engines, making the process more polluting than widely assumed.
The Trump administration has greenlit several new LNG projects, even as global shipping regulations tighten and concerns grow about the full lifecycle emissions of exported gas.

Key quote:

“Shipping emissions are not really taken into account by either the exporting country or the importing country.”

— Alison Kirsch, senior energy analyst, Sierra Club

Why this matters:

Methane — the core component of natural gas — is a potent greenhouse gas, packing 80 times more warming power than carbon dioxide over a 20-year span. While it dissipates faster, its short-term punch makes it a prime target in the fight to slow global warming. The growing trade in liquefied natural gas has long been sold as a cleaner alternative to coal, but shipping it across oceans reveals an underappreciated climate toll. From fracking fields to foreign ports, every step leaks gas, with tankers releasing methane through a phenomenon known as “methane slip.” These emissions often go unmeasured, thanks to a regulatory blind spot over international waters and the technical challenges of satellite monitoring at sea. The industry’s unchecked growth raises questions about whether gas can truly serve as a “bridge fuel” in the transition to clean energy, or if it simply paves a longer road of fossil fuel dependence.

insideclimatenews.org

A residential garbage can overflows with plastic bottles and other waste.

Credit: the blowup/Unsplash

New pricing system helps small town slash its garbage output

When Plympton, Massachusetts started charging by the bag for trash, it nearly halved the town’s garbage — and saved thousands of dollars in the process.

Tik Root reports for Grist.

In short:

Plympton cut its annual trash output from 640 to 335 tons after shifting from a flat-fee dump sticker to a “pay-as-you-throw” model charging per bag.
The new pricing system incentivized recycling and composting, saving the town about $65,000 a year and reducing landfill-related emissions.
Nearly half of Massachusetts municipalities now use PAYT, and experts say volume-based pricing drives waste reduction without unfairly burdening small or low-income households.

Key quote:

“We found that demand for waste disposal was really responsive to price. If you raise the price of trash, people are going to find ways to not put as much out at the curb.”

— John Halstead, retired professor of environmental economics at the University of New Hampshire and an author of a study on New Hampshire's pay-as-you-throw model

Why this matters:

Less landfill use means fewer toxics in the air and water, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and more recycled materials in circulation. Plympton’s story shows that smart policy doesn’t have to be punitive or complicated — it just has to make people see the cost of their choices, and let common sense do the rest.

How a government feud threatens decades of scientific progress

The Trump administration’s move to cut off $2.6 billion in federal research funding to Harvard has upended a vital engine of American science, with ripple effects that reach far beyond a single university.

Emily Badger, Aatish Bhatia, and Ethan Singer report for The New York Times.

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