Late last month, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) voted to adopt state rules that will reduce methane pollution from municipal solid waste landfills. This is big news. At a moment when our federal government is reversing course on climate safety, state rules that address greenhouse gas emissions are more important than ever. And regulating landfills makes a huge difference; they’re the third largest U.S. source of the potent climate pollutant methane, which is warming our world, making extreme weather more likely, and putting our children’s health and futures at risk.
Moms Clean Air Force worked for more than a year to make the Colorado landfill methane rules happen. We participated in state-run workshops, collected signatures for letters advocating for the strongest rules possible, and gave testimony at a public hearing in August. Moms’ Colorado organizer Laurie Anderson applauded the achievement—and pushed for even more action—in an op-ed published earlier this month in the Colorado Sun.
Tell Congress: Hold Zeldin Accountable for Corrupting EPA’s Mission
The new rules, she writes, are “a positive step forward, but there is more work to be done since even the strongest landfill methane rule cannot solve the problem alone.” That’s because Colorado has 82 municipal solid waste landfills that emit 1.3 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, “equivalent to the annual climate pollution of roughly 275,000 gasoline-powered cars,” Laurie writes.
Landfill methane emissions are primarily from decomposing organic waste, like food scraps. In fact, Laurie continues, “food waste alone, because it decays so quickly, is responsible for 58% of emissions that escape through areas with inadequate ground cover, around pipes and through leaking equipment. As methane escapes, so do health-harming co-pollutants that contribute to ground-level ozone.”
Colorado’s new rules address the problem by requiring lower methane emissions thresholds, enclosed flares (advanced systems for burning off methane in a combustion chamber instead of releasing it directly into the air), and investigation of detected leaks. These are essential tools for cutting climate pollution from landfills. Still, Laurie argues we need to “think bigger.”
“Grocery stores, schools, and health care facilities toss huge amounts of uneaten food every day,” she writes, “often because more sustainable alternatives can feel too expensive or complex. Even people who want to implement solutions like composting at home often don’t, due to concerns about cost and convenience.” This has to change.
“We all have a role to play in reducing food waste,” she argues, “and individual actions can go a long way. Taking simple steps like planning meals, creating shopping lists before heading to the store, and freezing food when tonight’s leftovers cannot be used tomorrow lessen the amount of methane generated at landfills.”
That’s why Laurie has made reducing waste her New Year’s resolution. She concludes her op-ed with a call to action for her Colorado neighbors: “Let’s celebrate abundance without waste by buying only what we need, cooking with care, and composting what remains. And when waste inevitably ends up in the landfill, the state methane protections will help curb those emissions.”
Read Laurie’s op-ed in the Colorado Sun.
Tell Congress: Hold Zeldin Accountable for Corrupting EPA’s Mission