A recent legislation...

As a continuum to the earlier post on black carbon, it is only pertinent that I highlight a recent legislation taken up by the United States.

The Black Carbon Emissions Reductions Act, 2009, curbs black carbon emissions which have a more potent effect on global warming than carbon dioxide. The legislation attempts at mitigating the climatic effects of black carbon emissions within the country as well as internationally.


Text of the bill can be viewed here.

The Act contemplates large scale implementation strategies extending financial and technical assistance to developing nations to help reduce, mitigate and abate black carbon emissions. The technical assistance includes interventions to improve fuel efficiency of vehicles that emit black carbon, mitigate combustion related air pollution and improve stove efficiency in developing nations within a period of 5 years.

This Bill uses adaptation strategies under managerial and infrastructure categories, implementable within a shorter time frame. Recent studies prove that by tackling black carbon emissions at the point of source, we may not only be protecting glaciers and ice sheets we may do well by limiting the rate of sea level rise eventually preserving perennial rivers.