California Turns to Satellites to Track Methane Leaks Amid Federal Rollbacks

摘要

As the Trump administration continues to ease regulations governing methane releases, California is taking to the skies in its ongoing effort to find and stop the leaks. By 2021, a pair of privately funded satellites will begin monitoring greenhouse gas releases within the state's borders, making good on a promise Gov. Jerry Brown made in 2016 following the election of President Donald Trump, whom he views as weak on the environment. "With science still under attack and the climate threat growing, we're launching our own damn satellite," Brown said at the recent Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco. "This groundbreaking initiative will help governments, businesses and landowners pinpoint, and stop, destructive emissions with unprecedented precision, on a scale that's never been done before."