October, 2024
Lincoln — The City of Lincoln has launched a second round of homeowner incentives to replace fossil-fueled furnaces and air conditioners with electric heat pumps. Low and moderate income families can receive up to $3000 for the conversion, on top of Lincoln Electric System and federal tax credit incentives. The "initiative is an important part of the city’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050," according to the Lincoln JournalStar.
This is a good program. Each household that converts reduces carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions by 1-2 metric tons annually. Last year's pilot program reduced emissions by 250 tons of CO2e.
Another good local government effort is the acquisition and restoration of grasslands and wetlands at 27th and Arbor Road. Each acre protected or restored can reduce 3-7 metric tons of CO2e emissions annually. If 155 acres is protected at 7 tons per acre (both generous estimates) the annual reduction would reach 1000 tons.
Both the heat pump conversions and protection of natural resource buffers are part of the Lincoln-Lancaster Climate Action Plan, adopted in 2021.
But context is needed. These and other worthy efforts will likely not be enough to meet Lincoln's goals for CO2e reductions. Not when point-source emissions overwhelm them.
Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. in west Lincoln was given a local government permit this year for 38,554 annual metric tons of CO2e. In 2022, soybean processor Archer Daniels Midland in northeast Lincoln reported CO2e emissions of 158,580 metric tons. Just to offset the coal-fired ADM plant's CO2e output would require the equivalent of converting nearly 80,000 Lincoln households to heat pumps, or at least 35 square miles of additional carbon-sequestration on woodlands, grasslands, and wetlands. Doing the math is depressing.
Theoretically, local governments can, by law, require stricter controls on point-source CO2e emissions than are required by the federal Environmental Protection Agency or by the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy. A cursory review, however, suggests such measures are not under consideration. Point-source emissions are not given attention in the local Climate Action Plan. One reason may be that a 2019 local ordinance ceded the authority to the state.
The state's Priority Climate Action Plan steers away from point-source emission controls in favor of distributing federal grants to voluntary projects in the agriculture production sector. Announcing a $307 million federal grant this year, the governor said it would be used to "turbocharge the state ag industry."
Looking at some of the state's largest CO2e emitters, one is located next door in Gage County. Koch Fertilizer Beatrice LLC emitted 631,946 metric tons of CO2e in 2022. That year, ADM's ethanol plant in Columbus emitted 1,163,383 metric tons.
ADM has facilities throughout the midwest, some of which are in the company's plan to reduce CO2e emissions. The Lincoln soybean oilseed plant is among the last to phase out coal as a part of this plan. This presents an opportunity to look at how ADM's choices on reducing emissions are related to the regulatory environment in different states and localities, including those with stricter point-source controls. ADM makes large political contributions to affect those environments, in Nebraska and elsewhere. The same can be said for the Koch businesses. Hypotheses are waiting to be tested.
In the meantime, be prepared for less than good news in reaching our goals unless more can be done to address point-source emissions. Per capita CO2e emissions in Nebraska already rank sixth highest in the nation. And don't be surprised as more frequent and more devastating storms strike in unexpected places, including our own state, city, and county.
