Environmental Justice Strategies for Hydrogen Opposition

Hydrogen fuel has received a lot of hype in recent months, particularly with the rollout of new federal incentives supporting cleaner forms of hydrogen production. However, “clean” hydrogen, whether produced from renewable energy or natural gas partnered with carbon capture and storage technology, is not as clean or as low carbon as it’s purported to be. Clean Energy Group has detailed many of the environmental and public health concerns of hydrogen on its website.

This Clean Energy Group webinar provided an overview of some environmental justice concerns that should be considered when evaluating any hydrogen proposal, including its high NOx emissions when combusted, potential role as an indirect greenhouse gas, and dangers associated with transport and storage. In addition, speakers from Western Environmental Law Center and Ohio River Valley Institute presented on their work pushing back against misinformed hydrogen proposals in the Ohio River Valley and New Mexico in coalition with local communities and environmental justice advocates.

Speakers:

• Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, Executive Director, Western Environmental Law Center
• Sean O’Leary, Senior Researcher, Ohio River Valley Institute
• Marriele Mango, Project Director, CEG (moderator)
• Abbe Ramanan, Project Director, CEG

This webinar was presented by Clean Energy Group’s Hydrogen Information and Public Education project.