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Obama Planning New Rules For Oil and Gas Industry's Methane Emissions
mdsolar sends this quote from the NY Times:
In President Obama's latest move using executive authority to tackle climate change, administration officials will announce plans this week to impose new regulations on the oil and gas industry's emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, according to a person familiar with Mr. Obama's plans. The administration's goal is to cut methane emissions from oil and gas production by up to 45 percent by 2025 from the levels recorded in 2012.
The Environmental Protection Agency will issue the proposed regulations this summer, and final regulations by 2016, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the administration had asked the person not to speak about the plan. The White House declined to comment on the effort. Methane, which leaks from oil and gas wells, accounts for just 9 percent of the nation's greenhouse gas pollution — but it is over 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide, so even small amounts of it can have a big impact on global warming.
The Environmental Protection Agency will issue the proposed regulations this summer, and final regulations by 2016, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the administration had asked the person not to speak about the plan. The White House declined to comment on the effort. Methane, which leaks from oil and gas wells, accounts for just 9 percent of the nation's greenhouse gas pollution — but it is over 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide, so even small amounts of it can have a big impact on global warming.
Hopefully the Republican Congress will now find some balls and defund the EPA.
Except humans don't emit a lot of water vapor.
Only in every exhale, feel free to stop emitting any time
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
I can't blame Obama, with someone like Inhofe being put in charge of the EPA. There is no other way, as Inhofe is pretty much a Koch brothers paid Oil Industry employee who wants to staff the EPA with oil industry execs. Inhofe thinks the whole idea of anything humans can do affecting the Earth is bunk, because the Bible says so. When your faced with someone who feels nothing bad can happen because some ancient myth says so AND they are in a power position, what other choices are there?