Leaked EPA Methane Rule Rollback Would Have Resounding Implications
Source: Think Progress
By E.A. Crunden, 11:36 a.m.
Trump's proposed methane rule rollback would be a huge blow to human health and the environment.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is eyeing a rollback of Obama-era methane regulations aimed at forcing fossil fuel companies to monitor and repair dangerous leaks. That EPA decision is likely to have long-term implications for both human health and the environment, with outsized ramifications for major drilling states like Texas.
As early as this week, the EPA intends to unveil a proposal unraveling the current methane restrictions targeting leaks, the New York Times reported on Monday. Under former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, the agency had already stopped enforcing the methane rule, although it remains official policy.
That move coincides with an anticipated final draft of another rollback, this one by the Interior Department, which intends to repeal a methane “flaring” restriction that regulates the burning of methane by drilling operations. Methane leaks are a long-standing source of concern for both environmental advocates and health experts.
A byproduct of fracking, methane is released during the process of fossil fuel extraction, sometimes in ample quantities. As a greenhouse gas, methane contributes to global warming and plays a key role in climate change. Methane only represents around 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, but the gas is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide...More...
Read more: https://thinkprogress.org/trump-epa-methane-rollback-1bddeb0b1eeb/
Methane also endangers human health; exposure can cause nausea, dizziness, headaches, and even loss of consciousness. Both methane flaring and leaks have caused health problems for people in places like West Texas, where locals have reported ongoing side effects amid the region’s oil boom.
A draft version of the new EPA rule change seen by the Times, indicated that for certain low production wells, the 6 month inspection requirement will now be expanded from once a year to once every 2 years.
The amount of time companies have to make repairs will also be doubled. And the time between equipment inspections would also be doubled, with particular areas which experience harsh weather conditions, like the Alaskan North Slope, required to perform such inspections only on an yearly basis.
Workers extracting oil from oil wells in the Permian Basin in Midland, Texas on May 3, 2018. CREDIT: Benjamin Lowy/Getty Images
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with carbon base life forms and water forms........................gagging for the lack of breathing and other climate changing event to get Jim Imhofe stick his head in there start with him first. to give us the all clear sign, to see if he turns blue ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,start with him first., and then go to the orange hair meat head., and really watch his eyes glaze over into more stupidity ..............................
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