Energy Exchange

Unpacking EPA’s final methane protections

Last week, EPA Administrator Regan announced final standards to cut methane and harmful local air pollution from both new and existing facilities in the oil and gas industry.  

Diverse stakeholders ranging from major oil-producing states like New Mexico to tribal air agencies to oil and gas producers and methane mitigation companies have all voiced support for the final standards. 

Read More »

Posted in Air Quality, Methane regulatons / Authors: , , / Comments are closed

In wake of Supreme Court ruling, we must go full steam ahead to reduce methane pollution

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent climate change ruling has unfortunately restricted the tools available to EPA in its effort to address climate pollution from power plants. However, it’s also important to recognize that the ruling in no way changed EPA’s longstanding authority and duty to address climate pollution under the Clean Air Act to address climate pollution itself — including from new cars and freight trucks, industrial sources, new and existing power plants, and oil and gas development.  And with respect to oil and gas pollution, this decision in no way impedes the agency’s ongoing and important efforts to reduce oil and gas methane pollution.

It remains critical that the EPA exercise its clear authority and obligation to move forward with protective climate standards, including its proposed rules to curb methane pollution from the oil and gas sector, which emits roughly 16 million tons of methane annually. Globally, methane from human sources is responsible for over a quarter of the warming we are experiencing today.

EPA’s authority to tackle methane pollution was reaffirmed by bipartisan majorities in Congress just last year, and the agency has commonsense, cost-effective tools at hand to address the health harms posed by oil and gas methane pollution, which in the U.S. alone has the near-term climate impact every year of 294 million passenger vehicles. Read More »

Posted in Air Quality, Methane, Methane regulatons, Natural Gas / Comments are closed

Not-so-marginal wells and the need for strong EPA regulations

There’s a common misconception that “marginal” or low-producing wells are nothing more than a marginal problem when it comes to the oil and gas industry’s methane emissions.

The reality is that these wells make up about 80% of all active wells in the U.S, over 560,000 in total. These are not the mom-and-pop operations some portray — rather, the vast majority of marginal wells are owned by large, well-capitalized companies with significant resources to curb wasteful emissions.

As the Environmental Protection Agency readies landmark rules to limit methane pollution from the nation’s existing oil and gas wells, ensuring those standards apply to marginal sites is critical for protecting our climate and the local communities breathing harmful pollution from these wells.

Read More »

Posted in Air Quality, Methane, Methane regulatons / Tagged | Comments are closed

What to look for as EPA readies landmark methane rules

EPA is preparing to release proposed rules to cut oil and gas methane pollution from both new and existing facilities — one of the most critical and cost-effective actions we can take to immediately slow the rate of global warming and avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Recognizing the importance of this opportunity, yesterday, over 70 community, health, tribal and environmental organizations sent EPA a letter expressing strong support for its efforts to develop methane pollution safeguards and urging the agency to propose protective and comprehensive standards for new and existing sources.

By leveraging advanced technologies and ensuring meaningful coverage, the rules can secure the substantial, science-based pollution reductions needed to help address the climate crisis and to ensure healthy communities.

Read More »

Posted in Air Quality, Climate, Methane, Methane regulatons / Comments are closed

With oil and gas pollution rules restored, what’s next for EPA on methane?

Last month, President Biden signed into law S.J. Res. 14, a Congressional Review Act resolution restoring methane pollution standards for the oil and gas sector by repealing Trump-era rollbacks. With bipartisan backing, Congress passed the measure and rejected the Trump administration’s dangerous weakening of methane protections and its unlawful attempt to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from setting stronger standards in the future.

With these protections restored, this fall EPA will propose additional standards for both new and existing sources of methane emissions.

Read More »

Posted in Colorado, Methane, Methane regulatons, Natural Gas / Tagged , | Comments are closed

New mapping tool shows who will be impacted by EPA’s dangerous methane rollback

A few months ago, the Environmental Protection Agency released their proposal to eliminate regulation of methane emissions from new and modified sources across the oil and gas sector and attempt to preclude future federal regulation of the vast number of older sources in the industry.

EDF and a coalition of other concerned public health and environmental organizations submitted detailed comments to the EPA during the public comment period that ended last month, underscoring that the Trump EPA proposal is deeply flawed and unlawful. The proposal is essentially an attempt to dodge the agency’s responsibilities under the Clean Air Act and ignores the extensive scientific evidence that pollution from the oil and gas sector is a public health threat.

Read More »

Posted in Air Quality, Methane regulatons / Comments are closed