We hope our leaders have the public’s best interest in mind. Unfortunately, instead of using sound science, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt appears to be making decisions based on the influence of the worst actors in the oil and gas industry.
Although in his recent Congressional testimony he said the outcome of his proposal to suspend and possibly roll back EPA’s methane rule is yet to be determined, the way he justifies the delay of these standards shows he lacks confidence in American industry’s ability to rise to a challenge. Specifically, Pruitt wants to suspend EPA’s New Source Performance Standards for 2 years longer (beyond the one year phase-in already provided by the Rule). He suggests that this extended suspension is justified in part because he says that the leak detection and repair industry isn’t capable of meeting the rule’s provisions requiring oil and gas companies to check for and repair methane leaks twice a year.
But Pruitt hasn’t provided any support for these claims and they are totally inconsistent with the engineers, servicemen, and tech developers already providing the services needed to find and fix these leaks. His argument also flies in the face of how our economy has innovated for centuries. Read More
