[D66] E.P.A. to Lift Obama-Era Controls on Methane

[R.O.]

(Klima-crimineel Trump zet de thermostaat nog wat hoger.)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/10/climate/trump-methane-climate-change.html

E.P.A. to Lift Obama-Era Controls on Methane, a Potent Greenhouse Gas

The reversal is the latest move in the Trump administration’s ongoing 
effort to weaken environmental rules, but it could be quickly undone 
after the November election.

Aug. 10, 2020

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is expected in the coming days to 
lift Obama-era controls on the release of methane, a powerful 
climate-warming gas that is emitted from leaks and flares in oil and gas 
wells.

The new rule on methane pollution, issued by the Environmental 
Protection Agency, has been expected for months, and will be made public 
before Friday, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke 
anonymously to avoid publicly pre-empting the official announcement.

The rollback of the methane rule is the latest move in the Trump 
administration’s ongoing effort to weaken environmental standards, which 
has continued unabated during the coronavirus pandemic.

In April, the E.P.A. weakened rules on the release of toxic chemicals 
from coal-fired power plants, loosened curbs on climate-warming tailpipe 
pollution and opted not to strengthen a regulation on industrial soot 
emissions that have been linked to respiratory diseases, including Covid-19.

In July, President Trump unilaterally weakened one of the nation’s 
bedrock conservation laws, the National Environmental Policy Act, 
limiting public review of federal infrastructure projects in an effort 
to speed up the permitting process for freeways, power plants and pipelines.

However, this and any other regulatory changes put forth by the Trump 
administration in the latter half of 2020 could be quickly undone in the 
first half of 2021, if, as polls now suggest, Joseph R. Biden Jr. wins 
the White House and Democrats take control of the Senate. That’s because 
of a Senate procedure known as the Congressional Review Act, which gives 
lawmakers 60 legislative days to overturn major new regulations issued 
by federal agencies. In the early days of the Trump administration, 
Republicans used the procedure to undo 14 Obama-era rules.


The E.P.A.’s new methane rule eliminates federal requirements that oil 
and gas companies must install technology to detect and fix methane 
leaks from wells, pipelines and storage sites.

E.P.A. officials say the new, weaker methane rule is needed to free the 
oil and gas industry from what they call crippling regulations at a 
moment when companies are suffering from plummeting prices and falling 
demand driven by a sharp global economic slowdown. The weakening of the 
rule, however, has been in the works for more than a year.

Environmentalists called the move another blow by Mr. Trump to the 
planet’s warming climate, coming behind reversals of rules on 
climate-warming carbon dioxide pollution from tailpipes and power 
plants, and the United States withdrawal from the Paris climate change 
agreement.
ImageAndrew Wheeler, the E.P.A. head, has said the relaxed rules will 
free industry from “unnecessary and duplicative regulatory burdens.”
Andrew Wheeler, the E.P.A. head, has said the relaxed rules will free 
industry from “unnecessary and duplicative regulatory burdens.”

Oil and gas companies have had mixed responses to the rollback. Some 
major companies have spoken out against the weakening of methane 
regulations — joining some automakers, electric utilities and other 
industrial giants that have opposed other administration initiatives to 
dismantle climate change and environmental rules.

But smaller, independent oil companies are expected to applaud the rule 
as a welcome measure of relief when many are struggling to stay afloat.

Most climate change regulations target carbon dioxide, which is produced 
by burning fossil fuels and is the most damaging greenhouse gas. 
Methane, which is a close second, lingers in the atmosphere for a 
shorter period of time but packs a bigger punch while it lasts. By some 
estimates, methane has 80 times the heat-trapping power of carbon 
dioxide in the first 20 years in the atmosphere.

Methane currently makes up nearly 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions 
in the United States. A significant portion of that comes from the oil 
and gas industry, although other sources include cattle and agriculture.

In August, Andrew Wheeler, the head of the E.P.A., made public a draft 
of the methane rule, saying at the time that it “removes unnecessary and 
duplicative regulatory burdens from the oil and gas industry.”
The Trump Administration Is Reversing 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s 
the Full List.

Peter Zalzal, an attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund, an 
advocacy group, called the new rule “a deeply misguided action” that “is 
manifestly inconsistent with the agency’s legal obligations, and with 
the science that shows methane is a dangerous pollutant.”

Lee Fuller, a vice president at the Independent Petroleum Producers of 
America, which represents smaller oil and gas companies, said that “the 
burden of the rule falls overwhelmingly on smaller, independent companies.”

“They have a rule that was written for all these bigger companies,” Mr. 
Fuller said. “They would basically be continuing to do what they’re 
already doing now. But these small companies — that rule would just kill 
them.”


Several of the biggest oil and gas companies have called on the Trump 
administration to tighten restrictions on methane, not loosen them. 
Larger energy companies have invested millions of dollars to promote 
natural gas as a cleaner option than coal in the nation’s power plants, 
because natural gas produces about half as much carbon dioxide when 
burned. They fear that unrestricted leaks of methane could undermine 
that marketing message and hurt demand.

In a 2019 public comment on a draft of the rule, Joe Ellis, a vice 
president at BP, urged the E.P.A. “to continue to regulate methane 
emissions from new sources and to adopt a rule for existing sources. 
E.P.A. regulation of methane across the value chain is the right thing 
to do for the environment, will support consistent regulation across the 
U.S. and can be cost-effectively achieved with new technology.”

Exxon urged the E.P.A. in 2018 to maintain core elements of the Obama 
administration’s policy. Gretchen Watkins, the United States chairwoman 
for Shell, which has urged the Trump administration to regulate methane 
emissions, said, “The negative impacts of methane have been widely 
acknowledged for years, so it’s frustrating and disappointing to see the 
administration go in a different direction.”