The Obama administration said it would propose the first-ever regulations on methane emissions from the oil and gas sector Wednesday with an aim of slashing emissions at least 40 percent compared with 2012 levels by 2025.
The regulations would affect new and modified oil and gas hydraulic fracturing — or fracking — wells, though administration officials said they ultimately will need to address emissions from existing wells to hit the emissions reduction target. The Environmental Protection Agency will formally propose the regulations this summer and finalize them in 2016.
"In the goal that we're setting we are making clear that we need to get reductions from existing sources," Dan Utech, Obama's top climate and energy adviser, said in a media call. He said it was too early to conduct a cost-benefit analysis on the plan.
Environmentalists said regulations were needed to meet President Obama's climate change goal of curbing emissions 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. But they pressed the White House to pursue rules for existing sources, noting they're concerned that "fugitive" emissions leaked during fracking and through leaky pipelines would erase the climate benefits of burning natural gas in electricity generation compared with coal.
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2 comments:
Just ANOTHER WHIP to control the population.
What about the Methane coming up through the ground at local dumps? Not all are capturing these gases.
Why are States dumping trash out in the ocean instead of recycling and dispose of properly? The Government is constantly polluting waterways and the oceans costing tax dollars and more EPA regulations.
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