Obama Administration's Frontal Attack on Methane Emissions
Obama administration took a series of measures in the summer of 2015 to tackle the menace of methane emissions. Methane is 25 times deadlier than CO2. Most of the methane emissions happen from leaks in drilling rigs, making it incumbent on the oil and gas industry to shoulder the major responsibility for reducing this harmful gas. As per administration's plan, the oil and gas industry is asked to reduce methane emissions by 40 to 45 percent by 2025 compared to 2012 emission levels. One caveat is that thousands of existing facilities are exempt from the rules. Also, there is not enough state-initiated rules to pressurize oil and gas industry to work on addressing the leaks. Few states, including Pennsylvania, Colorado, Wyoming and Ohio, require drillers to take remedial action in case of any leak. Texas, responsible for 30 percent of the nation's methane emissions, doesn't even require that.
Obama Administration Issues Final Methane Ruling
On May 12, 2016, Environmental Protection Agency issued a sweeping, final ruling on emissions of Methane, a hallmark and legacy of President Barack Obama. The rules call for, among others, reducing Methane emissions by up to 45 percent by 2025 compared to 2012 levels. Country's most of the emissions occur from gas well leakages in the booming shale formations. The cost-and-benefit analysis needed for such rules showed a health care and other benefits of $690 million, while the costs associated with the implementation of these rules were estimated to be $530 million in 2025. The EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said on May 12, 2016 of the final rules that they were going to "protect public health and reduce pollution". The rules will go into effect in the summer of 2016. Initially the rules will cover new and modified sources such as wells, compressors, pipes and pumps, but, in the long run, will provide an ideal template to extend them to cover the used sources.
Interior Department Issues Methane Rule in the Final Days of Obama Administration
Interior Department on November 15, 2016 issued Methane rules covering the oil and gas wells on the federal lands that might not last long as the Trump Administration would most likely to strike down the rules. Interior Secretary Sally Jewel, issuing the rules, strongly backed the rules--aimed at cutting Methane emissions as much as 35 percent--as "standards that make good economic sense for the nation".
Trump Administration Reverses Obama-era Methane Rules
In a pair of steps, Trump administration put a stab at Obama-era strict methane rules, reversing first the ones related to so called "flare-ups" that happen in natural gas fields in public and private lands, and then a week later, on September 18, 2018, issuing rules that took the leash off the coal power plant operators from changes that had to be made under Obama-era rules and would cost $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion over 10 years and reduce methane emissions by up to 180,000 tons a year.
Trump Walks back on Obama Methane Rules
Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency in an irresponsible manner proposed on August 29, 2019 some of the drastic changes to the rules put in place in 2016 by Obama administration. Methane is a very potent Greenhouse gas, almost 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide, but breaks down in the atmosphere relatively quickly. The policy, unveiled by EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, will surely be challenged by environmentalist groups, state of California, whose Attorney-General Xavier Becerra called it "monumentally stupid decision", and other states.
Obama administration took a series of measures in the summer of 2015 to tackle the menace of methane emissions. Methane is 25 times deadlier than CO2. Most of the methane emissions happen from leaks in drilling rigs, making it incumbent on the oil and gas industry to shoulder the major responsibility for reducing this harmful gas. As per administration's plan, the oil and gas industry is asked to reduce methane emissions by 40 to 45 percent by 2025 compared to 2012 emission levels. One caveat is that thousands of existing facilities are exempt from the rules. Also, there is not enough state-initiated rules to pressurize oil and gas industry to work on addressing the leaks. Few states, including Pennsylvania, Colorado, Wyoming and Ohio, require drillers to take remedial action in case of any leak. Texas, responsible for 30 percent of the nation's methane emissions, doesn't even require that.
Obama Administration Issues Final Methane Ruling
On May 12, 2016, Environmental Protection Agency issued a sweeping, final ruling on emissions of Methane, a hallmark and legacy of President Barack Obama. The rules call for, among others, reducing Methane emissions by up to 45 percent by 2025 compared to 2012 levels. Country's most of the emissions occur from gas well leakages in the booming shale formations. The cost-and-benefit analysis needed for such rules showed a health care and other benefits of $690 million, while the costs associated with the implementation of these rules were estimated to be $530 million in 2025. The EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said on May 12, 2016 of the final rules that they were going to "protect public health and reduce pollution". The rules will go into effect in the summer of 2016. Initially the rules will cover new and modified sources such as wells, compressors, pipes and pumps, but, in the long run, will provide an ideal template to extend them to cover the used sources.
Interior Department Issues Methane Rule in the Final Days of Obama Administration
Interior Department on November 15, 2016 issued Methane rules covering the oil and gas wells on the federal lands that might not last long as the Trump Administration would most likely to strike down the rules. Interior Secretary Sally Jewel, issuing the rules, strongly backed the rules--aimed at cutting Methane emissions as much as 35 percent--as "standards that make good economic sense for the nation".
Trump Administration Reverses Obama-era Methane Rules
In a pair of steps, Trump administration put a stab at Obama-era strict methane rules, reversing first the ones related to so called "flare-ups" that happen in natural gas fields in public and private lands, and then a week later, on September 18, 2018, issuing rules that took the leash off the coal power plant operators from changes that had to be made under Obama-era rules and would cost $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion over 10 years and reduce methane emissions by up to 180,000 tons a year.
Trump Walks back on Obama Methane Rules
Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency in an irresponsible manner proposed on August 29, 2019 some of the drastic changes to the rules put in place in 2016 by Obama administration. Methane is a very potent Greenhouse gas, almost 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide, but breaks down in the atmosphere relatively quickly. The policy, unveiled by EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, will surely be challenged by environmentalist groups, state of California, whose Attorney-General Xavier Becerra called it "monumentally stupid decision", and other states.
U.N. Report Calls for Cutting Methane Emissions almost by Half
A U.N. Environmental Program report issued on May 6, 2021 called for cutting methane emissions by 45% by 2030 if the world had to prevent the global temperature from rising by more than a half degree by mid-century. The report also states that a 45% reduction in methane emissions, which are more potent than carbon dioxide but stay much less in the air, will take out nearly 200 million tons of methane and save approximately 250,000 lives a year worldwide. Majority of methane emission sources are pipeline leaks, leakage during drilling and livestock belching. Program Director Inger Anderson said that "it is absolutely critical that we tackle methane" emissions.
Scientists May Now Have the Pieces of Puzzle for Recent Rise in Methane
Scientists are baffled in the sudden rise in Methane since 2020. The significant uptick of methane began in 2007, with annual increments of 5 to 6 PPB. However, the rate of increase doubled since 2020. Now, scientists may have the answer, or at least part of it, to the sudden rise, and it may not all be tied to the fossil fuel. Fossil fuel, cow's stomach, agricultural fields and wetlands are among some of the key sources of Methane. Microbial emissions from cow's stomach, agricultural land, wetland and arctic permafrost are now transforming the methane footprint in our atmosphere in a way never seen before.
According a research published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, researchers found that microbial emissions were more pronounced starting in 2007, The Washington Post reported on November 4, 2024.
Researchers analyzed samples of Methane, or CH4, collected from 22 locations at a Colorado laboratory. They emphasized on the heavier carbon isotope, or C13, to see how many of them had the molecules from the heavier carbon isotope. The methane emissions from natural gas well and gas leaks do contain more heavier carbon isotope compared to microbial emissions. However, increased microbial emissions over time also yield to heavier isotope-filled emissions. The research found a significant increase in microbial emission-led Methane in the air compared to the fossil fuel-led Methane. Microbial emission stems either from human-caused sources (example, rice fields) or natural sources (wetlands). Because of the global warming, continents' vast wetlands such as the Congolese wetlands in Africa, are warming up too, leading increased emissions from the microbe.
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