methane emissions

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has halted an Obama administration rule to cut down on pollution of methane, a greenhouse gas produced at oil and natural gas drilling wells.

A federal court on 18 May formally paused a lawsuit over an Obama administration methane regulation.

The US Senate on 10 May rejected a resolution to revoke an Obama-era rule to limit methane emissions from oil and gas production on federal lands, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump’s efforts to free the drilling industry from what he sees as excessive environmental regulation.

Forty-thousand doctors, nurses, and public-health professionals have asked the oil and gas industry to stop opposing policies to reduce methane emissions.

The US shale sector has proudly touted the fact that it has helped reduce the nation’s carbon dioxide output to an 18-year low by producing the natural gas that is displacing coal use in power generation. But government regulators appear to want even more.

Emissions are in the air and in the headlines every day. With growing regulations around all types of air emissions, are there ways that industry can deploy technologies cost-effectively in the current environment?

Industry proponents and many leading academic institutions agree that natural gas is the safest, cleanest-burning bridge fuel. One risk in the development of this resource involves the inevitable leakage of methane.