Methane Methinks

To break the monotony of discussing carbon, oil, and gas emissions we’ll include one more greenhouse element that ought to be included while we’re on the topic. EPA is taking yet another major step in overturning emission rules which ultimately continues on their agenda to erase footsteps left by Barack Obama during his tenure to undo climate change -- with or without Scott Pruitt, who had been the EPA’s chief of staff before throwing in the towel in the middle of the game out of guilt from ethic scandals and had his place taken by former coal lobbyist and President George Bush righthand man, Andrew Wheeler – while they already have vehicle tailpipes and coal-fired plants checked off (New York Times, 09/11/2018, U.S. Is Set to Weaken Rules on Methane From Oil and Gas Wells, A1-A13). Their next step is to loosen requirements set by Governor Tom Wolf for companies to regularly survey their natural gas well sites and compressor stations for methane leaks (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 09/12/2018, PA Strives to Maintain Stricter Testing for Gas Leaks At Well Site, B6-B7).

From top to bottom: a typical natural gas compressor station 

and well site.

It’s just as Cecilia Muñoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council in the Obama administration, said, the administration is diverting us with idiot policymakers while behind the climate curtains they have bought in lawmakers who work quickly and “know exactly where the levers are” (New York Times, 09/11/2018, U.S. Is Set to Weaken Rules on Methane From Oil and Gas Wells, A1-A13). Now methane isn't thought of as the deadliest of all things in the world to exists like the ebola virus, malaria and sickle cell disease, or even oil and has no history as the direct product of an outbreak but has been targeted by Barack Obama's climate change prevention agenda just as long. Methane, by itself, makes up only 9 percent of greenhouse gases, but it is 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide when trapping heat in the atmosphere. Not surprisingly, one-third of methane is claimed to be the main ingredient in oil and gas operations as well (New York Times, 09/11/2018, U.S. Is Set to Weaken Rules on Methane From Oil and Gas Wells, A1-A13). The plan for the proposal, as the New York Times reviewed in documents while the officials were distracted by the bigger fish in politics being fried just dreading to see the administration’s ambition to repeal Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act gone downhill and to make the occasional bust in looking thoroughly into the campaign’s connection with Russia -- and right now the whole Kavanaugh scandal -- is that companies would only need to check for methane leaks at well sites once a year, instead of twice a year and low-producing sites would only need to be monitored once every two years (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 09/12/2018, PA Strives to Maintain Stricter Testing for Gas Leaks at Well Site, B6-B7). In addition, the interior department of EPA are keeping their noses to the grindstone on a final draft for a proposed rule that would essentially repeal a restriction on intentional venting and “flaring,” or burning of methane during drilling or fracking (New York Times, 09/11/2018, U.S. Is Set to Weaken Rules on Methane From Oil and Gas Wells, A1-A13). What else is that it would double the periods between inspections for the equipment that operates the natural gas flytrap project from once every three months to once every six months. Even, scratch that, especially the oil and gas industries on the Alaskan North Slope would be taken care of where there is never good weather to inspect the equipment. There were no days off, especially not on Labor Day weekend when gas prices averaged $3.04 per gallon, the highest price for anything on a Labor Day weekend in five years as pointed out by East Central AAA public and community relations superintendent Jim Garrity. It was no Jewish holiday, though, because Labor Day is the best day for shopaholics to get the rush out of their system. On Friday, the Pennsylvania Turnpike saw 750,000 vehicles (the heaviest day with a peak in the afternoon) and on Tuesday, 615,000. You're only young once and nobody likes to eat bacon unless it's crusted and sugared over (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 08/31/2018, Holiday Weekend to Feature Costly Gas, Humid Weather, A8-A9).

A flare pit in the Bakken oil field between the United States 

and Canada

Neil Shader, spokesperson for the PA Department of EPA, said all they need to do next is to look into how the new proposal would affect Pennsylvania’s current state permits, GP-5 and GP-5A, that went into effect on August 8th. The permits required oil and gas drillers to perform equipment inspections twice a year on end and gave them thirty days to make the repairs (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 09/12/2018, PA Strives to Maintain Stricter Testing for Gas Leaks At Well Site, B6-B7). The upcoming proposal would lengthen that to sixty days, however, the EPA rule should not apply to leak inspections at shale well site and compressor stations built circa August 8th, according to Robert Routh, staff attorney for the Philadelphia-based Clean Air Council (New York Times, 09/11/2018, U.S. Is Set to Weaken Rules on Methane From Oil and Gas Wells, A1-A13).
Last June, the house of representative passed a bill relating to conventional wells and the development of oil, gas and coal; imposing powers and duties on the Department of Environmental Protection; and providing for preliminary provisions, for general requirements, for underground gas storage, for enforcement and remedies, for related funds, parties and activities and for miscellaneous provisions, dubbed "House bill 2154" (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 09/26/2018, Senate panel advances measure to help drillers, B-7). Inspections aside, if the EPA's proposal is accepted, energy companies in the states gets more slack cut for them. And let's not forget the high costs to oil and gas industries by the year 2025 that would've charged them $530 million and they would've had the Obama administration and their regulations to thank. Oil and gas industries could save $484 million by the end of the each year. Let Florida have their solar panels and California its "Buy Clean" law. And if the Green Climate Fund isn't anymore successful and ends up being shut down, isn't that just a damn shame. It was bound to leave us in tears -- laughing or crying. The future is looking a different kind of "green" for oil and gas industries.