The Obama administration interrupted Washington’s Keystone XL focus on Wednesday with an announcement that could have more profound long-term impact than the controversial pipeline – a regulatory push to cut methane emissions from the surging U.S. oil and gas industry.
The administration said the Environmental Protection Agency would craft a new rule to set standards for emissions of methane and volatile organic compounds from new and modified wells and gas processing and transmission sources. Methane is a potent if relatively short-lived greenhouse gas, and the White House said the goal is to reduce emissions by 40 to 45 percent from 2012 levels by 2025.
The White House has walked a fine line on methane, attempting to assuage concerns among environmentalists without jeopardizing the booming domestic oil and gas industry. Advanced drilling techniques have driven down gasoline prices and made natural gas a cheaper and, in some ways at least, cleaner energy source than coal.
The White House has dipped its toe into reigning in methane emissions before, but Wednesday’s move broke new ground in creating national standards for trimming emissions. Still, the administration suggested that it wasn’t looking to hold back oil and gas development. The EPA’s Janet McCabe said “these efforts could set up the oil and gas sector to achieve significant methane reductions in the long term” but would at the same time “allow the industry to continue to grow and provide a vital source of energy for Americans across the country.”
In a statement, the Environmental Defense Fund called it “a landmark moment” but like many green groups, EDF voiced some skepticism that the White House plan as announced would wholly do the job.
In particular, greens cited the absence of regulations on existing wells, where the administration said it would work with states and the industry on “guidelines” to reduce methane and other pollutants.
“While the proposed regulations acknowledge the major climate threat posed by fracking, they give a free pass to many existing sources of methane pollution, like leaky transmission and distribution infrastructure,” said Linda Capato, fracking campaign coordinator for 350.org.
On the industry side, the American Petroleum Institute argued that the regulations would be “burdensome” and “onerous” and, besides, were unnecessary, citing data that said methane emissions have fallen.
“Emissions will continue to fall as operators innovate and find new ways to capture and deliver more methane to consumers, and existing EPA and state regulations are working,” API president and CEO Jack Gerard said in a statement. “Another layer of burdensome requirements could actually slow down industry progress to reduce methane emissions.”
The White House acknowledged that emissions were down 16 percent since 1990 and said “current data show significant reductions from certain parts of the sector, notably well completions.” But it added that with increasing oil and gas production, “emissions from the oil and gas sector are projected to rise more than 25 percent by 2025 without additional steps to lower them.”
Scientists say methane can trap far more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Its impact fades, but how quickly is a matter of some disagreement. The White House pegs the heat-trapping potential of methane as 25 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 100-year time frame, while the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change puts the multiple at 34.
The EPA is expected to issue a proposed methane emissions rule this summer, with a final rule to follow in 2016 after the usual public comment period.
