Wehrum lobbied on behalf of oil and gas producers, including gas processors and petroleum refineries.Įnergy giants including BP, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Shell have, to varying degrees, publicly supported methane regulation. Before his appointment to the post of assistant administrator at the E.P.A. The companies found an administration willing to listen. They “could put many out of business,” he said. Fuller, said in an interview that for smaller operators, which often run low-producing wells, the costs of excessive regulations could be crippling. The petroleum association vice president, Lee O. The lobbyists said the data “create the illusion” that super emitters pose a problem, according to a handout from the meeting. The efforts were part of a broader industry push to reverse Obama-era rules that would have forced operators to more aggressively monitor and repair natural gas leaks while reducing flaring.Įarlier, at a March 2018 meeting, lobbyists for the Independent Petroleum Association of America, which represents thousands of oil and gas companies nationwide, circulated material that forcefully rebutted the scientific evidence of large fugitive emissions from drilling sites. The oil industry wants looser restrictions on releases like these, which are common. But fracking natural-gas production, which accelerated just as atmospheric methane levels jumped, is a prime suspect. Methane levels have soared since 2007 for reasons that still aren’t fully understood. The findings address the mystery behind rising levels of methane in the atmosphere. It also disregards research that suggests methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure are far larger than previously estimated. Scientists say that, in weakening the rules, the Trump administration underestimates methane’s global climate effects. The regulatory rollback sought by the energy industry is the latest chapter in the administration’s historic effort to weaken environmental and climate regulations while waging a broad-based attack on climate science. Its members believed that regulations should be improved, however, to provide clarity for businesses, avoid duplicating state rules and drive industry innovation, he said. Oil and gas companies were committed to driving down emissions “while delivering affordable, reliable energy to American families,” said Howard Feldman, senior director of regulatory and scientific affairs at the American Petroleum Institute, a major industry lobby group. This shed appeared to be emitting clouds of methane from all sides. By the E.P.A.’s own calculations, the rollback would increase methane emissions by 370,000 tons through 2025, enough to power more than a million homes for a year.
Fracked gas methane dangers install#
Next year, the administration could move forward with a plan that would effectively eliminate requirements that oil companies install technology to detect and fix methane leaks from oil and gas facilities. These local companies, along with oil-industry lobby groups that represent the world’s largest energy companies, are fighting rules that would force them to more aggressively fix emissions like these. Operators of the sites identified by The Times are among the very companies that have lobbied the Trump administration, either directly or through trade organizations, to weaken regulations on methane, a review of regulatory filings, meeting minutes and attendance logs shows.
The Times’s aerial and on-the-ground research, along with an examination of lobbying activities by the companies that own the sites, shows how the energy industry is seeking and winning looser federal regulations on methane, a major contributor to global warming. Methane is loosely regulated, difficult to detect and rising sharply. Here, methane escapes from a device meant to be burning it off.
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