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15399 |
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Date: September 10, 2018 at 22:08:28
From: ryan, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Trump set to weaken methane air pollution rule |
URL: http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/405971-trump-set-to-weaken-methane-rules-report |
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Trump set to weaken methane air pollution rule: report
By Miranda Green - 09/10/18 06:02 PM EDT
2,823
Trump set to weaken methane air pollution rule: report
© Getty
The Trump administration is poised to roll back existing regulations on methane gas as early as this week, the New York Times reported Monday.
The proposal would weaken an Obama-era requirement that companies must monitor and repair any methane leaks, according to documents the Times reviewed. The new rule is anticipated to allow for far more air pollution and leaks of the gas.
The proposed rule would be the third major step the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has made this year to change the way air pollutants are regulated.
Since January, the agency has taken strides to roll back two capstone Obama-era rules that aimed to regulate tailpipe emissions from cars and carbon pollution from coal fired power plants.
While methane only makes up about 10 percent of greenhouse gases, according to the EPA, the methane rule was key to the Obama administration’s push to lessen the impacts of climate change. Methane, a primary component of natural gas is a noxious fume.
The two largest contributors of methane are leaks from natural gas systems and the raising of livestock.
In July, EPA signed off on another rule exempting farmers from reporting methane emissions from cattle. The rule came from just passed legislation that exempted farmers from having to report emissions derived from animal waste and other pollutants.
Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management announced in February that it too would be looking to replace a regulation from Obama that would limit the amount of methane allowed to be emitted into the air through drilling. The byproduct typically occurred due to venting or burning off the fuel. The Times said the final version of the rule is expected to be released in coming days.
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15401 |
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Date: September 12, 2018 at 18:00:53
From: Shirley/PA, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Trump set to weaken methane air pollution rule |
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bjFGCdkO68 |
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This is horrific! Really it is.
"...to weaken methane air pollution" regs at this point is really inconceivable.
However, from what I've been following on this topic, unfortunately, the "tipping point" has already been passed some time ago.
The permafrost release of methane is under way.
Nobody can do anything about that now.
There is no way to stop it.
From link: "Published on Mar 25, 2017
A scientific study published in the prestigious journal Palaeoworld in December issued a dire -- and possibly prophetic -- warning, though it garnered little attention in the media.
"Global warming triggered by the massive release of carbon dioxide may be catastrophic," reads the study's abstract. "But the release of methane from hydrate may be apocalyptic."
The study, titled "Methane Hydrate: Killer Cause of Earth's Greatest Mass Extinction," highlights the fact that the most significant variable in the Permian Mass Extinction event, which occurred 250 million years ago and annihilated 90 percent of all the species on the planet, was methane hydrate.
In the wake of that mass extinction event, less than 5 percent of the animal species in the seas lived, and less than one-third of the large land animal species made it. Nearly all the trees died."
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