Fifteen Senate Democrats pressed President Obama to regulate emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas produced during hydraulic fracturing and delivery of natural gas through pipelines.
Methane remains the largest unregulated greenhouse gas in the United States, accounting for 9 percent of overall emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That’s made it a top target for lawmakers and others who want to see Obama do more to address climate change. Most scientists blame greenhouse gases for exacerbating global warming.
“Voluntary standards are not enough. Too many in the oil and gas sector have failed to adopt sound practices voluntarily, and the absence of uniform enforceable standards has allowed methane pollution to continue, wasting energy and threatening public health,” the senators said in a letter addressed to the president Friday.
Managing methane emissions is tricky for the Obama administration. Officials have said they don’t want to burden the industry with regulations — not least because keeping natural gas flowing is key to achieving many of the White House’s climate change goals.
Methane, however, traps heat at a rate nearly 25 times greater than carbon dioxide. And environmentalists say some methane leaks during the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, drilling process, could erase the climate benefits of natural gas, which is half as carbon-dense as coal.
But drillers say leaks are minimal and that industry practices have evolved in recent years to seal them off. New regulations could slow fracking by adding costs and could put small, independent companies that comprise a majority of the drilling industry out of business, industry officials say.
The private sector is moving ahead on some initiatives to tamp down methane leaks. Six international oil and gas companies signed an accord this week to reduce methane emissions, though they didn’t set a target. The U.S. also pledged $15 million toward a World Bank effort that will fund projects across the globe that curb methane emissions.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told reporters Thursday at a Washington event that the administration’s plan to address methane emissions from various economic sectors would be ready this fall, as scheduled. But she, along with other administration officials, has been tight-lipped on whether that strategy would include new regulations.
The Senate Democrats pressed the EPA to use the Clean Air Act, which it is exercising to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, to issue new rules for methane.
“EPA has a responsibility under the Clean Air Act to address methane throughout the oil and gas sector. We urge you to ensure that EPA exercises its authority expeditiously to control methane pollution and its harmful effects,” they said.
The senators signing the letter were: Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Dianne Feinstein of California, Barbara Boxer of California, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Maria Cantwell of Washington, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, along with Angus King of Maine, and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, both of whom are independents who caucus with Democrats.
