PITTSBURGH (AP) -- New York and six other states say they plan to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over methane emissions from oil and gas drilling.
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said in a news release Tuesday that the EPA is violating the Clean Air Act by failing to address the emissions. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and the oil and gas industry is the largest source of emissions in this country. Other major sources come from landfills and livestock.
Howard Feldman, a spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute, said the lawsuit "makes no sense" since the EPA passed rules on oil and gas emissions earlier this year, and many companies have already started installing new equipment to limit methane leaks and other pollution. Those rules take effect in 2015.
Peter ZalZal, a staff attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund, said the group thinks the recent EPA rules are "a good first step," but that more can be done to target methane emissions directly.
"We think that controlling and reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry is critical," ZalZal said.
Schneiderman said that the coalition of states "can't continue to ignore the evidence of climate change or the catastrophic threat that unabated greenhouse gas pollution poses to our families, our communities and our economy." He said Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont joined in sending a required 60-day notice of intent to sue to EPA.
But Schneiderman's office couldn't immediately answer whether New York is also taking extra steps to limit methane emissions from other sources. While the EPA estimates that the oil and gas industry is responsible for 37 percent of the nation's methane emissions, landfills are responsible for 16 percent, and livestock such as cattle and pigs contribute 21 percent. Some natural gas leaks also occur not just at wells, but from distribution networks in cities.
Overall, EPA says that methane is responsible for 3.8 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Other major sources of greenhouse gas are carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and ozone.
Patrick Henderson, Pennsylvania's energy executive in Gov. Tom Corbett's office, noted that other top New York officials have recently supported more natural gas use.
"Gov. Cuomo proposed investing $500 million in natural gas distribution infrastructure, and New York City Mayor Bloomberg wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that shale gas 'is one of the best things we can do to improve air quality and fight climate change,'" Henderson said in an email.
Henderson added that natural gas also has environmental benefits, since it emits just 50 percent of the carbon dioxide of coal-fired power plants. That switch from coal to gas has contributed to declining greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., according to federal energy statistics. He also noted that increased domestic oil and gas production has helped reduce imports.
Federal climate researchers say they haven't yet seen signs that increased drilling is affecting global methane levels, but they're worried about the threat.
"Not the mid-latitudes where the drilling is being done, which is interesting," said James Butler, head of global monitoring for NOAA. Butler said the tropics and the arctic are the biggest current sources, from decaying vegetation (linked to a rise in rainfall) and thawing of the Arctic tundra (linked to global warming).
The EPA said in an email that it plans to review and respond to the notice from the states.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ny-6-other-states-suing-194428982.html
equatorial guinea marine helicopter crash chicago weather star jones wheres my refund photo of whitney houston in casket carrot top
No comments:
Post a Comment