skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump and Harris notch easy wins as focus turns to battlegrounds; Experts express caution over post-election AI deepfakes; Report: Colorado's housing crisis linked to billionaire investors; Election Day is over; now it's a waiting game.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A Cambodian poultry farmer who lost his livelihood could be a hero for others, rural Montanans are anxiously awaiting a court ruling over a climate lawsuit brought by young people, and Northeast states say more housing for working families could boost jobs.

New rules to reduce methane emissions aim to fight climate change

play audio
Play

Monday, December 18, 2023   

Groups fighting climate change are praising the Environmental Protection Agency's new rules, which aim to reduce the amount of methane leaked into the atmosphere from oil and gas operations by 80%.

Oil and gas companies will have to inspect pipelines for leaks and phase out routine burning of methane, known as flaring, from new oil wells.

Janessa Goldbeck, a Marine veteran and CEO of the Vet Voice Foundation, said methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas and reducing it is a matter of national security.

"When the world is destabilized by extreme weather and resource reduction, that creates a national security prerogative for us here at home," Goldbeck contended. "As a leader of a veterans organization, we think it's our moral imperative to step up and do everything we can to ensure that we're reducing emissions."

The rule also allows for the EPA to vet data from third-party groups monitoring the atmosphere for methane leaks and notify the companies responsible. The American Petroleum Institute, a trade group for the oil and gas industry, said it is still reviewing the rule but warned the industry must work to "balance emissions reductions with the need to continue meeting rising energy demand."

Goldbeck countered the Golden State is already suffering the effects of climate change.

"We're going to continue to see increasingly extreme weather, hot summers, increasingly hot fire seasons, more rainy, wet seasons, which cause mudslides and flooding," Goldbeck outlined. "Here in California, in particular, climate change is of huge concern."

The EPA estimated in 2030 alone, the expected reductions will be equivalent to the annual emissions from 28 million gasoline cars. California already has state-based limits on methane emissions, but the rule will standardize guidelines across the country. States now have two years to propose a methane reduction plan.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Some organizations point to low pay, racial bias in school systems and retention challenges as the biggest obstacles to recruiting more Black men into teaching. (RDNE/Pexels)

Social Issues

play sound

In a country where Black men make up less than 2% of the teaching workforce, a program in Jacksonville is working to shift the balance by recruiting 1…


Social Issues

play sound

By Jabari Gibbs for The Current.Broadcast version by Shanteya Hudson for Georgia News Connection reporting for the Rural News Network-Public News Serv…

Social Issues

play sound

It is Election Day and Maine voters are weighing the future of the state's extensive trail system. If passed, the Maine Trails Bond would inject …


More than one of every 10 voters in today's general election is expected to be Latino, a 20.5% increase from 2016, according to the NALEO Educational Fund. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Election Day is finally here, and this year more than 17 million Latinos are expected to cast a ballot. The National Association of Latino Elected …

Social Issues

play sound

A package of New York City bills can help preserve affordable housing. The Community Land Act creates more pathways for communities to purchase and …

More than 36,000,000 Latinos nationwide will be eligible to vote in the 2024 presidential election - an increase of four million voters since 2020, according to the Pew Research Center. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

By Lourdes Medrano for Yes! Media.Broadcast version by Kathryn Carley for Arizona News Connection reporting for the Yes! Media-Public News Service …

Social Issues

play sound

A nonprofit report aims to build trust in Michigan's voting system by explaining the safeguards that ensure fair and free elections. The report …

Social Issues

play sound

Wyoming's secretary of state is asking county clerks to report non-citizens who try to vote, although cases of that - or any other - kind of election …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021