skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, July 26, 2024

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

Arson attacks paralyze French high-speed rail network hours before start of Olympics, the Obamas endorse Harris for President; A NY county creates facial recognition, privacy protections; Art breathes new life into pollution-ravaged MI community; 34 Years of the ADA.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Harris meets with Israeli PM Netanyahu and calls for a ceasefire. MI Rep. Rashida Tlaib faces backlash for a protest during Netanyahu's speech. And VA Sen. Mark Warner advocates for student debt relief.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

There's a gap between how rural and urban folks feel about the economy, Colorado's 'Rural is Rad' aims to connect outdoor businesses, more than a dozen of Maine's infrastructure sites face repeated flooding, and chocolate chip cookies rock August.

New EPA methane rule would reduce emissions at PA oil, gas wells

play audio
Play

Wednesday, December 20, 2023   

Pennsylvania environmental groups said the Environmental Protection Agency is making a bold move in tackling methane leaks in oil and gas production, with new rules mandating an 80% reduction in emissions.

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

Tom Schuster, director of the Pennsylvania chapter of the Sierra Club, said the new rule includes a "Super Emitter Program" allowing third parties to detect and report methane releases from oil and gas sites. He contended it is important in Pennsylvania, where emissions are already a major concern.

"Total methane emissions are estimated to be about 1.1 million tons annually, just in Pennsylvania," Schuster pointed out. "We're the second-largest gas producer in the country. And fracking gets a lot of attention, and it produces the majority of gas in Pennsylvania. But the majority of methane leakage actually comes from the so-called conventional gas industry."

Schuster emphasized Pennsylvania law requires smaller wells to be regulated separately from fracked wells. He praises the federal government's sweeping requirement for leak detection and repair, regardless of a well's size or age, as a critical step toward safeguarding public health and the climate.

Flora Cardoni, field director for the advocacy group PennEnvironment, noted methane pollution is a potent greenhouse gas, more powerful in terms of warming than carbon dioxide and a major contributor to the climate crisis. She called the new protections "a breath of fresh air," helping to minimize the risks to people's health and the environment.

"More than 1.2 million Pennsylvanians live within a half mile of an oil and gas well, and so those folks are very close to this methane pollution, and to toxic air pollution that's being released by these wells," Cardoni emphasized. "Those pollutants are known to worsen asthma and other respiratory diseases, increase the risk of developmental problems, cause cancer and immune [system] damage."

It is estimated between 2024 and 2038, the new EPA standards will reduce methane emissions from sources by 80%. Cardoni added the tougher standards should also help to create more jobs in the clean energy economy.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
According to the Tax Policy Center, for higher-income earners, sales taxes consume a lower share of their income than for other households. (Vitalii Vodolazskyi/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

As Nebraska state lawmakers convene for a special session on property tax reform called by Gov. Jim Pillen, groups are weighing in on the details …


play sound

Traveling around rural Minnesota can be difficult but in more than half the state, nonprofit transit systems are helping people get where they need …

Social Issues

play sound

Student loan forgiveness took center stage on Thursday at the American Federation of Teachers conference. The Biden administration has canceled more …


Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has introduced legislation to codify the Chevron Deference into law. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Recent Supreme Court rulings on air pollution are affecting Virginia and the nation. Climate advocates said the court overstepped its bounds in …

Health and Wellness

play sound

World Hepatitis Day is this Sunday, and for the Oregon Health Authority, it's an opportunity to promote its plan to eliminate hepatitis across the …

The Gender Shades project revealed facial recognition performed poorest for darker-skinned women, and performed best for lighter-skinned men. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Columbia County, New York, is implementing new facial recognition and privacy policies, following new upgrades to the county's surveillance cameras…

Health and Wellness

play sound

New York disability-rights advocates are celebrating the 34th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The 1990 …

Social Issues

play sound

As summer winds down and North Carolina students prepare to return to school, the focus shifts to the urgent need for better public education funding…

 

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