The government of US President Donald Trump is currently working on easing environmental legislation for the oil and gas industry. This is evident from various media reports. Citing oil industry workers, the Wall Street Journal first reported on the attack.
Accordingly, the plan of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides that methane emissions from the production of gas and oil will in future be monitored less strictly. For example, at present, companies need to outfit wells, pipelines, or storage facilities to identify leaks that leak the damaging gas, and then seal them.
This should not be necessary in the future. Environmentalists therefore fear that methane emissions could continue to rise. The extraction of oil and natural gas currently accounts for about one-third of US methane emissions.
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The climate change monitoring regime was still in effect under the reign of Trump's predecessor Barack Obama. Trump has already reversed some of these laws - such as the protection status of national parks. Most recently, he has announced that he wants to release rainforests in Alaska for deforestation. Right at the beginning of his term of office, he reorganized the EPA and appointed Scott Pruit as Chief of the Authority. The lawyer is considered an industrial lobbyist, but in 2018 resigned from his EPO post.
Environmental claims expected
However, a change in the law is far from being decided. A draft would have to be comprehensively revised and could be ready at the earliest in the coming year. In addition, environmental claims could stop the advance.
Methane (CH4) is considered to be a climate-damaging greenhouse gas whose influence on the global temperature increase has long been underestimated. It drives global warming much faster than carbon dioxide (CO2). Methane is the main constituent of natural gas and occurs in nature. When the colorless and odorless gas enters the atmosphere, it oxidizes to carbon monoxide and later to carbon dioxide.
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In recent years, methane concentrations in the atmosphere have risen sharply. One reason for this is the thawing permafrost in the cold regions of the earth. In these soils, a large amount of biomass is preserved from dead plants. As soon as they thaw, the decomposition by microorganisms begins. This releases CO2 and methane.
Another reason for higher methane emissions could be the increased production of shale gas. The suspected researchers last in early August in a study.
The controversial fracking method is used. The USA and Canada in particular are using the process to access previously unavailable natural gas deposits. When fracking the shale is first drilled and then liquid pressed under high pressure into the rock. In the rock layer, cracks occur, through which the gas escapes and emerges at the borehole.
Since 2005, fracking in North America has increased from 31 to 435 billion cubic meters of gas.