Administration Roles Out Plan to Cut 58M Tons of Methane Emissions by 2038
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Biden administration on Saturday announced its intention to curb methane emissions by some 58 million tons by 2038.
The new regulation, announced during the COP28 climate talks in Dubai, is being implemented as an administrative action and does not require congressional approval.
Speaking to reporters at the global climate event, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan said the new rules would go into effect next year.
He also said that when the administration’s goals are met, the reduction in methane would be equivalent to all of the carbon dioxide emitted by U.S. coal-fired power plants in a single year.
“I’ve met face to face with generations of family members who have been impacted by this pollution for far too long,” Regan said at a news conference. “This is historic news for our climate.”
In a release posted on the agency’s website, the EPA says oil and natural gas operations are the nation’s largest industrial source of methane, which it goes on to describe as a climate “super pollutant” that is many times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Sharp cuts in methane emissions are among the most critical actions the United States can take in the short term to slow the rate of climate change, the agency says.
The EPA says its final rule “leverages the latest cost-effective, innovative technologies and proven solutions” to prevent an estimated 58 million tons of methane emissions from 2024 to 2038, the equivalent of 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide.
The new regulations will apply to companies and facilities engaged in oil and gas extraction and distribution and all pipelines they use to move their products.
A big part of the effort is aimed at locating and plugging methane leaks at existing facilities.
To encourage innovation in these efforts, the new rule expands options for using advanced methane detection technologies, like satellite monitoring, aerial surveys and continuous monitors, to find leaks.
It also encourages continued innovation by creating a streamlined pathway for owners and operators to use new technologies as they develop.
In recognition that the industry will need time to come into compliance, the agency has established a two-year phase-in period for eliminating routine flaring of natural gas from new oil wells and a one-year phase-in of zero-emissions standards for new process controllers and pumps outside of Alaska.
In addition, the new rule gives states, along with tribes wanting to regulate existing sources, two years to develop and submit plans for reducing methane from existing sources.
The final emission guidelines also give existing sources ample lead time for compliance, providing three years from the deadline for plan submission for existing sources to comply.
Fact sheets and the text of the final rule can be found here.
The EPA estimates that the final rule will yield total net benefits of $97 to $98 billion dollars from 2024 to 2038, or $7.3 to $7.6 billion a year, after taking into account the costs of compliance and savings from recovered natural gas.
These estimates account for climate benefits and some health benefits from reduced ozone exposure, but do not account for the rule’s full health benefits of reducing other forms of harmful air pollution.
The rule will result in increased recovery of natural gas, valued at $7.4 to $13 billion from 2024 to 2038, or $820 to $980 million a year, the agency said.
In other news out of Dubai, Vice President Kamala Harris pledged Saturday to provide $3 billion over the next three years to help replenish the Green Climate fund and help emerging nations deal with the impacts of climate change.
The Green Climate Fund is the world’s largest multilateral fund dedicated to enabling small and emerging economies to step up their climate resiliency efforts and unlock private capital to further build on these efforts.
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