[TheClimate.Vote] Feb 28, 2017 - Daily Global Warming News for All -
Richard Pauli
richard at theclimate.vote
Tue Feb 28 08:48:23 EST 2017
/February 28, 2017 //Shell knew and warned - 30 min film from 1991/
(Video 30 min)
https://thecorrespondent.com/6285/shell-made-a-film-about-climate-change-in-1991-then-neglected-to-heed-its-own-warning/692663565-875331f6
*Shell made a film about climate change in 1991 (then neglected to heed
its own warning)
<https://thecorrespondent.com/6285/shell-made-a-film-about-climate-change-in-1991-then-neglected-to-heed-its-own-warning/692663565-875331f6>*
Climate of Concern: The film Shell made in 1991 to warn about climate
change (30 min.)
Shell issued a stark warning of the disastrous risk of climate change
over a quarter of a century ago, in a prescient film newly revealed
today. The oil giant's farsighted film Climate of Concern clearly laid
out in 1991 how the burning of fossil fuels was already warming the
world and that there could be serious consequences. According to Shell's
own website, the film was "one of the earliest warnings about the threat
of global warming and how the world might deal with it." We at The
Correspondent are making the film available to the public once again.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/28/shell-knew-oil-giants-1991-film-warned-climate-change-danger
'Shell knew': oil giant's 1991 film warned of*climate change*danger
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/28/shell-knew-oil-giants-1991-film-warned-climate-change-danger>
The Guardian -57 minutes ago
Public information film unseen for years shows Shell had clear grasp
of global warming 26 years ago but has not acted accordingly since,
say critics..
The oil giant Shell issued a stark warning of the catastrophic risks
of climate change more than a quarter of century ago in a prescient
1991 film that has been rediscovered...
However, since then the company has invested heavily in highly
polluting oil reserves and helped lobby against climate action,
leading to accusations that Shell knew the grave risks of global
warming but did not act accordingly.
Shell's 28-minute film, called Climate of Concern, was made for
public viewing, particularly in schools and universities. It warned
of extreme weather, floods, famines and climate refugees as fossil
fuel burning warmed the world. The serious warning was "endorsed by
a uniquely broad consensus of scientists in their report to the
United Nations at the end of 1990", the film noted...
"If the weather machine were to be wound up to such new levels of
energy, no country would remain unaffected," it says. "Global
warming is not yet certain, but many think that to wait for final
proof would be irresponsible. Action now is seen as the only safe
insurance."...
A separate 1986 report, marked "confidential" and also seen by the
Guardian, notes the large uncertainties in climate science at the
time but nonetheless states: "The changes may be the greatest in
recorded history."...
The predictions in the 1991 film for temperature and sea level rises
and their impacts were remarkably accurate, according to scientists,
and Shell was one of the first major oil companies to accept the
reality and dangers of climate change....
But, despite this early and clear-eyed view of the risks of global
warming, Shell invested many billions of dollars in highly polluting
tar sand operations and on exploration in the Arctic. It also cited
fracking as a "future opportunity" in 2016, despite its own 1998
data showing exploitation of unconventional oil and gas was
incompatible with climate goals.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/28/shell-film-warning-climate-change-rate-faster-than-end-ice-age
*Shell's 1991 warning: climate changing 'at faster rate than at any
time since end of ice age'
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/28/shell-film-warning-climate-change-rate-faster-than-end-ice-age>*
....The revelation of the film, obtained by the Correspondent, a
Dutch online journalism platform, and shared with the Guardian, has
renewed the criticism....
"The film shows that Shell understood that the threat was dire,
potentially existential for civilisation, more than a quarter of a
century ago," said Jeremy Leggett, a solar power entrepreneur and
former geologist who had earlier researched shale deposits with
Shell and BP funding....
...Shell had, in fact, known of the risks of climate change even
earlier. A "confidential" company report written in 1986, also seen
by the Guardian, noted the significant uncertainties in climate
science at the time but warned of the possibility of "fast and
dramatic" changes that "would impact on the human environment,
future living standards and food supplies, and could have major
social, economic, and political consequences"....
In 1989, Shell had already taken the effects of climate change into
account in the construction of an oil rig. But in the same year, the
so-called Global Climate Coalition (GCC) was formed by the major oil
companies, including Shell's US operation Shell Oil. It lobbied hard
to cast doubt on climate science and oppose government action, and
in 1998 Shell withdrew, citing "irreconcilable" differences...
However, Shell remained a member of another business lobby group
that campaigned against climate action, the American Legislative
Exchange Council, until 2015 and remains a member of the Business
Roundtable and American Petroleum Institute, which both fought
against Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan....
...Shell's 1986 report said the climate change problem was one that
"ultimately only governments can tackle". But it also noted, over
three decades ago, that the energy industry "has very strong
interests at stake and much expertise to contribute. It also has its
own reputation to consider, there being much potential for public
anxiety and pressure group activity."
http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/8-health-risks-made-worse-by-climate-change/1/
*8 health risks that could get worse with climate change
<http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/8-health-risks-made-worse-by-climate-change/1/>*
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/despair-mental-health-trauma-cost-unchecked-climate-change/
"A sense of despair": The mental health cost of unchecked*climate
change*
<http://www.cbsnews.com/news/despair-mental-health-trauma-cost-unchecked-climate-change/>
CBS News -59 minutes ago
Climate change is taking an obvious physical toll on earth: from
depleted farmland to the rise of toxic pollution to the degradation
of long-stable ecosystems to the disappearance of biodiversity and
endangered species. ..
But looking beyond the physical, experts are also trying to sound
the alarm about the quieter, more insidious effects of climate
change: namely, that global warming is threatening the mental and
emotional health of humans worldwide...
"We see a sense of despair that sets in as inevitably Mother Nature,
who we think of as our nurturing force, tells us we're not going to
be able to survive the conditions she's set for us," Dr. Lise Van
Susteran, a practicing psychiatrist and expert on the dangers of
climate change on mental health, told CBS News. ..
Dr. Van Susteran presented on this topic earlier this month at the
Climate & Health Meeting in Atlanta, a conference that looked at
climate change through the lens of public health. Former Vice
President Al Gore organized the meeting when, days before President
Trump's inauguration, a long-planned Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) summit on the topic was abruptly cancelled...
Extreme weather, extreme trauma, extreme aggression
Study after study shows that climate change has led to an increased
burden of psychological disease and injury worldwide, particularly
in developing countries
In cities, babies who are exposed in the uterus to higher levels of
urban air pollutants (known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) are
more likely to develop symptoms of anxiety and depression down the
line, Columbia University researchers found in 2012. Polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons are the chemicals come from burning fossil fuels.
"Climate anxiety" can cripple individuals regardless of their
geography, privilege, or vulnerability to the effects of climate
change, Dr. Van Susteran said. Joining with other mental health
professionals, she is one of the founders behind the Climate Psych
Alliance, a new coalition trying to raise awareness about the links
between climate change and clinical trauma.
"You can see how desperate, angry, despairing people are," she said.
"It's a legitimate response to what people see as inaction,
intentional inaction... Whether we know it or not, whether you
accept it or not, everyone experiences climate anxiety."
In the age of an unstable climate, the link between natural
disasters and psychological trauma is "under-examined,
underestimated and not adequately monitored," Italian researchers
assessed in a January study in the journal Occupational and
Environmental Medicine. That research gap is particularly worrisome
in Africa, German researchers said in a paper published last year.
Climate change is often the hidden catalyst — the fuel behind war,
displacement and collapsed economies that doesn't make it into the
headlines.
Syria's civil war, for instance, is most frequently framed as an
entrenched political conflict. Closer examination shows that's far
from the full story: in fact, the country's six-year conflict is
rooted in a devastating drought. Earnings depleted and Syrian
farmers moved to overcrowded cities, where political corruption and
public health crises helped foment bloody revolution.
Climate change carries enormous political risk for the 21st century,
Dr. Van Susteran warned.
"In times of peril and scarcity, people regress," she said. "They
turn to what they perceive as strong leaders to protect them, and
are willing to give up their freedoms and values in exchange for
perceived security."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/no-mr-trump-the-earth-is-not-flat_us_58b46d41e4b02f3f81e44abc
No Mr. Trump, The Earth is Not Flat
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/no-mr-trump-the-earth-is-not-flat_us_58b46d41e4b02f3f81e44abc>
Huffington Post -7 hours ago
The question is not whether climate change exists but what to do
about it.
It is difficult to find a respected scientist in the United States
or around the world who disputes man-made contributions to climate
change, certainly not the thousands of scientists first organized by
the United Nations in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Yet, the new administration is fueled by "alternative facts" from
the anti-science earth-is-flat crowd...
President Donald Trump has called it a hoax. And the Republican
Party platform in 2016 said climate change was invented by
"environmental extremists" in the Democratic Party working to
"sustain the illusion of an environmental crisis."..
That platform reverses the GOP's 2008 position when it recognized
that human activity had increased carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases, including chlorofluorocarbons...
More alarming is that funds to research climate change may be cut,
prompting universities and scientists to store information away from
government agencies. Trump has threatened to stop paying for NASA's
world-renowned research into temperature, ice, clouds and other
climate phenomena......
https://www.outsideonline.com/2159366/word-warming
6 Words That Could Go Extinct Because of*Climate Change*
<https://www.outsideonline.com/2159366/word-warming>
Outside Magazine -4 hours ago
*Leg Basket* Noun: A compartmental structure on the hind legs of
certain bees used to harvest and transport pollen.
*Lift Line* Noun: The queue of skiers and snowboarders waiting to
board a chairlift for a ride up the mountain at a winter resort.
*Lanthanides* Noun: The series of rare-earth elements used in the
production of myriad green and high-tech devices.
*Icefoot * Noun: An unmoving ribbon of sea ice that attaches to the
coast or edge of a glacier.
*Scallop Dredge* Noun: A rake/cage/net thingamabob that's dragged
along the bottom of the ocean to collect scallops for consumption.
*Hogshead* Noun: A large cask, a unit of measure for a large volume
of liquid, usually beer or wine.
https://apnews.com/31c4f7145d524de7a70fae4d5b8f8744
*Records show EPA's Pruitt used private email, despite denial
<https://apnews.com/31c4f7145d524de7a70fae4d5b8f8744>*
WASHINGTON (AP) — Environmental Protection Agency administrator
Scott Pruitt occasionally used private email to communicate with
staff while serving as Oklahoma's attorney general, despite telling
Congress that he had always used a state email account for
government business.
A review of Pruitt emails obtained by The Associated Press through a
public records request showed a 2014 exchange where the Republican
emailed a member of his staff using a personal Apple email account.
Emails released under court order last week in response to a
different public records request yielded additional examples where
emails were addressed to Pruitt's private account, including a 2013
exchange with a petroleum industry lobbyist who emailed Pruitt and a
lawyer on the attorney general's staff. That suggests Pruitt made
his private email address available to professional contacts outside
his office.
It is not illegal in Oklahoma for public officials to use private
email as long as they are retained and made available as public
records. Pruitt's use of the private account appears to directly
contradict statements he made last month as part of his Senate
confirmation.
In a written questionnaire, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., asked Pruitt
whether he had ever conducted state business using personal email
accounts. Pruitt responded: "I use only my official OAG email
address and government issued phone to conduct official business." ...
AP and other news organizations reported last week that 7,500 pages
of emails released following a lawsuit filed by a left-leaning
advocacy group showed Pruitt and his staff in Oklahoma coordinated
closely on legal strategy with fossil-fuel companies and special
interest groups working to undermine federal efforts to curb
planet-warming carbon emissions.
The emails were released after an Oklahoma judge ruled that Pruitt
had been illegally withholding his correspondence, which is public
record under state law, for the last two years. Pruitt's Republican
successor, new Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter, has appealed
that ruling and is fighting to keep hundreds more withheld emails
from public view. Hunter's spokesman, Lincoln Ferguson, did not
return telephone and email messages on Monday seeking clarification
on Pruitt's use of a private email or whether more messages to the
Apple account were among those still being withheld.
Senate Democrats earlier this month sought to delay a vote on
Pruitt's confirmation until after the requested emails were
released. Republican leaders used their slim majority to confirm him
to lead the federal agency he had frequently criticized and
repeatedly sued during his six years as Oklahoma's attorney general.
Pruitt's use of private email was first reported earlier this month
by FOX 25 television of Oklahoma City.
Senate environment committee chairman John Barrasso, R-Wy., declined
to comment Monday about whether Pruitt was inaccurate in his
testimony. Barrasso's spokesman, Mike Danylak, pointed to another
exchange during Pruitt's testimony where he was asked whether he
would use only government email to conduct business at EPA, so that
his correspondence would be publicly available through the Freedom
of Information Act.
"I really believe that public participation and transparency in
rulemaking is very important," Pruitt responded.
https://www.facebook.com/senatorsanders
Bernie Sanders And 'Science Guy' Hold*Climate Change*Forum
<http://forward.com/fast-forward/364256/bernie-sanders-and-science-guy-hold-climate-change-forum/>
Forward -5 hours ago
Bernie Sanders and Bill Nye (the Science Guy) hosted a conversation
about the perils of*climate change*Monday, bringing their talk to
Facebook Live in order to raise consciousness about an environmental
issue they fear the new administration will*...*
https://www.facebook.com/senatorsanders
http://forward.com/fast-forward/364256/bernie-sanders-and-science-guy-hold-climate-change-forum/
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/climate-change-may-boost-mercury-in-ecosystems-food-chain/70000910
*Climate change*may boost mercury in ecosystems, food chain
<http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/climate-change-may-boost-mercury-in-ecosystems-food-chain/70000910>
AccuWeather.com -6 hours ago
Today,*climate change*may be causing an even greater problem for some
areas as an increase in organic matter enters waterways.
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/environment/2017/02/27/broaching-alaska-climate-change-with-the-trump-administration-might-require-finesse/
How will Alaskans talk*climate change*with the Trump administration?
<https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/environment/2017/02/27/broaching-alaska-climate-change-with-the-trump-administration-might-require-finesse/>
Alaska Dispatch News -1 hour ago
How do state officials and indigenous leaders in Alaska, where the
climate is warming faster than almost any other place in the world,
pursue their work in a world where the new president has
dismissed*climate change*as a hoax and has appointed ...
http://www.washington.edu/news/2017/02/15/the-blob-of-abnormal-conditions-boosted-western-u-s-ozone-levels/
*'The blob' of abnormal conditions boosted Western U.S. ozone levels
<http://www.washington.edu/news/2017/02/15/the-blob-of-abnormal-conditions-boosted-western-u-s-ozone-levels/>*
An unusually warm patch of seawater off the West Coast in late 2014
and 2015, nicknamed "the blob," was part of an offshore pattern that
had cascading effects up and down the coast. Its sphere of influence
was centered on the marine environment but extended to weather on land.
A University of Washington Bothell study now shows that this strong
offshore pattern also influenced air quality. The climate pattern
increased ozone levels above Washington, Oregon, western Utah and
northern California, according to a study published Feb. 15 in
Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical
Union...
"Washington and Oregon was really the bullseye for the whole thing,
because of the location of the winds," said lead author Dan Jaffe, a
professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington
Bothell. "Salt Lake City and Sacramento were on the edge of this
event, but because their ozone is typically higher, those cities
felt some of the more acute effects."..
The other author is Lei Zhang, a postdoctoral researcher at UW
Bothell...
The study finds that terrestrial effects of the high-pressure system
that produced "the blob" — warm temperatures, low cloud cover and
calmer air — were the perfect ingredients to produce ozone. Ozone
levels in June 2015 were between 3 and 13 parts per billion higher
than average over the northwestern United States. The pattern pushed
ozone concentrations in Salt Lake City and Sacramento above
federally allowed limits....
Ozone is an invisible component of smog that is a secondary
pollutant formed by a chain reaction. Cars, factories and other
sources emit pollution into the atmosphere. Solar rays then provide
the spark for chemical reactions that produce the three linked
oxygen atoms of ozone. This molecule is hazardous to human health
and is subject to federal regulations...
Jaffe's research group has been measuring ozone since 2004 atop
Mount Bachelor in central Oregon to tease apart the sources of ozone
and other pollutants, such as forest fires, transport of pollution
from overseas and domestic pollution from the United States. In June
2015, members noticed a spike in ozone above any previous
measurements...
"At first we were like 'Whoa, maybe we made a mistake.' We looked at
our sensors to see if we made an error in the calibration. But we
couldn't find any mistakes," Jaffe said. "Then I looked at other
ozone data from around the Pacific Northwest, and everybody was high
that year."..
Jaffe's measurements are from the University of Washington's Mount
Bachelor Observatory in central Oregon. Members of his group use the
ski hill's lifts for transportation and electrical power to support
year-round measurements at the 9,000-foot peak. Air is pulled with
vacuum pumps into a room to be sampled by a variety of instruments
in the summit's lift house.
The June 2015 ozone levels at the observatory were 12 parts per
billion higher than the average of previous observations for that
time. Jaffe learned that air quality managers in Sacramento and Salt
Lake City had several times recorded eight-hour averages above the
70 parts per billion limit set by the federal Environmental
Protection Agency...
"This was a very widespread phenomenon going all the way to
California," Jaffe said. "Managers saw that air quality was
violating the air quality standards on many days, and they didn't
know why."..
The new study analyzes larger-scale climate data to show that the
areas that recorded higher-than-normal ozone were the same regions
that had high temperatures, weak winds and low cloud cover...
"Ultimately, it all links back to the blob, which was the most
unusual meteorological event we've had in decades," Jaffe said.
"Temperatures were high, and it was much less cloudy than normal,
both of which trigger ozone production. And because of that
high-pressure system off the coast, the winds were much lower than
normal. Winds blow pollution away, but when they don't blow, you get
stagnation and the pollution is higher."
... The study was funded by the National Science Foundation and
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
https://climatecrocks.com/2017/02/23/ben-santer-on-seth-meyers-late-show-how-climate-deniers-lie/
*Ben Santer on Seth Meyer's Late Show – How Climate Deniers Lie
<https://climatecrocks.com/2017/02/23/ben-santer-on-seth-meyers-late-show-how-climate-deniers-lie/>*
The reason most people have not heard of Ben Santer is that, while
his contributions to climate science have been massive and epic in
importance, and his courage in standing up to an almost unparalleled
barrage of attacks is legendary, Ben himself is one of the quietest,
most unassuming people you will ever meet.
My conversations with Ben a few months ago lead me to believe he had
decided it was time to be more public in his advocacy, and I guess
this is evidence of that....
One of the burrs under Ben's saddle in the last year has been
Senator Ted Cruz's brazen and dishonest claims about climate
science, on display most prominently in a December 2015 Senate
Hearing, where a veritable clown car of climate criminals were
brought out to repeat some of the most eminently crushable
distortions. And Ben, in truest form, rather than just "arguing
from authority" as one of the world's highest experts, spent a year
going thru the various claims, and publishing a point by point
rebuttal...
Now see the video that drove Senator Cruz, and Breitbart crazy – Dr.
Santer and other key scientists show precisely how this climate
denial lie was constructed.
More below from Dr. Carl Mears, keeper and collector of the data
Senator Cruz claims to use.
Finally, Santer finished off on Meyer's show with an inspiring
(really) observation about a grand teachable moment on climate science.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjgIrdYHHP8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTuHuBFTPfg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRTovL4tIJY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo_7q-w06B4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UyAOYoIifo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ULE6v6h2Oc
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/27/us/politics/trump-budget-military.html?hp&_r=0
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/02/27/trump-to-direct-rollback-of-obama-era-water-rule-tuesday/
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-methane-obama-congress-20170227-story.html
/*This Day in Climate History February 28, 2017 (today)
<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/27/us/politics/trump-budget-military.html?hp&_r=0>
- from D.R. Tucker
*/*
The New York Times reports:*
"President Trump put both political parties on notice Monday that he
intends to slash spending on many of the federal government's most
politically sensitive programs — relating to education, the
environment, science and poverty — to protect the economic security
of retirees and to shift billions more to the armed forces…
"The White House blueprint calls for a 24 percent cut to the
E.P.A.'s budget, according to a person who had seen the document but
was not authorized to speak on the record. That would amount to a
reduction of about $2 billion from the agency's annual budget of
about $8.1 billion, reducing its spending to levels not seen since
Ronald Reagan's presidency.
"But it is far from clear whether Congress will approve such steep
cuts in popular programs.
While congressional Republicans have long targeted the E.P.A.'s
regulatory authority, they are also aware that about half the
agency's annual budget is passed through to popular state-level
programs, like converting abandoned industrial sites into sports
stadiums and other public facilities, which lawmakers of both
parties are loath to cut. And most of the agency's federal office
spending goes toward funding programs that are required by existing
laws. Last year, even as congressional Republicans railed against
the Obama administration's E.P.A. regulations, they proposed cutting
only $291 million from the agency's budget.
"Environmental advocates denounced the proposed cuts, saying they
would devastate environmental protection and public health programs
while doing little to increase national security."
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/27/us/politics/trump-budget-military.html?hp&_r=0
*The Washington Post reports:*
"President Trump on Tuesday will instruct the Environmental
Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to "review and
reconsider" a 2015 rule known as the Waters of the United States
rule, according to a senior official, a move that could ultimately
make it easier for agricultural and development interests to drain
wetlands and small streams.
"The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the
executive order had not yet been signed, said the directive aimed to
address the concerns of about 30 states and an array of business
interests that have criticized the previous administration for
overreaching. The final outcome of Trump's order could have
tremendous implications for the agricultural, real estate, gravel,
sand and ranching sectors, as well as a critical habitat for aquatic
species and migratory birds.
"Still, it could take well over a year for the directive to be
carried out. It will likely trigger a fresh round of rulemaking, but
could also lead to extensive litigation as the agencies seek to
redefine federal restrictions on what accounts for 60 percent of the
nation's water bodies."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/02/27/trump-to-direct-rollback-of-obama-era-water-rule-tuesday/
*The Los Angeles Times editorial page observes:*
"The risk of climate change from global warming has long since moved
from abstract theory into reality, even if the ostriches surrounding
President Trump won't see it. Recently appointed Environmental
Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is joined at the wallet
to the industry, as a trove of recently released emails from his
work as Oklahoma attorney general confirms, so don't expect much
from him. Conservative members of Congress also buy into the
nonsense — as do Trump and Pruitt — that human activity has little
to do with rising global temperatures, more severe weather patterns,
stressed flora and fauna and what scientists believe is a looming
mass extinction that is unfolding at a much faster pace than the
five previously identified mass extinctions in history. In terms of
Earth's evolution, that is a split second.
"But, oh, the jobs! We need the jobs! And the cheap fuel! The adage
of missing the forest for the trees comes to mind. The overwhelming
consensus by scientists is that the world needs to move away from
fossil fuels and toward renewable sources such as wind and solar. In
the meantime, we need to be even more aggressive, not less, in
limiting the burning or release of methane and other harmful emissions.
"To that end, the Obama administration regulations were a step in
the right direction. Which brings Newton's Third Law of Physics into
play: For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction.
Earlier this month, the Republican-led House of Representatives
invoked the Congressional Review Act to kill the Obama regulations
governing wells on federal land, and the bill is now before the
Senate, with a vote possible this week.
"The Senate should refuse to join the House in passing this
irresponsible bill. The methane regulations, which are to be phased
in, are good, sensible policy. The federal Bureau of Land
Management estimated that between 2009 and 2015, the oil and gas
industry wasted, through emissions or flaring, 462 billion cubic
feet of methane — enough to supply natural gas for 6.2 million
households for a year — from wells in public and tribal lands. Not
only was the gas lost, the unburned methane went directly into the
atmosphere. And taxpayers missed out on $23 million a year in
royalties that would have been due had the methane been captured and
sold.
"Fortunately, the EPA rules governing non-federal land wells are
less likely to be rescinded. The rules were adopted long enough ago
that they are no longer subject to the Congressional Review Act,
which means that to roll them back, the Trump administration would
have to go through a lengthy regulatory review process.
Unfortunately, those rules only cover future wells, not existing
ones. (The federal land rules cover both.) Instead of attacking the
federal land rules, Congress should extend the same regulations to
the existing wells on non-federal land. But don't hold your breath.
"The world should be weaning itself from fossil fuels as quickly as
possible. That Trump and the Republican Congress disagree is not
only disappointing, but dangerous."
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-methane-obama-congress-20170227-story.html
/
==============================================================
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