Does anyone have a link to an actual writeup of which of these regulations are being rescinded? It's not clear from what's visible publicly on this WSJ article to a non-subscriber.
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EPA to Rescind Methane Regulations for Oil and Gas
161–170 of 213 posts
Re: EPA to Rescind Methane Regulations for Oil and Gas
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not sure how old you are, but it's been a very long time since that was true. You're right that the Clean Water Act was as a big success, but those successes were mostly realized decades ago. At some point, the cost of ever-more stringent environmental regulation outweighs the benefit. In many contexts (e.g., air regulation), there are strong arguments that we are at that point. That is, the cost of incrementally…
I would believe that the costs of further clean air improvement are high as measured by annoyance to established people, but not necessarily cost. Where I live, the following would help particulate pollution: - Eliminating existing grandfathered-in wood burning fireplaces. Costs almost nothing as measured by dollars. - Emission controls on restaurant exhaust. This is currently required only for restaurants that chat-…
Where I live, the vast majority of pollution comes from shipping, not residential or light commercial uses. We have arguably the worst traffic in the U.S. in LA, but driving or other individual consumer activities is a drop in the bucket compared the the ecological scarring diesel trucks, LAX and especially the port of LA have done and will continue to do to the region for the foreseeable future, until we change how we fuel transocean shipping and air travel.
https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6c4535d/214...
Re: EPA to Rescind Methane Regulations for Oil and Gas
#163Not trying to make a political statement here but more about people and what they care about in general. Its amazing to me that trump's support is still at 40-45% in the country. The people living in the same country can see things unfolding in front of their eyes and make completely different decisions on them is fascinating to me. When I talk to my friends who are staunch trump supporters, they give me some fox new…
How many of those things materially hurt them in the short term? I assume most conservatives don’t care about an issue unless they themselves are going to affected by it in the immediate term.
>I assume most conservatives don’t care about an issue unless they themselves are going to affected by it in the immediate term
Unless that issue that doesn't affect these conservatives at all has something to do with what a woman can do with her body, or having a different skin tone, or worshiping a different god, that is. Rules for thee but not for me is practically a tenet of conservatism.
Re: EPA to Rescind Methane Regulations for Oil and Gas
#164It’s very hard to understand why the current administration has such an urge to roll back environmental regulations. I grew up in a time when rivers were red or green depending on what type of leather the factory upstream was processing at the time. The only fish you could see were dead. Breathing in cities was hard. Environmental regulation is a big success story that improved the lives of countless people while com…
I'm not sure how old you are, but it's been a very long time since that was true. You're right that the Clean Water Act was as a big success, but those successes were mostly realized decades ago. At some point, the cost of ever-more stringent environmental regulation outweighs the benefit. In many contexts (e.g., air regulation), there are strong arguments that we are at that point. That is, the cost of incrementally…
It's not that long ago. I live near by what used to be one of the dirtiest waterways in the the US. Even as recently as the mid-90s, sewage was dumped directly into the waterway and numerous landfills seeped toxic chemicals such as lead and various hydro-carbons into it. The river used to be so toxic that no life beyond worms could inhabit it.
The cleanup for it started in 2006 and is ongoing today. It's only within the past decade that fish finally started swimming in the river. And now the neighborhoods that it runs through are seeing huge increases in property values and new development as this former toxic waste dump is now converted into water-front bike trails and parks.
We absolutely still see the benefits of the Clean Water Act today.
Re: EPA to Rescind Methane Regulations for Oil and Gas
#165It’s very hard to understand why the current administration has such an urge to roll back environmental regulations. I grew up in a time when rivers were red or green depending on what type of leather the factory upstream was processing at the time. The only fish you could see were dead. Breathing in cities was hard. Environmental regulation is a big success story that improved the lives of countless people while com…
My grandfather grew up on a farm and, late in life, retired to a farm. Well, a large portion of the property was a swamp, and if he had his way, he would have tiled that swamp, drained it, and grown corn. But the EPA wouldn't let him, since it was destroying wetlands. So he fulminated against the EPA for not letting him do what he wanted with his land. And that's why there's a lot of people who hate regulations, espe…
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Re: EPA to Rescind Methane Regulations for Oil and Gas
#166It’s very hard to understand why the current administration has such an urge to roll back environmental regulations. I grew up in a time when rivers were red or green depending on what type of leather the factory upstream was processing at the time. The only fish you could see were dead. Breathing in cities was hard. Environmental regulation is a big success story that improved the lives of countless people while com…
My grandfather grew up on a farm and, late in life, retired to a farm. Well, a large portion of the property was a swamp, and if he had his way, he would have tiled that swamp, drained it, and grown corn. But the EPA wouldn't let him, since it was destroying wetlands. So he fulminated against the EPA for not letting him do what he wanted with his land. And that's why there's a lot of people who hate regulations, espe…
There's a huge difference between controlling what people do on their own land, and controlling how people affect the broader ecosystem. Burning oil or gas and affecting the atmosphere for everyone is a much larger-scale issue than a local wetland.
(And if you're told you can't turn a swamp into a field, for example, you also ought to get paid for effectively having to maintain a public resource.)
Re: EPA to Rescind Methane Regulations for Oil and Gas
#167This will be interesting for the LNG exports to Europe
The EU commission is looking at associated methane emissions from natural gas imports, so there is a risk that the US may very well shut off their access to EU markets, or be subject to taxation or similar
https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/commission-open-views-methane...
Re: EPA to Rescind Methane Regulations for Oil and Gas
#168It’s very hard to understand why the current administration has such an urge to roll back environmental regulations. I grew up in a time when rivers were red or green depending on what type of leather the factory upstream was processing at the time. The only fish you could see were dead. Breathing in cities was hard. Environmental regulation is a big success story that improved the lives of countless people while com…
My grandfather grew up on a farm and, late in life, retired to a farm. Well, a large portion of the property was a swamp, and if he had his way, he would have tiled that swamp, drained it, and grown corn. But the EPA wouldn't let him, since it was destroying wetlands. So he fulminated against the EPA for not letting him do what he wanted with his land. And that's why there's a lot of people who hate regulations, espe…
They didn't pay him for the reduced value of his land, did he? I think that's a lot of the problem with these regulations - the government requires people to abide by them, but does not compensate for them.
Re: EPA to Rescind Methane Regulations for Oil and Gas
#169It’s very hard to understand why the current administration has such an urge to roll back environmental regulations. I grew up in a time when rivers were red or green depending on what type of leather the factory upstream was processing at the time. The only fish you could see were dead. Breathing in cities was hard. Environmental regulation is a big success story that improved the lives of countless people while com…
In short because it's an easy to people who are acutely harmed by this stuff (even while experiencing unseen long-term benefits).
I have an early-90s Volkswagen van. It came with a very underpowered and fuel-thirsty gas engine. Eventually it could barely make it up the hills around here, and was prohibitively expensive (not to mention unreliable) to use practically.
I replaced the old engine with a modern TDI that gets ~33mpg and is undoubtably cleaner than the 80s-era technology that powered it before. It gave the van a renewed life, keeping it from being crushed and precluding the environmental cost of building a new car. And above all, it solved my problem in a mentally engaging way.
For this I have been rewarded with constant red tape from the state department of air quality and EPA. They test tailpipe opacity while driving it on a set of rollers (if I can find a tech that knows how to drive stick shift). The standard to beat is 20% opaque, which would choke out the room. Despite the LED/opto pair usually measuring less than 1% opaque, it once measured 100% opaque. Think about that for a minute.
I am not the only one to have done something like this, much less the only one to have EPA-mandated portable gas container designs break & spill, EPA-mandated sensor systems break and cost hundreds, etc. I'm not the only one who's been annoyed by land closures (despite having a permit) due to the EPA's concerns of dust entering the air. This is to say nothing of e.g. the farmers who have had increased compliance costs and fines for operating on their own land. A politician coming out against the EPA is an immediate emotional appeal to many people who are somewhat likely to support Trump's ideas to begin with. These people feel they have been hamstrung by the man, and apparently think that mining for uranium in the Grand Canyon is a reasonable price to pay to beat back the EPA a little.
The answer, of course, is to be more sensible in the way that the environment is regulated. No, people should not mine the Grand Canyon (at least not in any way mining is currently conducted). No, a yearly tailpipe opacity test is not an effective way of regulating diesel emissions. But unfortunately, politics turns everything into an emotional appeal that leads to both sides talking past one another. I think the best thing we can do as individuals is honestly try to be better.
Re: EPA to Rescind Methane Regulations for Oil and Gas
#170>It’s very hard to understand why As republican former secretary of the interior James Watt put it, “Why worry about the environment when the second coming is at hand?”
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24111740 .
Just curious, why? Is it a tactic to quarantine content that has potential to start flame wars from other content?