"The Trump administration's plan to soften methane standards for the oil and gas industry is the first step in a larger effort to dismantle greenhouse gas rules for the booming sector.

It might also cloud the reputation of natural gas as a climate-friendly solution to rising temperatures.

EPA wants to make several technical changes to how oil and gas operators monitor, detect and repair methane leaks. Those so-called fugitive emissions have become central to how favorably natural gas, of which methane is a major component, compares with coal in electricity generation.

A bigger blow to the methane program is expected later this fall. EPA is still tussling with a separate rulemaking about whether to cease regulating the potent greenhouse gas directly. Legal questions loom over that question, and industry is divided over ending the program."

Zack Colman reports for ClimateWire September 12, 2018. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Trump Rollback Would Ease Rules On Climate-Changing Methane" (AP) [3]

"Virginia To Establish Regulations Limiting Leaks Of Methane" (AP) [4]

"Even the EPA Acknowledges Its New Methane Rule May Be Costly" (Washington Post) [5]