WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has rolled back environmental standards set by former President Barack Obama in a sometimes dizzying frenzy, targeting rules governing water pollution, automobile efficiency, power plant emissions, coal ash dumping and pesticides.
The campaign, which has sharply divided Republicans and Democrats, was at the center of the two-hour questioning Thursday of Andrew Wheeler, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It was Mr. Wheeler’s first appearance before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology,
Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, joined the chorus of criticism coming from Democrats — while focusing on how, he believed, regulations actually support an extractive industry.
Mr. Lamb, who represents the northwestern Pittsburgh suburbs that include Shell’s ethane cracker plant currently under construction in Beaver County, praised the economic boost that natural gas drilling has provided for a wide variety of people. “It’s been incredible for our area,” he said.
But that boost, he argued, is under serious threat after Mr. Wheeler proposed a rule in August that could roll back requirements on detecting and plugging methane leaks at oil and gas facilities.
“If we do not stop leaking methane and we lose that climate benefit, this entire industry is threatened,” he said. “It’s about the environment, but it’s about these people’s jobs.”
As a fuel, natural gas burns cleaner than coal. As hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” unlocked an ocean of natural gas in the shale rock beneath Pennsylvania, it also caused natural gas prices to plummet. Power plant operators switched to natural gas due to the cost savings and environmental benefits, industry analysts have said.
But methane — the primary component of natural gas — is a much more potent heat-trapping greenhouse gas that can warm the atmosphere at 25 times the rate of carbon dioxide. The EPA lists the oil and gas industry as the largest source of methane emissions in the country, primarily through leaks from pipelines and other infrastructure.
Mr. Lamb used his four minutes of allotted time to read a series of statements from large oil and gas companies — BP, Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell — that preferred the Obama-era methane regulations.
Among them was Gretchen Watkins, a Shell executive who told Reuters in March she believed methane “is a big part of the climate problem and, frankly, we can do more.”
“We don’t usually tell governments how to do their job, but we’re ready to break with that and say, ‘Actually, we want to tell you how to do your job,’” Ms. Watkins told Reuters.
Mr. Lamb agreed with those executives that the future demand for natural gas depends on plugging leaks.
“Reconsider,” Mr. Lamb said, as his time expired. “These families are depending on this industry and depending on the climate benefits that have come from it. We have to do it the right way. You are on the wrong side of both business and public opinion.”
Mr. Wheeler responded, “We don’t do our regulations for big business. We take a look at all business, including small and medium sized companies.”
Mr. Wheeler later added that companies should already have incentive to plug leaky pipelines because methane escaping into the atmosphere is lost revenue. The natural gas industry has reduced its emissions by 15% since 1990, he said, while it doubled its production.
The EPA’s new proposal to replace the Obama standards involves regulating methane indirectly. The agency believes its existing regulations on volatile organic compounds, a separate but related category of gases, will sufficiently ensure oversight.
“VOC emissions will go down, and, as a side benefit, methane emissions will also go down,” Mr. Wheeler said. “We want to make sure that our regulatory approach does not stifle innovation.”
The new methane rules must go through a period of public comment and review and could be finalized early next year.
Mr. Wheeler told the committee he had to leave the hearing at noon, limiting each lawmaker’s time to question him to four minutes from the typical five minutes. He also provided the committee his testimony only 24 hours prior to the hearing; committee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Tex., said that did not allow lawmakers to fully prepare for questioning.
“I hope this will not be the only time we see you before this committee,” Ms. Johnson said.
Mr. Wheeler said he hoped to have a “good, open dialogue with the committee.”
Daniel Moore: dmoore@post-gazette.com, Twitter @PGdanielmoore
First Published: September 20, 2019, 1:01 a.m.