skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Survey: Voters Want Methane Rules to Include Smaller Wells

play audio
Play

Friday, October 22, 2021   

CASPER, Wyo. - A strong majority of voters across party lines say they want national rules similar to those passed in Wyoming to reduce methane pollution from oil and gas production, according to a new national poll.

Jon Goldstein, senior director of regulatory and legislative affairs for the Environmental Defense Fund, the group behind the survey, said nearly two-thirds of voters support stronger methane rules if they lead to jobs in the methane mitigation industry.

"Wyoming is one of the leading states in the nation for clusters of these methane-mitigation industry jobs," he said, "factory jobs building the pieces of equipment that are used out in the oil and gas field; the inspectors that go out with infrared cameras and find and fix the leaks."

The poll comes as the Environmental Protection Agency soon is expected to release nationwide methane rules for the oil and gas industry. Industry groups have pushed back on protections that would include low-producing wells, citing costs, but the survey found seven out of 10 voters want rules that cover all wells, regardless of size.

Goldstein argued that national rules are necessary because air pollution doesn't stop at the state line. He added that technologies to capture lost natural gas have proved to be highly cost-effective.

"They're not free, but we are talking about pennies on the dollar," he said. "And with natural-gas prices going up again, it really makes sense to be capturing all of the methane we can. You know, this is natural gas, at the end of the day."

Methane is more than 80 times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon, and at least 60% of methane emissions are the result of human activities. Goldstein said national protections would be a big step in addressing climate change.

"Methane is responsible for about a quarter of the warming that we're already experiencing," he said, "and particularly addressing methane from the oil and gas industry is really the 'low-hanging fruit' of ensuring that the country bends the curve on climate as quickly as possible."


get more stories like this via email
more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021