Will the new plan unveiled by the White House do enough to cut methane emissions?

In an attempt to cut the amount of methane released into the atmosphere, the White House has stated its goal reduce emissions by 40-45% over the next decade. However, this plan only extends to future infrastructure and gas & oil wells.

Many environmentalists believe that not including existing infrastructure in the White House’s plan is a mistake. Conrad Schneider of the Clean Air Task Force claims that by not regulating existing oil and gas equipment, this plan misses 90% of the industrial methane pollution.

Photo: Lee Stone/Corbis

While this plan is an important step forward, more needs to be done to effectively cut methane emissions from existing sources. As of now, the new regulations will only include a set of voluntary guidelines for existing sites.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will propose new guidelines for air pollution standards this summer in an effort to reduce the amount of smog around oil and gas sites. Hopefully these new guidelines will help to fill in the gaps left by the White House plan to cut methane emissions.

Source: Guardian