The White House has announced a new strategy to slash
domestic methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. Released last Friday
28 March, the public document includes a review of the sources and trends of
methane emissions, and targets new executive steps to address the potent
greenhouse gas.
The measures followed a 2013 pledge made by US President
Barack Obama to move the climate change issue back to the top of the domestic
agenda, even if it required him to take executive actions to do so.
As much of oil and gas production takes place on private
land, however, the EPA would also evaluate whether further, more comprehensive
regulation would be required for the sector under the Clean Air Act, according
to Dan Utech, the President’s chief energy and
climate aide.
The provision has drawn a backlash from the industry’s
main lobby association, the American Petroleum Institute. The group expressed
concern that the steps could scupper future natural gas drilling by raising
costs, thus threatening jobs, growth, and competitiveness.
International talks on methane fund
The US announcement followed hot on the heels of news
that the country was also in talks with other rich nations to establish a new
fund to pay for methane emission reduction projects in developing nations, as
part of a broader effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions globally by 2020.
The new proposal comes at a time of tense international
negotiations over climate finance. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) - a
market mechanism agreed upon at the troubled Kyoto global climate meet in 2009
- has channelled more than US$400 billion to
carbon-cutting projects in developing nations. Investments have since dried up,
however, as prices for CDM projects crashed due to an oversupply of projects
amid the global economic slump.