CATF Articles & Posts
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A Good First Step – But We Have a Long Way to go on Oil and Gas
Earlier this week USEPA took a long-awaited and critical first step to reduce emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane from the oil and gas industry. Oil and gas is the largest industrial source of methane pollution, and the standards for methane will also reduce pollution that causes ozone smog…
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Voluntary Measures: An Inadequate Solution to a Pressing Problem
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its new “Natural Gas STAR Methane Challenge Program,” a collection of voluntary measures aimed to reduce methane pollution from existing sources. In January, as part of its announced plan to reduce oil and gas industry methane emissions 40-45% by 2025, the Administration committed…
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MATS Isn’t Dead Yet – An Assessment of the Supreme Court’s Michigan v. EPA decision
The death of EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule has been greatly exaggerated by the popular media following the Supreme Court’s ruling Monday in Michigan v. EPA]. In fact MATS is NOT dead, and only EPA’s initial decision that it is “appropriate and necessary” to regulate coal and…
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White House Wisely Rejects the “Categorical Carbon Neutrality” of Biomass—But What Now?
The White House Office of Management and Budget released a Statement of Policy this week detailing the many reasons why President Obama would veto H.R. 2822, a 2016 appropriations bill for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior put together by the Appropriations Committee in the House…
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Five Actions EPA Should Take When Issuing Much-Needed Methane Pollution Standards
In January, EPA committed to a series of actions to reduce methane pollution, including setting nationwide methane standards for new and modified oil and gas equipment. Currently, there are no national limits on the amount of methane pollution that the oil and gas industry can release into the air. If…
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Time to Lead: With the U.S. Taking the Helm of the Arctic Council, It’s Time to Take the Lead on Reducing Methane and Black Carbon
Last week, in Iqaluit, Canada, the Chairmanship of the Arctic Council passed from Canada to the U.S., and Secretary of State John Kerry, the new Chairman of the Council, was on hand to set the stage for the U.S.’s leadership term. At the meeting, Secretary Kerry reaffirmed the US’s recent…
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Putting Out the Fire: Low-cost Solutions are Available to Prevent Flaring in Tight Oil Fields
Flaring of associated natural gas from oil wells in shale formations like the Eagle Ford in Texas and the Bakken in North Dakota has been growing rapidly for several years. Some well developers have acted responsibly, ensuring that gas pipelines with enough capacity are in place at wells before oil…
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The Wait is Over, But the Job is Not Done: BLM’s New Rules for Fracking
Today, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management released its long-awaited updates of its rules for hydraulic fracturing in oil and gas development. It’s about time. As BLM Director Neil Kornze has put it: “The portfolio of oil and gas wells overseen by the BLM has expanded at the same time…