The War on Cow Farts: CA adopts nation's strictest methane rules

Yesterday the California Air Resources Board voted unanimously to approve the strictest methane emissions rules in the United States.

The regulations, which take effect in January 2018, tighten efficiency requirements for the production and transportation of natural gas and for some oil-handling equipment.

They call for a 40% reduction in methane and fluorinated gases, and a 50% reduction in non-forest black carbon emissions by 2030.

They also require more effective monitoring and reporting of potential leaks so they can be located and fixed quickly.

With possible cuts coming to the EPA, environmentalists and Air Board believe its the state's responsibility to crack down on methane.

Environmental Defense Fund director Tim O'Connor, who's group helped come up with the regulations, said:

"If the federal government won't protect the people and the environment from oil and gas pollution, it has to be up to the states."

That's all well and good, but where they hell was Jerry Brown when Porter Ranch was trapped under a cloud of methane?

We barely heard from him!

Read more from Scientific American.


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