Republicans blasted the Obama administration’s latest attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions Thursday by targeting oil and gas fracking wells.
“EPA continues to go out of its way to target abundant American energy,” said leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, after the Environmental Protection Agency finalized rules to cut methane from new fracking wells, while starting a new effort to develop regulations for the fleet of existing wells.
“This new set of rules will add significant burdens and costs to an already highly regulated industry,” said the joint Republican statement. “Our economy is already on shaky ground, and more layers of federal regulation will only serve to threaten existing jobs and discourage new domestic production.”
The statement included energy committee Chairman Fred Upton of Michigan and subcommittee leaders Ed Whitfield, of Kentucky, and John Shimkus, of Illinois. “We will continue to review the legality and merits behind EPA’s regulatory bonanza and the potential impacts on consumers. It’s time for the administration to finally embrace policies that say yes to energy and yes to jobs,” they added.
The rules for new wells will go into effect this year, while the regulations for existing wells likely will be rolled out during the next administration, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said on a call with reporters.
She says the rules are based on sound legal grounds and will survive any likely court challenge.
Environmental groups said the effort is just a beginning step and far more action must be taken to reduce methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas that is short-lived but 25 times as powerful as carbon dioxide.
Thursday’s rules are part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, a broad agenda to combat the effects of global warming.
Many scientists blame greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels for raising the Earth’s temperature, resulting in devastating sea-level rise.
