A study published by the University of Texas finds that regulating methane pollution from oil and gas sites in Texas could create as many as 35,000 jobs. Texas is the top methane polluting state in the country, and the state’s Permian Basin is one of the largest oil and gas producing regions in the world. The researchers find a significant workforce is needed to detect leaks, replace and fix components that are typically leaky parts of oil and gas wells, and plug and cap abandoned well sites.
“We want to show that environmental policies are not job killers,” Christopher Agbo told Inside Climate News. “You can create tens of thousands of good-paying, family-sustaining union jobs while also cutting back on emissions.” The EPA’s methane regulations that will be finalized later this year would cut methane pollution 87 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, and the methane fee included in the Inflation Reduction Act is also slated to start in 2024. Sources: (Inside Climate News, Gizmodo)
Courtesy of Nexus Media. By Josh Goldman
US Power Grid Faces Tough Summer From Extreme Heat
The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) is warning that much of the US is at risk for power outages if the summer is as hot as scientists are forecasting. This marks the agency’s most expansive warning yet as the coming heat could limit the western US from transferring electricity within the region, further straining electricity supply. Only a few regions of the U.S. may be spared from power outages, according to NERC. “The system is close to its edge,” John Moura, a director at NERC told the Washington Post. “More needs to be done to bolster the system’s resilience.”
Investment in more and better electricity transmission is needed as a solution, but interstate disputes over transmission infrastructure siting and supply chain challenges have slowed the transmission permitting process. “There is a huge amount of wind and solar waiting in the queues,” Ric O’Connell, executive director of GridLab told the Washington Post. “We have not been able to bring it online fast enough to replace retiring plants. We need to move faster.” Climate change currently causes rare heat waves to be 3 to 5°F warmer over most of the U.S., and by 2050, U.S. heat waves could be an extra 3 to 5°F warmer. (Utility Dive, Bloomberg $, Washington Post $; Climate Signals: Heat)
Courtesy of Nexas Media.
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