Sunday, March 22, 2015

New Regulations on Fracking

Although industry is upset and environmentalists sniff that they don't go far enough, the Obama administration has issued regulations on Fracking. This set of rules, which goes into effect in 90 days on Federal lands only, requires certain safeguards and tracks disposal of wastes. While this is a great start, I'm at least as interested in the regulations that are to come. According to the article linked above, we should soon see regulations on methane emissions around frack sites. If natural gas is to help reduce the emissions associated with climate change, we need to ensure that gases escaping the frack site are captured.