Re: Controlling methane emissions, Feb. 21 guest commentary.
Methane releases from oil and gas production are just one contributor to global warming, deserving of reduction. However, a Balkanized approach — each state enacting a set of regulations, federal agencies another set — cannot slash greenhouse gases adequately.
If I trim my shrubbery and trees to reduce fire danger, but my neighbor does not — what have I achieved? A temporary reprieve for my house perhaps, but there goes the neighborhood.
Better than national regulation on methane leakage from existing oil and gas infrastructure, as argued by Dan Grossman, would be national legislation on hydrocarbon production and thereby on hydrocarbon combustion, ultimately the premier cause of a warming planet. Last year continued the upward trend of warming, and January 2016 smashed all records for monthly heat. Congress must act to set a price on hydrocarbons, bypassing the onerous chore of writing and enforcing regulations, and driving the scale of change now necessary to keep the planet from running a fever.
Phil Nelson, Golden
This letter was published in the Fab. 28 edition.
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