Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Big oil tries to avoid methane accountability
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Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Methane flaring in West Texas. Photo: Jonathan Cutrer, CC-BY 2.0 ([link removed])

The oil industry is worried about a Biden administration plan to crack down on methane super emitters. Reuters reports ([link removed]) that industry groups are opposed to an EPA proposal that would let approved third parties with remote sensing technology report large methane leaks.

Companies that are notified of the leaks would have to take corrective actions within 10 days—a timeline that oil CEOs would rather stretch out, knowing that the EPA is notoriously understaffed ([link removed]) and unable to respond quickly on its own.

"Our concerns are ultimately that this kind of program can have a chilling effect on companies' ability to work with EPA," Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute, said on Monday ([link removed]) . The American Exploration and Production Council said in its written comments that it specifically objected to letting "private entities, such as activist NGO groups" publicly report super emitters and require follow up action by polluters.

It's clear why oil companies would worry about more methane transparency and accountability. Last year, the Environmental Defense Fund and Carbon Mapper used methane detection technology to locate 30 methane super emitters ([link removed]) across the Permian Basin in New Mexico and Texas. Those sites account for only 0.001 percent of the Permian's oil and gas infrastructure but emit around 100,000 tons of methane every year ([link removed]) .


** Clarification
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Tuesday's Look West referenced a Colorado Newsline article ([link removed]) with concerns from the National Parks Conservation Association about Bureau of Land Management plans to lease 60,000 acres of land west of Rocky Mountain National Park. That particular lease sale was offered in 2019, not 2023.
Quick hits


** Colorado may create state building codes on wildfire-prone areas
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])


** Bogus “no trespassing” signs could carry $50,000 fines in Wyoming
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Cowboy State Daily ([link removed])


** Sportsmen decry Montana bill removing marijuana tax from habitat funding
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Missoula Current ([link removed])


** Biden: Oil and gas are “not going to all go away”
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Murkowski warns Biden against trying to shrink Willow oil and gas project
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Alaska Public Media ([link removed])


** California's snowpack is melting faster than ever, leaving less available water
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])


** Reward offered for suspects who vandalized dinosaur tracks on Utah/Arizona border
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12News ([link removed]) | KSL ([link removed])


** How humans break up wolf packs
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High Country News ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” We hire people that crawl into caves. There’s parks with archaeologists. There’s parks with people that dress up in period costumes and speak only in a particular time period … there’s the underwater archaeologists.”
—Timpanogos Cave National Monument program manager Cami McKinney on what it takes to be a park ranger, Deseret News ([link removed])
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** @usfws ([link removed])
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Love is a gentle nuzzle in a flowering meadow 💚🤎💜

Photo: Diana Robinson

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