Energy News Beat
Larry Kudlow: ‘Global warming is a hoax’
Fox Business host Larry Kudlow unloads on the Biden administration’s environmental agenda and EV push on ‘America Reports.’
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The Biden administration unveiled a new regulatory proposal Friday that would introduce a new tax on the fossil fuel industry, punishing producers that exceed a certain level of methane emissions.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which spearheaded the proposal, said it will help “tackle wasteful methane emissions” from the oil and gas sector, encouraging facilities with the highest emissions levels to meet or exceed higher levels of performance. The proposed rules would create the so-called Waste Emissions Charge, which begins at $900 per metric ton of wasteful emissions in 2024, and increases to $1,200 for 2025 and $1,500 for 2026 and beyond.
“Under President Biden’s leadership, EPA is delivering on a comprehensive strategy to reduce wasteful methane emissions that endanger communities and fuel the climate crisis,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. “Today’s proposal, when finalized, will support a complementary set of technology standards and historic resources from the Inflation Reduction Act, to incentivize industry innovation and prompt action.”
The announcement was immediately applauded by green groups and Democratic congressional leaders, including Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Tom Carper, D-Del., who said the proposal would “slow climate change and protect our one and only planet.”
Fred Krupp, the president of the Environmental Defense Fund, added that implementing a methane fee was a “common sense” move to cut emissions across the economy.
For years, environmentalists and Democrats have called for stricter regulations targeting methane, which activists refer to as a “super pollutant” and which is far more potent than carbon dioxide. In its announcement Friday, the EPA added that reducing methane emissions was among the most important actions the U.S. could take to “slow the rate of rapidly rising global temperatures.”
However, EPA’s proposal was met with disapproval from the fossil fuel industry, which characterized it as a “punitive tax increase.”
A natural gas flare burns near an oil pump jack at the New Harmony Oil Field in Grayville, Illinois, on June 19, 2022. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“While we support smart federal methane regulation, this proposal creates an incoherent, confusing regulatory regime that will only stifle innovation and undermine our ability to meet rising energy demand,” Meyer added. “We look forward to working with Congress to repeal the IRA’s misguided new tax on American energy.”
For the rest of the Story: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-admin-issues-new-natural-gas-tax-latest-fossil-fuel-crackdown
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