Fossil fuel regulations in the United States
[1] Regulatory processes are established at the federal and state level due to the immense economic, socio-political and environmental impact of fossil fuel extraction and production.
[4] The Obama administration was made up of advocates for renewable energy and natural gas, while Donald Trump built his campaign on promises to revive the coal industry.
[6] On February 22, 2017 The Washington Post reported Scott Pruitt's potential conflicts of interest regarding the fossil fuel industry as he began his term as the appointed head of the EPA as part of the Trump administration.
[9] The term "phasing out" describes the gradual decrease in dependence on using fossil fuels as a major source of energy in the United States.
A gradual move towards renewable energy, such as wind and solar, has led to a decline in the use of fossil fuels because of their contribution to greenhouse gases.
Reasons for this shift include lower costs for natural gas, Cap-and-trade policies, and a carbon tax in some areas of the country.
If the United States effectively phases out fossil fuels, tons of energy in the form of oil, coal, and natural gas will be left untouched under the surface of the ground.
[14] Most notably, on March 28, 2017, Trump signed the Energy Independence Executive Order designed to get rid of the Clean Power Plan initiated by President Obama.
[11] The majority of oil and gas regulations in the United States determine at what points in the processing procedure different organizations can claim ownership of the material.
[16] The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration within the United States Department of Commerce developed a graphic[17] of the largest oil spills impacting U.S. waters up since 1969.
[19] BP agreed to financial compensation for the damage they caused, including payouts to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Trust.
BP decided on the oil dissolving chemical Corexit which was shown by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to be neither the most or least toxic option.
The County Director of Emergency management believed "the majority of people living along the river won't be impacted by the settlement.
[32] Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prevents a company from not hiring someone on the basis of race, sex, religion, or national origin[33] applies to oil rig workers.
[39] Such safety regulations are also important for fenceline communities which are disproportionately impacted by the pollution generated by refining facilities and in which people of color tend to be the majority.
[59] The Environmental Protection Administration monitors and controls the emissions from coal-fired power plants to ensure public health and air quality.
[61] While monitoring and controlling environmental releases of plants has been difficult, the EPA has been enforcing their policies regarding air quality over the last decade under President Barack Obama.
[63] Even though regulations seek to address environmental impacts, they often do not provide remedy for the social and health disparities created by exposure to emissions from electric power plants.
With more advanced technologies, the environmental burdens become larger with increased emissions of particulate matter and acid rain deposition linked to coal mining.
[66] The repeal of President Obama's Stream Protection Rule could possibly endanger species by polluting ecosystems and thereby harming biodiversity.
[67] Ecological effects of coal mining include contamination of water, destruction of habitats, leaching, soil erosion and subsidence.
[68] Uncertainty about the development of this debate sparks much global controversy and unclarity in the reactions and future prognoses of climate and environmental politics.
It is also considered the world's cleanest fossil fuel because it generates the least air pollution and releases the least carbon dioxide per unit of energy than oil or coal.
[74] Also environmental organizations that were trying to get the government to cut carbon emissions but didn't want to call for complete energy cutbacks, settled for advocating natural gas use as a "bridge fuel" into a renewable future.
[78] The industry pushed to drill more natural gas in more places, because they believed that they had the technology, expertise, and need as well as the fact that tremendous energy and profit could be made from more sites.
[74] It wasn't until severe public outlash and large demonstrations from mainstream media and environmental groups that Obama released a Climate Action Plan in 2013.
[82] In respect to natural gas, this plan will attempt to “take advantage of the estimated $50 trillion in untapped shale, oil, and natural gas reserves, especially those on federal lands that the American people own.”[82] However, even though Trump plans on opening some of these lands closed to drilling, analysts believe that this would not only be difficult with all the regulation but also would not increase revenue as much Trump believes it would.
As natural gas use and production as well as fracking have increased, the environmental and human health risks associated with it have become more apparent, which has made people doubt the cleanliness of the process.
[84] This is because the natural gas industry is encouraging continued reliance on fossil fuels, which they claim boosts the economy through its exports and job opportunities.
[85] The environmental justice aspect of this is that hydraulic fracturing sites are more likely to be located in places with a higher percentage of minority and low-income people.
