Oil, Coal, and Gas Regulations
Oil, gas, and coal are three of the most widely used energy sources in America. Unfortunately, all three take a terrible toll on human populations and the environment, both during the extraction process and use. Government agencies including the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) monitor and regulate these economic sectors, and numerous laws have been passed to address the negative externalities created by these industries.
Commentary
PG&E’s success in Washington led to failure in San Bruno
Cry Wolf Quotes
The proposed rule prescribes stricter requirements than the approach on which it is based (API Recommended Practice 75, Development of a Safety and Environmental Management Program for Offshore Operations and Facilities, or SEMP), and may generate significant difficulties for operators and contractors to abide by the rule.
...we are not supportive of the extensive, prescriptive regulations as proposed in this rule. We believe industry's current safety and environmental statistics demonstrate that the voluntary programs implemented since the adoption of API RP 75 have been and continue to be very successful.
The other thing that I want to mention by way of example, which is-which will, I am sure, be discussed by others in the industry, is the expansion of the Toxic Release Inventory to cover the oil and gas exploration in the production industry. The IOGCC has been opposed to this and has a committee working specifically to change the minds of the Environmental Protection Agency to do this unnecessary expansion. Not only would it unnecessarily expand the toxic release inventory to an industry that is not appropriate but it would dilute the whole good part of what the toxic release inventory is doing for the States.
[By exposing shipowners to an uninsurable level of liability, the act is] 'driving away from U.S. trading many responsible shipowners who may well possess the safest tankers and the most solid financial backing to cope with pollution damage claims.'
