Methane Mitigation in Texas Could Create Thousands of Jobs in the Oil and Gas Sector

[RV_]

This is a current Texas project/Texas report and the reports below are written by Texans from 2023. It will be interesting to follow even though I have no skin in this game.

Excerpt:

"Texas officials have vowed to oppose federal regulations aimed at reducing methane emissions from oil and gas operations. But a new report says plugging leaks and upgrading wells is poised to be a big business in the Lone Star State.

May 17, 2023

A pump jack works in Texas' Permian Basin as the EPA proposes a new rule to reduce methane leaks in oil and gas operations. Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

A new report finds that methane regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency  could spur job growth in Texas as oil and gas operators measure, monitor and mitigate the harmful greenhouse gas.

While Texas officials argue the methane regulations would kill jobs, the report, published today by the Texas Climate Jobs Project and the Ray Marshall Center at the University of Texas, Austin, found that new federal methane regulations could create between 19,000 and 35,000 jobs in the state. 

Oil and gas producing regions, including the Permian Basin, would need a significant workforce to detect methane leaks, replace components known to leak the gas and plug abandoned wells. Previous research shows the methane mitigation industry is already growing.

In the absence of state methane rules, the EPA’s draft methane rule, first issued in November 2021 and strengthened in a supplemental filing last November, along with a new methane fee under the Inflation Reduction Act, will have a major impact on oil and gas operations in the Lone Star state. 

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17052023/texas-methane-epa-regulations-jobs/

That report link is above but I will excerpt some of the PDF:

Texas Climate Jobs Project 2023
MITIGATING METHANE IN TEXAS: REDUCING EMISSIONS, CREATING JOBS, AND RAISING STANDARDS
Estimating the number of direct jobs needed in Texas to address methane emissions and new EPA regulations.
Greg Cumpton, PhD
Director of the Ray Marshall Center
Christopher Agbo
Texas Climate Jobs Project

 

"This report is dedicated to Texas oil and gas workers, whose hard work has powered our lives, and whose experience in the oil fields and refineries are essential for our clean energy transition. 

A special thank you to High Tide Foundation and Sobrato Foundation who made this research possible, as well as the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters for their guidance on what it means to have a good job.

This report was produced using funds provided by Texas Climate Jobs Project: https://www.txclimatejobs.org/ . Viewpoints expressed in this report reflect those of the author and do not express those of the funding organization.

"FOREWORD
Texans have to navigate the reality of economic inequality and climate change every day. The data is clear: addressing climate change presents a win-win opportunity for workers and communities in this state. This report, which is the result of efforts from researchers at the Texas Climate Jobs Project and the University of Texas’s Ray Marshall Center, shows clearly that mitigating methane emissions will create high quality union jobs here in Texas, raise labor standards in our communities and at the same time, decrease pollution right here in our state.

Texas is the largest producer of oil and gas in the United States. At the same time, it is also the largest emitter of methane in the country. Methane is a greenhouse gas that contributes to the pollution and warming of our planet’s atmosphere. To ensure a better future, it is crucial that we decrease our methane emissions, especially those that result from leaks and other unintentional sources. Federal action, such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and pro-posed updates to the EPA methane rule, is encouraging substantial growth. Overall, this report concludes that mitigating methane in Texas could create approximately 35,000 new jobs in the state.

But Texas is a perilous environment for workers. In 2021, the Texas construction industry had 127 fatalities, which is more than mining, transportation, and manufacturing. One in five construction workers have reported suffering a workplace injury that required medical attention and sixty percent lack essential health and safety training. Moreover, Texas does not require employers to provide workers’ compensation. These exploitative practices in the Texas construction industry can not carry over into the methane mitigation industry.

Methane mitigation is an industry that could create many jobs for Texans that can im-prove job standards in our state. This report calls on local leaders and policymakers to ensure that the jobs created from the methane mitigation industry are family-sustaining jobs filled with highly trained workers. Achieving this will require enforcing Davis-Bacon, implementing Project Labor Agreements, Labor Peace Agreements, Department of Labor registered apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeship programs, and collaborating with Workforce Development Boards. Methane mitigation has the potential to address a myriad of economic and environmental challenges and Texas has the opportunity to be a leader in creating high-quality union jobs in the industry.

Rick Levy
President, Texas AFL-CIO"

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report examines the number of jobs needed in Texas to both meet the needs of
new EPA regulations related to methane emissions and to more broadly address meth-
ane emissions from investigated sources. This report estimates that there is a need for
a minimum of 19,478 workers to implement the proposed standards in the EPA’s new
proposed methane rule and a maximum of 35,006 workers to address methane emis-
sions more thoroughly in Texas. Reducing methane emissions from oil and gas drilling
and processing would provide significant numbers of jobs to Texas, adding between 6%
and 9% to the number employed in this industry in 2022.
Methane is a greenhouse gas that contributes to the warming of the earth’s atmo-
sphere and it is emitted in several industries such as agriculture, coal mining and oil
and gas. Due to Texas’ position as the country’s largest oil and gas producer, it emits
the highest amount of methane among all 50 states. Recognizing the importance of
curbing methane emissions, the Biden administration has proposed policies to miti-
gate methane emissions in the oil and gas industry. Such efforts include the proposed
EPA methane rule, which lays out new standards for equipment and facilities in the oil
and gas supply chain, and federal funding for states to plug orphan wells. These efforts
will help mitigate methane emissions in the oil and gas sector.
The jobs created to mitigate methane will be located in areas where oil and gas pro-
duction in the state is concentrated, including areas such as the Permian Basin, East

 

Texas Climate Jobs Project

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)
Congress passed the Regrow Act as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
which includes funding for plugging orphan wells across the country. This includes $1.15
billion from the Department of Interior for states to clean up abandoned wells.26 There
are more than 81,000 abandoned wells in the country, emitting at least 7-20 million
tons of CO2 equivalent of methane per year.27 Texas has 6,489 of these wells and could
receive over $82 million in federal grants to plug these wells.28
Furthermore, the Department of Interior announced an additional $33 million invest-
ment to plug and reclaim orphaned oil and gas wells in national parks, forests, wildlife
refuges, and other public lands.29 Texas is one of the states that is supposed to receive
this funding, with the state slated for 20 projects.30 Some of these projects include the
Angelina National Forest in East Texas, which has nine wells, and the Big Thicket Nation-
al Reserve in Southeast Texas, which includes seven wells."

 

That interesting PDF is here:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60e76bd34e5317302f87f357/t/645d1db64453b27b47622494/1683824055315/TCJP+Methane+Report+2023.pdf

Edited May 21, 2023 by RV_

[RV_]

Related - "Time to check your Air Conditioning/heating systems before the rush for replacement systems/parts?

Excerpt:

"Global Temperatures To Reach New Records In Next 5 Years

Excerpt:

"Geneva, 17 May 2023 (WMO) — Global temperatures are likely to surge to record levels in the next five years, fueled by heat-trapping greenhouse gases and a naturally occurring El Niño event, according to a new update issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

 

There is a 66% likelihood that the annual average near-surface global temperature between 2023 and 2027 will be more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for at least one year. There is a 98% likelihood that at least one of the next five years, and the five-year period as a whole, will be the warmest on record.

 

“This report does not mean that we will permanently exceed the 1.5°C level specified in the Paris Agreement which refers to long-term warming over many years. However, WMO is sounding the alarm that we will breach the 1.5°C level on a temporary basis with increasing frequency,” said WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas.

 

“A warming El Niño is expected to develop in the coming months and this will combine with human-induced climate change to push global temperatures into uncharted territory,” he said. “This will have far-reaching repercussions for health, food security, water management and the environment. We need to be prepared,” said Prof. Taalas.

 

There is only a 32% chance that the five-year mean will exceed the 1.5°C threshold, according to the Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update produced by the United Kingdom’s Met Office, the WMO lead centre for such predictions.

 

The chance of temporarily exceeding 1.5°C has risen steadily since 2015, when it was close to zero. For the years between 2017 and 2021, there was a 10% chance of exceedance.

 

“Global mean temperatures are predicted to continue increasing, moving us away further and further away from the climate we are used to,” said Dr Leon Hermanson, a Met Office expert scientist who led the report.

 

Key points

The average global temperature in 2022 was about 1.15°C above the 1850–1900 average. The cooling influence of La Niña conditions over much of the past three years temporarily reined in the longer-term warming trend. But La Niña ended in March 2023 and an El Niño is forecast to develop in the coming months. Typically, El Niño increases global temperatures in the year after it develops — in this case this would be 2024.

 

The annual mean global near-surface temperature for each year between 2023 and 2027 is predicted to be between 1.1°C and 1.8°C higher than the 1850–1900 average. This is used as a baseline because it was before the emission of greenhouse gases from human and industrial activities.

 

There is a 98% chance of at least one in the next five years beating the temperature record set in 2016, when there was an exceptionally strong El Niño.

 

The chance of the five-year mean for 2023–2027 being higher than the last five years is also 98%.

 

Arctic warming is disproportionately high. Compared to the 1991–2020 average, the temperature anomaly is predicted to be more than three times as large as the global mean anomaly when averaged over the next five northern hemisphere extended winters.

 

Predicted precipitation patterns for the May to September 2023–2027 average, compared to the 1991–2020 average, suggest increased rainfall in the Sahel, northern Europe, Alaska and northern Siberia, and reduced rainfall for this season over the Amazon and parts of Australia.

 

Source:

https://cleantechnica.com/2023/05/19/global-temperatures-to-reach-records-highs-in-next-5-years/

[Ray,IN]

Very interesting and informative, thanks Derek!

[durangodon]

Well, I'm glad I clicked on this thread.  By reading the title, I thought someone was wanting us to quit eating beef again.  🙂

[RV_]

11 hours ago, durangodon said:

Well, I'm glad I clicked on this thread.  By reading the title, I thought someone was wanting us to quit eating beef again.  🙂

😅😂