An invisible, odorless gas is pitting Texas against the Biden administration

[hurl]

Odessa, Texas (CNN) - Deep in the heart of Texas, above an oil patch about the size of Kansas, a little team in a small plane is trying to reveal a big problem.

They are methane hunters. With an infrared camera and a Picarro Cavity Ring-Down Laser Spectroscope, they fly spirals over pumps and compressor stations that stretch to both horizons. With each tight corkscrew, the little airplane sniffs out and measures planet-cooking, climate-changing pollution as the region below braces for an energy revolution amid a cold civil war.
...
"I'm in Midland to make clear that Texas is going to protect the oil and gas industry from any type of hostile attack launched from Washington, DC," (Texas Republican Governor) Abbott said, days after Biden signed his first round of executive orders aimed at a climate in crisis.

Then the Republican governor signed an executive order of his own, commanding every state agency to bring him every reason to sue and stop the Biden administration's clean energy efforts. In calling out cities like San Francisco, where a movement to ban natural gas heaters and appliances from new construction is growing, Abbott vowed to ban all bans.

Way much more at link.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/05/us/climate-crisis-texas-methane-emissions-weir-wxc/index.html

Response from former Democratic candidate in my district:

"It’s not a Solar Power Vs. Fossil Fuel argument.
Rather it’s a ‘who’s illegally dumping deadly toxic gases into the atmosphere’ issue.
Big Oils [sic] dilemma is that sometimes there’s more methane at the wellhead than there is oil, enough free methane to heat 2,000,000 American homes a year.
But they don’t want you to use free & low cost methane, because that’s bad for business, so they just dump it into the environment.
Oil & Gas isn’t bad. I happen to love what O&G allows us to do. It’s the money grubbing administration of it that’s dangerous. The free wheeling, profit worshipping, no regulation campaign seeking capitalists that are threatening the world with their unlimited greed.
When they refuse to protect us, we should either tax their profits more aggressively or seize and nationalize their production and give it all to the taxpayers to are paying for the cleanup costs.
Pollution inherent jobs are temporary jobs.
Green inherent jobs pay just as well - and are permanent."

[jaxexpat]

1. That's pretty sciencey there pardner.

What are the o & g boys gonna do without an environment to screw up? Looks like your forcing them into public homicide cause how else are they gonna get their thrills?

[BelieveCassandra]

2. Chrysta Castaneda (D) ran for a position on the Railroad Commission of Texas in 2020

She brought up these same issues, and she had visionary, innovative, and pragmatic ideas to address these problems.

She has a law degree, an engineering degree, years of experience in the oil and gas industry, and she lost
to the good old boy Republican. I hope that Chrysta Castañeda runs again or finds a way to get her ideas promoted.