The EPA’s recent move is commendable

May 18, 2021 Letters

Dear Editor,
The progress being made by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is commendable. It should be noted that the US Administration has recently in March this year increased the social cost of carbon to $51 per ton. In addition, the fines for methane and nitrous oxide are now at $1,500 and $18,000 per ton respectively. All figures being in USD. The social impact cost of these pollutants are expected to almost double by 2050.
The EPA in the USA will revisit the costs once again next year and the EPA in Guyana should follow suit with annual revisions to the fines imposed on oil and gas producers.
The thorough work being done by the US administration should be benchmarked so as to capture the impact on the lungs of the planet of not just CO2, but also methane and nitrous oxide.
Our EPA is in the early stages of development, but this benchmarking process could help it progress much faster in policy development. This will help bring producers back in line with globally acceptable practices to safeguard our environment.
Congratulations to the EPA for taking the first steps towards ensuring the pollution in the Oil & Gas Sector is kept to a minimum.
As for the current contract restrictions in place that may be used to limit new fines from being implemented, it is clear that the permit process must stipulate that without the acceptance of the new fine structure and its annual revisions no new permit will be issued.
This should provide enough grounds upon which to make an amendment to the existing contracts with oil and gas producers such as Exxon, thus allowing for the implementation of the new fine structure to existing and new drilling operations.
Yours truly,
Jamil Changlee

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News