Here is the loop hole the Republicans enforce through refusal to recognize the climate crisis.

The Republicans deny the reality of the climate crisis or simply say it has nothing to do with anthropogenic emissions to keep their cronies and their political treasuries full of money. It is corruption, deception of the public and half truths leading to half measures that maintain danger to people. 

There you have it. Republicans don't care about the truth, hence, they care less for the American people. As long as they can slide half truths before the people they'll do it. 

The methane regulations are important, need to remain in practice and the courts will have to end the lies and deceptions of the Republican party. Imagine being concerned about ESTABLISHED AND KNOWN methane leaks and the state and federal government laughs and walks away because the wind hasn't carried into the lungs of people nearby.

August 10, 2017

By Amy Sisk

...Methane is a greenhouse gas (click here) far more potent than carbon dioxide. Some residents of the Bakken oil patch, like Lisa DeVille, are concerned it’s harming the quality of the air. DeVille is a board member of local watchdog Dakota Resource Council and president of affiliate Fort Berthold Protectors of Water and Earth Rights.

Last year, she stood at a well site near her home in Mandaree with an infrared camera, which can detect gas leaks. She saw a plume on screen coming from one of the tank batteries next to the well.

“I knew how toxic they were,” she said. “But just to witness it on this camera, it’s like, this is what we’re breathing?”

The Dakota Resource Council has released a new report highlighting its concerns about these leaks. The group wants federal methane rules to go into effect to limit pollution they say is “endangering the health of communities across North Dakota.”

But state health officials point to their own air monitors, which show the leaks have not harmed air quality across the oil patch.

The air is healthy to breathe, even for people living close to oil well sites, said Jim Semerad, manager of permitting and compliance for the North Dakota Department of Health’s Division of Air Quality.

“Our monitors that are portable haven’t shown dramatic rises off site,” he said. “I haven’t seen anything that would cause me concern for those folks.”...