HB 23-03: Methane and Nitrous Oxide Regulation Act (Tabled)

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Methane and Nitrous Oxide Regulation Act

1. The Republic of Atlasia hereby recognizes that methane and nitrous oxide contribute to climate change
2. Production of the Nitrous Oxide combustion engine will gradually be banned
3. Clause 2 shall occur over a period of ten years, with the first two years, phasing out the production of the engine, and the last eight years creating a buyback program for existing engines
4. Hydrauling fracking shall be phased out over a 3 year period.
5. This law shall begin to take effect, 3 months after being signed by the President

Sponsor: Citizen (S019)
House Designation: HB 23-03

72 hours to debate.

[cinyc]

No thanks. This is yet more green insanity that I will be vigorously opposing. No, we don't need to ban cars. And no, we can't do it within 2 years. And no, fracking shouldn't be banned.

The economy doesn't run on rainbows and unicorn farts.

Motion to table.

[RC]

I'd rather this be a fracking ban bill, not submitting this, but as it is below this is very little to work with.

Methane and Nitrous Oxide Regulation Act

1. The Republic of Atlasia hereby recognizes that methane and nitrous oxide contribute to climate change
2. Production of the Nitrous Oxide combustion engine will gradually be banned
3. Clause 2 shall occur over a period of ten years, with the first two years, phasing out the production of the engine, and the last eight years creating a buyback program for existing engines

4. Hydrauling fracking shall be phased out over a 3 year period.
5. This law shall begin to take effect, 3 months after being signed by the President

[Blair]

We're dealing with fracking in the Green New Deal Bill & I'm biased as I wrote it but I believe that the amendment in the other bill is better & the correct way to deal with this.

[cinyc]

We're dealing with fracking in the Green New Deal Bill & I'm biased as I wrote it but I believe that the amendment in the other bill is better & the correct way to deal with this.

Which is yet another reason why I think this bill should be tabled.

[Lumine]

I would second focusing efforts to deal with fracking on the other bill, particularly as progress is being made - as of the latest amendment - to find a reasonable way to enact it.

[S019]

So, as the citizen who wrote this bill, I just want to clarify what it does. This bill aims to limit the greenhouse gases known as methane and nitrous oxide. Also, it bans fracking, which not only contributes to climate change, but also has other negative side effects such as contaminating drinking water and it has been linked to increased earthquake activity. Simply, the world is a better place with less fracking and thus less methane, and less nitrous oxide. This is not “green insanity,” this is a basic measure to fight climate change. I am appalled that a Representative thinks that fracking should not be banned. Fracking has many negative effects and should absolutely be banned. I urge the House to act and pass this bill to fight climate change!

[cinyc]

So, as the citizen who wrote this bill, I just want to clarify what it does. This bill aims to limit the greenhouse gases known as methane and nitrous oxide. Also, it bans fracking, which not only contributes to climate change, but also has other negative side effects such as contaminating drinking water and it has been linked to increased earthquake activity. Simply, the world is a better place with less fracking and thus less methane, and less nitrous oxide. This is not “green insanity,” this is a basic measure to fight climate change. I am appalled that a Representative thinks that fracking should not be banned. Fracking has many negative effects and should absolutely be banned. I urge the House to act and pass this bill to fight climate change!

Fracking provides thousands of Atlasians with high-paying jobs, and allows us to transition to a lower carbon fuel (natural gas) than the alternatives. Again, you can't heat your home with rainbows and unicorn farts. You need a fuel source. Gas is better than oil, which is better than coal. So if you believe in global warming, you should be trying to get people to transition to natural gas, not substitute oil because you've banned fracking and now oil is cheaper.

Plus, your bill seems to ban cars. In the real world, we need cars to go to work, go to the grocery store and bring kids to and from school. There is no humanly possible way to get rid of all gas powered cars in 2 years. The infrastructure to charge electric cars isn't robust enough. And how are you going to make electricity without new power plants? Banning fracking means any new plant will likely be oil or coal - which is worse than natural gas.

So, yes, this is green insanity.

Motion to table for the third time. It was seconded the last time.

[Fmr. Representative Encke]

Was waiting for the sponsor advocacy (which I had to DM Suburban to get) before commenting on this.

From what I can gather, there is no such thing as a 'nitrous oxide combustion engine;' there are nitrous oxide injection kits that can be purchased, but these are already illegal for road use in many states, and are often only allowed in racing contexts. In any case, a buyback would be stupid because cars don't come with these devices pre-installed. Furthermore, the sponsor's advocacy has not convinced me that the incredibly tiny number of auto enthusiasts who do install these devices on their cars are causing great harm to the environment by doing so.

Seconding the motion to table.

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Was waiting for the sponsor advocacy (which I had to DM Suburban to get) before commenting on this.

From what I can gather, there is no such thing as a 'nitrous oxide combustion engine;' there are nitrous oxide injection kits that can be purchased, but these are already illegal for road use in many states, and are often only allowed in racing contexts. In any case, a buyback would be stupid because cars don't come with these devices pre-installed. Furthermore, the sponsor's advocacy has not convinced me that the incredibly tiny number of auto enthusiasts who do install these devices on their cars are causing great harm to the environment by doing so.

Seconding the motion to table.

This confused me a little bit too. Nitrous is mostly just a novelty feature that people add to their cars to boost horsepower. People aren't commuting to work or any other daily business on nitrous.

I'd be interested to hear more from the sponsor about how big the environmental impact is before I commit either way, but this bill probably won't have much impact anyway. If people are making a big effort to add nitrous, they'll probably do it anyway.

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Again, you can't heat your home with rainbows and unicorn farts.

But you can run your car on laughing gas.

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With a second to the tabling motion, tabling vote begins.

72 hours

[Fmr. Representative Encke]

Aye

[cinyc]

Aye

[S019]

Providing a brief interjection, these engines do exist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrous_oxide_engine

Also I will just post this excerpt, which is allow you need to know

It is estimated that 30% of the N₂O in the atmosphere is the result of human activity, chiefly agriculture. Being the third most important long-lived greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide substantially contributes to global warming (Wikipedia).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrous_oxide

This article goes on to explain that this gas can have a similar effect as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) on the ozone layer.

And I think I've already clarified why fracking is bad for the environment

I think this should suffice as to why this is needed, and I hope that the opponents of this bill consider these important measures to fight climate change

[Blair]

aye

[Fmr. Representative Encke]

Providing a brief interjection, these engines do exist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrous_oxide_engine

Yes, I too have read the Wikipedia page. A 'nitrous oxide engine' is any engine that has been equipped with modifications to allow injection of nitrous oxide. This is consistent with what I stated above. Cars are not manufactured with these things pre-installed.

It is estimated that 30% of the N₂O in the atmosphere is the result of human activity, chiefly agriculture. Being the third most important long-lived greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide substantially contributes to global warming (Wikipedia).

Here's a pie chart of anthropogenic nitrous oxide emissions, accounting for 36% of total emissions (total = natural+anthropogenic). Transportation accounts for only 5% of the graph (1.8% of total emissions). In addition to this, N20 can be a byproduct of *all* combustion engines if the temperature is hot enough to oxidize nitrogen in the air. Therefore, only a tiny fraction of this 1.8% actually comes from engines running on pure N20.

[RC]

Aye

[Elcaspar]

Aye

[Lumine]

Aye.

[Leinad]

Aye

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Aye

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Tabled

8-0-0-1