“The wolf will live with the lamb,

the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together . . .”

(Isaiah 11:6)

What does the Old Testament have to do with the oil business? It seems the EPA’s new rules on the capture of methane and volatile organic compounds resulting from fracking have generated favorable reviews by factions in our political world that do not ordinarily agree on anything. The rule is an unholy 588 pages, you are warned if you want to read it, but the reviews are interesting.

The New York Times described the rules as “a win for the environment, for the public and for industry”.

The Wall Street Journal , surprised, in an editorial entitled “The EPA’s Fracking Miracle” praised the EPA for using ‘restraint”.

The Mother Nature Network opined that “. . . somehow, against all odds, it seems to be working.” , in referring to the new rules. And further , “not everyone is thrilled, but no one seems outraged, either.

According to the American Petroleum Institute, “The EPA has made some improvements in the rules that allow our companies to continue reducing emissions while producing the oil and natural gas our country needs.

Not everyone is thrilled, or even satisfied. The Bloomberg Report asked, “Does the Obama administration care about air quality? It isn’t always easy to tell . . ”, complaining that the rule will not go into effect until 2015.  Several other editorials and articles reveal serious areas of disagreement, and there are plenty of other dissenters. The Houston Chronicle reported on a few.   But the relative harmony suggests that much could be gained by common sense and compromise.

Wolves and lions being what they are, the story isn’t over (Remember the scorpion who hitched a ride across the river with the frog. It was a bad ending for the frog). It doesn’t matter who you consider to be the wolves and lions in the national debate over our energy future. One could predict that they will join the lambs and the calves in the celestial choir only until the next regulation, or environmental mishap, or election.