One year ago today at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced a major milestone in the fight to cut methane pollution nationwide: the final EPA rule to reduce methane waste from the oil and gas sector. Moms’ Danielle Berkowitz-Sklar was there to witness the moment.
“The excitement in the room that day was palpable. I kept thinking this is a testament to more than a decade of tireless advocacy by Moms Clean Air Force, supported in the two years leading up to it by over 100 testimonies and a staggering 50,000 written comments to EPA in favor of the strongest possible protections. Grassroots advocacy does effect change,” says Danielle.
Announcing this rule at COP28 made sense: it has global impact and helps the U.S. meet its goal of reducing methane pollution 30% by 2030. And we must hit this goal. Methane is a potent climate pollutant that causes global warming much faster than carbon dioxide (CO2). Cutting methane emissions is critical in the fight to slow down climate warming.
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The EPA methane rule cannot be repealed by the incoming 119th Congress, but federal rules are only as good as their implementation at the state level. Under this rule, states have two years to develop an implementation plan to meet or exceed the federal standard. Moms are working across the country to ensure state authorities are moving quickly to write and execute plans that will allow localities to reap the public health and environmental benefits of reducing oil and gas pollution.
These plans are especially important in oil and gas states like Pennsylvania, which rely on strong federal rules to be able to protect local communities not only from methane pollution but from other air pollutants released with methane—volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, and hydrogen sulfide, for example. Air pollution associated with oil and gas operations can increase the risk of certain cancers, lead to preterm birth and low birth weight, and exacerbate respiratory issues like asthma. Methane and its co-pollutants also contribute to the formation of ozone pollution, a.k.a. smog, which can aggravate asthma and other lung diseases.
“As a mother who lives with oil and gas operations in my Pennsylvania community, I am acutely aware of how important methane rules are to protect children’s health and safety,” says Moms’ National Field Director Patrice Tomcik. “As a parent of a cancer survivor, I fear for my son’s health every day as he goes to school a half mile from fracked gas wells, knowing that exposure to oil and gas air pollution could put him at a greater risk of having cancer again. A strong state implementation plan in Pennsylvania will help clean up the air to protect children’s health in my community.”
The EPA rule works to cut pollution by requiring monitoring for leaks from oil and gas wells regardless of size, use of zero-emission equipment in oil and gas operations, elimination of routine gas flaring at large wells, and the creation of a Super Emitter Program, in which a third party monitors for major emissions events and notifies both communities and oil and gas operators quickly and efficiently. Together, these elements of the rule are a huge step forward in protecting health and the environment. In fact, it is estimated that this rule will avoid nearly 1,500 premature deaths and 97,000 cases of asthma symptoms each year.
“These are the types of health benefits Moms want to see for all families,” says Celerah Hewes, a Moms’ National Field Manager and oil and gas expert. “While states like New Mexico and Colorado already have nation-leading rules on methane emissions and ozone pollution from oil and gas production, our work at Moms Clean Air Force is not done until every family across our country is afforded the same protections. That’s why we’ve been advocating for the last year to get the EPA rule swiftly implemented in oil and gas states and why we’ll continue this advocacy until strong implementation plans are passed nationally.”