Moms Clean Air Force Calls This a “Major Win” for the Health of Colorado Families
Contact: DKC News, MomsCleanAirForce@dkcnews.com
Denver, CO– Last Friday, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission voted unanimously to adopt existing source methane standards for oil and gas operations – making Colorado the first state in the nation to fully adopt the 2024 EPA Methane Rule. Moms Clean Air Force worked tirelessly to build public support for the 2024 federal rule and subsequently for state implementation by collaborating with partners to submit sign-on letters and public comments – ensuring community voices were included in the record.
In response, Colorado Field Organizer Laurie Anderson released the following statement:
“As a mom, my priority is protecting the health and wellbeing of my children, but living in a frontline community within Colorado’s ozone nonattainment area has made that increasingly difficult. Today’s adoption of Colorado’s rules implementing the federal methane standards is a major win for clean air, public health, and families – like mine – who live near oil and gas development. While Coloradans can celebrate these protections, the Trump administration is actively working to roll back federal methane safeguards – putting children and families across the rest of the country at risk from harmful oil and gas pollution. Every child deserves protection from this pollution.”
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that is responsible for about a third of the climate change we’re experiencing today, and cutting those emissions is the best way to slow the rate of climate change in our lifetime. Colorado remains in severe ozone non-attainment in the Denver Metro and Northern Front Range and reducing methane pollution also reduces ozone-forming co-pollutants. Breathing ozone can irritate the lungs, reduce lung function, and trigger asthma attacks and worsen respiratory diseases such as asthma and emphysema.
While the Trump Administration is actively working to roll back the 2024 EPA Methane Rule, Colorado has demonstrated that oil and gas producing states can successfully implement these rules at the state level. If we are going to reduce methane pollution and protect our families, and our climate, oil and gas producing states must follow Colorado’s lead.
→ FACT SHEET: Methane 101