CONTACT: Sasha Tenenbaum
Senior Manager, Media and Public Engagement
stenenbaum@momscleanairforce.org
(917) 887-0146
Today, President Biden and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the finalization of new EPA methane standards. These will establish comprehensive protections from methane and other harmful pollution for families living near new and existing oil and gas operations. Cutting methane emissions will reduce the release of associated toxic air pollutants known to cause significant health impacts in children and other vulnerable populations. The new EPA methane standards will also benefit everyone, globally, in reducing the U.S. contribution of methane to our dangerously changing climate.
Moms Clean Air Force has been fighting for oil and gas methane protections for over a decade. Our concern has been laser-focused on the damage done to people’s health, and to the destabilization of our climate. Today’s announcement is a testament to the impact of collective action by the hundreds of thousands of concerned people who submitted public comments over many years urging EPA to strengthen the methane protections. Thankfully, the Biden Administration and the EPA under Administrator Regan’s leadership have prioritized methane protections in their climate goals.
“As a mother who lives with oil and gas operations in my community and has fought for EPA methane rules for almost a decade, I am acutely aware of how important this action will be to protect children’s health and safety. Oil and gas operations emit climate-warming methane and other harmful pollutants that can increase the risk of severe health impacts, including respiratory illnesses and cancer, especially in children. 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,” says Patrice Tomcik, National Field Director for Moms Clean Air Force. “I applaud President Biden and EPA for their leadership on protecting children from the impacts of air pollution and climate change.”
Two short videos of Patrice Tomcik, Moms Clean Air Force’s National Field Director, speaking about the methane rule are available here for media use.
The new rules address the top two sources of methane pollution from the oil & gas industry by doing the following:
- Establishing strong leak detection and repair (LDAR) requirements, including requiring inspections at small wells with leak-prone equipment which are responsible for half of all methane emissions nationwide;
- Maintaining zero-emitting pneumatic equipment requirements.
In addition, these rules establish an EPA response program that takes important steps to address high emission incidents that often impact communities living on the frontline of oil & gas operations.
As Moms continue to demand urgent and bold action on climate change, we thank President Biden and EPA Administrator Regan for taking this critical step in the fight to protect our families from pollution and climate change. Our work is far from done. Moms Clean Air Force looks forward to working with EPA and state agencies to implement these protections for all existing wells and to reduce oil and gas pollution as we build toward a clean energy future for this generation and the next.
In response to the announcement, Moms Clean Air Force organizers and staff issued the following statements:
“The finalization of the EPA methane rule is a huge moment in the fight to protect our communities from the health impacts of oil and gas methane pollution. While Colorado and New Mexico have strong state rules, many live in states without methane rules. This EPA rule is one of the best levers we have to quickly and significantly reduce methane pollution across the US, slow the rate of climate change and help clean up the air to protect children’s health,” says Celerah Hewes, National Field Manager for Moms Clean Air Force. “As mothers, we celebrate this critical step to protect all children from oil and gas methane pollution and applaud the Biden Administration and EPA Administrator Regan for this announcement.”
“With recent research in Pennsylvania pointing to increased asthma attacks and correlations with childhood cancer for those living near oil and gas well pads, this rule couldn’t come at a more crucial time,” says Vanessa Lynch, Pennsylvania Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force. “Where climate changing methane is emitted from the oil and gas industry, health-harming volatile organic compounds can also be found. Frontline families like mine are grateful that President Biden and EPA have taken this important action to protect our climate and the air we breathe.”
“As an urban tribal member of the Navajo Nation living in Denver, Colorado, this rulemaking is a critical step for helping to protect communities disproportionately impacted by oil and gas pollution and it gives me hope for our children’s future,” says Shaina Oliver, Colorado Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force. “Cutting methane pollution is important to safeguard the health of families who live, learn, and work the closest to these environmental harms. For families like mine who live with both asthma and severe ozone pollution, these rules offer the potential to literally breathe easier.”
“More than one quarter of Ohio’s population lives within a mile of oil and gas wells and we rank in the top five states with the highest impacts from oil and gas pollution,” says Tracy Sabetta, Ohio Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force. “With 152,000 Ohio children suffering from asthma, reducing methane pollution is one of the most important steps we can take to safeguard the health of our children and families. We look forward to turning our attention toward ensuring strong implementation and enforcement of this rule.”
“Children deserve the strongest protections from the impacts of methane from oil and gas operations as we move away from fossil fuels and build a clean energy future,”
says Lucia Valentine, West Virginia Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force. “Curbing methane pollution from oil and gas operations is a critical step to addressing climate change and families across West Virginia will benefit from this rule.”
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