Statement from Moms Clean Air Force’s National Field Manager Celerah Hewes
“For over a decade, Moms Clean Air Force has been fighting for methane pollution protections from oil and gas operations because we know how vital these protections are for children’s health. When methane leaks, so do other dangerous air pollutants like benzene, putting children and babies at risk for life-threatening cancers, asthma attacks, premature birth and low birth weight, and even harm to developing brains and nervous systems.
“While my state of New Mexico has already passed a rule to protect the families in the state, the EPA methane rule would help protect families from California to Pennsylvania. These protections are science-based, carefully crafted with years of data on how methane and other pollutants from oil and gas operations contribute to our changing climate and affect the health of our families and communities. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is on a dangerous pollution spree, wanting to delay compliance to the methane rule without the opportunity for public input, so that polluters can continue to make our communities sick while the Trump administration’s attacks on our public health and safety infrastructure make it harder to get well.
“There should be no delay in protecting our communities from the health impacts of oil and gas methane pollution. In addition, cutting planet-heating methane is one of the best levers we have to quickly and significantly reduce climate pollution across the US, slow the rate of global warming, and help clean up the air to protect children’s health. Any delay in implementing this rule will destabilize progress on climate and put families’ health at risk. That is unacceptable. Our children and communities deserve to breathe clean air now, with no delays.”