• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Moms Clean Air Force

Fighting for Our Kids' Health

  • Take Action
    • Right Now
      • Sign a Petition
      • Register to Vote
      • Volunteer for Clean Air
      • Clean Air Action Guide
    • Attend an Event
      • Event Calendar
      • Forum on Maternal & Child Health in a Dangerous Climate
    • En Español
      • EcoMadres
    • Support Moms
      • Donate
  • What We Work On
    • Moms Priorities
      • EPA Work
      • Legislation We Support
      • Justice in Every Breath
      • Moms & Mayors
      • EcoMadres
    • Air Pollution
      • Cars and Trucks
      • Electric School Buses
      • Maternal Health
      • Mercury
      • Ozone Pollution
      • Soot Pollution
    • Climate Change
      • Carbon Pollution
      • Clean Energy
      • Extreme Weather
      • Mental Health
      • Methane
    • Plastics and Petrochemicals
      • “Advanced Recycling”
      • Petrochemical Pollution
      • Waste Incineration
    • Toxic Chemicals
      • Chemical Safety
      • Schools and Playgrounds
      • Vinyl Chloride
  • Where We Work
    • State Chapters
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Florida
      • Georgia
      • Illinois
      • Iowa
      • Louisiana
      • Maryland
      • Michigan
      • Montana
      • Nevada
      • New Hampshire
      • New Jersey
      • New Mexico
      • New York
      • North Carolina
      • Ohio
      • Pennsylvania
      • Tennessee
      • Texas
      • Virginia
      • Washington
      • Washington, DC
      • West Virginia
      • Wisconsin
  • Who We Are
    • Mission

      We are a community of over 1.5 million parents united against air and climate pollution to protect our children’s health.

      • Learn More
    • Our Team
      • National Team
      • Field Organizers
      • Job Openings
    • Learn More
      • Our Mission
      • Legislation We Support
      • Notable Achievements
      • 2024 Annual Report
    • Programs
      • EcoMadres
      • Community Health Justice
      • Indigenous Communities
    • Get in Touch
      • Contact Us
      • Media Inquiries
  • Articles
    • All Articles
      • Topics
        • Plastics and Petrochemicals
        • Mom Detective
        • Air Pollution
        • Climate Change
        • Toxic Chemicals
    • Moms Raise Our Voices to Stop Industrial Polluters From Releasing Seven Most Dangerous Pollutants Ever Created
      Experts Call for Action on Maternal Health Disparities: Moms Make News 
      American Lung Association’s Yearly Report Ends With an Unprecedented Plea: Save EPA
      How Climate and Air Pollution Are Silently Endangering Moms and Babies: Takeaways From the Maternal and Child Health Forum
  • Resources
  • Press
    • Media Contact

      For all urgent press inquiries, please contact DKC News

      • MomsCleanAirForce@dkcnews.com
    • Moms in the Media
      • Press Releases
      • News Stories
      • Moms Make News Archives
  • Donate

FacebookTwitterinstagram

  • Take Action
  • Join the Force
  • Donate

Trump’s EPA Guts Oil and Gas Methane Pollution Protections When New Mexico’s Families Need Them the Most

email Email Linkfacebook Share on Facebooktwitter Share on X

Press Statement August 13, 2020

Contact: Mollie Michel, mmichel@momscleanairforce.org, 267-981-1648

Albuquerque, NM – Today, the Trump Administration is poised to announce a major rollback of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) methane rule that protects families and communities from harmful air pollution. The rollback would allow the oil and gas industry to release millions of tons of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and other harmful pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), into the air our families breathe, posing a serious threat to public health and making the climate crisis worse. Today’s rollback flouts EPA’s core mission to protect public health and the environment.

“In New Mexico, the areas with the most oil and gas operations are home to Latino and Indigenous communities. These populations are being burdened by the harmful air pollution that is leaking, venting, and flaring at alarming rates from oil and gas operations that can cause respiratory and heart disease. These health problems also make people more vulnerable to Covid-19, a respiratory disease that is disproportionately impacting Black, Latino, and Indigenous people. We are seeing these inequities play out at the state level as Covid-19 ravages the Navajo Nation,” said Celerah Hewes, Albuquerque resident, mom, and New Mexico Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force.

“It is outrageous that Trump’s EPA is working overtime to deregulate the oil and gas industry. This will result in increased air pollution, harming vulnerable communities. The EPA’s radical environmental deregulation should be considered a racist agenda. The agency should be following the lead of states like New Mexico under Governor Lujan Grisham and stepping up to enact more protective methane rules. We ask that EPA Administrator Wheeler do his job and protect the health of our children from methane pollution and climate change under the Clean Air Act.”

A recent report found that New Mexico’s oil and gas companies emit at least one million metric tons of climate-warming methane a year—five times higher than what has been previously self-reported to the EPA. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas more than 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in the near term.

About Moms Clean Air Force: Our mission is to protect children from air pollution and climate change. We envision a safe, stable, and equitable future where all children breathe clean air. We are a community of 1.5 million moms and dads united against air pollution – including the urgent crisis of our changing climate – to protect our children’s health. We fight for Justice in Every Breath, recognizing the importance of equitable solutions in addressing air pollution and climate change. For more information, go to https://www.momscleanairforce.org or follow us on Twitter @CleanAirMoms, Instagram @cleanairmoms, or Facebook.

Join the force and stay updated on opportunities to take action:

Donate

Footer

Moms Clean Air Force

We are a community of 1.5 million moms and dads united against air pollution – including the urgent crisis of our changing climate – to protect our children’s health.

Areas of Focus

  • Air Pollution
  • Climate Change
  • Toxic Chemicals

FacebookTwitterinstagram

© 2025 Moms Clean Air Force
All rights reserved

Privacy Policy