By: Celerah Hewes, Senior National Field Manager
Date: September 15, 2026
About: Proposed Methane Rule Rollback
To: Office of Management and Budget
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
My name is Celerah Hewes and I am a Senior National Field Manager for Moms Clean Air Force, and organization of over 1.6 million moms, dads, and caregivers united to protect children's health from the impacts of air pollution and climate change. As part of a wide-reaching deregulatory agenda, the Trump Administration has substantially delayed the enforcement of oil and gas methane regulations, weakened federal methane standards, and removed requirements for oil and gas companies to monitor and detect leaks at both new and existing operations. Methane protections are overwhelmingly supported by communities, especially those raising families on the frontline of oil and gas and we urge you to maintain the 2024 methane rules that would protect the health of families and children, as well as check a major climate pollutant.
I am joined today by three of my colleagues in key oil and gas states. Each representing thousands of parents who are concerned about the air children breathe. When I joined Moms Clean Air Force in 2017 it was to work on methane protections in my home state of New Mexico and for almost a decade I have fought for methane protections for children across the country. Like many others, I enthusiastically supported the EPA methane protections finalized in 2024 and urge the EPA to not reconsider or weaken the oil and gas methane pollution standards for new and existing operations. Federal methane standards help protect public health, mitigate the climate crisis, create jobs in the growing methane mitigation industry, and bolster national energy security.
While some oil and gas producing states are moving forward to implement methane rules, federal standards would create better certainty for both communities and industry. Maintaining the 2024 EPA Methane Rule is also more critical than ever as energy security and costs loom large in people's minds. Emissions from the oil and gas sector are dangerous, including smog-forming volatile organic compounds and pollutants such as benzene, which is known to cause cancer.
We know that without federal action, methane pollution from the oil and gas industry will continue to increase. Since the EPA stopped enforcing oil and gas methane regulations last year, the fossil fuel industry leaked, vented, or flared $6.4 billion-worth of gas. In addition, pollution from fossil fuel venting and flaring alone resulted in $7.4 billion in health damages and more than 700 premature deaths and 73,000 asthma exacerbations among children annually.
No matter where we live or how we make a living, we all want the same things: a stable climate, clean air to breathe and a healthy future for the next generation. We need strong methane pollution protections now. Every child deserves the right to breathe clean air.
Thank you.