By: Chelsea Lyons, North Carolina state coordinator, Moms Clean Air Force
Date: January 10, 2023
About: Environmental Protection Agency Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0317
To: Environmental Protection Agency
My name is Chelsea Lyons, and I am a resident of Trinity, North Carolina, and serve as the North Carolina State Coordinator for Moms Clean Air Force, an organization of over 1.4 million people concerned about the impacts of air pollution and climate change on our children’s health. I am here today to voice my support for the strongest possible methane rule to protect public health.
As a mother of a one-year-old and a representative of my community, I urge you to take action to cut methane pollution and protect our children. Methane is an extremely dangerous greenhouse gas. It can produce 80 times the warming power compared to carbon dioxide and can cause serious health effects such as central nervous system toxicity, preterm birth, low birth weights, and respiratory harm. This hits home for my family due to having our son spend time in the NICU after he was born. I am frightened to have to go through that again with any of the children in our lives because of the impacts climate change has brought to North Carolina.
Reigning in methane pollution is one of the fastest ways we have to combat climate change. As summers grow hotter and storms become more chaotic, I fear for the health of the children in North Carolina and for the children whose parents are struggling and are exposed to the harshness of climate change. It is unbelievable to me, that 3.9 million children under 18 reside within a half mile health threat radius of active oil and gas production operations. Children who live, learn, or play near oil and gas operations face a higher risk of exposure to industry’s harmful air pollution.
Air pollution created by oil and gas operations contributes to ozone smog that can damage lungs and trigger asthma attacks. This is terrifying considering I have a two year old niece who suffers from severe asthma. I find it unfair to her and other children like her to have to limit their lives because of the actions we refuse to take. We must take action now for our kids.
Low-producing wells (with equipment we know can malfunction) are responsible for approximately half of the methane emitted from all well sites in the United States, while contributing only 6% of the nation’s oil and gas. I am glad to see EPA including these wells in the most recent proposal, but we can go farther. Methane and associated gasses are dangerous to our families and communities. EPA needs to strengthen standards to make sure we eliminate pollution from routine flaring by making sure operators limit this practice to instances where it is necessary for safety or maintenance reasons. EPA can also increase the number of methane emissions from storage tanks by making sure the standards apply more to many types of tanks.
I urge EPA to create comprehensive protections for methane pollution and to consider the long-term effects it will continue to have on our communities. The health of our children is at stake. Please finalize a strong comprehensive rule as soon as possible. Thank you.
English
Spanish