By: Laurie Anderson, Colorado Field Organizer
Date: September 15, 2026
About: Proposed Methane Rule Rollback
To: Office of Management and Budget
My name is Laurie Anderson. I am a Field Organizer with Moms Clean Air Force, and I live in Broomfield, Colorado. Thank you for this opportunity to share with you today.
I am a Mom of 5 with my youngest now a teenager. We live about a half mile from a large-scale oil and gas development site with 18 horizontal wells, and near several other well pads. Living on the frontlines of this industry has given my family a unique and urgent perspective.
Colorado is one of the top oil-producing states in the country, and we’ve long understood the need for commonsense protections against methane pollution. In fact, back in 2014, Colorado became the first state in the nation to adopt methane-specific rules, and we have remained a leader in methane protections – demonstrating that states do not have to choose between protecting communities from pollution and a stable economy. Despite Colorado’s existing protections, the EPA Methane Rule is important to our state. As Colorado continues implementing these protections in our state rules, I cannot overstate enough the urgency of implementing these protections in all states and in a timely manner.
Colorado began implementation of EPA’s 2024 methane standards in February 2025 and has successfully completed two rulemakings with unanimous approval by the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission. In fact, Colorado is on track to complete the third and final rulemaking this week - at the very time the federal government begins a broad reconsideration of the Methane Rule and the rollback of federal standards that regulate methane and other dangerous co-pollutants released by the oil and gas industry.
A hallmark of the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission’s regulatory process has been open collaboration and dialogue among all parties, including industry, to work toward commonsense outcomes. That process has helped Colorado adopt some of the strongest methane protections in the nation.
Methane regulations are effective and feasible. Analysis of satellite data by EDF indicates that emissions fell 70% between 2010 and 2017 following the adoption of several state methane rules. Colorado finishing the EPA Methane Rule adoption signals (1) states can successfully regulate methane, and (2) companies can still operate and profit under methane regulations.
One of Colorado's accomplishments to date which has led to substantial reductions in the release of methane and co-pollutants includes provisions to fully phase out the use of intentionally polluting equipment with a timeline of May 2027 for the majority of facilities (including facilities with the highest 50% of production) ahead of the March 2029 national compliance deadline. Colorado continues to set an example other oil and gas producing states can follow to limit energy waste and protect communities from pollution. And what’s remarkable is this rule was not only supported by environmental and public health advocates, but also by the state’s two largest oil and gas trade associations. This kind of collaborative progress is something we should be building on, not slowing down.
As Colorado makes forward progress through collaborative efforts that provides industry with regulatory certainty while also achieving significant emissions reductions, delaying or weakening federal requirements to comply with commonsense protections means people living on the frontlines of oil and gas development - like my community - will continue to be unnecessarily exposed to dangerous air pollution.
Methane is far more than an industry byproduct. It is a powerful, climate super-pollutant that is fueling the climate crisis. In Colorado, the impacts are impossible to ignore – hotter and drier summers, intense wildfires, and declining snowpack. This year, Colorado has experienced record heat and severe drought, prompting communities across Colorado to issue drought declarations, impose restrictions on outdoor watering, and even announce unrestricted fish harvests ahead of reservoir drawdowns as Colorado water managers work diligently to consolidate water supplies to reduce evaporative losses. Some golf courses went dry and farm fields were left barren as ditch companies could not deliver water. The severity of this year’s drought in Colorado underscores the need to reduce emissions of potent greenhouse gases like methane.
And it’s not just climate. Air pollution from oil and gas operations contributes to ozone smog that can damage lungs and trigger asthma attacks. Broomfield is in the “severe” ozone nonattainment area that spans from Denver along the northern Front Range where the top contributor of ozone precursors is oil & gas operations. Ozone action days and climate impacts will likely intensify, if climate-changing pollution is not rapidly and effectively addressed.
We are fortunate in Colorado to have a state that is moving forward on strong methane protections. However, all children across the nation deserve these same protections, and these federal rules really can make a difference – but only if the rules remain in effect.
I remain in full support of the federal methane rule. Protecting the air our children breathe, and their climate future, is one of the most important things we can do for them. For all of these reasons, we must maintain strong federal methane protections and work diligently to help states implement them, not roll them back. Thank you for your time.