Add your voice: tell Secretary Zinke to stop the waste, don't gut the methane waste rule

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has proposed eliminating the Bureau of Land Management's methane waste rule, a key wish of the oil and gas industry. This common sense policy requires companies to reduce the venting and flaring of natural gas, giving taxpayers a fair share for publicly-owned resources.

Click here to submit the your personalized version of the following message:

(They have been throwing out identical form letters....) 

Stop the waste: Don't gut the methane waste rule

Dear [elected official],

I strongly oppose the Bureau of Land Management's proposal to effectively eliminate safeguards that reduce methane waste from drilling operations on public lands.

For too long, oil and gas companies have vented and flared natural gas unchecked, polluting our air and wasting taxpayer-owned resources. Recently, taxpayers have lost as much as $23 million each year in royalty revenue due to methane waste.

Leaving in place the existing safeguards will ensure that companies detect and fix natural gas leaks—resulting in a fairer return for taxpayer-owned resources. Leading companies have confirmed they can use available, low-cost technologies to do the job, giving them more natural gas to sell.   

Once again, I oppose effectively eliminating the BLM’s methane waste safeguards. I urge you to look out for American taxpayers by enforcing existing safeguards that reduce natural gas waste from drilling on lands owned by all of us.

- Center for Western Priorities