TAKE ACTION: TELL SECRETARY ZINKE UPHOLD THE METHANE WASTE RULE

Last month we won a major victory for the climate, clean air and taxpayers. A federal court rejected the Trump Administration’s attempt to suspend a commonsense rule requiring oil and gas operators who drill on public lands to capture their methane waste and air toxics instead of pumping them into surrounding communities.

But on the same day the court issued the ruling, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke launched his third attack on this safeguard, this time proposing to scrap the rule’s protections for good.

Earthjustice is still fighting to protect the rule, and we need your help again. Last month’s court decision was in part because the Bureau of Land Management did not provide for a meaningful opportunity for you—the public—to comment on suspending the rule.

Tell Secretary Zinke that we need strong protections from methane waste right now.

This rollback takes direct aim at the health and safety of tens of thousands of Americans living near oil and gas operations. In their communities, natural gas is leaked and vented into the air, causing smog and asthma attacks and releasing toxic air pollutants like formaldehyde and benzene. Gas flares rumble like jet engines and make the nighttime look like bright summer days.

Repealing this commonsense protection is another shameless giveaway of taxpayer resources and an assault on the air and health of communities just to appease the Trump administration’s corporate fossil fuel donors.

The BLM’s current Methane Waste Prevention Rule puts millions of dollars into the public coffers. When oil and gas companies leak, vent or flare publicly-owned gas on public lands, the rule requires companies to pay back the public for their wasteful practices. Without the rule in place, BLM’s own analysis shows that oil and gas companies will waste 180,000 tons of methane each year—deliberately venting, leaking, or flaring $824 million worth of publicly-owned natural gas into the air over the next decade.

Methane waste is a simple problem to solve. The Waste Prevention Rule requires drillers to use proven, low-cost solutions to capture publicly-owned natural gas that otherwise would be flared, vented, or leaked into the air.

Americans have fought for years to protect these vital clean air protections and we won’t back down now. Tell Secretary Zinke to keep the methane waste rule and protect our health and clean air.

- Earth Justice

READ MORE: Trump Admin Just Lost Another Attempt to Nix Commonsense Rules on Methane

Tell BLM: Stop Delaying Methane Rule

When it comes to curbing pollution, the government is dragging its feet.

Late last year, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finalized its methane waste prevention rule, which requires oil and gas companies using public lands -- often adjacent to national parks -- to do a better job of preventing their methane from leaking into the atmosphere.

Congress and the Trump administration have tried and -- so far -- failed to kill this rule. Courts have told the BLM that it needs to begin implementation. Despite all that, the Trump administration is now aiming to delay the rule by another year.

Enough already! Tell the BLM to do its job and implement the methane rule without any more delays.

Oil and gas facilities release billions of cubic feet of methane into the atmosphere every year, wasting energy and taxpayer money. On top of this, methane pollution is a major contributor to climate change that is already having major impacts on our national parks. Methane and other air pollution from these same oil and gas sources contribute to ozone and haze. In short, methane makes the air unhealthy for our parks -- and for the people who visit them.

For years, NPCA and supporters like you have been advocating for strong action to limit methane waste on our public lands.  We cannot wait any longer; the stakes are too high. The time is now to put this important air pollution rule in place.

Stand up to the BLM’s delay tactics and tell it to implement the methane waste prevention rule that better protects our climate and air quality in national parks and public lands.


MESSAGE READS (personalize for more impact)

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change and mixes with other pollutants to form unhealthy ozone. Proven, cost effective techniques are already in place in states like Colorado. The entire country should benefit from the common sense standards the BLM rule set in motion.

The BLM has been hearing for years about the need to curb methane pollution and save taxpayer dollars. You've heard from millions of Americans who asked you to strengthen and finalize this rule. You've heard from Congress, who told you not to scrap it. You've heard from courts, which told you not to delay its implementation. Now you're hearing from me: Protect national parks and the American taxpayer by implementing these rules now.

-Nicholas Lund, Landscape Conservation Program


Photo credit: Oil and Gas development near Theodore Roosevelt National Park © Chris Boyer / Kestrel Aerial Services