EPA accepting public comment on delaying regulation of methane from oil and natural gas development - until August 9th

Under Administrator Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is failing to uphold its mission to protect humane and environmental health. In fact, the EPA is being used to undermine important protections for people and the planet, like the Clean Air Act.

From now until August 9th, the EPA is accepting public comment on its proposal to delay implementation of parts of an important rule on protecting public health, and the climate, from methane pollution from oil and natural gas projects.

The EPA needs to hear from concerned citizens across the country. Any delay or weakening of the methane emission standards for the oil and natural gas sector is absolutely unacceptable.

Sign the statement below today to urge the EPA to withdraw its proposed delay in regulating methane from oil and natural gas development.


Statement:

Environmental Protection Agency, Docket: EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0505

Public Comment on the Emission Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources for the Oil and Natural Gas Sector

As Americans concerned about human and environmental health, we strongly urge the EPA to withdraw the proposed two-year stay of key portions of the Emission Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources for the Oil and Natural Gas Sector. We oppose any delay or weakening of regulations requiring oil and gas wells to prevent the leakage of methane that pollutes the air and contributes to the climate crisis.

Human and environmental health are closely intertwined. The EPA’s mandate is to protect both – not to thwart regulations that protect the environment and have a positive impact on the well-being of our communities. People who live near oil and gas extraction and development sites, especially children, are in great danger from leaking methane and related toxins. According to the Clean Air Task Force, more than 750,000 summertime asthma attacks in children are attributable to ozone smog from oil and gas pollution.

In addition, methane emissions have 80 times the heat-trapping capability of carbon dioxide, making it a major contributor to the climate crisis. As NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report, the planet continues to experience record-breaking increases in temperature. Preventing the leakage of methane is a cost-effective and practical step to help mitigate climate change.

It is therefore imperative that already-approved regulations, pursuant to the Clean Air Act , be fully implemented without any delay whatsoever for the sake of people and the planet.

Signed:

(Your name here.)

Take Action: Trump's EPA Is Trying to Delay Methane Protections. Tell Them NO!

After Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement, his EPA is now trying to take us backward by delaying key climate and pollution protections put in place by the Obama administration.

WHY THIS MATTERS

The Trump administration and Congress tried and failed to overturn Obama-era restrictions on methane emissions that would have had devastating impacts on communities and our climate. But now, Scott Pruitt's Environmental Protection Agency is doing everything it can to delay implementing these regulations.

That’s right: the agency tasked with protecting our environment is actually trying to put a two-year delay on new methane pollution standards that protect our communities from dangerous pollution and climate disruption. The only people benefiting from a freeze on EPA methane standards are corporate polluters and their allies. The head of the EPA is supposed to represent the best interests of the American people – not the worst actors in the oil and gas industry.

This is unacceptable.  Tell the EPA that they’re supposed to protect our communities not help the oil and gas industry pollute them.

TAKE ACTION! Urge Scott Pruitt to enforce the EPA’s methane pollution standards

Add “breathing air” to the list of things that parents have to worry about for their children. This month, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed a dangerous two-year delay on the methane pollution standards that keep our air clean and our families safe and healthy.

The EPA’s standards represented an important step toward protecting the health and safety of communities and workers, reducing missed school days for students with asthma and cutting healthcare costs and emergency room visits.

Delaying these protections is a blatant giveaway to oil and gas interests at the expense of public health. Tell EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to leave these essential safeguards in place.

When polluters release methane,

1. They release tons of other dangerous gases and chemicals as well, like benzene and volatile organic compounds.
2. They produce ozone, which has been proven to cause long-term health problems like asthma and even cancer.
3. They put pregnant women at risk. A study in Colorado showed that babies whose mothers lived near natural gas plants had an increased risk of heart and nervous system defects.

Children miss 500,000 days of school each year due to ozone smog resulting from methane pollution. In the summertime, children suffer 750,000 asthma attacks due to ozone smog resulting from oil and gas pollution.

But instead of cleaning up their act, polluters and their allies in Congress suggest that children stay indoors on “bad-air days,” particularly during the summer months when kids should be outside, to avoid aggravating their asthma condition.

The winners of this delay are clear: corporate polluters and their allies. The EPA has declined to even analyze the air pollution impacts or attempt to assess in any way the additional health and environmental harms that will result from its proposed delay. However, it has taken pains to estimate the cost savings that it believes industry will realize because of this action.

Earthjustice is fighting back in court. Earlier this month, a federal court of appeals blocked a 90-day stay of certain parts of the rule, but the EPA is still trying to implement a two-year delay.

Now, we need your help fighting this delay. Urge Scott Pruitt to withdraw this proposal and enforce the methane pollution standards.

- Jessica Ennis, Legislative Director
Climate & Energy