Statement: Methane rule rollback will lead to more greenhouse gas pollution

Environment Colorado

Denver — The Trump administration today proposed to do away with the Environmental Protection Agency’s methane rules, which will eliminate critical federal oversight of hundreds of thousands of oil and gas facilities. 

Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is a powerful global warming pollutant. It is 25 percent more potent than carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Approximately one-third of the nation’s methane pollution is generated by oil and gas operations.The substance is released at every stage of the development and application of both natural gas and crude oil, including production, processing, transportation, and storage.

Len Montgomery, field director for Environment Colorado issued the following statement: 

“Simply put, this rollback would place Colorado’s present and future at risk. 

“This move to loosen regulations on methane, a potent greenhouse gas, flies in the face of science and the growing call from Colorado citizens and businesses to urgently tackle the climate challenge. Instead of giving a green light to the fossil fuel industry to pollute even more, we need to cut pollution faster.

“Global warming is no longer a theoretical problem that we will encounter someday, somewhere in the future. July 2019 was the hottest month ever recorded globally. Our planet has a fever, and Coloradans are suffering right now.

“The wildfire season is just revving up, with the deadly fires of 2018 a recent and terrifying memory. Diseases like Lyme are on the rise in more places in the United States, as ticks move into new territory and thrive in warmer conditions. Ice on sea and on land is melting, changing the way of life for so many from Alaska to Glacier National Park. Communities along the coasts are facing the choice of retreat or building 42 billion dollars worth of sea walls.

“Our nation’s top scientists have warned that all these conditions are expected to get much worse unless we stop emitting greenhouse gases like methane.

“We join with Coloradans of all political stripes to say, ‘Stop these reckless rollbacks!’ Our farmers and our food security matter. Our families’ health matters, and our homes and businesses matter. Stop choosing the interests of polluters over the rest of us. Instead, let’s cooperate on getting global warming solutions, like renewable energy and electric vehicles, on the ground as quickly as possible.”

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Environment Colorado is a citizen based advocacy organization that works to protect our clean air, water, and open space.