Statement: Environmental Protection Agency finalizes catastrophic methane rule

Media Contacts
Kate Breimann

For Immediate Release: 

Friday, August 14, 2020

Media Contacts:

Kate Breimann, State Director, 276-229-9108, [email protected]

Josh Chetwynd, Communications Manager, 310-779-1049,[email protected]

 

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration finalized New Source Performance Standards Thursday for oil and gas companies. The changes will allow the industry to release methane at sites across the country with little to no accountability. Methane, which is a commonly released gas during the extraction of fossil fuels, is a highly dangerous greenhouse gas that is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide

Kate Breimann, Environment Maryland state director,  issued the following statement

“It is unconscionable that the current Environmental Protection Agency is piling on yet another rollback to its catastrophic record of environmental deregulation. Gas isn’t only harmful to our climate, but it’s also incredibly dangerous to our communities — Maryland has experienced two deadly gas explosions in the last 4 years. , The oil and gas industry has clearly demonstrated that what we really need is stronger methane regulations rather than less accountability. 

“With this reckless decision, the Trump administration will ratchet up the volume of a dangerous, planet-warming gas in communities across the country for years to come. Marylanders are already suffering from record-breaking, life-threatening heat in 2020, and we can’t afford to make extreme weather even worse for our children and grandchildren. We will not stand for the federal government to side with polluters who are harming the American people.” 

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Environment Maryland is a citizen-based environmental advocacy organization. We work to protect clean air, clean water, and open space. We have thousands of members across the state and are based in Baltimore.

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