Statement: Environmental Protection Agency finalizes catastrophic methane rule

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Trump administration rollback locks in potent global warming pollution

PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center

PITTSBURGH — 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

Flora Cardoni, Field Director with PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center, 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. Given recent findings that the oil and gas industry is releasing twice as much methane in Pennsylvania as had been previously thought– a staggering 11 million tons– it’s clear that we need stronger rules rather than less accountability.

“EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced this shortsighted rollback in Pittsburgh, a city that has banned fracking, just days after a CBS poll found that a majority of Pennsylvanians oppose fracking. The Trump administration should listen to the people they claim to represent and stop handing out free passes to this toxic industry.

“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. Pennsylvanians are already suffering from stifling, 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 people of Pennsylvania.” 

 

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PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center is dedicated to protecting our air, water and open spaces. We work to protect the places we love, advance the environmental values we share, and win real results for our environment. For more information, visit www.pennenvironmencenter.org.

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