Clean Air Council joins Health Experts, Residents, and Environmental Groups to Rally and Tell EPA’s Andrew Wheeler Not to Roll Back Existing Protections on Methane Pollution from the Natural Gas Industry
(March 28, 2019–PITTSBURGH, PA) — Today, Clean Air Council, Earthworks, and Moms Clean Air Force rallied with health professionals and impacted residents from Southwestern PA outside the William S. Moorhead Federal building to tell U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler to drop his plan to roll back current federal regulations on methane pollution from the oil and gas industry.
Andrew Wheeler’s confirmation means regulations of the oil and gas industry–and the people they help protect–are in jeopardy. Last fall, the Trump Administration proposed to dangerously weaken methane pollution rules for oil and gas operations. Now the EPA is expected to completely eliminate methane controls from this rule.
Methane is the main component of natural gas and is 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide at warming our planet over a twenty-year timeline — the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change gives the world just 11 years to get to net zero carbon emissions to prevent catastrophic climate change. Methane is responsible for 25 percent of the global warming that humanity is experiencing today. Harmful chemicals like benzene leak alongside methane at every phase of production, so detecting and fixing leaks promptly is also key to protecting public health.
Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, BP, and Equinor all explicitly endorsed the direct regulation of methane at an industry conference in Houston earlier this month. Shell went even further by calling on the EPA to not only preserve but strengthen methane pollution standards for oil and gas operations in the United States.
Pennsylvania is the second largest producer of natural gas in the country, and Gov. Wolf has adopted methane standards on new and modified natural gas operations. However, his proposal to address existing sources of methane pollution in the state does not comprehensively control methane. EPA’s plan to roll back methane standards would undermine Pennsylvania’s ability to reduce methane and harmful pollutants because residents would be exposed to air pollution from other upwind states with weaker state standards.
“Twenty years ago was the time to take bold action on climate change. Now is the time to make unprecedented, rapid and aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions,” said Kelly Yagatich, an Outreach Coordinator with Clean Air Council. “We are here to call on Administrator Wheeler to halt his plans to roll back the critical methane standards for natural gas operations because it will exacerbate climate change and negatively affect air quality and public health in Pennsylvania and across the country.”
“Oil and gas pollution across our Commonwealth is a threat to health and climate, which is why we deserve the strongest protections possible. Earthworks has documented methane and associated air pollution all over Pennsylvania, proving the need for stronger state rules and the protection of the federal methane rules currently under threat of repeal,” says Leann Leiter, Earthworks Field Advocate.
“My two sons are among the millions of children nationwide who attend school near oil and gas operations that puts their health and safety at risk from methane and toxic air pollution,” said Patrice Tomcik, Project Manager with Moms Clean Air Force, from Butler County. “With so many children living, playing, and learning in close proximity to oil and gas operations, it is reckless and irresponsible that EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler would want to weaken or roll back safeguards that protect our children from this industrial pollution and climate change.”
“Pennsylvanians need these vital oil and gas standards to protect public health,” said Laura Dagley, BSN, RN, Medical Advocacy Coordinator for Physicians for Social Responsibility. “Methane and toxic air pollution from oil and gas operations have been associated with increased asthma attacks, acute bronchitis, skin rashes, high risk pregnancies, adverse birth outcomes, and increased hospitalizations. Weakening or revoking EPA methane safeguards that protect the Commonwealth from the oil and gas industry’s air pollution would be detrimental to the health of Pennsylvanians.”
“We’re not willing to live in a world with rising seas, constant extreme weather, and climate refugees – and unlike the generation before us, we’re not afraid to do what it takes to solve the climate crisis,” said Briann Moye, Regional Coordinator for The Climate Reality Project. “We have the technology for wind, solar, and geothermal energy, to move us beyond natural gas and fossil fuels – but it’s going to take political will to get us there.”
Watch the entire press conference: https://www.facebook.com/cleanaircouncil/videos/406821590104970
