House approves sweeping clean-energy bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives, by a vote of 220 – 185, voted today to approve a sweeping new clean-energy bill that seeks to combat the climate crisis by driving the innovation and use of new clean-energy technologies across the country and thereby lowering the nation's greenhouse gas emissions.

Included in the legislation are several key provisions authored by U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) to directly address the worsening climate crisis and provide much-needed assistance to the growing number of environmental justice communities.

Among the provisions DeGette got added to the bill is one to limit the amount of methane gas that oil and gas producers operating on public lands are allowed to release into the atmosphere. Another requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to identify 100 communities across the country that are being most heavily affected by nearby sources of pollution and take steps to clean them up.

"We have to do more to protect our communities from the environmental threats they face," DeGette said. "This legislation will help us tackle the climate crisis head on and clean up some of the communities that are suffering the most."

The House voted early Thursday to include two of DeGette's amendments to the bill – including the Methane Waste Prevention Act (H.R. 2711), which DeGette had introduced as a stand-alone piece of legislation last year. Passage of the provision as part of the broader bill marks the first time that Congress has voted for specific limits on greenhouse gas emissions since 2009.

Nearly one-third of all methane released into the atmosphere in the U.S. comes from the production of oil and gas. And climate scientists agree that reducing the amount of methane – which is approximately 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide – in our atmosphere is key to solving the climate crisis.

DeGette's legislation would require that oil and gas drillers operating on public lands take steps to capture the methane that reaches the surface of their drilling sites, instead of releasing it into the atmosphere where it's causing real harm.

Under the terms of DeGette's provision, oil and gas drillers operating on public lands would be required to capture at least 85 percent of all gas produced at their sites within three years of the bill's enactment, and at least 99 percent within five years. The amendment also puts an end to the industry's controversial practices of venting of natural gas and flaring from any new wells.

Two other amendments DeGette was successful in adding to the bill are aimed at helping the growing number of environmental justice communities across the country.

One will require the EPA to identify 100 communities across the country that are most heavily affected by violations of environmental law and then work with those communities to help clean them up.

The other would require the EPA to develop new protocols for addressing the cumulative public health risks that multiple environmental stressors can have on a community.

"Communities like Elyria-Swansea and Globeville, two neighborhoods in my district, have been suffering for years from the pollution produced by nearby plants," DeGette said. "They need our help and this legislation will require that the EPA take steps now to provide them the help they need."

Video of DeGette speaking on the House floor earlier today in support of her amendments is available here.

Text of the Methane Waste provision is available here.

Text of the Environmental Justice provisions are available here and here.