Lawmakers call on administration to withdraw new methane rules

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A bipartisan group of lawmakers – led by U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) – today called on the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw the Trump administration's newly finalized rule that will allow more methane to be released into the atmosphere.

In a letter sent to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and signed by 87 members of Congress, the lawmakers called on the head of the nation's environmental protection agency to withdraw the administration's changes to the agency's 2012 and 2016 New Source Performance Standards for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry.

Those changes, once in effect, will eliminate the limits put in place by the Obama administration on how much methane U.S. oil and gas producers can release into the atmosphere from their drilling sites.

"Moving forward with the final regulation will cause preventable damage to the public health of millions of Americans," the lawmakers wrote. "We urge the immediate withdrawal of the rule before it takes effect."

When released into the atmosphere, methane is a leading contributor to global warming, approximately 80 times more potent a global warming pollutant than carbon dioxide.

Nearly one-third of all methane released into the atmosphere in the U.S. comes from the production of oil and gas.

Climate experts agree that reducing methane emissions from these sites is essential to addressing the ongoing climate crisis.

"The EPA's changes to the 2012 and 2016 New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), according to their own analysis, increase air pollution from the oil and gas industry by undoing the commonsense regulations that were implemented in 2016 with wide industry and public support," the lawmakers wrote. "The most recent amendments the EPA has finalized will reverse the United States' progress on this issue — taking us from being a global leader to returning to the back of the pack."

DeGette introduced legislation last year to prevent the Trump administration from finalizing the new rule that's now the subject of the lawmakers' letter.

While DeGette's legislation – known as the Methane Waste Prevention Act (H.R. 2711) – was approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in January as part of a larger pipeline safety bill. It has not yet been brought to the full House for a vote.

A copy of the lawmakers' letter is available here.