Sign now to tell the EPA to crack down on methane pollution

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

W. Carter Wikimedia commons

This is the last week to comment on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s proposed rules to limit methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.  

The rules are a good start, and a rare instance of the Biden Administration protecting people, not polluters. But there's a lot more the EPA can and must do to combat pollution, environmental racism, and climate chaos.

Every year, leaking oil and gas infrastructure emits of millions of tons of fracked gas methane, creating a public health and climate emergency. Sign here to tell the EPA to crack down on the pollution, and make their rules even tougher on the Oil and Gas industry.

That's why EPA administrators have been trying to crack down on methane leaks and pollution for years. Donald Trump rolled back even the modest protections President Obama had put in place, so now Biden's EPA has proposed reinstating rules to reduce methane emissions from both existing and new wells and infrastructure nationwide.  

But, the EPA rules proposed don't go far enough - they're more of a re-set of the old Obama rules than an update that reflects the current state of climate emergency. And even those weak measures are drawing strong opposition from the oil and gas industry, and their political allies.

Sign on to our petition to the EPA, and add your own comments now. We'll submit all the signature before the Jan 31 deadline.

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To: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
From: [Your Name]

RE: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0317

Dear EPA Administrator Regan,

We the undersigned citizens are writing in support of proposed EPA regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions and volatile organic compounds from oil and natural gas sources and to encourage the EPA to do more to cut pollution and protect our climate and communities.

The proposed rule will also go a long way toward reducing pollution and meeting US obligations to fight climate change under the Global Methane Pledge, which requires a reduction of methane emissions 30% by 2030.

It is vitally important to preserve the parts of the proposed rule that base regulations on total emissions, not production amounts. This is essential to reduce total climate impacts and direct pollution of frontline and fence-line communities.

It is also essential that the EPA preserve the rule's zero tolerance for venting of methane, as this is both a major source of pollution and a waste of gas at a moment when many Americans are struggling with energy costs.

While this draft regulation is a good start, we also believe the EPA can and must do more to ensure public health is prioritized, frontline & fence-line communities are protected, climate pollution is reduced, and oil and gas companies are held accountable.

In particular we encourage you to :

- Require more frequent inspections of all facilities, regardless of size or ownership.
- Involve frontline and fence-line communities directly in the monitoring and reporting of pollution.
- Finally, the EPA needs to regulate not only methane venting, but also flaring, which is nearly as destructive to our climate and very dangerous for local communities. If it's a waste to dump usable gas into the atmosphere, it is obviously equally wasteful to burn it in a flare - allowing companies to set usable energy on fire instead of delivering it to market and lowering prices for consumers makes no sense.

We urge the EPA to preserve the best part of this proposed rule, and consider our additions to strengthen the rule further. Together, the stronger better methane rule will help fight climate chaos and to protect the health and safety of our communities.

Thank you for considering our comments.