Just last week, the Obama Administration took another important action to help combat climate change and keep New Mexicans healthy.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that they finalized the first-ever national limits on dangerous methane pollution from the oil and gas industry. This is a BIG DEAL because currently the oil and gas industry is leaking millions of tons of methane pollution and toxic chemicals into the air – harming our health and speeding up climate change. The finalized rule calls for cutting methane pollution from any new or modified oil and gas sources.
It’s critical that we show the EPA and our leaders that New Mexicans care deeply about putting strong safeguards for our air in place. Thank you for sending thanks to the EPA and President Obama for taking action to cut dangerous methane pollution.
Methane pollution is to blame for a quarter of man-made climate change. Pound for pound, methane pollution traps more than 80 times as much heat in the short term as carbon pollution does. Methane pollution and toxic chemicals from the oil and gas industry can also make smog worse, trigger asthma attacks in children, and cause cardiovascular disease and even premature death.
This new pollution standard is a strong first step that will clamp down on methane pollution leaks from the oil and gas industry, protecting our health and safety while saving New Mexicans money on costs related to toxic pollution.
This is an important step, but there is more work to be done. We need you to speak out, thanking President Obama and his administration for this strong first step and urging them to act quickly to address the dangerous methane and toxic air pollution that is already leaking from existing sources in the oil and gas industry.