NRDC: EPA Methane Rules Will Plug Climate Pollution

WASHINGTON  – The Environmental Protection Agency released new rules to cut methane leaks from the oil and gas sector, a necessary and cost-effective way to curb the pollution causing climate change and to protect public health. 

Methane is a greenhouse gas 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide, and these rules are a critical part of meeting the Biden administration’s international climate commitments. 

The following is a comment from Manish Bapna, President of NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):

“With these new methane standards, the Biden administration is taking a crucial step forward to address the climate crisis. 

“It’s long past time for the oil and gas industry to check its wells and equipment for leaks and then repair them. Leaders in the industry are already doing what these rules will require. With these standards, the rest will need to cut their harmful pollution, as well.

“Methane pollution may be the most senseless kind of pollution because the industry is losing the very product it wants to sell. But that’s what makes these standards so cost effective. And as an added benefit, the same pollution controls will also cut smog-forming and cancer-causing pollutants in frontline communities.

“The oil and gas industry, which makes empty promises about a low-carbon future in nearly every ad, should walk the talk and embrace these commonsense standards, as well.”

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law, and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health, and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd). Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.