Udall Responds to EPA Halting Data Collection on Methane Emissions

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall issued the following statement on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) announcement this week that it has reversed an Obama administration effort to gather information from operators of existing oil and gas wells about their equipment and the extent of natural gas wasted through leaking, venting and flaring. Hundreds of millions of dollars in natural gas is wasted through leaks, venting and flaring each year. The practice also results in significant releases of methane, a potent greenhouse gas pollutant.

"With this decision, Administrator Pruitt has blocked the public from learning essential information about methane pollution and has undermined long-term efforts to limit the waste of our natural gas resources and prevent harmful emissions. Methane waste not only drives climate change, but the associated smog can cause respiratory problems and hurt people with asthma, emphysema, and other illnesses. This is an urgent issue in New Mexico -- taxpayers lose when gas is wasted from public lands, and scientists say that oil and gas operations at existing wells are primarily responsible for a methane pollution cloud the size of Delaware hanging over the Four Corners region.

"Now that the EPA has decided not to act, it is more important than ever that we maintain smart measures to limit methane pollution from leaking and inefficient oil and gas operations, like the Bureau of Land Management's rule to prevent the waste of natural gas from drilling operations on public lands. While some in the industry want to use the Congressional Review Act to erase the BLM rule, that would be a mistake for the economy, jobs and public health. The common-sense measure was recommended by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office to prevent misuse of taxpayer resources, and we know it works: similar state-level rules in Colorado and Wyoming have saved resources, resulted in cleaner air, and supported the creation of an entire new industry designed to prevent waste. Repealing the BLM rule would mean operators could go back to wasting hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer-owned natural gas and exacerbating methane pollution. I will keep fighting to protect taxpayers and the environment; we can't afford wrong-headed attempts to kill this vital, common-sense measure."