Thanks for helping EPA curb methane leaks December 4, 2023

A big “Thanks!” to all our members who wrote to U.S. EPA last February, asking that it make oil and gas drilling companies reduce leaks of methane and other harmful pollutants from wells and compressor stations.

It took almost a year, but — it worked!

Just this weekend, speaking from COP28, EPA announced a comprehensive suite of pollution reduction standards that address the largest sources of pollution from oil and gas facilities, including methane leaks, venting, and flaring.

The standards also require reductions in emissions from high-emitting equipment like pumps and storage tanks.

Once phased in, these changes will sharply reduce emissions of methane from hundreds of thousands of existing sources, according to the EPA. Here it is in their own words:

Oil and natural gas operations are the nation’s largest industrial source of methane, a climate “super pollutant” that is many times more potent than carbon dioxide and is responsible for approximately one third of the warming from greenhouse gases occurring today. Sharp cuts in methane emissions are among the most critical actions the United States can take in the short term to slow the rate of climate change. [Emphasis added.]

It sounds like EPA has been listening to PSR!

To all our PSR members who helped push these requirements into existence: Your efforts really do matter. Thank you so much.