Jessica Eckdish
With the comment period winding down for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed standard to limit methane pollution from new and modified sources in the oil and gas industry, 35 participants from 11 states convened in D.C. during the week of November 2nd to meet with the Administration and members of Congress to express support for EPA’s efforts. Methane pollution poses a significant threat to public health and is a powerful driver of climate change. Until now, the oil and gas industry has been allowed to dump climate-warming methane pollution into the air without limit.
The 11 states represented almost every corner of the country, from northeastern states like Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, to participants from North Dakota and Wyoming, and as far west as New Mexico and Colorado. The participants also showcased the diverse range of constituencies that care about this issue. Representatives of organized labor, faith, indigenous leaders, public health professionals, and local and state elected officials came together to demonstrate the broad base of support this rule has. In addition, groups such as Mom’s Clean Air Force, BlueGreen Alliance, Pennfuture, and the New Mexico Conference of Churches were all represented during the fly-in.
In total, the 35 participants conducted over 40 meetings with congressional offices, including meetings with the members themselves and constituent coffees. In addition to meeting with members of Congress, the group also participated in administrative meetings with the EPA and the White House to share their support for the rule. Participants shared stories about how methane pollution has affected them personally. Both the EPA and the CEQ noted the diversity of the states and constituents represented in the meetings, and encouraged the participants to continue sharing their powerful stories as they continued to advocate for the proposed rule.
On Thursday, November 5th, we held a joint House-Senate Hill briefing, co-sponsored by Senator Schatz (D-HI). Roughly 20 offices and committees were represented at the briefing, as well as numerous representatives from the environmental community.
Here are just a few of the folks that shared their stories:
Joseph Logan is a fifth generation farmer and President of the Ohio Farmers Union. He is also the former Director of Agricultural Programs at the Ohio Environmental Council.
Susan Tullai-McGuinness, MPA, PhD, RN, holds an adjunct position at several universities and teaches health policy to graduate nursing students. Susan is an active member of the Ohio Nurses Association (ONA) and American Nurses Association (ANA). She currently serves on ONA's Health Policy Committee and has chaired the ANA Congress of Nursing Practice & Economics (CNPE). She collaborated with other Ohio nurses to form the Nurses Environmental Advocacy Team for Ohio (NEATO).
Gloria Lehmer is a retired Speech-Language Pathologist and a lifelong NM resident. She was inspired to participate in the fly-in and voice her support for the EPA’s rule because of her concern about the environmental impacts of methane and because she lives in an “energy sacrifice zone”.
The Reverend Dr. Donna L. McNiel, NM-IPL & NM Conference of Churches, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dr. McNiel has served communities in West Missouri, Delaware, and Central California as vicar, associate priest, and campus minister.
These participants are only a small collection of the diverse voices the Administration and Congress heard from, but they represent not only the broad support the rule has throughout the country, but the coalition of groups coming together to support this common sense rule from the EPA.
Through the week, we demonstrated to Congress and the Administration the diversity of support for EPA tackling methane pollution from the oil and gas sector.
The EPA public comment period comes to a close on December 4, 2015. To voice your support for tackling methane pollution, please submit your comment here.