Photo provided by Moms Clean Air Force
By Cyrus Reed
On the sunny Thursday of October 17, a diverse crowd filed intently into the Earle Cabell Federal Court Building in Dallas, Texas. Though they all came from different backgrounds with different stories to tell, they were united over the single mission to stop the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed methane controls rollback.
EPA‘s proposal to roll back pollution control rules on methane pollution from the oil and gas industry would be disastrous for local efforts to clean up the air, as well as national efforts to control the gases that cause climate change.
In all, some 100 individuals representing a broad array of communities and organizations spoke, of whom only three (all representing oil and gas interests) supported the proposed rollback of rules put in place in 2012 and 2016 under the Obama administration. Interestingly, this one and only public hearing on the proposed methane rollback occurred on the same day that Trump was in town for a large political rally.
Juan Macias of Carrizo/Correcrudo & Yolonda Bluehorse of the Rosebud Sioux wait their turn to testify. Their
message? EPA’s methane rollback disrespects tribal lands and our common future.
The Sierra Club was well represented with local, state, and national leaders, but the successful turn out was a result of a strong collaborative effort with many other impassioned and engaged groups, such as: Moms Clean Air Force, Environment Texas, Dakota Resource Council, Northern Plains Resource Council, Union of Concerned Scientists, American Lung Association, Climate Reality, Liveable Arlington, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, United Methodist Women, Public Citizen, Earthworks, the Environmental Defense Fund, Texas Campaign for the Environment, Clean Water Action, Citizen’s Climate Lobby, and 350 Dallas. The opposition to the methane rollback was also led by Tribal Nations representatives who travelled to Dallas from South Dakota, New Mexico, South Texas, and Oklahoma. Even local high schoolers showed up to tell EPA to prioritize their futures over the profits of oil and gas companies. While the hearing in Dallas was the only public hearing held, EPA is still taking comments through November 25, 2019 (submit your comment here!).
Cyrus Reed, of Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter (second to the left), joined representatives of the Moms Clean Air Force, from Houston to Puerto Rico to Colorado, before
the hearing. They gave powerful testimonies about how rolling back rules affects mothers and children in particular.
So what is the methane problem?
Methane is the primary component of fracked gas. Along with other pollutants, including smog and soot-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and air toxins like benzene (a human carcinogen), methane escapes into the atmosphere during oil and gas operations. These leaks not only harm the health of our families and communities — especially oil and gas workers — but also disrupt the climate. Methane is a potent climate cooker that has 87 times the global warming impact of carbon dioxide during the time it remains in the atmosphere. According to recent research, U.S. oil and gas operations emit at least 13 million metric tons of methane annually, which has the same climate impact as operating nearly 300 coal-burning power plants for a year.
Lone Star Chapter’s Cyrus Reed and high schooler Richard Herrera tell the EPA that these rollbacks will be devastating for Dallas and the Lone Star state.
Reed noted that he has a PhD, and Herrera noted that he doesn’t, but it doesn’t take a PhD to know the proposal is wrong!
What has been the government’s response to this problem?
In response to massive public pressure, the Obama administration finalized protections in 2012 and 2016 to clamp down on these emissions. These standards relied on commonsense, low-cost control methods that would, in many cases, actually generate additional revenue for oil and gas companies.
But since taking office, the Trump administration has waged a constant attack on EPA’s oil and gas safeguards, undertaking seven separate attempts to weaken or remove them. This latest effort would not only eliminate methane standards for new oil and gas equipment, but it would remove all standards (methane and VOC limitations alike) from equipment in the transmission and storage segment of the industry. It would also strip away EPA’s legal authority and obligation to control existing oil and gas sources, which are responsible for the vast majority of the pollution in this industry. In fact, this proposal is so bad that even many oil and gas companies oppose it.
Why is this proposal rule so terrible for Texas and Dallas?
Texas is by far the leading producer of oil and gas in the country, so any proposal to roll back pollution safeguards will disproportionately affect Texans. And unlike some states such as Colorado and Wyoming, Texas has not adopted any state-specific standards to control oil and gas emissions, and the Railroad Commission of Texas routinely turns a blind eye toward it. Worse still, Dallas and other Texas cities have unlawfully high levels of ozone pollution, the primary component of smog. EPA’s proposal will increase the pollution that forms smog, leading to more asthma attacks, more lost school and work days, more hospital visits, and more early deaths. This is a bad deal for Big D and for all of Texas.
So while Trump told his supporters in Dallas about making America great again, his own administration is busy gutting rules that will harm Texans’ health, disrupt our climate, and cause needless waste. We need an administration and the EPA to do its job: protect the climate and the health of our workers, our families, and our communities.
For more information about the proposed rule and how to comment, please see here.
Comments must be received by November 25.
Read more testimonies here. For photos of the hearing, check out this link.