By Antoinette Reyes,
Rio Grande Chapter Southern NM Organizer
Trump Administration goes after EPA’s ability to regulate climate pollutants and the implementation of them polluter methane fee
The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided to formally reconsider the Endangerment Finding of 2009, described in Project 2024, which allows the agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. While attacking the agency from the inside, the legislative branch is attempting to roll back all environmental decisions made at the end of the Biden administration’s term including the Waste Emission Charge (a fee on polluters’ excess methane emissions).
The Endangerment Finding, first issued by the EPA in 2009, is based on overwhelming scientific evidence that greenhouse gases like methane contribute to climate change and harm public health. It provides the legal foundation for the EPA to regulate climate pollutants. As many of you may know, one of the climate pollutants that we have worked on tackling is methane pollution because it is a highly potent greenhouse gas, methane traps significantly more heat than carbon dioxide in the short term, making it a major driver of today’s climate crisis. Cutting methane pollution is the fastest and most cost-effective way to slow global warming immediately. Beyond climate impacts, methane emissions release harmful co-pollutants that cause respiratory illnesses and other health issues, particularly in communities near oil and gas production.
Support for reducing methane waste and pollution is widespread and bipartisan. Polling shows that more than two-thirds of voters in key oil and gas-producing states favor stronger methane safeguards to protect public health, clean air, and the climate while creating jobs. Even major oil and gas companies, including BP, Equinor, and Oxy, have supported EPA methane regulations to ensure a stable regulatory framework for the industry. Methane mitigation not only protects the environment but also generates well-paying jobs across the country.
Fortunately, NM boasts its own nation-leading methane and ozone rules, and will hopefully adopt some aspects of the federal rules that were finalized in 2024. In the meantime, NM Permian communities will be continually exposed to emissions unregulated in TX.
Featured image: Flare at an oil and gas well site in the Greater Chaco region. Photo credit Miya King- Flaherty
You must be logged in to post a comment.