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Thompson: Pearce Is Wrong On Methane

Four Corners Power Plant. Photo courtesy of EcoFlight and San Juan Citizens Alliance

  Commentary: On May 12th, the EPA finalized new safeguards on methane pollution from the oil and gas industry. The rules increase NM revenue, put people back to work, and similar standards have already been implemented in CO with backing from industry. Some in New Mexico, though, have been too stuck in old thinking to see the facts.

Representative Pearce expressed his opposition upon release of the new rule. But what he doesn’t seem to realize is that these standards actually increase state revenue by requiring industry to capture methane gas for profit. Reports show that New Mexico taxpayers have lost out on $42.7 million in royalty revenue since 2009 from wasted methane gas.

If Pearce is serious about fostering an “American energy renaissance” and critical of the president for “continuing to push his climate legacy at the expense of the American people”, then he should be aware of the sacrifice he is asking his constituents to make at the hands of an unregulated oil and gas industry. The American Lung Association’s annual “state of the air” report gave Eddy County an “F” rating for ozone, commonly attributed to oil and gas operations.

The largest methane “hotspot” in the country looms above the Four Corners area, and communities across the state are at higher risk for respiratory illness, cancer, and birth complications due to unregulated oil and gas extraction. Let’s work together to implement strong, comprehensive safeguards on methane pollution.

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