Much-needed Methane Strategy Should Be Tough, Enforceable

Environment America

In response to President Obama’s proposed strategy to reduce with methane pollution today, Environment America Federal Global Warming Program Director Julian Boggs issued the following statement:

“Methane is a major contributor to global warming, and the president should absolutely work to reduce its emissions. As the administration’s strategy moves forward, we hope the relevant agencies, such as EPA, DOI and USDA, take the following actions:

• Use the latest science when calculating methane’s global warming impact. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, methane has 84 times the global warming impact of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.
• Issue tough, enforceable rules that reduce methane from oil and gas infrastructure, agriculture, coal mines, and waste processing to levels that meet the nation’s overall climate commitments.
• Reduce methane in conjunction with a climate strategy that reduces America’s dependence on fossil fuels, including gas.
• Address the myriad threats from gas drilling, including contaminating drinking water, making nearby families sick with air pollution, and turning forest acres into industrial zones.

“We hope we can work with the Obama administration to power the nation with truly clean renewable power. Our continued dependence on fossil fuels and the president’s support of an ‘all of the above’ approach is neither good policy nor helpful rhetoric and distracts us from the carbon-free future we must create for our children.”