Testimony on State Methane Rules: Patricia Sheely

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Members and supporters of New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light have prepared testimony for hearings held by the Environmental Improvement Board. The hearings, held the week of Sept. 20-24, are in support of the The New Mexico Environment Department’s (NMED) strong proposal to cut ozone-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and methane released by the oil and gas industry.

Members of the Environmental Improvement Board,

I am Patricia Sheely and I am a member of the United Methodist Church faith community. I live in Gallup, NM.

My two main concerns about methane pollution are the health effects and its contribution to climate change. I support strong methane rules and I want to thank you for holding these meetings and allowing me to speak.

As a retired dietitian, I am very concerned about the effect of pollution on the health and development of our infants and children. We are only now becoming aware of the significance the environment and its accompanying stress plays on the developing fetus and the mother’s ability to have a successful pregnancy. Pollutants such as methane and VOCs have an adverse effect on our older residents with heart and respiratory conditions as well. I grew up with one oil well on a 125 acre farm. I can’t imagine living in the midst of a whole field of wells. I worry about the health of our residents. I feel that we have a responsibility to take care of everyone.

I find it embarrassing that New Mexico has a methane cloud over the four corners area that can be seen from space. The climate crisis is here. It is affecting our state with hotter temperatures, decreasing our snowpack and monsoons, and the loss of our pinon pines and juniper forest. Our landscape is probably our greatest resource for the future.

New Mexico can do our part by requiring frequent inspections of wells to find and fix leaks. Leaks due to equipment malfunction and lack of maintenance account for 70% of our emissions. We have the technology to do this. This could even be a source of employment. The methane captured is a valuable resource that should not be wasted.

Please take action to strengthen the rules.   Thank you.

Testimony on State Methane Rules: Rev. Lynne Hinton

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Members and supporters of New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light have prepared testimony for hearings held by the Environmental Improvement Board. The hearings, held the week of Sept. 20-24, are in support of the The New Mexico Environment Department’s (NMED) strong proposal to cut ozone-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and methane released by the oil and gas industry.

I am Rev. Lynne Hinton and I am the Conference Director of the NM Conference of Churches and I live in Albuquerque.  I am here today because like so many other people of faith, I am concerned about methane pollution in our state. I also come because of the scripture reading known as our lectionary on record for this Sunday. In the gospel reading, Jesus told his followers it would be better for a millstone to be hung around the neck of someone and thrown into the sea than to carry out harm against a child.

Today I come speaking for our children, recognizing that I am a part of a generation causing them harm and remembering that we did not inherit this planet from our ancestors but rather we are borrowing it from our children.

We know that New Mexico has a horrible record regarding methane pollution. There are leaks from oil and gas operators that are releasing tons of methane and we also know that the operators are not being held accountable for the pollution being created. 

I come asking that you now also speak for the children and create and enforce strong methane rules, that we find ways to protect our children by requiring more frequent inspections to find and repair any leaks, that we develop strong requirements for operators to control their pollution and that we find ways to cut all methane pollution from the oil and gas industry in our state.

When the history books bear our stories, note our positions and our values, I hope this board and the people of faith across the state of New Mexico will be found to be on the side of taking care of our earth and our children.

Thank you for allowing me to speak and for your concerns for our beautiful planet for present days and for generations to come.

 

 

Testimony on State Methane Rules: Jack Edwards

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Members and supporters of New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light have prepared testimony for hearings held by the Environmental Improvement Board. The hearings, held the week of Sept. 20-24, are in support of the The New Mexico Environment Department’s (NMED) strong proposal to cut ozone-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and methane released by the oil and gas industry.
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Lake Powell and lake Mead are currently at one third  of their capacity and close to the point where they can no longer produce hydro electric power. Irrigators on the Sacramento river have for the first time been told to stop diverting water. (1) A pall of smoke hangs over the west. Globally world populations are forced to migrate creating political chaos. Are these things connected?
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I am here to encourage the NMEIB to enact stronger rules to prevent fugitive methane releases. The purpose of this is to prevent the increasingly large  buildup of greenhouse gases and the worsening of the global warning.  I think anyone who is able to connect more than two dots can understand this.
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“The latest August 2021 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) identifies methane as one of the worst greenhouse gases contributing to climate change.” (1)
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One of the more  profound effects of methane releases  is what is  called the “Methane Accelerator”.  As the climate warms many new sources of currently sequestered methane are activated including releases from thawing permafrost and marine hydrates from warming oceans.
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So if methane is such a potent contributor to global warming why not eliminate the controllable releases. As they said in the movie “Show me the money.”
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I will leave you with one more closing thought.  Throughout the southwest one of the most frequently found ancestral puebloan structures are granaries built of tightly mortared stone and mud  and built in high and inaccessible cliffs.  What did they know that we seem to be forgetting.  They knew it is vital to protect their seeds for the future.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we New Mexicans, with our rich cultural backgrounds and our special climate vulnerability, could be a leader in controlling fugitive methane emissions.
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1.) Rinaldo Brutoco, The “Methane Accelerator” Climate Change is Moving Past The Tipping Point, the Montecito Journal, September 21, 2021.
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Jack Edwards
(Retired Civil Engineer)
El Rito, N.M.