A Letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee in Support of EPA Methane Rules

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Kayley Shoup, organizer for Citizens Caring for the Future, and Sister Joan Brown, executive director of Interfaith Power & Light New Mexico, penned the following letter to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee,  We have added some subheadlines to highlight important points in the letter.

Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee we write to you to affirm the importance of the  Methane Rules in the oil and gas industry and the Methane Emissions Reduction Program. We would be very concerned if these vital safeguards for public health and care for our sacred land, water and air were dismissed. As a frontline community group Citizens Caring for the Future whose members live in the Permian Basin of Southeast New Mexico and as New Mexico and El Paso Interfaith Power and Light which is an organization of people of faith with some members living in the Permian Region and working in solidarity with the frontline communities, we support the proposed rules and thank you for considering our comments.

Health Concerns in Vulnerable Frontline Communities
Those living, working and visiting the Permian Basin, the most productive oilfield in the country, witness firsthand the environmental challenges posed by extensive oil and gas operations. Headaches are common from fumes from oil facilities which number tens of thousands. Living in constant proximity to so much pollution causes cancers, asthma, premature births,  and other health problems. The American Lung Association is quite clear in expressing concerns for health in their State of the Air Report where both Eddy and Lea County received an F grade for ozone pollution. In addition emotional stress and even depression especially among young people is growing as a sense of hopelessness settles into communities with increased suicide and violence. Climate change concerns also affect young adults who increasingly know that humans are truly one with the earth and methane pollution is a large contributor to climate change. What hurts the planet, hurts us.

Pollution is an ethical and moral concern that visitors coming to the region through Immersion Retreat experiences that we sponsor immediately note. The assault upon human communities and the sacred land, water and air of New Mexico is a violation that is stark, yet often not spoken about because the economy of the region and state is so dependent upon the oil and gas industry. While Southeast New Mexico may be an economic driver for the state through the oil and gas industry, it is also home to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park and a Cave & Karst ecosystem.  A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that there were 349,244 visitors to Carlsbad Caverns National Park in 2021 and they spent $25.1 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 312 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $27.4 million. Not only does oil and gas threaten the health of these underground worlds of biodiversity that are crucial to scientific research, but it also has an impact on the other diverse drivers of the local economy like tourism.

EPA methane rules a significant step
For these reasons, the recent EPA methane rules are a beacon of hope because they signal a crucial step towards mitigating the harmful effects of methane emissions and harmful VOC emissions in our region. By imposing stricter regulations these rules not only protect our air quality but also contribute to addressing the global climate crisis. As people deeply committed to preserving the natural beauty of the Permian Basin and the viability of our planet we believe that the EPA’s actions provide a foundation for fostering positive change. But, these regulations must be enforced if we are to see a change. Sadly, the Permian Basin should be designated a non- attainment zone by the EPA based on high ozone levels that are being recorded by the National Parks Service and scientists such as Dr. Detlev Helmig with Boulder AIR. In a period of just six months the Boulder AIR air monitor has recorded “31 days in which ground-level ozone levels surpassed the Environmental Protection Agency’s eight-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 70 parts per billion.”

While New Mexico does have methane pollution rules that the state is making progress in enforcing, the Southeast region suffers from poor air quality coming from Texas, which has no state methane rules. In New Mexico overall 53% of people of color or approximately 80,000 people live within a half mile of oil and gas wells. While the Permian Basin does not have a large Native American population, overall in the state 17.1% (26,000) live within a half-mile of oil and gas facilities while proportionally they make up 10.5% of the total population.  Adding to these facts, New Mexico ranks third in the nation with the highest poverty rate, making these environmental justice concerns. The Oil & Gas Threat Map map offers these realities to our communities, especially children in great detail. Another helpful resource that offers scientifically determined data and the effects on communities can be found through the Environmental Defense Fund.

Permian Basin an important precedent
If we are to truly cut methane emissions in the United States we must address what is happening in the Permian and in New Mexico overall. We do that by following the mandates of the Clean Air Act, enforcing strong EPA regulations, and by implementing a managed decline of oil & gas production.

The Permian Basin faces the dilemma of balancing economic interests with environmental responsibility. The EPA’s methane rules strike a necessary balance by incentivizing the adoption of advanced technologies and practices to reduce methane emissions. This not only benefits the environment but also presents an opportunity for the region to transition into other jobs for workers, such as retrofitting equipment, methane mitigation jobs and clean-up. Transition is only possible if we also have the opportunity to conserve our air, water and land instead of being treated like a disposable sacrifice zone. We are encouraged by the potential for these rules to stimulate innovation, create green jobs, and ultimately pave the way for a cleaner, more sustainable future.

These rules empower frontline communities to engage with local communities, industry stakeholders, and policymakers to ensure that these regulations are effectively implemented and lead to meaningful change and a healthier world. The spirit of collaboration and dialogue that they invoke, enables us to work towards a common goal of safeguarding the environment while promoting a just and sustainable future for the Permian Basin and the planet. We must work together as we face the climate crisis.

Sincerely,

Kayley Shoup, Organizer, Citizens Caring for the Future

Sr. Joan Brown, osf, Executive Director New Mexico & El Paso Interfaith Power and Light

EPA Announces Methane Rules to Care for Communities and Climate

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The environmental and climate justice communities in New Mexico celebrated the Environmental Protection Agency’s revised rules on methane emissions, which were posted on Saturday. The announcement was made in conjunction with this year’s global climate summit, known as COP28, in Dubai.

The strengthened rules seek to  

  • Ensure frequent leak detection and repair inspections at all wells, including regular monitoring of small, leak-prone wells. 
  • Stop the wasteful and polluting practice of routine flaring of associated gas from oil wells. 
  • Allow community monitoring data collected from frontline communities and other third parties to assist EPA in the implementation and enforcement of the methane safeguards. 
  • Require monitoring and plugging of abandoned wells that are leaking methane. 

“People of faith and conscience in New Mexico and El Paso Interfaith Power & Light have worked to support strong EPA methane rules for nearly a decade. After countless hearings, faith letters, and public comments we are grateful for the ethical and moral leadership the EPA is taking. Over the years alarm and concern for community health, environmental justice, and caring for our sacred climate have grown and we must continue to act.” said Sister Joan Brown, osf, Executive Director, Interfaith Power & Light New Mexico & El Paso.

When implemented and enforced, these rules will keep the U.S. on track to meet its global promise of reducing methane 30% by 2030 and 80% by 2038!

The climate-heating gas first became a widely known issue in New Mexico in 2014 when NASA satellite images showed the methane hotspot over the Four Corners area of New Mexico.

Peer-reviewed science indicates that living within half-a-mile of oil and gas production facilities is clearly correlated with negative health impacts including cancer, respiratory illness, fetal defects, blood disorders, and neurological problems.

According to those same scientific studies, the health of almost 7 percent of our residents (primarily in southeast New Mexico, but also San Juan County) is threatened by emissions and leaks from oil wells and other facilities.

Kayley Shoup, an organizer with Citizens Caring for the Future, said in a June 2023 interview that every time she hears about a child or teenager in the Permian Basin being diagnosed with a rare cancer or leukemia, she’s made it a point to find out how close they live to oil and gas facilities. She said nine times out of ten, the children are living within close distance to an oil or gas facility.

“I really think that it can’t be understated just how much of a health risk these things pose when they’re close to schools, or they’re close to homes, and that distance really does make a difference in what health impacts folks are dealing with,” she told the New Mexico Political Report.

NM faith leaders monitor emission levels in Permian Basin

New Mexicans Speak Out

Over the past decade or so, thousands of New Mexicans have spoken out in favor of strong methane and ozone rules in the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations.

“It is the responsibility of each of us to protect the planet with every small action that affects it. This is why I’m grateful for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent steps to regulate methane and other dangerous emissions from oil and gas facilities across the country,” Rev. Nick King, a Mennonite pastor in Carlsbad, NM, said in an opinion piece in the Albuquerque Journal in January of 2022, during the comment period on the proposed rules.

Additionally, Gov. Lujan Grisham’s administration has passed nation-leading methane and ozone safeguards that have provided a strong model for the rules the EPA is releasing. And importantly for families in New Mexico’s Permian Basin, federal protections will apply to extraction in Texas, where methane emissions are nearly unregulated.

“Reducing methane pollution from the oil and gas industry is the fastest, most cost-effective way to slow the rate of climate change and avoid the further escalation of unpredictable, severe, and catastrophic weather events like those we’ve seen in New Mexico including the wildfires and subsequent floods that ravaged the northern part of the state and the heat dome we experienced this summer,” said a press release posted by coalition of environmental and climate justice organizations working on cutting emissions.

“People of faith and conscience, with a shared commitment for stewardship of our Sacred Earth, applaud the EPA for these rules to address harmful methane pollution.  At a time when nations are meeting for the international climate conference in Dubai, the final EPA rules show the U.S. is serious about its moral responsibility to reduce methane pollution. The rules will help address the climate crisis by decreasing methane in our air, and it will help protect the millions of people living on the frontlines of oil and gas development across the country,” said Rev. Susan Hendershot, national IPL President.  Read the national IPL press statement.

KOAT-TV: Groups asking the governor for “health buffer zones”

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More than 34,000 children in New Mexico live or go to school near oil or gas wells, some telling us this puts their health at risk. According to the state’s oil conservation division, there are many schools in the Northwestern and Southeastern parts of the state that are within a mile of active oil or gas wells.

Thirty-nine environmental, health and advocacy groups throughout the state wrote a joint letter to the governor, saying those wells are putting children’s health at risk, and asking her to create “health buffer zones” to protect them.

Kayley Shoup, with Citizens Caring for the Future, also signed it, and said it’s not fair to children,

“It’s something that these children, they can’t consent to it and it’s just not OK that it’s something that we just take for granted and say, ‘This oil and gas well can be right next to this school because it funds our public schools.’ Right. And that’s just, you know, unconscionable, in my opinion,” Shoup said.

The governor’s press secretary, Caroline Sweeney, sent this statement in response.

“Gov. Lujan Grisham received the letter from groups concerned about oil and gas extraction near schools. As a governor squarely focused on improving the well-being of New Mexico children, she shares their concerns over potential health impacts on children and her administration has taken robust actions to ensure responsible development. She has also directed her administration to actively evaluate avenues for implementing setbacks in the oil patch.”

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