Methane Comments: David Robertson

(The EPA is hosting three virtual public hearings on January 10-12. These hearings are an important opportunity for communities across the country to make their voices heard, and demand that EPA adopts strong, comprehensive methane safeguards to protect our health and our planet. We share ccomments from New Mexico and El Paso residents).

My name is David Robertson. I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I am a retired professional engineer. I spent 35 years working on energy efficiency as a research engineer and a facilities engineer. 

There are many reasons to implement strong federal methane safeguards. I have personal reasons that we need these safeguards. I am concerned for myself, my friends, my family, and future generations as we suffer the effects of oil and gas production and climate change. My son and his family – which includes 3 young children – live in West Texas in the Permian basin – a large  oil and natural gas producing area. The region has produced large quantities of methane and VOCs over the years, which contribute to climate change and poor air quality. I am concerned for the health of my son and his family. Families living close to oil and gas who suffer from terrible health conditions. They experience, first hand, growing concerns of health, quality of life, environmental pollution and deterioration of air quality. I have friends in California who just this week had to evacuate to escape flooding and mudslides. I have family and friends on the East Coast who are impacted by sea level rise. We in the Southwest United States are experiencing extreme drought. Immigrants are at our borders escaping the effects of climate change. The damage from climate change to life on the planet is all around us. 

I am concerned for myself, my friends, my family, and future generations as we suffer the effects of oil and gas production and climate change. My son and his family – which includes 3 young children – live in West Texas in the Permian basin – a large  oil and natural gas producing area. The region has produced large quantities of methane and VOCs over the years, which contribute to climate change and poor air quality.

I am a member of the First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque and New Mexico Interfaith Power and light. The people of faith of New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light have worked with the EPA on creating strong methane rules since the beginning of this process. We are working hard for the Common Good. We count on the EPA to work in good faith with us. We need to act quickly for strong rules. This ethical and moral work is not optional, it is the demand of loving service. 

I am a strong advocate for care of creation and protection of this wonderful world we have been blessed with. The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is to protect the environment. That includes plants, animals, and people. It is life on this planet that I am most concerned about. We have a spiritual, ethical and moral duty to love and care for our neighbor and creation. 

Oil and gas companies are wasting about $2 billion a year worth of natural gas through venting, flaring, and leaks. At a time when Americans are struggling to pay home heating bills, it is unconscionable that oil companies are literally burning natural gas into the air – a practice that is wasteful and harmful to health. 

Commonsense fixes to reduce methane emissions can be done for little cost. Oil and gas companies seeing record profits could deploy these fixes to reduce methane emissions for pennies on the dollar.

Corporate greed is driving energy prices.

While American families struggle at the pump and communities suffer from the impacts of climate change, Big Oil CEOs are raking in record profits – more than $210 billion in the first six months of 2022. Instead of reducing prices, Big Oil is lining their pockets.

Through methane protections we can create good-paying jobs, lower families’ energy costs, and reduce pollution. Reducing methane emissions is the fastest, easiest and cheapest thing we can do to immediately slow the pace of climate change. Methane pollution has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over its first 20 years in the atmosphere. Cutting methane pollution from the oil and gas industry is the quickest, most cost-effective way to slow the rate of climate change and protect communities across the country. 

Every day that passes without strong federal methane safeguards in place is a missed opportunity to reduce climate and air pollution from the oil and gas industry, protect the health and wellbeing of communities across this country, and put hundreds of thousands of Americans to work building a more efficient and secure energy system. We cannot continue to wait.

We must act now to stop the worst harm. It is urgent that we implement, strengthen, and finalize these rules and make sure there is industry oversight once they are in place.

I urge you to take all possible measures to put in place strong federal safeguards to reduce methane emissions. 

Thank you for the opportunity to make a public comment on this issue.