Sr. Joan Brown: Strong methane rules protect God’s creation

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In an opinion piece, published in The New Mexican on Jan. 14, urged policy makers to enact strong methane rules.

“...it’s so important the EPA strengthens its proposed rule by eliminating exemptions that would allow for many wells to be missed and many communities to continue to have to live with this harmful pollution. We need the rule to cover not just large producers but small ones — whose polluting impact can often be as bad or worse as larger sites.

The rule should make inspections more frequent and step up oversight, including allowing third-party observers to provide emissions data. It should institute stronger regulations over flaring — including banning routine flaring and placing strict limitations on unlit flares that vent methane pollution straight into the atmosphere.

St. Francis of Assisi centuries ago wrote that it was the responsibility of civic leaders to care for the common good. It falls on policymakers — including regulators at the EPA and other agencies — to uphold that ethical and moral standard to care for our sacred creation and common home. The time for action on climate has been here for a while. The EPA should take this opportunity to act on climate by finalizing strong methane pollution standards.

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Sr. Joan Brown discusses the complexities of the shift to sustainability

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In an interview for Global Sisters Report (a project of the National Catholic Reporter), Sister Joan Brown addressed the complexities of the shift to sustainability.   Here are some excerpts.

“The communities feel that they’re ‘a sacrifice zone’ and are continually ‘a sacrificed zone,’ ” Brown said. “They’re suffering from pollution now. Everybody else is using their energy. And yet with this transition, where are the jobs going to come from?”

These are challenging and daunting questions with no easy answers, and balancing respect for local needs with the demands required for the good of the entire planet will not be easy, she said.

But Brown stressed that local participation “at the table” is necessary, as is the voice of the faith community.

GSR: In your advocacy work, you’ve seen how difficult this process of just transition can be. Give us some idea of that.

Brown: We did an energy transition act in New Mexico that passed in 2019. That was to address the coal-fired power plants. The bill itself was to provide carbon-free energy by 50% by 2030 and 100% by 2045. In that process, the effort of a large collaboration was to move toward renewable energy while engaging communities in the transition for new jobs, training and ways to address local needs for tax revenue as we addressed climate change.

What about the need to shift to other technologies? There are complexities with that dynamic, right?

Yes. A story comes to my mind where there’s been an effort to get public comment on a large transmission line through the state of New Mexico to take all of the renewables from our wind and from solar. It’s going through rural areas again and through some sensitive environmental areas. Some ranchers, farmers and others in the affected rural areas are concerned. The energy is going elsewhere and they feel they are paying the price.

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The article appears in the A Just Transition feature series. View the full series.

Rev. Nick King Letter Urges EPA to Ban Flaring, Venting of Methane

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(The Albuquerque Journal printed this letter from Rev. Nicholas King, pastor of Albuquerque Mennonite Church, on Tuesday, January 11, 2022).

As a Christian pastor, I stand with a growing movement of faith leaders who are concerned with issues like air pollution and climate change. It is our duty to stand up for the gift of this Earth that God has bestowed upon us as well as for the welfare of the communities around oil and gas facilities and the workers inside them. 

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.

The venting and flaring of methane at oil and gas facilities is regulated by the EPA, which recently released a proposal that would cut methane and other harmful pollutants from new and existing oil and gas operations. The proposal will also reduce methane waste from leaks at roughly one million oil and gas wells currently operating across the country.  While a great start, these rules must go further to protect frontline communities like mine. 

The EPA must follow in the footsteps of New Mexico and ban this wasteful, routine flaring and venting, because emissions do not know state or national borders, and those of us in the Permian Basin are affected by a lack of regulation from other states. The banning of routine venting and flaring will mean that the health of the workers, who are caught in the middle of trying to make a living while working in polluted circumstances, as well as our national parks and neighborhoods, will be more protected from pollution.

Life is precarious, and nature is, too. In thinking only about economics, we can become so short-sighted that we can end up poisoning our workers, neighbors, and the very air we breathe. That’s one of the many reasons I promote love and concern for all our world and for our children, and why I partner with organizations that protect our public lands, like the National Parks Conservation Association. Together, we work to make sure our national parks and surrounding communities are protected from air pollution and the effects of climate change.

New Mexico’s national parks and heritage sites, like Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, Chaco, and Bandelier are the perfect symbol of God’s creation and human history in this world. They are sacred gifts we want to protect from the damages of air pollution and methane flares for generations to come. How we cherish our national parks is indicative of what we believe in and where we are going as a country; uplifting and protecting them sets a standard for the rest of the world to rise up to.  

God’s creation is our inheritance on this Earth, and we must look past our own noses and economic interests to protect our gift of nature. New Mexico has already dedicated itself to preserving our public lands by abolishing methane flares; we must take that dedication further by not only supporting the EPA proposal, but also by pushing the EPA and Congress to continue to make our air, public lands, and conditions for our facility workers safe. In doing so, we glorify God in our care for the creation with which we have all been entrusted.