Op-Ed: Fix Oil & Gas Leasing System

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Here is an excerpt of an opinion piece that James Jimenez,  executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, wrote in the (Santa Fe) New Mexican.

In New Mexico, we have lived through many boom-and-bust cycles of the oil and gas industry. But recent years have shown just how much we need to break this cycle — particularly as we plan for the transition from oil and gas to clean energy — by tipping the scales away from the oil and gas corporations and back toward New Mexicans who have shouldered the consequences. That’s especially true for our state’s children, whose school funding is too dependent on the vagaries of international oil and gas markets.

Thankfully, this could all be changed, but it will require a commitment from the Biden administration to fixing the federal government’s out-of-date oil and gas leasing system and putting our communities before oil and gas CEOs.  Read full article

 

Testimony on State Methane Rules: Dr. Kathleen Mezoff

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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.

Dear Members of the Environmental Improvement Board,

I am Dr. Kathy Mezoff, a retired pediatrician who practiced in Gallup at
RMCH for 34 years. You would be right to suspect that, as a pediatrician, I have
a very special place in my heart for babies and children. New Mexico is home to
some of the worst methane one ozone precursor pollution In the country; we
know that babies and children, with their small lungs and developing brains, are
at great risk from the pollutants and toxins from oil and gas operations. It is
therefore imperative from a public heath perspective that we stop the one million
tons of climate-warming methane and the hundreds of thousands of tons of
volatile organic compounds that endanger the health especially of those in the
rural areas of southeast and northwest New Mexico — cancers, asthma, and
heart disease —to name a few. Leaks due to equipment malfunction and lack of
maintenance account for over half of the oil and gas industry’s methane
emissions in the state.


In addition to the health and quality of life concerns in Eddy, Lea, and San
Juan counties, methane pollution accelerates climate change, which will
especially affect the futures of our children as it worsens and accelerates. Our
weather is already causing frequent catastrophes across the world.
Rules to curb methane waste and pollution through updated equipment
and technology can actually create jobs in the methane mitigation industry —as
well as saving our state millions of dollars.


Please — let’s get this done — for the sake of our children, society, and
our world!


Dr. Kathleen Mezoff – Gallup, New Mexico

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.