Broad Coalition in Permian Basin Supports Strong Methane Rules

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Dear Environmental Improvement Board (EIB),

    As educators, leaders, pastors, business people, students, healthcare workers and ordinary citizens in the Permian Basin we are very concerned about the health and environment of our communities. This is why we support strong methane rules that will be enforced. In our communities there are many sites close to schools and in neighborhoods, which is why it is more important than ever to make sure that regulations are approved and enforced. 

The health of our children, elderly, and every citizen in the Permian Basin is at risk if we fail to do this. Just last year we received a F grade for ozone from the American Lung Association. We are here to say that this is unacceptable, and we must work to make sure that pollution levels are improved in our communities. In addition, some of our community members are very concerned about the effect of methane pollution on climate change, which affects future generations. These are serious ethical and moral concerns for the common good.

We  understand that truly improving the rate of methane and VOC emissions is an extremely hefty goal given the scale of the Permian versus the capacity of regulatory agencies in New Mexico.  Requiring frequent inspections to find and fix leaks is a common sense way to ensure that those of us on the front lines are exposed to fewer emissions than we currently are exposed to on a daily basis. Some of us have seen significant leaks through a FLIR video camera at sites mere feet from homes and schools. We have revisited many of these sites months later, and have observed that the leaks are still occurring. It is extremely hard to go home and sleep at night after seeing these emission events because we understand the harm that they bring. 

People living near sites that are going up are unable to sleep because of constant noise, have headaches because of the fumes, and deal with horrible traffic near their homes when new sites are being enacted. We believe that it is essential that these operators are required to control pollution. These concerns are a matter of health and quality of life.

 We commend NMED for setting out strong methane rules that can lead the nation, but we also understand the power of the oil & gas industry that doesn’t take into account the quality of life and the health of the people that live in this region. We know that if the industry can find a loophole in regulation then they will utilize the loophole, and we also know that the odds of finding and holding polluters accountable are slim. These rules must acknowledge those realities for them to have any effect out here in what we like to call, the Wild Wild West.

Kayley Shoup, Community Organizer with Citizens Caring for the Future, Carlsbad 

Robyn Hayes, NMSU Professor Emeritus, Carlsbad

David Shoup, Carlsbad Municipal Schools Board President & Owner of Constructors Inc, Carlsbad 

Pastor Nick King, Mennonite Church & Owner of King Solar, Carlsbad

Ginger Price, Retired Nurse, Carlsbad

Joelle Boeglin, Carlsbad

Ford Stone, Carlsbad 

Christy Shoup, Business Owner, Carlsbad

Asia Corona, Student, Raised in Carlsbad

Karli Click, Teacher, Carlsbad

Anthony Lopez Cook, Science Teacher, Roswell (previous Carlsbad resident)

Arlene Aguilar, Carlsbad 

Gary Bradley, Teacher, Carlsbad 

Larry Henderson, Former Carlsbad City Council Member, Carlsbad

Gene Harbaugh, Retired Presbyterian Minister, Carlsbad

Bryce Thompson, Actor, Raised in Carlsbad & family is still there

Morgan Bradley, Student at NMSU, Raised in Carlsbad & family is still there

Julius Doubrava, Former Eddy County Commissioner & Carlsbad City Council Member, Retired in CA

Stephanie Harmon, Retired United Methodist Clergy, Carlsbad

Sydney Shoup, Speech Therapist, Raised in Carlsbad & family is still there

Quay Dominguez, Student, Carlsbad

Victoria Pena-Parr, Spanish Teacher, Raised in Carlsbad & family is still there

Kennedy Allen, Student, Raised in Carlsbad

Abigail Kayser, Student, Raised in Carlsbad

Sonia Soto, New Mexico State Employee and Carlsbad Resident 

DeAndra Carrasco, Photographer, Raised in Carlsbad

Abigail Hervol, Nurse, Raised in Carlsbad & family is still there

Garrett Carrasco, Student, Raised in Carlsbad

Kaylee Johns, Raised in Carlsbad

Christopher Fierro Jr, Student, Raised In Carlsbad

Victoria Vasquez, Raised in Carlsbad

Gage Shoup, Student, Raised in Carlsbad 

Jameson Lucas, Graphic Designer, Former EC Health Council Coordinator, Carlsbad

Briette Mendoza, Student at UNM, born and raised in Carlsbad, family is still there 

Madie Riley, Communications Specialist, Raised in Carlsbad and signing for family still in town

Cecilia Doubrava, Retired Carlsbad Schools, Born & raised in Carlsbad 

Kyleigh McGilvary, Speech Therapist, Raised in Carlsbad & still has family in the area

Jordie Alvarez, Register Dietician, Raised in Carlsbad & still has family in the area

Karen Boehler, Retired, Roswell, NM

Gene Harbaugh, Retired Pastor, Carlsbad, NM

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