Sister Joan Brown: New BLM Rules on Methane Fall Short

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The Interior Department has proposed rules to reduce methane leaks from oil and gas drilling on public lands, in the Biden administration’s latest move to aggressively tackle emissions of the climate-warming greenhouse gas.

The rules by the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management would impose strict monthly time and volume limits on flaring, the process of burning excess natural gas at a well, and require payment for flaring that exceeds those limits.  Read more in this artice

Here is a comment from Sister Joan Brown

“We all have an ethical and moral responsibility to care for our land, water, air, and communities, which are sacred gifts. The BLM also has a legal responsibility to eliminate the waste of public resources, and its draft waste rule has important provisions but ultimately falls short of that obligation. The rule must require oil and gas operators to eliminate routine venting and flaring for the good of Our Common Home and those who are most vulnerable.”
– Sr. Joan Brown, osf, New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light

Sister Joan Brown, Kayley Shoup React to Updated Methane Rule

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Early this morning, President Biden and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an updated draft rule to cut methane and other harmful pollutants from oil and gas operations across the U.S. This proposal is an important step towards addressing the climate crisis, protecting the health and safety of communities across the country, and prioritizing the creation of quality, family-sustaining jobs – but there is more work to be done. Here are reactions from two important local leaders to this development.

“We all have an ethical and moral responsibility to care for our land, water, air and communities, which are sacred gifts. The EPA holds a particular public responsibility to address pollution from oil and gas industries and must adopt strong rules that cut pollution from flaring and small well sites. President Biden and the EPA have taken vital action to care for Our Common Home and those who are most vulnerable, whose voices and concerns are often not heard. People of faith are grateful for reforms that cherish life, and we look forward to ensuring the strongest possible rules are adopted in early 2023 that will phase out pollution from the wasteful practice of routine flaring which occurs throughout the Permian Basin.”  Sister Joan Brown, Executive Director, New Mexico and El Paso Region Interfaith Power and Light
“This revised draft rule is a welcome reprieve to those of us living in the most prolific oil field in the United States, the Permian Basin. This rule raises the bar on the use of zero-emitting equipment and will finally clamp down on emission from abandoned wells. EPA should build upon the strong foundation of this rule by following the  lead of New Mexico and strictly limit pollution from routine flaring across the Permian Basin. Pollution doesn’t stop at the state border, and New Mexico alone cannot solve the pollution issue for those of us in frontline communities of the Permian Basin. We hope that these rules can be implemented and enforced swiftly, as the Permian faces down ozone pollution levels that are in violation of the Clean Air Act.”
Kayley Shoup, Organizer, Citizens Caring for the Future 

Video from 350NM Speaker Series: “Living with Oil Wells as Neighbors”

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What is it like to live in the Permian basin next to oil wells? How can we update the 1935 Oil and Gas Act to make it safer for the people living there? Join activists Kayley Shoup and Tannis Fox on this video recorded Oct 24, 2022 to find out.