Tell the EPA: Cutting methane emissions is crucial to the fight against climate change

Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0317

Every day, Americans are coming face to face with the devastating effects of climate change. And methane, which warms the planet with 80 times the strength of carbon dioxide in its first 20 years in the atmosphere, is a major part of the problem.

Last year, in Florida, a gas pipeline was likely the cause of a 12-mile-wide, 300-metric-ton methane cloud in the air. Over in Texas, the massive Permian oil basin represents the largest methane flux ever reported from a U.S. oil- or gas-producing region. These are just two examples of the urgent need to protect our health and our planet by curbing emissions of this dangerous gas.

Bold action to stop polluters from freely leaking methane into the atmosphere could mean a decrease in global warming emissions equivalent to taking 200 million cars off the road for a year. So I applaud the EPA for proposing strong new standards for methane emissions, and I urge your agency to make the final rule as strict as possible.