House Dems demand action on methane leaks
North Denver News
November 19, 2014
New studies show that enough methane is wasted from Bakken region alone to heat over 750,000 homes for a year.
Today, a group of key Democrats urged the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to expeditiously propose strong rules to crack down on methane waste from oil and gas projects. In a letter to the bureau, Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) joined House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Public Lands and Environmental Regulation Subcommittee Ranking Member Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) to call for robust action to prevent further methane leaks. The letter comes on the heels of several studies showing that recent increases in natural gas production have caused an unprecedented rise in emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas and a valuable fuel that oil and gas producers on public lands would otherwise be paying royalties to capture.
In the letter, the representatives state that while the “natural gas boom has ushered in a new era of energy independence and security,” with record production levels and lower prices for consumers, “the potential climate benefits of natural gas…could prove to be a mirage if there are significant methane losses associated with its production.”
The letter calls BLM’s attention to a recent study that used satellite data to estimate the amount of methane leakage from unconventional oil and gas production. From the Bakken region alone, the amount of methane lost could heat more than 750,000 homes each year, enough to serve the entire Nashville, TN metro area. Such fugitive methane emissions exacerbate global warming, cause local air quality problems, and cheat the American taxpayers from royalties that would otherwise be paid on that gas.
The letter continues, “Controlling methane emissions is not just critical for the environment, it’s also good for jobs and the economy,” highlighting the existing methane mitigation industry that currently supports tens of thousands of jobs across the country. “Requiring companies to fight leaks and minimize flaring will create even more methane mitigation jobs, while providing additional revenue to the production companies and additional royalties for the American taxpayers.”
In May 2014, Ranking Member DeFazio, Rep. Shea-Porter, and Rep. DeGette requested that GAO assess BLM’s ability to detect and measure fugitive methane emissions, and what steps can be taken to address those emissions. That study is currently underway.
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