Climate and Methane

OUR PRIORITIES

  • Advocate for stringent and enforceable safeguards, policies, and regulations at the state and federal levels to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector and hold the sector responsible for pollution.

  • Advance innovative local approaches that bring together energy producers, residents, and local leaders to protect public health, improve air quality, fight climate change, and stop the waste of taxpayer resources.

FEDERAL METHANE RULEMAKINGs

Defending and expanding federal safeguards to reduce methane and other pollutants from the oil and gas sector has been a cornerstone of Western Leaders Network’s mission since our organization’s inception in 2017. Strong federal methane rules – when properly implemented and enforced – can provide sweeping protections for communities across the nation, hold oil and gas companies accountable for pollution, create jobs, protect publicly owned resources, and build climate resilience. See below for information on three federal rulemakings and learn more about WLN’s impact on each.

  • Throughout the U.S., there are approximately 3 million miles of natural gas pipelines. When they leak, they release methane and other health-hazardous pollutants into the atmosphere that threaten public health and safety, waste natural gas that could be captured and sent to market, and worsen the climate crisis.

    The Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is currently working on a rule that would drastically improve federal oversight of natural gas pipelines. More than 160 elected officials from across the nation have signed a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in support of the rule, which is expected to be finalized in early 2025.

    Join our mail list if you haven’t already for news and engagement opportunities around the PHMSA rule, or contact jess@westernleaders.org.

  • In December 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized new rules to help achieve national climate goals, advance environmental justice, protect public health, and prevent the waste of taxpayer revenue by reducing methane emissions and other pollutants from new and existing oil and gas operations.

    Click here to learn more about the final rule, and click here to read our letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan in support of these important standards.

  • In March 2024, the Biden administration released its final Bureau of Land Management rule to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas operations on public lands, including provisions to control waste from routine venting and flaring. According to the Biden administration, oil and gas operators vented or flared approximately 150 billion cubic feet of methane in 2019 – or about $400 million of natural gas on federal and tribal lands – which is enough to meet the needs of 2.1 million households.

    This rule is an important supplement to the EPA’s methane rule. Learn more about it here.



state methane rulemakings

Western Leaders Network engages with elected officials and partners across the Interior West on state-level initiatives to reduce methane emissions, protect frontline communities, build sustainable local economies, advance state climate targets, and improve public transparency and accountability in the oil and gas leasing process. See below for state-level rulemakings and other efforts Western Leaders Network is engaged in, and learn how you can get involved.

Colorado

  • The Colorado Air Pollution Control Division (APCD) is currently working on updates to its Regulation 7: Control of Emissions from Oil and Gas Emissions Operations rule language to further reduce ground-level ozone along Colorado’s Front Range and comply with certain requirements of the EPA’s methane rule. We’re calling on APCD to take quick and decisive action to reduce harmful emissions that damage public health and our climate through an upcoming rulemaking scheduled for February 2025.

    The Division must simultaneously address Colorado’s severe ozone nonattainment problem in the Denver Metro/Northern Front Range area as well as methane emissions from the oil and gas industry statewide.

    Please use the following messaging guidance in drafting testimony, opinion pieces, and social media posts up to the November 20, 2024 request for rulemaking, highlighting the importance of adopting strong, common-sense rules to improve air quality, prevent the needless waste of natural resources, increase economic competitiveness, and safeguard Colorado’s climate security.

  • The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) is currently working on a new rule to reduce methane emissions from landfills. Landfills are Colorado’s third-largest source of methane, a leading contributor to the climate crisis and 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the near-term. In addition to methane, landfills also emit other hazardous air pollutants and ozone precursors that degrade air quality and public health.

    If you’re a current or former local or state elected official, add your name to this letter by Nov. 12, 2024 and urge CDPHE to act swiftly to cut landfill methane. 

new mexico

  • In April 2022, the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board (EIB) finalized nation-leading regulations to reduce pollution from oil and gas production and processing across the state, including rules to address equipment leaks that are among the industry’s leading contributors to methane pollution.  The EIB rule built upon New Mexico Oil Conservation Division rules finalized in March 2021 to limit methane waste from the oil and gas sector by banning routine venting and flaring.

wyoming

  • The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) has started the rulemaking process to implement standards reducing methane rom the oil and gas sector. This process, known as a state implementation plan, or SIP, will implement the federal EPA methane rule finalized in spring 2024. The process will also ensure that Wyoming is taking the lead in regulating air pollution under the Clean Air Act and adopting a SIP that’s best for Wyoming communities.

    The DEQ is holding a virtual public engagement session to share information about and take comments on the SIP on Thursday, Oct. 31, at 1:00 p.m. Mountain.

Western Leaders Network is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. EIN #82-0625994.