Methane cloud continues to threaten our state

(LAST) WEEK I made the picturesque drive up to the Greater Chaco area for a tour led by community members of fracking sites. We carried with us an FLIR camera. The camera, which can record in the infrared spectrum, allowed us to see pollution that would normally be invisible to the naked eye.

What we saw was chilling. Most sites showed some off-gassing. A few were spewing plumes of methane into the overcast sky. Methane, as a greenhouse gas, is 86 times as potent as CO2. This is not mere “political noise,” as (Ryan) Flynn, the New Mexican oil lobbyist, would have it in his (Jan. 12 op-ed). Extreme weather disasters cost the United States a recordshattering $306 billion dollars last year. Sixteen of the 17 hottest years on record have been in this century. Being concerned about climate change isn’t a “special interest” anymore.

Flynn’s misleading and divisive rhetoric is reckless and dangerous. If the oil industry was truly committed to protecting our environment, as Flynn asserts, they would welcome the common-sense methane regulations the Trump administration is trying so desperately to repeal. Colorado has already implemented rules on methane waste similar to the federal regulations being attacked by Flynn and others. In a recent survey of Colorado oil and gas producers, the vast majority of them agreed that the regulations significantly reduced pollution, increased efficiency and had, at most, a negligible effect on their bottom line.

The federal regulations, if implemented, would actually add jobs and increase tax revenue for our state. (Democrats U.S. Sen. Tom) Udall and (N.M. Attorney General Hector) Balderas should be applauded for their efforts in support of the methane rule. Every day wasted on this meaningless debate the methane cloud looming over our state grows. MARK LECLAIRE Albuquerque