Methane offers potential job source for NM
Capturing or preventing leaked gas holds economic potential
Scientists say methane pollution poses a public health risk and is the second-largest industrial contributor to climate change in the United States.
Patrick Von Bargen has something to add to that: “Capturing leaked methane is going to be an important source of employment in the future, so are we going to bring those jobs to New Mexico, or not?”
Bargen is the director of the Center for Methane Emissions Solutions, a trade group of technology firms and service providers focused on the economic potential of methane.
At an event hosted by his organization in Albuquerque on Wednesday, Bargen said that methane — the main component of natural gas that is often leaked by oil and gas drilling operations — is the source of about $200 million in lost gas revenue for New Mexico energy companies, as the result of faulty equipment or inefficient practices.
For businesses that can find ways to help those companies capture methane or prevent it from leaking, according to Bargen, there is a significant financial upside and job creation opportunity.
The event was moderated by Synthia Jaramillo, the city’s economic development director, who said the topic was proof that officials “don’t need to choose between saving the environment and creating jobs.”
Bargen said regulation can aid the growth of the methane leak industry. He pointed to Colorado, where he said environmental advocates and industry representatives came together to pass statewide methane regulations after the appearance of several local measures aimed at banning fracking. In part because of the law, said Bargen, the industry has flourished there.
The discussion takes place as the country’s executive and judicial branches spar over an Obama-era air pollution regulation. Last month, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced it would replace the rule, which requires energy companies to capture methane emissions at drilling sites. A federal judge ordered the department to reinstate it, stating that its absence would likely cause “irreparable injury” to states like New Mexico.
Robert McEntyre, spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, called the federal regulation “a heavy-handed, top-down approach” and said the issue is best addressed by giving energy companies freedom to innovate their own solutions. He also disputed Bargen’s characterization of the Colorado law.
“It’s like taking a cow to a slaughterhouse and saying, ‘Do you want to be a steak or a rawhide?” he said.
Darryl Weflen, president of Airworks Compressors, had his own bovine metaphor. Without regulation, he argued, energy company CFOs are less likely to make investments that could benefit them in the long-term but have a significant short-term financial impact.
“Why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free?” asked Weflen.