Let’s work hard on methane pollution control

I am very appreciative of the efforts and leadership that Gov. Lujan Grisham has been showing since taking office, in responding to the COVID pandemic, in tackling the climate crisis, and in using her State of the State speech to recognize the importance of tackling methane pollution.

May I add some concerns I have about controlling methane pollution. While the draft rule before the Oil Conservation Commission should achieve that goal, the New Mexico Environment Department’s draft air pollution rules are inadequate and include loopholes that would leave the vast majority of New Mexico’s oil and gas wells exempt from oversight. From a pollution perspective, the exemptions would leave 71% of the methane and two-thirds of ozoneproducing volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions unaddressed.

As a retired medical practitioner, I know that the public health impacts of oil and gas pollution affect all of us, worsening respiratory disease, and increasing the risk of heart disease and heart attacks. Historically disadvantaged communities are at higher risk of impacts because they are more likely to live close to oil and gas operations.

We know that methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, which, over a 20-year period, will trap 84 times as much heat in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. We must make dramatic cuts in methane if we are to stave off the worst effects of climate change, including a longer wildfire season and drought, which is impacting us here in New Mexico.

As Gov. Lujan Grisham stated, “This year, we will enact the country’s toughest methane and air pollutant rule in the oil and gas industry.” To deliver on the governor’s commitment and to protect the health of all New Mexicans, New Mexico’s Environment Department must strengthen its draft rules and close the loopholes. Likewise, we need to urge the Biden Administration to urgently restore and strengthen methane and ozone rules.

JULIA YING LOS ALAMOS