Complete list of press releases

(Washington, DC – June 7, 2017) Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has announced plans to issue a secretarial order tomorrow that will initiate a process for reviewing federal plans for the greater sage-grouse and possibly recommend significant changes to the plans.

“Any federal review of the existing sage-grouse plans must not undo the extraordinary cooperative conservation efforts of ranchers, sportsmen, scientists, business owners, local and state officials, and countless other citizens that ultimately precluded the need to list the bird under the Endangered Species Act two years ago. These plans provide common sense protections for wildlife, ecosystems and public health, and should be allowed to persevere.

“If the wrong thread of this carefully woven fabric is removed, the whole approach could unravel and the threat of listing will be back on the table. 

“The ultimate danger of changing the existing framework is not only for the greater sage-grouse, but also for the jobs and industries that benefit from roughly $1 billion a year in economic output driven by sage-grouse habitat in the outdoor recreation and tourism sectors.”

 -          Eric Holst, Associate Vice President of Working Lands, Environmental Defense Fund 

(Raleigh, NC – June 8, 2017) Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) today applauded the North Carolina House of Representatives for passing the Competitive Energy Solutions Act with overwhelming bipartisan support. Also known as House Bill 589, this legislation aims to encourage the development of more affordable, clean, and reliable energy throughout the state, while creating a number of new competitive market opportunities for clean energy businesses, as well as greater choice and access to clean energy for customers.

“While we have reservations about some elements in the bill, EDF believes that – taken in total – the Competitive Energy Solutions Act represents an important step toward North Carolina’s clean energy future. We hope the Senate will take swift action to enact this bill. Doing so will further secure a favorable economic climate for clean energy business growth, continue to attract investment in new renewable energy development across the state, and deliver on the public’s demand for cleaner, healthier, safer energy sources.”

HB 589 is the result of almost a year of extensive stakeholder negotiations among renewable energy groups, consumer advocacy organizations, and utilities. The bill will now move to the state Senate where it must be approved before heading to the governor’s desk.

• David Kelly, Manager, North Carolina Political Affairs, EDF Clean Energy Program

(NEW YORK, NY – June 7, 2017) The New York City Council today introduced a number of legislative proposals that will advance clean energy in New York City. Most notable among these bills is a recommendation to establish an energy policy taskforce that will set ongoing energy efficiency goals for city buildings. The other proposals will require landlords to enforce increased measures for more efficient energy use, including information disclosure about a building’s energy efficiency when selling or leasing a space, increased use of solar in municipal buildings.

“Nearly 75 percent of pollution in New York City comes from buildings, so improving energy efficiency is key to reduce pollution. The introduction of these bills not only shows New York City’s resolve to achieve its environmental goals, but also places it at the forefront of the fight against climate change.”

• Rory Christian, Director, New York Clean Energy, Environmental Defense Fund

(Seattle – June 7, 2017) The International Fisheries Innovation Network (I-FIN) is a new global coalition of scientists and economists committed to tackling one of the world’s greatest environmental challenges, overfishing, by collecting, sharing and using data in new and innovative ways to improve fisheries management for the betterment of people around the world, and the ocean resources they depend on.

“The sustainable use of fisheries resources is critical to human livelihoods around the globe,” said Merrick Burden, Senior Economist at Environmental Defense Fund. “With sustainable management, fisheries around the world could yield more fish, more food, and more prosperous communities, but to get there, we need the best scientific research available.”

Reliable and robust data on fishery health, particularly in developing nations where food security, nutrition, and livelihoods are heavily dependent on fisheries, is essential to ensuring effective long-term sustainable management. The scientific information necessary to inform sustainable management is lacking in many fisheries. By working together the members of I-FIN will help fisheries overcome their scientific gaps and provide government leaders with a more accurate picture of the health of the world’s fisheries.

“While good scientific information already exists in many areas, particularly developed nations, large challenges remain in small scale fisheries and developing countries around the world that do not have strong central fisheries management,” said Ray Hilborn, professor of fisheries science at the University of Washington. “I-FIN convenes scientists from scientific institutions around the world to identify new data sources, and focus on key fisheries management problems and solutions for their countries, and their fishing communities.”

I-FIN is led by a group of renowned experts from the University of Washington, the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Environmental Defense Fund. This new project will build on the work this group did to assemble the largest database on fisheries in the world to create a groundbreaking bio-economic outlook on global fisheries which was published last year in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.

“Sustainable fisheries management requires good scientific information,” said Steve Gaines, Dean of the Bren School at University of California, Santa Barbara. “I-FIN is seeking to develop that information in ways that address some of the most pressing management challenges and in places most in need of fisheries reform.”

(Raleigh, NC – June 6, 2017) Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) hailed today’s vote by the North Carolina House Energy and Public Utilities Committee to advance legislation aimed at encouraging the development of more affordable, clean, and reliable energy throughout the state. The Competitive Energy Solutions Act, also known as House Bill 589, will create a number of new competitive market opportunities for clean energy businesses, as well as greater choice and access to clean energy for customers.

“While we have reservations about some elements in the bill, we believe that – taken in total – the Competitive Energy Solutions Act represents an important step toward North Carolina’s clean energy future. This bill will further secure a favorable economic climate for clean energy business growth, continue to attract investment in new renewable energy development across the state, and deliver on the public’s demand for cleaner, healthier, safer energy sources.”

HB 589 is the result of almost a year of extensive stakeholder negotiations among renewable energy groups, consumer advocacy organizations, and utilities. The bill will now move to the House Finance Committee where it must be approved before heading to the House floor for a full vote of the Chamber.

• David Kelly, Manager, North Carolina Political Affairs, EDF Clean Energy Program

(Washington, D.C. – June 5, 2017) Environmental Defense Fund and other health and environmental groups have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to block EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt from stripping away vital air pollution safeguards for thousands of industrial sources in the oil and gas sector – which would create an immediate and irreversible public health and environmental threat for communities and families across our nation.

The standards would have required oil and gas owners and operators to complete surveys and repairs of their methane leaks by June 3, after providing a year of advance planning specifically requested by the oil and gas industry. Administrator Pruitt suspended these protections just days before they were set to begin delivering critical pollution reductions to communities across the country.   

Pruitt’s action creates a loophole in compliance obligations for thousands of wells across the country during the peak of smog season — allowing smog-forming volatile organic compounds, cancer-causing benzene and dangerous methane pollution to be emitted in extensive quantities with imminent and irreversible harms to public health and the environment.

“Administrator Pruitt’s decision to suspend commonsense standards to find and fix leaks is both unlawful and dangerous,” said Peter Zalzal, Lead Attorney for Environmental Defense Fund. “We are entering the height of summertime smog season, and every day his suspension remains in effect, emissions from thousands of wells across the country go unaddressed, harming American communities and families.”

Administrator Pruitt suspended these critical clean air protections without any public input or any analysis of the dangerous impacts its suspension would have on human health and the environment. EPA is also poised to extend the stay for an indeterminate period and has prepared an action to extend these clean air loopholes that is pending White House review now.

The emergency lawsuit was filed this morning, right after the unlawful suspension was published in the Federal Register. The lawsuit urges the court to swiftly block Administrator Pruitt’s action in light of its imminent harms to public health and the environment.

According to the brief filed by the health and environmental organizations today:

“These are Administrator Pruitt’s first steps towards suspending, revising, or rescinding the entire Rule … The Administrator has no authority to issue the stay and cause this irreparable harm. Promulgated rules remain in effect unless and until they are validly changed through the Clean Air Act’s enhanced rulemaking procedures … Those procedures do not allow EPA to stay or suspend an existing rule during a rulemaking to modify or repeal it … The action was patently unlawful, the irreparable harm to the public is serious, and the burden on industry is minimal.” (Brief, pages 4, 5, 7)

The lawsuit was filed by the Environmental Defense Fund as well as the Clean Air Council, the Clean Air Task Force, Earthworks, the Environmental Integrity Project, Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

EPA’s leak detection and repair standards are the cornerstone of a 2016 regulation designed to reduce methane and smog-forming pollution from the oil and gas industry. These measures require oil and gas companies to monitor their well sites and compressor stations at regular intervals to detect leaks of air pollutants, and to repair those leaks promptly. More than 18,000 wells and compressor stations in 22 states are subject to the requirements, including more than 11,000 in states that lack any separate state leak detection programs.

EDF has mapped wells that have been drilled or completed since September of 2015 and so would be covered by these vital clean air standards – see the searchable, interactive database here to find the wells in your community for which EPA Administrator  Scott Pruitt has stripped away core clean air protections.

Two weeks ago, more than 60 national, regional, state, and local organizations representing a wide range of constituents sent a letter to Scott Pruitt, urging him not to suspend these critical clean air safeguards.

You can find more information – including all legal documents – on EDF’s website

(Washington, DC – June 5, 2017) Public health advocates used a little-known legal tool today to challenge a recent FDA move allowing a toxic chemical in food packaging. The groups filed an objection to FDA’s decision to continue to allow perchlorate in dry food packaging. They also requested a formal evidentiary public hearing to secure an independent judgment of the agency’s decision.

“Children get one chance at a healthy brain and the FDA’s decision puts that at risk,” said Tom Neltner, Chemicals Policy Director at EDF. “The food supply is already extensively contaminated with perchlorate, and exposure is going up for young children. One in five pregnant women cannot tolerate any perchlorate exposure. We are taking action because the agency missed a crucial opportunity to protect children’s brain development. Their refusal to ban perchlorate in food packaging was both legally and scientifically flawed.”

“Relying on ‘alternative facts,’ the Trump Administration strikes again,” said Erik D. Olson, Director of Natural Resources Defense Council’s Health Program. Olson continued, “this time, it is illegally keeping a toxic chemical on the market.  The FDA’s own data showed perchlorate in nearly all food it tested—in many cases at levels of real concern.  We are demanding that FDA follow the law and scientific reason.”

“A rocket fuel chemical that leads to brain damage in children should be nowhere near our food,” said Caroline Cox, RD at Center for Environmental Health. “The FDA knows that exposures to this dangerous chemical are increasing among young children, yet still refuses to act. We expect the court to take action to protect our children’s health in the face of the agency’s failure.”

“The FDA should be doing all it can to make sure this highly toxic rocket fuel chemical isn’t in baby food,” said Tina Sigurdson, with Environmental Working Group. “But instead, the agency charged with protecting the nation’s food supply continues its foot-dragging around perchlorate contamination in foods both infants and pregnant women eat. It’s outrageous.”

“Perchlorate is primarily used in rocket fuel. There is no reason FDA should allow a chemical like this in or on food products,” said Cristina Stella, Staff Attorney at Center for Food Safety. “FDA’s job is to protect the public from toxic chemicals. The Agency’s denial of our petition is irresponsible, illegal, and indefensible.”

Perchlorate is a chemical used in rocket fuel. FDA approved its use in plastic packaging for food in 2005 – despite evidence that it harms fetal and infant brain development. Last month, FDA rejected a 2014 petition by health and environmental organizations to ban the chemical as a food additive.

Perchlorate threatens fetal and child brain development by impairing the thyroid’s ability to use iodine in the diet to make the thyroid hormone – T4 – that is essential to brain development. Food companies add perchlorate to plastic packaging for dry food – like rice cereal, flour, and spices – to reduce the buildup of static charges. Unfortunately, an industry study showed this toxic chemical also migrates into our food. Making matters worse, last year FDA expanded the use of perchlorate to dry food handling equipment.

An FDA report published in 2016 found that virtually all foods sampled had detectable levels of perchlorate. Even more concerning – the amount of perchlorate in foods infants and toddlers eat increased 36% and 24% respectively from 2008-2012 compared to 2005-2006. Dry rice cereal—often the first solid food given to a baby—and barley cereal showed the greatest increase from before and after the decision.

Today’s objection filed with the FDA cites the agency’s refusal to acknowledge evidence that perchlorate exposure increased significantly after its 2005 decision to allow perchlorate in packaging. Additionally, the objection cites evidence that FDA’s initial decision to approve perchlorate grossly underestimated the amount of perchlorate migrating into dry food.

Following FDA’s May 4, 2017 decision not to ban perchlorate, the public has 30 days to file an objection. Today’s objection is filed on behalf of EDF, Natural Resources Defense Council, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, Center for Environmental Health, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Center for Food Safety, Clean Water Action, Environmental Working Group, and Improving Kids’ Environment. The groups are requesting a formal evidentiary public hearing before an administrative law judge. The hearing will allow the advocates to challenge FDA’s decision and secure an independent judgment of the evidence.

Agency hearings of this kind are very rare. The most recent such hearings appear to have been for cyclamates and acrylonitrile in the 1970s.  

(June 5, 2017) An article published today in the journal Environmental Science and Technology demonstrates how a new approach to measuring air quality reveals pollution patterns at far greater detail than ever before. This scalable method could address major air quality monitoring gaps worldwide.

Researchers from Environmental Defense Fund and the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin joined forces with Google Earth Outreach and deployed Google Street View mapping cars equipped by Aclima to measure and chart air pollution in Oakland, CA, with unprecedented, highly localized precision, providing a detailed picture of where people are at greatest risk of breathing unhealthy air at 100-feet intervals.

The cars made three million unique measurements while driving more than 14,000 miles, creating one of the largest, most spatially precise datasets of mobile air pollution measurements ever assembled.

EDF and partners revealed the data in new, interactive maps that allow regulators and residents alike to see where elevated concentrations of dangerous air pollutants including black carbon, nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide are located in certain sections of West and East Oakland. Studies have linked exposure to higher concentrations of these contaminants, typically a result of vehicle emissions, with heart disease, stroke and asthma.

“Air pollution is largely an invisible threat, one that poses especially disproportionate risks in lower-income areas like West Oakland. This new method allows us to visualize the data so communities and policymakers can identify the sources of harmful pollution and take action to improve safety and health,” Steven Hamburg, EDF Chief Scientist, said.

Conventional assessments of urban pollution rely on data from a relative handful of fixed air quality monitors, emission inventories and computer models to characterize air pollution in a city. In Oakland, an area of 78-square miles, three stationary, regulatory-grade air quality monitors measure urban background pollution levels. Data from these monitors combined with modeling help local and regional policy makers get a general sense of air quality and potential health risks. However, uncertainties remain about the variation in pollution levels in the areas between the monitors, making it difficult to know precisely where dirty air comes from or who is suffering the most.

“The new mobile technology allows us to measure air pollution levels where people actually breathe the air—at street level,” said Joshua Apte, assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural & Environmental Engineering at UT Austin, and lead author of the study. “By allowing us to understand how air pollution varies between and even within city blocks, this technique will help policymakers and the public make smarter choices about how to reduce pollution and improve public health.”

This project is the latest phase of EDF’s partnership with Google, who have been working together since 2012 to map and measure a growing list of health and environmental risks, including hidden methane leaks from local natural gas systems.

“Google likes big challenges,” said Karin Tuxen-Bettman, Program Manager for Google Earth Outreach and lead for the air quality project at Google, “the mapping of air pollution, raising awareness of the problem, and enabling action to solve it — that’s a big challenge and we’re excited to play a part.”

For this study, EDF used two Google Street View mapping cars deployed by Aclima with a measurement system of fast-response air quality instrumentation. Engineers from UT Austin designed daily driving plans to ensure they captured data from each neighborhood at various times of the day, week and year. The cars drove about 435 miles of roadways an average of 30 times between May 2015 and May 2016.

In addition to technical partners, EDF collaborated with West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP), a community-based environmental justice organization in West Oakland, which served as a liaison and expert in the field of citizen science and applications of air quality data in Oakland.

“We know that it really matters where you live,” said Brian Beveridge, co-director of WOEIP. “This revolution in data gathering technology is proving what our neighbors have known for generations; it’s unhealthy to live near to freeways, truck routes, factories and ports.  The time is long overdue for policy makers to protect residents from industrial pollution.”

“Our findings validated community concerns about poor air quality near the port and major freeways,” Hamburg said. “But it’s also shocking to see how close homes and playgrounds have been built—and are continuing to be placed—near major pollution sources. This data can inform decisions about zoning and planning and result in concrete health benefits for communities.”

This work builds the foundational science that can be used in mapping cities around the world. 

EDF’s Air Quality Mapping project is a collaborative effort that includes: Environmental Defense Fund, whichplanned the project and convened the partners; Google Earth Outreach, whichprovided Street View vehicles and mapping technology; Aclima, which outfitted the cars with its platform to deliver dnvironmental intelligence through sensor networks; The University of Texas at Austin, which collaborated with EDF on the scientific elements of the study and developed the analytical approach to produce the map data; West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP) which provided the perspective of residents who live with diesel pollution; and Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), which provided data on regulatory-grade monitors, co-location services, and air quality expertise.

(Baton Rouge, LA—June 2, 2017) Today, Louisiana’s State Legislature passed SCR1, a resolution approving the 2017 Coastal Master Plan, the state’s blueprint for coastal restoration and protection activities. The resolution was authored by Sen. Morrish (R-Jennings), Sen. Alario (R-Westwego) and Rep. Leger (D-New Orleans). The master plan prioritizes $50 billion in coastal restoration and risk reduction activities over the next 50 years to address the state’s increasingly severe land loss and sea level rise.

Local and national conservation groups praised both the legislature for its oversight and approval of the plan as well as the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) for developing a comprehensive, science-based vision for how our state can realistically address future environmental challenges.

In response to the plan’s approval, Restore the Mississippi River Delta – a coalition of local and national organizations that have worked on coastal restoration in Louisiana for decades, including the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, the National Wildlife Federation and National Audubon Society – released the following statement:

“Today’s approval of the 2017 Coastal Master Plan validates the importance and urgency of addressing our coastal land loss crisis, which threatens the very existence of Louisiana as we know it. We are particularly grateful to Senator Dan W. “Blade” Morrish for his leadership in carrying the plan through the legislature. Our organizations are also grateful to CPRA for developing and advancing the master plan, including incorporating public feedback through tremendous community outreach and engagement efforts.

“The 2017 Coastal Master Plan process is truly an innovative, unparalleled effort that all Louisianians can be proud of – and our state desperately needs to implement the plan as quickly as possible. The master plan is grounded in science, balances coastal restoration with protection, and is publicly-informed. Louisiana has again provided a model for how coastal communities around the world can adapt to land loss, rising seas, increased storms and other climate change challenges.

“With sediment diversions as a cornerstone of the master plan, Louisiana stands ready to harness the power of the strongest tool available to build and sustain land – the Mississippi River. The state should continue this momentum by constructing sediment diversions as quickly as possible and take advantage of this amazing resource that is being wasted.

“As we start another hurricane season, we are all too aware of the existential threat facing our region and how important coastal wetlands are as a first line of defense against storm surge. While we have made notable progress since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we have a long road ahead. Partial funding is in place, a well-researched plan is now adopted, and these projects cannot be constructed soon enough.

“We stand ready to engage with CPRA, state and federal agencies, and community members in the coming years to ensure that coastal funding is protected and that these critical restoration and protection projects proceed as quickly as possible. The very future of our state depends on no less.”

The suite of projects outlined in the 2017 Coastal Master Plan has received widespread support from a diverse array of coastal advocates, stakeholders, parish officials and communities. Additionally, a recent poll revealed that an overwhelming majority of Louisiana voters (88 percent) wanted their legislators to approve the master plan, and 97 percent of respondents recognized the value of our Louisiana’s coastal areas and wetlands.

“This decision will live in infamy. President Trump has chosen to retreat. It is a course that defies logic, ignores overwhelming scientific evidence, and disregards the advice of more than 1,000 business leaders who urged him to stand up for climate action and our clean energy economy. Leaving the Paris Agreement will slow clean energy job growth while adding more pollution to our air, harming our health and fueling more chaotic extreme weather events. This is the wrong move in every way. 

“The main victims of this reckless decision will be American workers and families. It will damage the United States far more than it damages the rest of the world. Shirking our obligation to lead will leave America isolated. In fact, other world leaders have already made clear that they will move ahead with their Paris commitments — with or without the U.S.

“By abandoning our pledge, the president is lining up with Syria and Nicaragua, the only nations in the world that have refused to sign the agreement. He is giving away our good jobs to Europe and China. He is weakening our position in business deals and trade negotiations to come. And he is risking a global economic backlash that will hurt American workers and businesses even more. That is why so many leading companies — and the vast majority of Americans — oppose this disastrous move. It cannot be the last word and we will fight to see that it isn’t.

“If there can be a silver lining today, it is that this becomes a galvanizing moment for the majority of Americans who support clean energy, climate action and U.S participation in the Paris Agreement. As these women and men stand up for their children and adopt clean energy in their own lives, they will join the myriad cities, states, companies, and nations around the world who are leading the way to a cleaner, healthier future even as the president tries to go backward. Together, we can take action and control our own future.”

           - Fred Krupp, president, Environmental Defense Fund 

(SAN FRANCISCO – May 31, 2017) By a vote of 25-13, the California State Senate successfully passed SB 100 today. The bill, introduced and authored by Senate Pro Tem Kevin de León, sets a goal to meet all of California’s electricity needs with renewable and zero-carbon resources by 2045. In addition, the bill would accelerate the state’s current target, requiring 60 percent by 2030. It will now move on to the California State Assembly for further discussion.

“California has built the world’s sixth largest economy on a foundational commitment to growing clean energy. This step is ambitious, but also establishes a vision of what is possible, continuing the state’s global leadership on climate action. We look forward to working with the State Legislature to ensure we construct a clean and balanced grid that fully integrates renewables, transitions away from gas resources, and creates jobs – all while delivering affordable and reliable power.”   

• Jayant Kairam, Director, California Clean Energy 

(Trenton, NJ – May 31, 2017) The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJ BPU) today approved a settlement in the Atlantic City Electric Company (ACE) Power Ahead proceeding, which will allow $79 million in investments over five years to advance grid modernization and make the state’s electricity system more resilient to storm damage.
 

The NJ BPU’s decision comes after several parties, including ACE, the Division of Rate Council, the BPU Staff, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and other intervenors, reached an agreement on the implementation of positive steps to improve the electric system’s reliability. In addition, ACE agreed to consult with EDF on future regulatory filings that address smart grid issues, including smart street lighting, advanced metering infrastructure, voltage optimization, energy data access, and the integration of distributed energy resources – all necessary steps to help ensure the Garden State meets its goals under the Global Warming Response Act to reduce greenhouse gases 80 percent by 2050. 

“New Jersey is poised to begin adopting clean energy technologies that will advance grid modernization and benefit customers. This will enable the state to move toward a more reliable, affordable, and clean electric system.”

·         Mary Barber, Director, EDF’s New Jersey Clean Energy Program

(Washington, DC – May 31, 2017) Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has suspended key public health and environmental safeguards lifting clean air measures requiring oil and gas companies to reduce pollution from their facilities. Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) will file a legal challenge to this dangerous and unprecedented action – EPA is suspending vital pollution limits for thousands of wells and compressor stations across the country enabling these industrial sources to discharge vast quantities of harmful methane, smog-forming, and other toxic pollution.
 
Today’s action suspends these requirements for 90-days, and EPA has sent an action to the Office of Management and Budget that indicates it plans to extend this suspension. 
 
Under clean air standards adopted in May 2016, companies would have been required to complete their first methane leak survey by June 3, 2017, the beginning of the nation’s summer ozone season, and to fix the leaks soon thereafter.
 
Last week, over 60 national, regional, state, and local organizations representing a wide range of constituents sent a letter to Pruitt, urging him not to suspend these critical clean air safeguards.

“This unprecedented and unlawful action by EPA Administrator Pruitt is an urgent threat to the health of families and communities across our nation. Finding and fixing dangerous leaks from the oil and gas industry is straightforward, cost-effective, and an urgently needed safeguard. Colorado, Wyoming, and Ohio, already have similar protections in place, which demonstrate the reasonableness of these clean air measures. Every day these vital protections are not in place is a day when the health and well-being of communities across the country is put at risk from dangerous air pollution.
 
“Once again, EPA Administrator Pruitt is putting the interests of the oil and gas industry ahead of the American public.”
 
                                 - Peter Zalzal, Lead Attorney, Environmental Defense Fund

(Washington, DC – May 26, 2017) A national coalition of conservation, public health, labor, and faith organizations representing millions of Americans is strongly urging EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt not to suspend a crucial safeguard that requires oil and gas companies to find and fix leaks from their facilities—a step that would allow industry to pump thousands of tons of harmful methane pollution into the air and take away important protections that protect communities. Companies must currently comply with the requirements by June 3, 2017, but Administrator Pruitt recently promised the oil and gas lobby he would stay the standards.

States, including Colorado and Wyoming, have already instituted similar rules that effectively leverage common-sense technologies that monitor emissions and find and fix leaks. The methane New Source Performance Standards for the Oil and Natural Gas Sector adopted last year reduces harmful pollution by requiring operators to find and fix leaks using technologies and practices that have been deployed effectively by states and companies.

Today, over 60 national, regional, state, and local organizations representing a wide range of constituents sent a letter to Pruitt, urging him not to suspend these critical clean air measures.

 “Suspending these requirements would allow thousands of newly-drilled or modified wells and compressor stations across the country to continue leaking large volumes of this harmful air pollution, posing serious health risks to communities, families, and workers,” said the group in the letter. “Such an action would leave the people living and working in these communities unprotected while delaying modest compliance expenditures by the oil and gas companies that own and operate new and modified wells—expenditures that represent a tiny fraction of these companies’ tens of billions of dollars in annual revenues.”

(Washington, D.C. – May 25, 2017) The Government of Canada announced draft regulations today to curb air and climate pollution from the oil and gas industry, as a first step toward meeting Canada’s climate targets. Reducing methane emissions is a central part of the draft federal rules that aim to avoid energy waste, cut pollution and stimulate new job opportunities.

The methane proposal cements Canada’s place among 20 other nations that have committed to tackle a dangerous pollutant, and it aligns Canada, the world’s fifth largest oil and gas producer, with a number of U.S. policies at both the federal and state level.

“Canada’s draft regulations are a good start, but these safeguards need to be stronger. For Canada to meet its climate target and be seen as a global leader, its reduction measures need to catch up with new methane controls being adopted across the U.S.

“For the first time in the Trump presidency, the U.S. Senate voted down an attempt to overturn an Obama-era policy; in doing so they preserved common sense methane regulations. The Senate decision demonstrated that the oil and gas industry totally misread the mood of the American people. In contrast, Prime Minister Trudeau is showing Canada won’t make that same misstep.”

“Preventing methane pollution is a low cost option to reduce Canadian climate emissions. Yet Canada’s oil and gas industry squanders enough natural gas each year to supply every household in Edmonton and Calgary combined. Tossing away millions of dollars while polluting the air is bad business and bad policy.

“Industry has consistently under-reported the size of its methane problem, while successfully lobbying to weaken the rules. Canada now has ground to make up. Ensuring that provincial regulations align with the federal proposal is a key strategy to close the current emissions gap.”

      —Diane Regas, Executive Director, Environmental Defense Fund

Methane has been a global focus in recent years because of its prevalence and intensity in destabilizing the climate, driving about 25 percent of today’s global warming. Natural gas is mostly methane, both a valued energy source and a powerful pollutant. Typically this pollution is laced with other air toxins, including carcinogens that affect public health.