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Hello, my name is Lauren Pagel, and I am the Policy Director at Earthworks. We work with communities impacted by extraction, including oil, gas, and mining – families who live every day with the health and climate harms caused by methane pollution. I am here to urge EPA to reject any plans to eliminate the Endangerment Finding for greenhouse gas pollution.
Earthworks is regularly in the field with industry-standard Optical Gas Imaging cameras that make invisible pollution visible. We document unlit flares, venting pollution, and malfunctioning equipment releasing carcinogens like benzene and toluene, along with smog-forming VOCs and methane, a powerful climate pollutant. What we see in Pennsylvania, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico is staggering: plumes of methane near hospitals, homes, and schools.
This pollution has well-documented health consequences. Air pollution from oil and gas methane emissions contributes to an estimated 750,000 summertime asthma attacks in children every year. Older adults face heightened risks of cardiovascular problems and cognitive decline, and pregnant women are more likely to experience complications in places with more oil and gas pollution.
Rescinding the Endangerment Finding would strip away one of the most important tools communities have to protect themselves from methane pollution. We know the oil and gas industry will not police itself, voluntary pledges fail, and regulators cannot keep up. Without science-based standards, families will be left to breathe poisoned air.
The impacts of a rapidly warming planet are here. Texans face deadly floods, hurricanes and freezes. Droughts are worsening in Colorado and New Mexico. And across the West, climate-fueled wildfires are choking communities with smoke and taking lives.
Rolling back the Endangerment Finding will not reduce the price of oil or make it easier for families to afford groceries. What it will do is protect billionaire polluters, leaving the public to pay the price – in medical bills, disaster recovery, and lost lives.
We urge EPA to put people first and keep the Endangerment Finding. Communities deserve clean air and a stable climate, not more harmful pollution.
