Exxon Rebuke of Trump’s methane rollback puts pressure on industry, administration

“Finally, ExxonMobil got something right. By rebuking Trump’s attempts to rollback methane pollution safeguards, Exxon illustrates the growing isolation of the Trump administration on radical policy changes that worsen climate change and threaten the health of the American people. Exxon’s support for regulation of new and existing sources of methane pollution across the country sets the standard for all other oil and gas companies.

“We are eager to see Exxon’s words turn into action. Our own monitoring shows that many of Exxon’s subsidiary XTO’s facilities are leaking methane pollution. Exxon continues to expand oil and gas infrastructure even as climate science indicates that we must stop growing new sources of greenhouse gases. Our health and climate cannot wait; the full weight of Exxon’s political power must be put to work to protect the Obama administration’s commonsense methane rule.”

BACKGROUND

Exxon is not the only global oil and gas company to make public commitments to cut methane pollution, however, it stands alone in its opposition to the Trump administration proposal to eviscerate part of the EPA rule that cuts methane and associated toxic air pollution from new oil and gas production (the NSPS rule). 

This does not, however, make Exxon immune to the pervasive problem of preventable leaks and emissions of methane pollution, as documented as recently as this month by Earthworks’ Certified Thermographers.

• Exxon’s Public Comment
• Exxon is the only company to oppose the methane rollbacks out of eight–including BP, and Shell–that committed last year to “advocating for sound policies and regulations on methane emissions” by signing the Guiding Principles document to reduce methane.
• Exxon is the only company to oppose the methane rollbacks out of thirteen companies that have established the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative “to work towards near zero methane emissions from the full gas value chain.”
• This pollution is an ubiquitous and ongoing problem for the oil and gas industry. Earthworks Certified Thermographers visually document this pollution across the country on an ongoing basis.

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