One might think, from President Donald Trump’s recent announcement of his administration’s plan to gut federal methane protections, that he was doing everyday Americans a huge favor. He claimed that this action was a win for consumers, but the real winners are polluters. They’ve been handed yet another free pass to keep emitting harmful air pollution without the protections that safeguard our health.
The gutting of oil and gas protections should be shocking, but it was to be expected following closely on the heels of his administration’s actions a few weeks ago to repeal limits on climate pollution from fossil fuel power plants. Each one is an attack on climate protections and our children’s health at the very moment these protections are most needed. As mothers who care deeply about the well-being of our children and the only planet they can call home, we are frightened.
Trump’s plans come as data center expansion is rapidly increasing power demand across the country, and the many utility companies and developers are responding with plans for additional fossil fuel generation, including old jet engines and heavily polluting methane gas-fueled turbines. This growing reliance on methane gas for electricity will drive demand for methane production, and this could mean more oil and gas activity and methane leaks. And when methane leaks from oil and gas operations, toxic air pollutants such as benzene are released along with it, which has been linked to various forms of cancer.
Already, nearly 18 million people in the United States, including more than 1 million young children, live near oil and gas wells that will now pollute more freely because of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s actions. No parent wants pollution in their child’s lungs. We aren’t the only ones concerned.
Recent polling finds broad support for strong methane protections in five major oil and gas-producing states. Across California, Colorado, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Texas, 72% support their state adopting stringent rules to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, including regular inspections of low-producing wells. Methane is also a potent climate pollutant that accelerates global warming far faster than carbon dioxide over a 20-year timeframe, making it a key driver of the health harms of climate change that come with escalating weather extremes.
Extreme heat raises the risk of heat-related illnesses, which are especially dangerous for children’s developing bodies. Worsened air pollution from longer, more intense wildfire seasons also means more asthma, immune dysfunction, learning and behavioral problems, and poor birth outcomes. The Trump-Zeldin Environmental Protection Agency may want to ignore the moment of climate urgency we’re living in, but we cannot.
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