Carper Applauds Obama Administration’s Regulations to Reduce Methane Emissions

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, issued the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule to to reduce by 40 to 45 percent the level of greenhouse gas (GHG) and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from the oil and gas industry by 2025.

“I applaud the Obama Administration for finalizing this rule and making good on its promise to meaningfully reduce our country’s methane emissions, one of the greatest and most dangerous root causes of climate change and harmful air quality.

“While we certainly enjoy the lower energy prices and economic advantages of our country’s energy production boom, we have a sacred responsibility to ensure proper protections for our environment and public health – especially the air we breathe. The oil and gas industry has made significant strides in reducing the negative impacts their businesses can have on our environment, but without meaningful action to mitigate the bad substances they emit, the sector’s emissions are projected to rise more than 25 percent by 2025. Today’s common sense regulations from the EPA will help to ensure that we produce energy responsibly and that we reduce our carbon footprint.

“Since its enactment more than four decades ago, the bipartisan vision embodied in the Clean Air Act has translated into healthier and longer lives for hundreds of thousands of children in Delaware, and millions more across America. Like President Obama, I see the effort to curb emissions and reduce the harmful impacts of climate change as part and parcel of that vision. We have a great opportunity before us to move our country in the right direction, and we must seize it not only to protect our environment and public health for our grandchildren and their grandchildren, but also to prepare our economy to compete in the next generation of the global economy.”