Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is hosting their first listening session on their new proposed rule to limit venting, flaring, and leaking of natural gas from oil and gas operations. The hearing is sure to draw a number of stakeholders to testify, including ranchers, farmers, small business owners, and industry.
A few industry groups have gotten ahead of themselves, however, in bemoaning what they see as the significant costs the new rule will impose on them and their members. But they’re misconstruing the facts–here’s why that’s not the case:
- Farmington’s neighbor just 30 miles to the north—the state of Colorado—adopted methane regulations in 2014. Since then, natural gas production has actually increased, and the state’s economy has continued to outpace national indicators—proving that the methane regulations are not having a negative economic impact in that market.
- These regulations will spur an increase in jobs in the businesses that develop, manufacture, and implement the technologies that will curb natural gas waste. A recent story in the Casper Star Tribune pointed to a number of companies who believe the rule will boost jobs and make the industry more efficient, economically and environmentally.
- The BLM makes the conservative estimate that the rule’s net benefits range from $115 to $188 million annually, while the costs are projected to be merely $125-$165 million.