Big oil and gas companies are wasting so much natural gas you can see it from space. When NASA released satellite images examining methane emissions, they showed a 2,500-mile methane hotspot over the Four Corners region of New Mexico.
A major culprit for this hotspot: the venting, flaring and leaking of natural gas. And it’s not just bad for NM’s air, wasteful practices from the state’s oil and gas industry are also robbing New Mexicans of vital funding for roads, bridges and children’s education. The state has lost out on $50 million in needed funding since 2010 according to a recent report.
As the PBS Newshour reported last November in the video above, this waste of an energy resource isn’t just bad for the environment, it’s lost product for industry and lost revenue for taxpayers. Money that could be used for building roads, repairing infrastructure and improving schools is literally going up in smoke.
Fortunately new rules are in the works that can have a real impact on this problem. A proposed rule from BLM would limit the amount of natural gas that is lost to venting, flaring, and leaking on our public lands.
As PBS notes, this rule and others like it are a win-win for the environment, taxpayers, industry and anyone who cares about using our natural resources in an efficient and responsible manner. Even local Farmington, NM oil and gas leaders like Tom Mullins of Synergy Operating saw the win-win opportunities for taxpayers and industry in reducing methane waste, noting, “We’re in the business of producing methane, and we would like to get paid for it, and we would like the public to get paid for their share of that methane.”
New Mexico’s Congressional leaders like Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and Representatives Ben Ray Lujan and Michelle Lujan Grisham know the opportunities smart, sensible BLM methane waste rules hold for New Mexico’s budget, economy and air. Now’s our chance to thank them for their strong support on this important issue.