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Congress to EPA: Time to go big on methane

March 2, 2021 Work Area: Methane

Two pieces of legislation introduced today would require federal agencies to issue new, robust methane pollution standards for the oil and gas industry. The Methane Waste Prevention Act of 2021 and the CLEAN Future Act both create national goals for reducing methane emissions at least 65 percent below 2012 levels by 2025, and 90 percent below 2012 levels by 2030. These targets align with what is possible under EPA’s existing legal authority, and the types of measures that states and other national governments have already adopted. Please see CATF’s white paper on a pathway to a 65% methane reduction by 2025.

“Given the urgency of the climate crisis, the U.S. EPA should very rapidly put in place aggressive methane emissions standards at new and existing oil and natural gas sites, nationwide,” said Sarah Smith, CATF’s Super Pollutants Program Director. “Reining in methane pollution from the oil and gas industry is the most powerful lever we can immediately pull to reduce the rate of warming.”

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