Congress aims to eliminate methane fee that would hold large polluters accountable and protect public health
WASHINGTON – Congress introduced a resolution to eliminate the regulation implementing the waste emissions charge – a commonsense, effective policy that charges a fee only to operators that both exceed industry-aligned thresholds and are out of compliance with EPA methane standards. The charge has been part of the United States’ world-leading approach to capturing methane that would otherwise be wasted.
“We are disappointed in Congress’ misguided attempt to get rid of the waste emissions charge. Both the waste emissions charge and the Methane Emissions Reduction Program as a whole are important pieces that will create high-quality jobs while providing energy security by reducing the waste of natural gas,” said Reece Rushing, U.S. Federal Policy Director at Clean Air Task Force (CATF). “Methane reduction and mitigation has been met with wide bipartisan support for its benefits to public health and the climate, and we call on Congress to reject this attempt to get rid of a critical tool to achieve those benefits.”
As laid out by the waste emissions charge, owners or oil and gas operators that report to the greenhouse gas reporting program must pay a fee for methane emissions that exceed thresholds that were set by Congress and based off targets set by industry. Additionally, operators are exempted from the charge once they are in compliance with EPA’s recently finalized methane rule.
“If Congress were to take this action, it would be a short sighted one at best, ignoring the fact that the world is headed towards a global gas market that places a value on gas with low methane intensity. Having a waste emissions charge in combination with the waste emissions reduction program demonstrates to our trading partners our commitment to reduce methane emissions,” said Jonathan Banks, Global Director for Methane Pollution Prevention at CATF.
Contact presse
Samantha Sadowski, directrice des communications, États-Unis, ssadowski@catf.us, +1 202-440-1717
À propos de Clean Air Task Force
Clean Air Task Force (CATF) est une organisation mondiale à but non lucratif qui œuvre à la protection contre les pires impacts du changement climatique en catalysant le développement et le déploiement rapides d'énergies à faible teneur en carbone et d'autres technologies de protection du climat. Avec plus de 25 ans d'expertise internationalement reconnue en matière de politique climatique et une volonté farouche d'explorer toutes les solutions potentielles, CATF est un groupe de défense pragmatique et non idéologique qui propose les idées audacieuses nécessaires pour lutter contre le changement climatique. CATF a des bureaux à Boston, Washington D.C. et Bruxelles, et son personnel travaille virtuellement dans le monde entier. Visitez catf.us et suivez @cleanaircatf.
