Senators Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet will be voting soon on whether to permanently block the BLM methane rule under the Congressional Review Act.
This rule protects human health and air quality by requiring methane emissions to be captured and not vented or flared.
Residents of Montezuma County, in the northeast quadrant of the Four Corners, expect our senators to uphold environmental safeguards that protect us from the cumulative effects of being surrounded by the Four Corners methane hot spot (from the 40,000 oil and gas wells in the San Juan Basin, the Four Corners Power Plant, and Kinder Morgan’s CO2 operation in the McElmo Dome Unit).
The wind that carries air pollution doesn’t stop at the state line. Nitrogen oxide gases, sulfur dioxide, mercury, selenium, sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid blow from New Mexico, across the Montezuma Valley. It’s like throwing your garbage over the back fence. The haze is visible from my front porch every day.
I call upon New Mexico Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich to be good neighbors and oppose use of the Congressional Review Act to overturn the BLM methane rule. This is a regional issue that requires federal regulation. It cannot be adequately addressed at the state level.
The methane rule prevents waste of a valuable resource that belongs to all citizens. Capturing and selling methane provides royalties that should be used to fund the BLM.
To quote Senator Gardner’s website, “Outdoor recreation is a way of life in Colorado and is a major economic driver for many communities across the Centennial state.” Visitors to Mesa Verde National Park, Canyons of the Ancients, and the San Juan National Forest expect clean air.
I urge Senators Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet to oppose the use of the Congressional Review Act to overturn the BLM methane rule.
Ellen Foster
Dolores