METHANE POLLUTION
For years, EEN has been helping pro-life Christians oppose pollution from our natural gas infrastructure, especially methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Leaks, venting, and flaring from the natural gas industry spew out smog precursors, as well as other toxic pollutants and cancer-causing agents like benzene. Studies have shown that smog, VOCs, and air toxics have a disproportionate impact upon life in the womb; for those near production sites the emissions have been linked to birth defects, pre-term births, and low-birth-weight babies, who are at greater risk of infant mortality, ADHD, and asthma, among other things.
Additionally, methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas, 86 times stronger than CO2 at trapping heat over a 20-year timeframe. This is crucial, because it is the next 10-20 years that will determine whether we keep the world safe from catastrophic climate impacts.
Learn More & Take Action:
- Call for strong state implementation plans in Pennsylvania and Ohio
- December 20, 2023: EEN Celebrates $350 Million to Reduce Dangerous Methane Emissions
- December 2, 2023: EEN Applauds President Biden and EPA Administrator Regan for Cutting Methane Pollution from Oil & Gas Production
Pipeline Leaks
Analysis shows that U.S. natural gas pipelines leak as much as 2.7 million tons of methane into our atmosphere each year. That’s the same impact as roughly 50 million passenger cars!
Fortunately, these leaks are a problem we can fix. In 2023, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) proposed a rule that calls for more frequent pipeline leak surveys, more leaks to be repaired more frequently, and more modern technologies to be used to find pipeline leaks. Click below to learn more about this proposal and lsee how you can take action.
Watch: Pastor Dean Van Farowe of Calvary Reformed Church reflects on the dangers of methane pollution when a leaking well was discovered outside a retirement community in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.
Watch: Kim Anderson, an Ebensburg, PA resident and EEN Associate Director of PA & OH Outreach, testifies about the impacts of methane pollution when a storage well began spewing dangerous, climate-warming methane near her home.
