WORC welcomes cuts on methane pollution on federal and tribal lands

WORC welcomes cuts on methane pollution on federal and tribal lands

Today, the Obama Administration issued final standards to reduce flaring and venting associated with oil and gas development on federal and tribal lands. The Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) and its member groups have been urging the Bureau of Land Management to address flaring and venting since 2012.

Statement on BLM methane standards

Linda Weiss, Chair of WORC’s Oil & Gas Campaign Team from western North Dakota, released the following statement on behalf of WORC:

“WORC applauds the Obama Administration for completing the BLM methane waste standards. These standards will help end the unnecessary waste of more than 330 million dollars of natural gas each year from federal and tribal minerals by the oil and gas industry. The benefits of this rule include the generation of additional royalty and tax income and also an improvement of air quality for people living near federal tribal oil and gas development by reducing methane pollution that contain toxic and smog causing volatile organic compounds. The finalization of this rule represents an acknowledgement by the BLM and the Obama Administration that methane waste from oil and gas must be cut throughout the west and the nation at large.

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