WASHINGTON — Sarah Smith, Chief of Programs at Clean Air Task Force, will testify this week at a Congressional hearing on the importance of cutting methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, highlighting the urgent need to rapidly reduce methane emissions to immediately slow the rate of global warming while limiting harmful air pollution and creating jobs.
The United States House of Representatives Select Committee on the Climate Crisis will host the hearing on Friday, June 24th, at 9:00 a.m. ET. Learn more about the hearing and access livestream details here.
Smith will deliver her remarks as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers strengthening proposed rules to limit methane emissions from U.S. oil and gas sector. Smith will argue that strong final EPA standards that build on the agency’s proposed rules in November 2021 could provide a means of accomplishing the U.S.’s stated methane reduction goals under the Global Methane Pledge, as 75% of methane emissions from oil and gas operations can be avoided with readily available and low-cost technologies.
Methane is a harmful super pollutant that is more than 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over its first 20 years in the atmosphere, and is responsible for about half a degree Celsius of the global warming we’ve experienced to date, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Due to its short-lived nature in the atmosphere, reducing methane emissions is the best strategy we have to reduce global warming in the near term.
Press Contact
Troy Shaheen, Communications Director, U.S., tshaheen@catf.us, +1 845-750-1189
About Clean Air Task Force
Clean Air Task Force (CATF) is a nonprofit organization working to safeguard against the worst impacts of climate change by catalyzing the rapid global development and deployment of low-carbon energy and other climate-protecting technologies. We work towards these objectives through research and analysis, public advocacy leadership, and partnership with the private sector. With nearly 25 years of nationally and internationally recognized expertise on clean air policy and regulations and a fierce commitment to fully exploring all potential solutions. CATF is headquartered in Boston, with staff working virtually around the U.S. and abroad.
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Originally Appeared Here