New Mexico has enacted ambitious regulations to rein in harmful methane pollution from the oil and gas industry, but the federal government is not on the same page.
Despite significant opposition, the Environmental Protection Agency recently announced it would delay Biden-era methane compliance deadlines for at least 18 months.
Carlos Matutes, program director with the environmental advocacy group GreenLatinos, called the decision a "horrific boondoggle" for the extraction industry. He noted that New Mexico is the second-largest petroleum-producing state in the country after Texas – significantly affecting the state's frontline communities.
"We are the largest per-capita Latino population in the country," said Matutes, "and then we have our federal government actively hamstringing our efforts to clean up our air for our most vulnerable communities."
Exposure to methane can cause or worsen breathing problems, heart disease, cancer and strokes. GreenLatinos partnered with more than 100 other environmental groups and Tribal organizations to formally oppose the EPA's proposal to delay deadline compliance.
New Mexico has enacted some of the strongest methane rules in the nation, while neighboring Texas has almost no regulations, allowing unchecked pollution to drift across the border into the southeastern part of the state.
The 2024 updated rule would have required industry polluters to significantly reduce methane emissions and volatile organic compounds starting next year. A coalition of environmental groups told the EPA abandonment of the effort would not only affect public health, but also curb efforts to confront the climate crisis.
Matutes said the year-over-year increase in New Mexico's extreme heat events is likely to make things worse.
"We have the ability to literally save lives, cut tens of millions of tons of methane from being released into the atmosphere," said Matutes, "including benzine, which is a known cancer-causing chemical."
Because it makes financial sense, Matutes said some oil and gas companies have taken it upon themselves to reduce the release of methane, despite ever-changing regulations dating back to the Obama-era. Those rules were rescinded during the first Trump administration, reinstated during President Joe Biden's term in office, and now delayed.