{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-colleagues-urge-administration-to-address-methane-pollution", "King, Colleagues Urge Administration to Address Methane Pollution", "2014-09-26", "2014", "2014-09", "Independent", "House", "ME", "Angus King", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "King, Colleagues Urge Administration to Address Methane Pollution\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tFriday, September 26, 2014\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tFALMOUTH, ME \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), along with fourteen of his colleagues, applauded the Obama Administration\u2019s efforts to act on climate changed, while urging swifter action to limit methane pollution from oil and natural gas production. Methane is the principal component of natural gas and emits less carbon pollution than coal or oil when burned to generate heat or electricity.\u00a0 However, when natural gas leaks before it is burned, it is significantly worse for the climate and diminishes air quality.\u00a0\r\n\u201cThe oil and gas sector is the United States\u2019 largest industrial emitter of methane.\u00a0 Currently, this sector emits significant methane in the form of leaks from oil and gas wells, compressors, pipelines, and other equipment, as well as intentional venting of methane to the atmosphere.\u00a0 In some areas, such as the Bakken shale formation in the Northern Great Plains, oil drillers are also wastefully flaring natural gas rather than capturing and using it.\u00a0This leaked, vented, and flared gas wastes valuable and finite resources \u2013 often extracted from public lands \u2013 and pollutes the atmosphere.\u00a0 In addition to being environmentally destructive, it\u2019s fiscally irresponsible,\u201d the Senators wrote in their letter. \u201cThere are cost-effective solutions to these problems, which should form the basis of strong standards that protect communities across the country.\u00a0 Voluntary standards are not enough.\u00a0 Too many in the oil and gas sector have failed to adopt sound practices voluntarily, and the absence of uniform enforceable standards has allowed methane pollution to continue, wasting energy and threatening public health.\u201d\r\nThey closed by urging the Environmental Protection Agency and the Bureau of Land Management to quickly adopt national standards to reduce methane pollution from oil and gas production, prevent waste, and protect our public health and environment.\r\nIn addition to King, the letter was signed by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).\r\nThe full text of the letter is below:\r\n+++\u00a0\r\nSeptember 26, 2014\r\n\r\nPresident Barack Obama\r\nThe White House\r\n1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW\r\nWashington, DC 20500\r\n\r\nDear President Obama:\r\nWe strongly support your Administration\u2019s efforts to address climate change through implementation of your Climate Action Plan as we continue to push for climate action in Congress.\u00a0 In the absence of Congressional action, we are relying on you to use existing legal authorities to address this dangerous threat.\u00a0 One critical step forward in the fight against climate change is to establish national standards to reduce methane pollution from the oil and gas sector.\u00a0\r\nWe appreciate your March 2014 Climate Action Plan Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions, which recognizes that curbing methane pollution is essential to solving climate change.\u00a0 Methane is the principal component of natural gas.\u00a0 When burned to generate heat or electricity, it releases less carbon dioxide than coal or oil; however, when unburned methane is emitted, it is a significantly more potent greenhouse gas.\u00a0 Ton for ton, methane causes at least 80 times more warming than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.\u00a0 Pollution from oil and gas operations also contributes to unhealthy air by forming smog, which triggers asthma attacks and aggravates respiratory conditions like bronchitis.\r\nThe oil and gas sector is the United States\u2019 largest industrial emitter of methane.\u00a0 Currently, this sector emits significant methane in the form of leaks from oil and gas wells, compressors, pipelines, and other equipment, as well as intentional venting of methane to the atmosphere.\u00a0 In some areas, such as the Bakken shale formation in the Northern Great Plains, oil drillers are also wastefully flaring natural gas rather than capturing and using it.\u00a0 This leaked, vented, and flared gas wastes valuable and finite resources \u2013 often extracted from public lands \u2013 and pollutes the atmosphere.\u00a0 In addition to being environmentally destructive, it\u2019s fiscally irresponsible.\u00a0 According to Ceres, in 2012 alone, North Dakota oil and gas producers flared more than $1 billion worth of natural gas from the Bakken.\u00a0\r\nThere are cost-effective solutions to these problems, which should form the basis of strong standards that protect communities across the country.\u00a0 Voluntary standards are not enough.\u00a0 Too many in the oil and gas sector have failed to adopt sound practices voluntarily, and the absence of uniform enforceable standards has allowed methane pollution to continue, wasting energy and threatening public health. \u00a0\r\nYour methane strategy directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to begin solving these problems by determining how best to reduce methane pollution from the oil and gas sector nationwide no later than this fall.\u00a0 The strategy further directs the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to reduce venting and flaring from oil and gas production on public lands.\u00a0 These are critical steps, and EPA and BLM should move quickly to adopt national standards to reduce methane pollution, prevent waste, and protect our public health and environment.\u00a0\r\nWe are encouraged that BLM is poised to issue proposed standards to address venting and flaring on federal lands. \u00a0We urge you to ensure that BLM releases its proposal this year and that its standards protect our public lands, valuable natural resources, and climate.\u00a0 EPA has also taken initial steps, but must go further.\u00a0 EPA has a responsibility under the Clean Air Act to address methane throughout the oil and gas sector.\u00a0 We urge you to ensure that EPA exercises its authority expeditiously to control methane pollution and its harmful effects.\r\nYour methane strategy is a key component of your Administration\u2019s effort to combat climate change, and EPA and BLM are central to your strategy\u2019s success.\u00a0 You have outlined what is necessary and you have authority to achieve these goals.\u00a0 We stand ready to support your action.\r\nSincerely,\r\nSheldon Whitehouse, Diane Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Jack Reed, Maria Cantwell, Ben Cardin, Bernie Sanders, Richard Blumenthal, Brian Schatz, Tammy Baldwin, Chris Murphy, Mazie Hirono, Angus King, Elizabeth Warren, and Ed Markey\r\ncc:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John Podesta, Counselor to the President\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Honorable Gina McCarthy, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Honorable Sally Jewell, Secretary, Department of Interior\r\n\u00a0\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-colleagues-urge-administration-to-address-methane-pollution"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8809089194983244, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}