Transcripts For CSPAN2 Senator Heinrich On Methane Regulations 20170510

A little earlier, martin heinrich, talked about todays vote on methane regulations. Heres a look. Mr. President , i am proud that the senate voted to reject an effort to overturn common sense protection to reduce methane waste. It was three years ago that satellite images from nasa revealed that there was a giant cloud of methane. About the size of the state of delaware sitting over the four Corners Region in Northwestern New Mexico and southwestern colorado. Although evidence had shown that there was methane air pollution in the four corners, as early as 2003, the image of the nasa data is truly striking. This is a warning of a potential major threat to Public Health for communities in the region. The San Juan Basin and the four Corners Region has long been a leading producer of oil and natural gas. With the natural gas boom in the mid 2000, production in the basin grew by leaps and bounds. That created hundreds of new highpaying jobs and a major new domestic source of an Important Energy resource. O unfortunately, amid all this growth some producers developing natural gas on our public and tribal lands released harmful air pollution and wasted these publicly owned resources by allowing methane to leak into the air from faulty equipment and pipes and even by burning off the valuable natural gas by flaring. Op following the discussion of methane hotspot, nasaor researchers at the jet potion laboratory in caltech and the university of michigan scientist to conduct a detailed study in the cause of the methane cloud. Some producers claim that the hot spot was caused by natural. [inaudible] of gas by geological formations and by gas venting out of the r old mine in the region. But the nasa researchers using instrumentation mounted on 1 aircraft that flew close to the ground and throughout 1200 square miles of airspace space in the four Corners Region, they identified leaks of natural gas wells is the major methane emitters, leading to the methane air pollution. As the Greenhouse Gas, methane has over 80 times the Global Warming potential as Carbon Dioxide over the short term. We have a moral obligation to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissionst and to mitigate our contribution to climate change. Even absent its consequence for climate change, methane leaks waste valuable Energy Resources and they harm Public Health. When methane leaks harmful carcinogens leak into the air alongside it. Because of the air pollution over the four Corners Region, the American Lung Association Gave San Juan County in new mexico and f rating for ozone pollution in 2016. That means children suffer more asthma attacks, seniors have more difficulty breathing but i want to be clear that this is not an issue of pitting development of Energy Resource against human health. We had a golden opportunity here to apply innovative, existing th to grow our economy and improve quality of air for the people of the four Corners Region. T g thats because minimizing the amount of methane that leaks, vents or flares out of the oil and gas wells isnt just good for air quality but good for business and the bottom line. When oil and Gas Companies modernize their equipment to reduce weeks, they are able to capture more gas but they can sell as well as increased worker safety at the well. Ns when we capture more gas that also means that we see more oil and revenues for states, tribes and local communities. By updating oil and natural Gas Production equipment and infrastructure to reduce wasted natural gas, we create new jobs for Energy Workers and that manufacturers. The when we reduce wasteful leaks, that means that instead of having a giant methane cloud over the northwest corner of new mexico and over the navajoub nation, a major Public Health hazard, instead of that we put publicly owned natural gas is to beneficial uses. Thats the definition of a wint win situation. I say all this because thatses exactly what the bureau of Land Management methane wasteen prevention rule is designed to do. This common sense and costce effective reduction in the rule is put in place to reduce harmful methane and benzene pollution and to ensure that oih and gas operations are technological advances that minimize emissions and maximize the amount of natural gas thattw we produce. Between 2009 and 2015, the bml estimates that oil and Gas Producers on our public and tribal lands vented, flared and leaked 462 billion cubic feet of methane. They wasted enough national gas to supply over 6 million american households for a year, mr. President. Instead of heating our homes or fueling power plants come up powering buses, that gas was leaked into the atmosphere wasting millions of dollars of this limited resource. Its estimated that the oil and gas industry weighs about 100 million worth of natural gas every year. That also means 6 million each year of lost state revenue, revenue that pays for schools, for roads and for Emergency Services in new mexico. That is quite a figure. A recent report found that new mexico taxpayers have lost out on over 42 million of royalties since the year 2009. 42,728,949 to be exact. The bl and methane waste prevention role will help put these stops to this wastedngs, resource. While developing the rule, the bml helped published meetings, tribal consultations and a factor in feedback for over 300,000 comments submitted during the Public Comment perio, the agency also coordinated with states like colorado, wyoming and north dakota that have r already created similar protections to reduce methane leaching and flaring at the state level. The the bml rule will have minimalav cost for oil and Gas Producers. In fact, leak detections and repairs required by the rule will help Companies Make more money selling the gas. Pro meanwhile, this role will grow our economy by investing in Innovative Companies that have developed the technology to minimize and protect our Public Health. This rule should not have been controversial. The overwhelming majority of my. Constituents in new mexico support reducing wasted natural gas. A recent poll by Colorado College conducted after the election found that 74 of new mexicans support the bml methane rate reduction role. Im proud that enough senatorsem shared that view and voted to reject an attempt to repeal the common sense protection of Public Health, air quality, and responsible development of our natural resources. There is nothing conservative about making it easier to waste a precious Public Energy source. Co waste, capturing critical royalties for new mexico communities and putting our national Gas Resources to beneficial use. A this repeal effort of the methane rule would have represented a major step backwards. Todays vote was a major victory for responsible development of our natural Gas Resources and our nations decade long commitment to protect the air we breathe. I want to say a special thank you to all 51 senators supported our efforts today on behalf of my constituents in theirs. Thank you very much, mr. President and i yield back the balance of my time and note the absence of a quorum. Cspans washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up thursday morning, acting president will talk about the trump presidency. George Washington University Law School Professor Jonathan Turley on the next steps after the firing of director james comey. Be sure to watch cspan washington journal live at 7 00 a. M. Eastern thursday morning. Join the discussion. Saturday at noon eastern on a book tv military historians discuss their books on world war i at the 2017 colby military writer symposium. Speakers include author, Jennifer King with her book, world war i the american soldier experience. Michael nyberg, with his book the path to war how the First World War created modern america retired colonel, relevant robert and his book over there america in the great war. A recipient of this years colby award author david and his book, waging war the clash between president and congress, 1776 to isis. Watch the 2017 colby military writer symposium saturday at