The High Price of Permissiveness: Protect Our Air, Not Corporate Profits

The High Price of Permissiveness: Protect Our Air, Not Corporate Profits Kindly reject the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed deregulation of low-producing “stripper wells” and instead enact aggressive, unyielding protections against methane pollution. Over 700,000 marginal wells generate a mere 6% of America’s oil and natural gas, yet they unleash roughly half of the entire oil and gas sector’s methane emissions. Stripper wells are notorious for aging infrastructure, neglected maintenance, and catastrophic leaks. Weakening oversight to spare operators compliance costs yields negligible energy gains—sacrificing just 0.4% of national production—while transferring a severe climate and public health burden onto the American public. Methane drives one-third of post-industrial global temperature rise. Because methane breaks down within roughly a dozen years, curbing its release offers the most immediate leverage we possess to slow warming within our lifetimes. Surrendering these standards abandons over $7 billion in annual climate, health, and economic benefits simply to pad the bottom line of massive energy developers. Prioritizing short-term corporate savings over clean air and a stable climate is a dangerous policy failure. Stand firm against this regulatory surrender, defend public health, and enforce robust environmental protections that hold polluters accountable.