• Air

Oil and Gas Drilling In New Mexico Scrutinized, Methane Leaks Soar

• air pollution
• Chaco Canyon
• federal land
• House Natural Resources Committee
• methane
• moratorium
• oil and gas drilling
• sacred sites

A surge in oil and gas drilling in the Permian Basin of New Mexico is causing a dramatic increase in methane emissions according to a new study by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).  The Associated Press reports that the EDF analysis showed that in 2018 statewide methane gas emissions from oil and natural gas production is five times higher than what the petroleum companies are reporting to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and more than twice what EDF estimated these emissions to be two years ago.