Letter to the editor - May 19

Oil points intentionally misleading

Regarding last Sunday’s column headlined “Industry must find emissions balance:”

It is disappointing to read an academic repeating talking points from the oil and gas industry, particularly when those points are intentionally misleading.

Energy In Depth, the industry-funded group claiming Permian Basin methane pollution from the oil and gas industry has decreased, claims EPA backs up their numbers. It doesn’t.

The EPA actually says Permian oil and gas methane pollution nearly doubled, from 4.8 million metric tons in 2011 to 8.3mmt in 2017.

EPA’s numbers, based in part on industry self-reporting, actually understate matters. New research that measured methane pollution on the ground from Permian oil and gas facilities showed pollution five times more than what EPA reports. None of this surprised us at Earthworks, given our four years documenting New Mexico’s oil and gas methane pollution.

As for this bit about methane pollution “intensity,” don’t be fooled. The trick here is to confuse the public on the difference between total methane pollution released into the atmosphere by oil and gas and “intensity,” methane pollution leak rate, released from each facility.

Even if methane “intensity” is going down, the boom in production that is happening in New Mexico means the total methane pollution is going up.

The climate doesn’t care about “intensity” of per-unit production. It is methane pollution total that is making the climate crisis worse.

So, when an industry trade group talks about “intensity” rather than “total” pollution, they’re intentionally distracting from the real urgency of a problem they are causing.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world has 11 years to dramatically cut methane and total carbon pollution to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of the climate crisis.

Distractions, misinformation, and rhetorical trickery obstruct the hard work necessary for the world to get there.

Nathalie Eddy

New Mexico field advocate for Earthworks

Leadville, Colorado