Creation Justice Ministries Condemns Reckless Rollbacks of Methane Pollution Protections

Contact: Shantha Ready Alonso [email protected]

WASHINGTON (August 13, 2020) – The Trump Environmental Protection Agency today attempts to roll back protections against the oil and gas industry’s dangerous, preventable emissions of the powerful climate pollutant methane.

Methane pollution, along with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that accompany it, is a serious danger to human health, as well as powerful greenhouse gas that accelerates the climate crisis. One in three people in the U.S. lives in a county with oil and gas production, and oil and gas facilities leak nearly thirteen million tons of methane a year. Pollution emitted alongside methane, such as benzene, worsens asthma and affects lung development in children, and increases the risk of cancer, immune system damage, and neurological, reproductive, and developmental problems.

Creation Justice Ministries Executive Director Shantha Ready Alonso said of the announcement, “The Trump Administration and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s rollback of important methane pollution standards is irresponsible, unethical and immoral. Children, older adults, communities of color, and low-income communities will bear the most severe and unjust burdens of methane pollution. Decision-makers in Washington have turned their backs on their responsibility to protect future generations and the planet. Each of us shares a responsibility to uphold respect for our neighbors, and to care for all of God’s creation. Now more than ever, we must work together to protect the health and safety of our communities, and work to achieve climate justice.” 

Creation Justice Ministries represents the creation care and environmental justice policies of major Christian denominations, communions, and fellowships in the United States, including Orthodox, mainline Protestant, historically Black, peace, and Baptist traditions.

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