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Washington, D.C. — GreenLatinos, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, and the Climate Justice Alliance, together with 106 partner organizations — primarily environmental justice and Tribal organizations — submitted formal comments opposing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to delay compliance deadlines under the Section 111 Methane Rule.
The coalition’s letter urges EPA to abandon the delay, warning that the rule is unjustifiable, unlawful, and would have devastating consequences for frontline communities, public health, and our collective ability to confront the climate crisis.
“Methane is a super-pollutant more than 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, and delaying protections means millions of tons of methane and toxic co-pollutants will continue poisoning our air,” said Meisei Gonzalez, Climate Justice and Clean Air Advocate with GreenLatinos.
Black, Latino, Indigenous, and low-income communities live closest to oil and gas infrastructure, breathe higher levels of air pollution, and face disproportionate health risks, including asthma, cancer, and premature death. EPA’s own data show that every year of delay could lead to thousands of avoidable asthma attacks, premature deaths, and billions in health costs.
Yosef Robele, Federal Policy Manager at WE ACT for Environmental Justice shared, “With this action, along with other attempted rollbacks, EPA is failing to fulfill its mission of protecting human health and the environment. There are tangible human costs to these actions. The methane standards are projected to prevent 1,500 premature deaths and 100,000 asthma attacks every single year. Each year of delay is another year that communities must endure the public health and environmental burdens from oil and gas pollution. Compounding this, our communities are on the frontline of an intensifying climate crisis, further necessitating the expedient deployment and enforcement of this emission-cutting regulation. The EPA, with this delay, continues to pursue a polluter-first agenda putting short-term profits over our communities as well as the public’s health and interest. “
The coalition emphasizes that methane mitigation is already technologically feasible and economically beneficial, creating thousands of good-paying jobs across the country. Major oil and gas companies have publicly supported strong methane regulation, making the EPA’s rationale for delay even weaker.
“The EPA was created to protect our environment and our health, not to delay lifesaving protections while communities get sicker,” said Mar Zepeda Salazar, Legislative Director with Climate Justice Alliance. “Methane drives extreme heat, fuels dangerous air pollution, and worsens the climate disasters we experience every day. In frontline communities–whether Indigenous, poor white, Black and Brown communities, or working families–this delay means more children missing school because of asthma attacks, more parents missing work while trying to make ends meet, and more families struggling under the weight of mounting medical bills. EPA’s proposal is unjustifiable, unlawful, and a direct betrayal of the agency’s mission. Our future can’t be left on the backburner while polluters’ pockets are filled.
The groups are calling on EPA to immediately enforce the full and timely implementation of the 2024 methane standards, reinstate compliance deadlines for new and existing oil and gas facilities, and fully launch the Super Emitter program to detect and reduce major leaks.
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About Climate Justice Alliance
CJA is a growing member-based organization of nearly 100 urban and rural frontline and Indigenous communities, organizations, and supporting networks working to build a Just Transition away from the extractive economy and toward a more regenerative one. Visit our website at climatejusticealliance.org and follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, and Bluesky.
About GreenLatinos
GreenLatinos (NOTE: GreenLatinos is ONE WORD) is an active comunidad of Latino/a/e leaders, emboldened by the power and wisdom of our culture, united to demand equity and dismantle racism, resourced to win our environmental, conservation, and climate justice battles, and driven to secure our political, economic, cultural, and environmental liberation.
About WE ACT for Environmental Justice
WE ACT for Environmental Justice is a Northern Manhattan-based, membership-driven organization whose mission is to build healthy communities by ensuring that people of color and/or low-income residents are meaningfully included in the development of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices. WE ACT has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. Visit us at weact.org and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram.
