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Texas Scientists, Citizens Speak Out for Strong Rules to Reduce Harmful Air Pollution from Oil and Gas Activity
Sept. 23 press conference to coincide with EPA’s Dallas hearing to receive public comment on proposed rule to cut methane from oil and gas facilities/infrastructure
WHAT: A panel of Texas scientists and impacted citizens will explain the significant health and environmental benefits of a new rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency.
WHY: On August 18, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published its proposed rule to reduce methane pollution from new and modified oil and gas facilities and infrastructure. If these rules are finalized, they would become the first national methane standards for the oil and gas industry. The state of Texas has no such standards.
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas responsible for approximately 25 percent of global warming, and the oil and gas industry is the largest industrial source of methane pollution--emitting more than 7 million metric tons into the atmosphere each year. Reducing methane also cuts other oil and gas air pollution hazardous to human health, such as carcinogenic volatile organic compounds (VOC) like benzene. VOCs combine with sunlight and other chemicals to form ground-level ozone, which is the main component of smog.
Because state regulators have declared they will not establish methane standards, and the state legislature recently stripped local authority to supplement state oversight, EPA’s proposal is particularly important to Texans.
WHERE/WHEN: Dallas City Hall Flag Room on 6th floor, September 23 at 12:30 PM CDT
The press conference will be livestreamed at https://youtu.be/C-NaOu9JCtM. Reporters will be able to ask questions of the panel here: https://www.gotomeeting.com/join/198189301.
WHO:
Reverend Mel Caraway is a member of the board of directors of Texas Impact/Texas Interfaith Center for Public Policy, a statewide religious grassroots network that works to advance state public policies that are consistent with universally held social principles of the Abrahamic traditions. He recently retired as pastor of Button Memorial United Methodist Church in Little Elm.
Gunnar Schade, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University at College Station. He has over 20 years of experience in air quality measurements and currently oversees air quality research in the Eagle Ford shale area.
Krystal Henagan represents over 32,000 Moms Clean Air Force members in Texas. A Texas native, her six-year-old son developed asthma when the family moved to San Antonio, downwind of the Eagle Ford Shale. Today she is fighting on behalf of all Texas families who are suffering due to pollution from the oil & gas industry.
Mahdi Ahmadi, Ph.D. candidate, is a Ph.D. candidate (in Philosophy) and Masters student (in Mechanical and Energy Engineering) at the University of North Texas. For his doctoral dissertation, he is investigating the interaction between science and democracy in the case of fracking under Dr. Adam Briggle. In engineering, he is analyzing the ozone problem of the DFW area using photochemical modeling and statistical tools under Professor Kuruvilla John. They have recently published on the relationship between ozone trends and shale gas activities in the DFW area.
Cathy McMullen is a nurse and the founder/former president of Denton Drilling Awareness Group. After fruitlessly working for years with state and local officials to better protect Denton citizens from fracking-related health impacts, she led the first successful ballot initiative to ban fracking in a major Texas city.
MORE INFORMATION:
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