Oil and gas companies must divulge data on methane leaks

|Shiksha Dev|THE DEN|

Legislators pointed out that the companies' current monitoring methods of methane emissions in the Permian Basin are insufficient and that they must do more to curb a pollutant that more than 100 countries have vowed to reduce by 30 percent by the end of the decade. A commitment made by the United States and the European Union culminated in the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), chair of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, wrote in a letter to the chief executives, "We cannot achieve our target reduction in methane emissions unless oil and gas sector methane leaks are reduced rapidly and significantly." These leaks, along with the uncertainty surrounding their size, duration, and frequency, make it impossible for America to avoid the most detrimental impacts of climate change."