Flaring of natural gas (largely methane) that is being separated from oil at a well site in North Dakota in 2014. Photo by Jeffrey Peischl, CIRES

September 12, 2018 - SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. on Tuesday issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s proposal to weaken a federal regulation that restricts methane pollution:

“This is insane – it borders on criminality. To really deal with climate change, we need to reduce methane,” said Governor Brown in keynote remarks today at an event on carbon pricing hosted by the European Commission, the Government of Canada and the California Air Resources Board. “This idea coming out of Washington goes in the exact opposite direction. It perhaps is the most obvious and dangerous and irresponsible action by Mr. Trump. And that’s saying quite a lot, because he has a whole list of them.”

California, which adopted its own oil and gas methane regulation for facilities within the state, has set the nation’s toughest restrictions on destructive super pollutants, including methane.

Last week, Governor Brown signed legislation to block new federal offshore oil drilling along California’s coast and announced the state’s opposition to the federal government’s plan to expand oil drilling on public lands in California. Earlier this year, California and 17 other states collectively representing more than 40 percent of the U.S. car market sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to preserve the nation’s uniform vehicle emission standards that save drivers money at the pump, cut oil consumption, reduce air pollution and curb greenhouse gases.

On Monday, Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 100 setting a 100 percent clean electricity goal for the state, and issued an executive order establishing a new target to achieve carbon neutrality – both by 2045.
Source: Office of the Governor