The Sierra Club is pushing to keep safeguards in place that limit methane pollution from oil and gas companies. The safeguards were established under the Obama Administration and are now at risk of being rolled back.
Arizona’s neighbor state, New Mexico, has three counties that exceed the EPA’s cancer risk level of concern.
Camilla Feibelman, with the Sierra Club, said controlling methane leaks has several benefits.
“We keep people healthy, we protect the climate and we improve income - not just for the companies extracting the stuff because they can sell the natural gas - but also for the states that earn royalties off of them,” she said.
Feibelman said when methane is released along with other toxins, it can cause a number of health problems, such as birth defects and brain damage.
