By Rebecca Moss
The New Mexican

Don Schreiber grew up in oil country and, following in his father’s footsteps, provided insurance to oil and gas companies in Farmington for two decades. He moved his family to a ranch in Rio Arriba County in 1999, into an area densely populated by more than 120 oil and gas wells. That move, Schreiber said, altered his understanding of the industry and the environmental pollution that accompanies it.

“It just is impossible to know what is going on until you are in that field as a landowner,” he said.

Schreiber says the impact of wells leaking methane is visceral and inescapable. He says the pollution is not only present in the smell of the air, but also alters the water quality and entire ecosystem of his ranch. He said no one living with a well on their property would support overturning a federal rule requiring oil and gas operators to prevent methane leaks.

Everyday “you are trying to shelter yourself, your grandkids, your horse,” he said.

Schreiber was one of a number of environmental advocates and lawmakers who spoke at the state Capitol on Monday about the need to capture methane pollution in New Mexico — the primary component of natural gas and the second-most potent greenhouse gas — and uphold the federal methane waste rule, which is under attack in Congress.

A group led by Camilla Feibelman, director of the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club, delivered a 1,000-page petition to the Governor’s Office asking her to reconsider her opposition to the federal methane rule.

New Mexico has the largest concentration of methane pollution in the nation, with a 2,500-square-mile cloud of methane the size of Delaware suspended above the Four Corners region. Roughly $100 million is lost annually in the state because of natural gas wasted in production, according to research consultant firm ICF International.

The federal rule was promulgated by the Obama administration’s Bureau of Land Management in November. It requires well operators on public and tribal land to reduce methane pollution by installing leak-capturing technology, conducting more rigorous monitoring and limiting the practice of venting gas into the environment.

Those who support the rule say it will not only protect the environment and public health from methane pollution, but will save the federal government and states millions in royalties that are lost when operators release excess quantities of methane into the atmosphere.

Alongside methane, chemicals like benzene, a common chemical and byproduct of methane that is linked to leukemia, are released.

New Mexico’s Democratic congressional delegation, Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales, state Attorney General Hector Balderas and state Auditor Tim Keller are among 40 elected officials who have been vocal in their support for the rule.

Republicans in Congress moved this year to appeal the rule under the Congressional Review Act, an action that would not only nullify the rule, but would prohibit the BLM from developing regulations that are substantially similar in the future. A Senate vote is expected this month.

The federal repeal is supported by the oil and gas industry, federal and state Republicans leaders and U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., who say the rule should be overturned because it would be too costly to the industry, hurting profits and, in turn, states like New Mexico because of lost royalties and oil and gas tax revenues.

The rollback is in keeping with the Trump administration’s promises to do away with Obama administration regulations and open up oil and gas drilling in pursuit of American energy independence.

State Sen. Benny Shendo Jr., D-Jemez Pueblo, also introduced a measure in late February, Senate Memorial 102, asking the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department to produce a report on how much natural gas is vented and flared in New Mexico, as well as what oil and gas operators plan to do to capture gas. The measure has the support of 16 other state senators.

New Mexico’s Democratic U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich have written a number of letters to their Senate colleagues urging them to oppose the appeal.

Jon Goldstein, a policy manager with the Environmental Defense Fund, said no state has more at risk than New Mexico because unlike other states, New Mexico “has no state regulations to fall back on.”

House Speaker Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, said the methane rule is a “rare opportunity for our state to have a triple win” that benefits business, the environment and the budget.

He said the House has been looking for every way to remedy the state’s budget deficit and, in the Four Corners region, a significant revenue source “is literally going up in smoke.”

“We don’t have a backstop,” in New Mexico without the federal rule, he said.

Remind “Governor Martinez [and others] that they are not tools to the will of some corporation,” said Schreiber, the Rio Arriba County rancher. “They are caring people and we can believe in them. They, like you, would uphold the BLM waste rule if it protects their family, and it does.”

Contact Rebecca Moss at 505-986-3011 or rmoss@sfnewmexican.com.