Conservation groups, represented by WELC, have filed a groundbreaking lawsuit to safeguard the climate from oil and gas drilling in New Mexico. At issue is the failure of the U.S. Bureau of
Land Management to adopt win-win solutions that both prevent the release of harmful global
warming pollution and make drilling operations more efficient and profitable. 

In New Mexico, oil and gas operations are conservatively estimated to account for 23% of the
State’s greenhouse gas emissions, second only to transportation. The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (“EPA”) estimates that oil and gas operations are the largest human-made
source of methane and account for 24% of total methane emissions in the United States.
Methane, more commonly known as natural gas, is a potent greenhouse gas 25 times more
powerful than carbon dioxide, but also a valuable product used to heat homes, businesses, and schools.

Fortunately, the EPA has established the “Natural GasSTAR” program, a voluntary program that
encourages oil and gas companies to cut methane waste to reduce global warming pollution and recover value. The EPA and industry have identified over 120 technologies and practices to
reduce methane waste and thereby keep methane in the pipeline for consumers. In 2007, EPA
estimated that this program avoided 37.4 million tons of CO2 equivalent, equal to the annual
greenhouse gas emissions from approximately 6.8 million passenger vehicles or 5 million homes per year, and added revenue of nearly $648 million in natural gas sales.

Click here to read the press release and view related documents.