Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham played a major part in Dubai this weekend during the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
She was at the table when the Biden administration announced the final federal rules to reduce emissions from the oil and gas industries.
EPA Administrator Michael Reagan made the announcement early Saturday morning New Mexico time and noted New Mexico’s role in developing the regulations.
Lujan Grisham says the new federal rules is much like the regulations New Mexico adopted previously.
“And what I can tell you about that technology and that sound effort is that we’ve already seen a 70% reduction in methane emissions from our oil and gas industry and being agnostic about how that gets done as long as they meet those rules,” she said. “It’s showing incredible benefits including in those communities where social justice is critical and equity is more than valuable. It's really the principle of the work that we do.”
The EPA says that the final rule will yield total net benefits of an estimated $97 to $98 billion dollars from 2024-2038, or $7.3 to $7.6 billion a year, after taking into account the costs of compliance and savings from recovered natural gas.
The estimates account for climate benefits and some health benefits from reduced ozone exposure, but do not account for the rule’s full health benefits of reducing other forms of harmful air pollution. The EPA says the rule will result in increased recovery of natural gas, valued at $7.4 to $13 billion from 2024-2038, or $820 to $980 million a year.