Letters: Don’t repeal natural gas waste reduction rule

In her March 18 letter, the American Petroleum Institute’s Bonnie Loomis says it would cost too much to implement the Bureau of Land Management’s Natural Gas Waste Reduction Rule and calls on Sen. Lindsey Graham to change his position and vote for repeal.

What the rule requires is that producers inspect their operations for methane leaks, fix the ones that they find and stop venting excess gas into the atmosphere. It’s modeled after an effective methane emissions regulation in Colorado — a regulation that the industry itself helped to write.

As a Methodist, I believe that environmental stewardship is a Christian value. We are called to be careful managers of the resources left to us. Stewardship is what this rule is about. Why should we allow for the deliberate waste of a finite and valuable natural resource? That would be unjust. I applaud Sen. Graham for his position, and I strongly encourage Sen. Tim Scott to oppose the repeal as well.

This story was originally published April 20, 2017 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Letters: Don’t repeal natural gas waste reduction rule."