Waste Emissions Charge Builds on Oil and Gas Industry’s Own Goals

(Baku, Azerbaijan) – As the Biden administration announced the Waste Emissions Charge at COP today, Environmental Defense Fund’s Mark Brownstein issued the following statement:

“The Waste Emissions Charge, passed by Congress in 2022, is consistent with a core principle shared by all Americans – that polluters should be responsible for their fair share – and it is based on methane emissions reduction goals set by leading oil and gas producers themselves. There is no charge for oil and gas companies that use common sense, readily available solutions to reduce methane pollution that is intensifying extreme weather and putting millions of Americans in harm’s way.

“As the world’s largest oil and gas producer, the U.S. is uniquely positioned to support stable, consistent policy that will reduce methane emissions while it helps ensure American companies’ access to importing markets that are increasingly requiring cleaner energy.”

Background: Slashing methane pollution is the fastest, most cost-effective way to immediately slow our current rate of global warming, cut energy waste and protect communities from harmful pollution.

The WEC is only assessed on emissions from large oil and gas producers that exceed pollution thresholds aligned with industry-set targets.

Support for reducing oil and gas methane waste is widespread and bipartisan. Recent polling found that more than two-thirds of voters in battleground and key oil and gas producing states support efforts to swiftly enact limits on methane pollution from oil and gas development to protect the air we breathe, safeguard the health and wellbeing of our families and climate, and create jobs.