President Biden’s Methane Plan Fails to Tackle the #1 Source of Methane Emissions
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, as President Joe Biden discusses US climate plans at the United Nations COP26 in Glasgow, the White House released a 20-page plan to reduce the United States’ methane emissions.
Friends of the Earth Senior Program Manager Chloë Waterman issued the following statement in response:
President Biden’s methane plan fails to tackle the number one source of methane emissions in the United States: animal agriculture. The Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to limit methane from industrial dairy and hog operations under the Clean Air Act. Instead, Biden’s plan relies on minimal, voluntary measures to curb methane emissions from agriculture. It also supports factory farmed methane gas, a dirty form of energy that will expand factory farming and increase air and water pollution in frontline communities.
Just as we cannot rely on Exxon, Shell, and BP to voluntarily reduce their methane emissions, we should not be fooled into thinking JBS, Smithfield, and Cargill will voluntarily reduce methane emissions from agriculture. If President Biden is serious about tackling methane, he needs to be serious about regulating industrial animal agriculture. As a first step, he should direct EPA to limit methane from industrial dairy and hog operations under section 111 of the Clean Air Act.
Communications contact: Kerry Skiff, 202-222-0723, [email protected]