{"id":6910,"date":"2026-10-28T15:25:02","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T21:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/?p=6910"},"modified":"2026-10-28T15:30:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T21:30:28","slug":"greenlatinos-condemns-epa-proposal-to-weaken-methane-protections-putting-latino-families-at-greater-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/greenlatinos-condemns-epa-proposal-to-weaken-methane-protections-putting-latino-families-at-greater-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"GreenLatinos Condemns EPA Proposal to Weaken Methane Protections, Putting Latino Families at Greater Risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leer en espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rollback threatens public health, worsens climate pollution, and shifts costs onto frontline communities<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to eliminate the Super Emitter Program, weaken requirements for certain low-producing oil and gas wells, and loosen restrictions on flaring and other pollution controls established under the 2024 methane rule<\/a>. The original standards were projected to prevent approximately 58 million tons of methane pollution between 2024 and 2038.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLatino families are already paying the price for pollution through higher medical bills, lost wages, and worsening climate disasters,\u201d said Irene Burga, Climate Justice & Clean Air Program Director, GreenLatinos.<\/strong> \u201cWeakening these protections does not make life more affordable for our communities. It shifts the costs of pollution onto families while allowing the oil and gas industry to avoid responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pollution from oil and gas operations can contribute to asthma, respiratory illness, and other serious health risks. Investigaci\u00f3n<\/a> estimates that flaring and venting alone are associated with $7.4 billion in annual health damages, including more than 73,000 asthma exacerbations among children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn states like New Mexico, where oil and gas development is widespread, Latino and rural communities are already living with the consequences of industrial pollution,\u201d said Carlos Matutes, GreenLatinos New Mexico State Program<\/strong>. \u201cFamilies should not have to choose between protecting their health and making ends meet. We need enforceable standards that hold polluters accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cColorado communities have worked hard to advance stronger protections from oil and gas pollution,\u201d said Patricia Garcia-Nelson, GreenLatinos Colorado State Program<\/strong>. \u201cRolling back federal safeguards threatens that progress and leaves frontline families vulnerable to pollution that can harm their health and quality of life. Clean air protections should be strengthened, not weakened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Texas, oil and gas production is unfortunately embedded in neighborhoods,\u201d said Rogelio Meixueiro, GreenLatinos Texas State Program<\/strong>. \u201cFamilies living near these facilities deserve protections from harmful emissions, not policies that allow companies to pollute and waste.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rollback also threatens progress in addressing climate change. Methane is more than 80 times as powerful as carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, contributing to extreme heat, drought, and other climate-related disasters that disproportionately burden Latino communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GreenLatinos calls on EPA to maintain strong, enforceable methane standards that protect public health, reduce harmful emissions, and prevent frontline communities from bearing additional costs of oil and gas pollution.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

###<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acerca de GreenLatinos \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(NOTA: GreenLatinos es UNA PALABRA)<\/strong> GreenLatinos convoca a una comunidad activa de l\u00edderes ambientales, de conservaci\u00f3n y de justicia clim\u00e1tica, arraigada en el poder y la sabidur\u00eda de nuestra cultura, unida para impulsar nuestras prioridades y motivada a asegurar nuestra liberaci\u00f3n pol\u00edtica, econ\u00f3mica, cultural y ambiental.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leer en espa\u00f1ol Rollback threatens public health, worsens climate pollution, and shifts costs onto frontline communities The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to eliminate the Super Emitter Program, weaken requirements for certain low-producing oil and gas wells, and loosen restrictions on flaring and other pollution controls established under the 2024 methane rule. The original […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1468,"featured_media":6090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[98,91,74,75],"federal_programs":[121],"state_region":[115],"class_list":["post-6910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-climate-justice-clean-air-program","tag-methane","tag-press-releases","tag-press-releases-spanish","federal_programs-climate-justice-and-clean-air","state_region-national"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1468"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6910"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6915,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6910\/revisions\/6915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6910"},{"taxonomy":"federal_programs","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/federal_programs?post=6910"},{"taxonomy":"state_region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenlatinos.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/state_region?post=6910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}