DOINews: Readout of Meeting with Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, Others to Reduce Methane Emissions from the Oil, Gas Industry

DENVER, COLO. - Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper today met with representatives from the oil and gas industry, non-government organizations, and Colorado officials in a roundtable discussion regarding efforts to reduce methane emissions during the production, storage and transportation of oil and gas.


Under the President's Climate Action Plan, Interior is working to collaborative with state governments, as well as the private sector, to reduce emissions across these multiple sectors, improve air quality, and achieve public health and economic benefits.


Colorado is the first state to proactively move forward on preventing methane releases from oil and gas drilling, one of the largest sources of methane emissions. The State's proposals rolled out last month would directly regulate detection and reduction of a variety of hydrocarbons, including methane emissions, from the lifecycle of oil and gas development.


Today's meeting builds upon Secretary Jewell's visit to North Dakota in August where she met with the Bakken Federal Executive Group and inspected new technologies being employed by some companies in the region to capture and reduce natural gas and methane emissions.


Jewell is committed to working hand in hand with states and industry to power more homes with cleaner American-made energy, while reducing methane emissions and cutting carbon pollution.