by Brianna Crandall — November 7, 2016 — As part of the Obama Administration’s ongoing commitment to take action on climate change and protect public health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the founding partners of the ONE Future Emissions Intensity Commitment Option under the Natural Gas STAR Methane Challenge Program. The Methane Challenge Program builds upon the Natural Gas STAR Program, calling on U.S. oil and gas companies to make specific and transparent commitments to reduce methane emissions from their operations.
Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, explained:
Methane is over 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide in warming the planet, so reducing methane emissions is critical for addressing climate change. Our voluntary Methane Challenge Program is an important part of the Obama Administration’s strategy to reduce methane emissions and we are pleased to expand the program to include the ONE Future Commitment. These partner companies are leading a path to cleaner energy production in the natural gas sector by agreeing to reduce methane emissions and track their progress.
Formed in 2014, the Our Nation’s Energy (ONE) Future Coalition is an industry-led partnership with a goal of reducing methane emissions associated with the U.S. onshore natural gas value chain to one percent or less by 2025. Each ONE Future company has the flexibility to determine the most cost‐effective pathway to achieve that goal — and agrees to demonstrate progress per specific reporting protocols.
Companies interested in joining the Methane Challenge have the opportunity to choose from two options to reduce methane emissions: the Best Management Practice (BMP) Commitment or the ONE Future Commitment. EPA launched the Methane Challenge Program with 41 founding partners under the BMP Commitment in March 2016. Since then, two additional companies have joined as BMP partners.
Now four ONE Future member companies — Kinder Morgan, National Grid, Southern Company Gas, and Southwestern Energy — are joining the Methane Challenge Program under the ONE Future Commitment. One company, National Grid, is a Methane Challenge partner under both the BMP and ONE Future Commitments, bringing the total number of Methane Challenge partners to 46.
The Methane Challenge Program provides partner companies with a platform to make transparent company-wide commitments to cut emissions. Transparency is a fundamental part of the program, and partner achievements will be tracked by submitting annual data directly to EPA. The Methane Challenge Program has the potential to achieve significant emissions reductions in a cost-effective way, and is an important component of the Administration’s 2014 Methane Strategy, which set out regulatory and voluntary approaches for reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40 to 45 percent below 2012 levels by 2025.
More information about the Natural Gas STAR Methane Challenge Program and the Our Nation’s Energy (ONE) Future Coalition is available from the EPA Web site.
