FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 23, 2018
DENVER—With hours remaining in the public comment period on the Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to gut the Methane Waste Rule, a new analysis of comments posted to regulations.gov shows near-unanimous opposition to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s plans.
As of Monday afternoon, BLM had received more than 407,000 comments on the proposed rule change, with over 130,000 of those comments posted online.
The Center for Western Priorities performed a sentiment analysis on a random sample of 2,000 of those comments, and found 99.8 percent of them were opposed to the proposed rollback of the Methane Waste Rule. Just 0.2 percent of the public comments encouraged Secretary Zinke to move forward with his plans to allow more venting and flaring of methane from oil and gas operations on public lands.
“Secretary Zinke is going to need a pair of earplugs to drown out the overwhelming opposition to his plan to undermine safeguards that limit methane waste from oil and gas wells on public lands,” said Jesse Prentice-Dunn, advocacy director at the Center for Western Priorities. “He asked what Americans thought of his proposal and their response is loud and clear: More than 99 percent of public comments asked the Interior Secretary to keep these common sense rules. The only rational response to this overwhelming public sentiment is to uphold existing methane waste rules and end the industry-driven assault on even the most reasonable protections.”
Secretary Zinke’s proposal would eviscerate the Methane Waste Rule, an Obama-era policy that required oil and gas companies to capture and pay royalties on methane produced during oil drilling. Methane is the primary constituent in natural gas. Before the rule, drillers could vent or burn off that methane, a practice that contributed to climate change and denied American taxpayers of the value of publicly-owned methane.
A congressional attempt to repeal the Methane Waste Rule failed in May 2017 on a bipartisan vote. Despite this, Secretary Zinke moved ahead with an industry-backed proposal that would eliminate the key provisions of the rule. The public comment period on Zinke’s proposal opened in February 2018. Zinke has previously ignored overwhelming public comments in support of national monuments and bipartisan sage-grouse protection plans.
Methodology: The Center for Western Priorities downloaded all 131,502 comments posted to the regulations.gov docket as of 10:30 am MT Monday. 2,000 of those comments were selected at random and each was individually analyzed for support or opposition to the proposed BLM Methane Waste Rule change. The analysis has a margin of error of ±2.2%. CWP’s full analysis toolchain is available on request.
The Trump administration’s energy and public lands priorities are unpopular in the West
How the Trump administration’s ‘energy dominance’ agenda threatens our treasured public lands
-----------------------
#1 Legislative Accomplishments
I've been getting a lot of questions lately about what happened at the legislature from those who didn't attend our wrap up last month. Here's a short list:
#2 801creativewomen
Thank you to Wasatch Theatre for hosting a special fundraising performance for our #801creativewomen initiative on April 26th. THIS THURSDAY! Join us! #801creativewomen is a joint project between UCA, the Utah Film Commission, Utah Division of Arts, Women in Architecture - SLC, and Craft Lake City to boost gender parity in the arts & humanities. This is a world premier of the newest version of the play "What We’re Up Against”. Learn more and purchase tickets here.
#3 Build your skills!
I invite you to join our partners, the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, for their Mountain West Conference on May 10th. Register here!
We at UCA are thrilled to announce that we have revamped our professional development offerings and replaced our Culture Bytes panels with half day conferences. Our new training format serves as an annual meeting for several jobs in the cultural sector. This includes jobs at both nonprofit cultural organizations and for-profit businesses and sole proprietorships. Utah Division of Arts & Museums is our co-host for the meetings on May 17th.
#4 Thank You Cynthia
Utah Cultural Alliance extends a heartfelt congratulations to Cynthia Buckingham, who just retired as executive director of Utah Humanities. Cynthia led Utah Humanities in wonderful new directions. Cynthia has a long history with UCA, is a former board member, and helped to expand our organization to include the humanities in its advocacy work. Personally, Cynthia has been a friend and mentor and I am so grateful for your support over the years. Enjoy retirement!
#5 We have an Instagram!
UCA finally bit the bullet and got an Instagram! You can follow us at @utculture for photos of our events, news and more. If members have any advertisements they'd like us to feature on our Instagram please email staff@utculture.org.
#6 The Giving State
The Giving State is the first ever statewide data-driven report published on philanthropy and the social sector. Utah is poised to lead the nation in giving, not only in volume but in excellence as well. This report is a tool to help us reflect, foster ongoing dialogue, and spark ideas of tangible steps we can take toward excellence. Check it out here.
====================
The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus (The Lennon Bus), the premier non-profit 501(c)(3) state-of-the-art mobile production facility presented by OWC that provides hands-on experiences for students of all ages, is stopping at three Utah locations this week and next!
Assisted by three on-board engineers, students can learn how to write, record, and produce original songs, music videos, documentaries, and live multi-camera video productions – all in one day on a tour bus transformed into a state-of-the-art mobile audio and HD video recording and production facility. The Lennon Bus is committed to providing students with increased access to music, audio, video, and broadcast technologies, so it is an incredible opportunity for these young minds.
Let me know if you would like to visit the bus at any of the below stops for a tour and interviews with those involved and I will be happy to coordinate. Please see below for stop infomation.
Mary Jackson Elementary School
Thursday, April 26, 2018 | Between 9:00am and 6:00pm
750 W 200 N
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
(801) 578-8165
Layton High School
Friday, April 27, 2018 | Between 9:00am and 6:00pm
440 Wasatch Dr
Layton, UT 84041
(801) 402-4800
Maple Mountain High School
Tuesday, May 1, 2018 | Between 9:00am and 6:00pm
51 N 2550 E
Spanish Fork, UT 84660
(801) 794-6740
Contact:
kristen@high10media.com
