Policy API’s “Environmental Partnership:” Years Behind the Curve on Methane from the Oil and Gas Industry

The Clean Air Task Force criticizes the API's Environmental Partnership as an insufficient voluntary effort to curb methane emissions, noting that its targets for leak detection and pneumatic controller replacement are far weaker than existing state and federal regulations. The authors argue that voluntary programs cannot achieve the same emission reductions as mandatory, cost-effective standards, highlighting that oil and gas equipment in the US releases over 8 million tons of methane annually.

• Oil and gas equipment in the United States releases more than 8 million tons of methane pollution annually, which is equivalent to the climate impact of driving 145 million cars or the emissions from over 150 coal-burning power plants.
• The API's approach to leak detection and repair (LDAR) is considered weak because it monitors only "selected" sites, potentially every two years, whereas most regulatory agencies require monitoring at all sites three to four times per year.
• The API's plan to replace continuous high-bleed pneumatic controllers with low or zero bleed versions over five years is viewed as too slow, given that such replacements are simple, feasible, and can pay for themselves in a few years.
• Analysis indicates that voluntary programs, including the API Partnership and the more ambitious OneFuture initiative, cannot reduce methane emissions as effectively as reasonable, cost-effective national standards based on rules from states like Colorado and Wyoming.

APA

McCabe, D., & Banks, J. (2017). Policy API’s “Environmental Partnership:” Years Behind the Curve on Methane from the Oil and Gas Industry. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2017/12/api-environmental-partnership/

Chicago

McCabe, David, and Jonathan Banks. Policy API’s “Environmental Partnership:” Years Behind the Curve on Methane from the Oil and Gas Industry. Clean Air Task Force, 2017. https://www.catf.us/2017/12/api-environmental-partnership/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=McCabe |first1=David |last2=Banks |first2=Jonathan |title=Policy API’s “Environmental Partnership:” Years Behind the Curve on Methane from the Oil and Gas Industry |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=6 December 2017 |url=https://www.catf.us/2017/12/api-environmental-partnership/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{mccabe2017policy, author = {McCabe, David and Banks, Jonathan}, title = {{Policy API’s “Environmental Partnership:” Years Behind the Curve on Methane from the Oil and Gas Industry}}, publisher = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2017}, month = dec, url = {https://www.catf.us/2017/12/api-environmental-partnership/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }