ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The Interior Department wants to delay an Obama administration directive requiring energy companies to reduce methane emissions at drilling sites on federal lands. But one company with plans to drill in New Mexico says it will capture methane emissions with or without regulations.

XTO, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, recently invested $6 billion in acreage in New Mexico's Permian Basin. The company said it's committed to reducing methane emissions from its production and midstream operations nationwide.

Jon Goldstein, director for regulatory and legislative affairs with the Environmental Defense Fund, said it shows that one of the biggest oil and gas producers in the U.S. is stepping up to make a positive impact.

"It's really a win-win,” Goldstein said. "What companies like XTO are showing is that this is the right thing to do for their business and that in rolling back these rules at the federal level, the Trump administration is really running in the wrong direction on this issue."

In proposing to delay the methane reduction rule until January 2019, the Interior Department said the Obama administration may have underestimated costs and overestimated benefits. Public comments will be taken on the issue for the next 30 days.

It's estimated that $330 million worth of methane gas is wasted by the oil and gas industry annually - enough to power about 1.5 million homes a year on federal and tribal lands. Goldstein said XTO's decision to comply with the previous administration's rules despite the uncertainty at the national level shows that doing so is cost-effective and attainable.

"What this is saying is, here's a company that's investing big time in New Mexico, and meanwhile they're also going to maximize the positive impact of that investment by reducing to the greatest extent possible their methane waste,” he said. “So that's going to mean millions more to the state in the form of tax and royalty payments."

Goldstein said lost revenue due to methane leaks could help fund New Mexico's education, roads, and bridges, and state leaders should require other gas and oil operators to follow XTO's lead.


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Nebraska has had a number of deadly and destructive fires this year, and nearly half the state remains in extreme or exceptional drought. If it is as windy this year as it was last year at this time, fire risk to life and property will continue to be high.

Tedd Teahon, district fire management officer for the Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest, said there is no longer a fire season; it's a year-round phenomenon.

One firefighter died fighting the national forest fire in Halsey, which burned nearly one-fourth of the largest hand-planted forest in North America. It is believed to have been human-caused, but remains under investigation.

Teahon emphasized a spark is all it takes in these dry conditions.

"That will start fires right now, if you throw your cigarette butt out," Teahon stressed. "Check underneath your vehicles, make sure you haven't caught something, something is dragging and so on. Anything that could start a spark."

Fires took the lives of three Nebraska firefighters this year, more than a dozen were injured, and one has been recovering in a Lincoln rehab center for over a month. Although people cause nearly 85% of all wildland fires, Teahon noted most fires in the Nebraska National Forest are caused by lightning strikes.

Teahon urged people to observe posted restrictions as well as the weather.

"You know, if you're coming out to the forest, a big deal is parking, so make sure you read your fire restrictions very well," Teahon advised. "Weather is a huge one, you know, if it's going to be super windy, maybe it's not a good day to go driving around at all."

With the ongoing La Niña effect, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts continued drought in the Midwest through at least January.

Teahon added winter brings increased challenges for firefighters.

"And the problem now is that it's getting below freezing, and fire trucks will start freezing up, you know, once the sun goes down," Teahon explained.

In addition to equipment failure, winter risks for firefighters include falls, hypothermia and frostbite.

Conservation groups are pushing to keep federal protections for Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah.

Boundaries of the two monuments were significantly reduced by President Donald Trump five years ago, but restored by the Biden administration. Now, conservation groups have filed a motion to intervene in two lawsuits, one headed by the State of Utah and the other headed by a number of plaintiffs including the BlueRibbon Coalition, an off-road vehicle advocacy group, challenging federal protection of these lands.

One suit targets the Antiquities Act, saying the monument areas are too large and essentially deprive the state of resources.

Steve Block, legal director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said groups like his are working alongside the Biden administration to ensure protection continues.

"That's the really high level, is that it really comes down to who gets to call the shots on these lands," Block explained. "I think there are some interests who want to see these landscapes exploited for short-term financial gain instead of long-term preservation."

Several tribal nations have also become involved. The Bears Ears National Monument was established by President Barack Obama. Grand Staircase-Escalante was declared a national monument by President Bill Clinton in 1996. It is said to be home to many dinosaur fossils which cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

It has only been a couple of months since the lawsuits were filed, so Bloch noted they are in the preliminary stages. He added the lawyers representing the state want the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case, where the court's conservative majority could possibly undo the Antiquities Act.

"It is a real black eye on the state that they would seek to undo the monuments," Block contended. "Seek to open these areas again to types of extractive uses - like oil and gas, like coal, like hard-rock mining, like off-road vehicle use."

Bloch stressed he is disappointed the state is not embracing the opportunity to protect the areas and work with tribes to safeguard land iconic to Utah.

To help people better understand the health of the Upper Rio Grande Basin, a first-ever "report card" gave the overall river basin a "C" for its moderate condition, and warned improvements are needed.

A group of ecosystem scientists and local conservation advocates said the moderate rating comes with a warning there is not enough water to sustain all users' needs and maintain a healthy river ecosystem.

Paul Tashjian, director of freshwater conservation at Audubon Southwest, said actions are necessary to ensure people and wildlife have continued water access.

"We're water-challenged, and I think that what I liked about the report card, is that it really looked at all the water users alongside of each other and valued all of them together," Tashjian remarked. "Not just the living river, but also the importance of our farming communities, the importance of our compact."

He added New Mexico's Upper Rio Grande had the highest score, while the Lower Rio Grande got the lowest score at 41% or "C minus." The report card is meant to provide a backbone for developing meaningful resiliency strategies.

Casey Brown, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, who helped develop the report card model, said it showed limited water availability is due to climate change, interstate management issues, infrastructure, and increased demand from a growing population.

"Here's how much water we have. How are we going to allocate that water among its very competing uses?" Brown asked. "What our model does is help make it clear what those different allocations mean, in terms of trade-offs for the different water users."

Enrique Prunes, manager of the Rio Grande for the World Wildlife Fund, which also participated in creating the report card, said the Upper Rio Grande, flowing from its headwaters in Colorado, through New Mexico and ending in Texas, has supported people and wildlife for thousands of years.

"There are many communities that depend on the water that this river provides," Prunes outlined. "Agriculture -- 85% of the water that is used in the Rio Grande goes to agriculture -- but of course, for biodiversity, for ecosystems, that component of the environment is very important."