Little is known about a state government-supported methane advisory panel other than the fact that it is looking into limiting usage across New Mexico, as none of the panel's findings after nearly a dozen meetings have been made public.
The Methane Advisory Panel was created by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and includes industry and environmental organizations, Grisham spokesperson Nora Sackett told the New Mexican. The group has discussed several topics including "compressor engines, storage tanks, pneumatic valves," and other items, Sackett said, adding that a report will be made public when those discussions are complete.
The panel includes representatives from the oil and gas industry as well as environmental lawyers, according to the New Mexican. The panel is not creating regulations for the state's methane use, Sackett told the newspaper, and any rules or regulations would have to come from the New Mexico Environment Department and the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department.
Robert McEntyre, a spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, which is represented on the panel, told the New Mexican that his organization's official stance on the issue of methane can be found on its website, but he added that environmentalists are proposing an "A-to-Z, zero-to-1,000-type strategy that includes a lot of expensive and costly steps that are essentially feel good [solutions] that don't really serve to reduce emissions."
The panel is expected to hold two meetings before the end of the year, but Sackett told the paper that because the group is serving in an advisory role and does not make decisions, they are not subject to the Open Meetings Act.
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