Groups share outrage as Agency’s final delay is a violation of its role to protect health of environmental justice communities
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 8, 2025
Contact: Ashley Sullivan, ashley.sullivan@weact.org, 1-917-837-1183
WASHINGTON – Recently, while most were spending time with loved ones, EPA moved forward to finalize its proposal to delay compliance deadlines under the 2024 Section 111 methane rule, despite widespread opposition from the environmental justice and broader community. In October, GreenLatinos, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, and Climate Justice Alliance, along with 106 partner organizations submitted formal comments opposing this delay which will have major consequences for vulnerable communities. The 2024 updated methane rule would have required industry polluters to significantly reduce harmful methane emissions and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), starting in 2025. The coalition urged EPA to abandon this effort, as this rule is unjustifiable, unlawful, and will have devastating consequences for frontline communities, public health, and our collective ability to confront the climate crisis.
Yosef Robele, Federal Policy Manager at WE ACT for Environmental Justice shared, “Delaying the methane rule denies communities life‑saving health protections, projected to prevent 1,500 premature deaths and 100,000 asthma attacks each year. The delay will have real consequences for environmental justice communities living near fossil fuel infrastructure, who already bear the worst impacts of pollution and the climate crisis. We will continue to demand accountability and push to ensure our communities receive the protections they deserve and should be guaranteed under the law.”
“The EPA was created to protect our environment and our health, not to delay lifesaving protections while communities get sicker,” said Mar Zepeda Salazar, Legislative Director with Climate Justice Alliance. “Methane drives extreme heat, fuels dangerous air pollution, and worsens the climate disasters we experience every day. In frontline communities–whether Indigenous, poor white, Black and Brown communities, or working families–this delay means more children missing school because of asthma attacks, more parents missing work while trying to make ends meet, and more families struggling under the weight of mounting medical bills. The EPA’s latest move to further delay the reduction of harmful methane emissions is unjustifiable, unlawful, and a direct betrayal of the agency’s mission. Our future can’t be left on the backburner while polluters’ pockets are filled.”
“This delay locks in more methane pollution, more toxic air, and more illness for frontline, working-class communities, while families face higher health costs, lost wages, and rising utility bills,” said Meisei Gonzalez, Climate Justice and Clean Air Advocate at GreenLatinos.
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About WE ACT for Environmental Justice
WE ACT for Environmental Justice is a Northern Manhattan-based, membership-driven organization whose mission is to build healthy communities by ensuring that people of color and/or low-income residents are meaningfully included in the development of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices. WE ACT has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. Visit us at weact.org and follow us on Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram.
WE ACT por Justicia Ambiental
WE ACT por la Justicia Ambiental es una organización con sede en el norte de Manhattan, impulsada por sus miembros, cuya misión es construir comunidades saludables garantizando la participación significativa de las personas de color y/o de bajos ingresos en el desarrollo de políticas y prácticas sólidas y justas de salud y protección ambiental. WE ACT tiene oficinas en Nueva York y Washington, D.C. Visítenos en weact.org y síganos en Facebook, Bluesky e Instagram.
About GreenLatinos
GreenLatinos (NOTE: GreenLatinos is ONE WORD) is an active comunidad of Latino/a/e leaders, emboldened by the power and wisdom of our culture, united to demand equity and dismantle racism, resourced to win our environmental, conservation, and climate justice battles, and driven to secure our political, economic, cultural, and environmental liberation.
GreenLatinos (NOTA: GreenLatinos es UNA PALABRA) es una comunidad activa de líderes latinos/a/e, envalentonados por el poder y la sabiduría de nuestra cultura, unidos para exigir equidad y desmantelar el racismo, con recursos para ganar nuestra justicia ambiental, batallas de conservación, climáticas e impulsados a asegurar nuestra liberación política, económica, cultural y ambiental.
About Climate Justice Alliance
CJA is a growing member-based organization of nearly 100 urban and rural frontline and Indigenous communities, organizations, and supporting networks working to build a Just Transition away from the extractive economy and toward a more regenerative one. Visit our website at climatejusticealliance.org and follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, and Bluesky.
Acerca de la Alianza para la Justicia Climática (CJA, por sus siglas en inglés)
CJA es una organización en crecimiento con casi 100 miembros, comunidades indígenas y de primera línea, tanto urbanas como rurales, organizaciones y redes de apoyo que trabajan para construir una transición justa que se aleje de la economía extractiva y progrese hacia una más regenerativa. Visite nuestro sitio web climatejusticealliance.org, y síganos en Facebook, X, Instagram y Bluesky.