The Oil & Gas Threat Map shows us that oil and gas air pollution isn’t someone else’s problem. It’s everyone’s problem.

The Pollution

Until very recently, there were no federal limits on methane pollution from the oil and gas industry. So it’s no surprise that the oil and gas industry is the nation’s largest methane polluter.

What might surprise you: along with methane, oil and gas facilities often release other air pollution that can harm our health, like benzene – a known carcinogen.

The Maps

The Oil & Gas Threat Maps show health impacts from oil and gas air pollution in three different ways:

1. On individual state maps, it plots the location of all active oil & gas wells in the United States (except North Carolina and Idaho), then counts the people, schools, and hospitals that live within ½ mile of these facilities.
2. On national, state-by-state, and county-by-county levels it shows the contribution of oil and gas air pollution to elevated ozone smog levels, and consequent asthma and other respiratory impacts.
3. Using EPA data & models, it shows which counties have health risks because of oil & gas toxic air pollution.

The Map reminds us that the threat, as well as the people at risk, are very real by:

• Within each individual state, allows you to search for your home or school to find out if you’re at elevated risk for exposure to this pollution.
• Showing infrared videos of normally invisible pollution from oil and gas operations.
• Showing interviews with people impacted by this pollution.

The Solution

The Biden Administration issued a revised proposal that will require extensive monitoring for methane air pollution from new oil and  gas facilities to reduce climate and associated toxic air pollution.

To protect the people living near the 1.2 million active facilities on the Threat Map, we need new rules to cover methane pollution from existing oil & gas facilities.

To protect the people living near the 1.5 million active facilities on the Threat Map, we need new rules to be strengthened as much as legally possible to significantly reduce methane pollution from existing oil & gas facilities.