Too often big issues divide us. As a pediatric nurse, I know that topics like methane regulation can polarize people, tricking us into believing that we must choose between environment, health or economic security. But controlling methane pollution from the oil and gas industry is a win for children’s health, economic stability and clean environments.

My first degree is in Environmental Studies. This degree gave me the opportunity to advocate for legislation protecting the environment. I spoke to citizens and policy makers about the importance of clean air and water. However, too often the conversation derailed into overly simplified arguments about abstract concepts like “environment vs jobs”. I knew in my gut that clean environments lead to healthy people and healthy people lead to robust economies. So I returned to school to earn a degree in nursing in order to have the scientific knowledge to advocate for both.

Now as a registered nurse working in Denver I care for children with asthma and other respiratory illnesses. These children are the reason that as a Registered Nurse I’m thrilled by the EPA’s announcement of the federal existing source rule for methane.

Natural gas is mostly methane, an invisible and odorless gas, which can leak all along the oil and gas supply chain. It is also leaked through venting and flaring, practices that release excess gas into the atmosphere. Oil and gas wells, pipelines, compressor stations, and other infrastructure are the leading industrial source of methane pollution. These products interact with sunlight and heat to form ground level ozone, or smog, which can lead to unsafe and unhealthy air.

In my work as a nurse I know that smog is a powerful lung irritant and dangerous to the small, developing lungs of children. Additional toxic co-pollutants are emitted alongside methane pollution from oil and gas operations, including benzene, a known carcinogen, toluene and hydrogen sulfide. Methane is also a powerful greenhouse gas and a big contributor to climate change. Pound for pound, methane pollution is 25 times more potent than CO2 over a 100-year period. Cleaning up methane pollution is one of the most powerful ways to protect the health of our children and generations to come.

Colorado has shown that regulating methane leaks is a prudent economic pathway as well. Colorado was the first state in the country to establish methane regulations, and a study from the Center for Methane Emission Solutions released in April of 2016 shows oil and gas industry representatives believe these regulations to be effective, with benefits that outweigh its costs.

Healthy children require both stable economies and healthy environments. Let’s let go of the outdated concept that a healthy environment must rival healthy economies. Let’s call for swift and decisive movement forward on the EPA’s existing source rule and move toward a Colorado and a country that is safe for our children, safe for our environments and economically stable.