By Katie Porter, Boulder Weekly.

A poll conducted by the American Lung Association (ALA) reveals that people want oil and gas companies to better control the leakage of methane into the environment. Three out of five people say they approve of the restrictions the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed on the industry last month.

“We are very pro air-quality standards, so we exercise our authority under the Clean Air Act to advocate for things like pollution reduction,” says Dawn Mullally, director of Air Quality and Transportation at the ALA. “Any regulations that will improve health matters to us and we pay attention to and track those things.”

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that can cause respiratory harm when inhaled. The ALA says emission pollution is especially detrimental to children, the elderly and those with conditions like asthma, emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The health risks are heightened closer to facilities that produce the gas.