[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2004, Book II)]
[July 28, 2004]
[Pages 1417-1418]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on the Methane to Markets Partnership
July 28, 2004

    Today the United States and several major international partners are 
forming the Methane to Markets Partnership, a new and innovative program 
to increase energy security, improve environmental quality, and reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions throughout the world. The United States will 
commit up to $53 million to the Partnership over the next 5 years. To 
date, Australia, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Ukraine, and the United 
Kingdom have agreed to participate as founding partners, along with the 
United States.
    Under the Partnership, members will work in coordination with the 
private sector to share and expand the use of technologies to capture 
methane emissions that are now wasted in the course of industrial 
processes and use them as a new energy source. The important benefits of 
this international partnership include improved energy security and air 
quality from the use of clean-burning methane as natural gas, improved 
coal mine safety, enhanced economic growth, and reduced greenhouse gas 
emissions of methane. The Partnership will be led by

[[Page 1418]]

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Mike Leavitt, working closely with the Department of State, the 
Department of Energy, and the United States Agency for International 
Development. Administrator Leavitt will host a ministerial-level meeting 
of the founding international partners later this year. I look forward 
to working closely with our international partners to achieve the 
Partnership's important goals.