Satellite Data Shows Colorado Oil & Gas Methane Emissions Dropped as State Rules Took Effect

(DENVER) New analysis by the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund shows that Colorado’s longstanding, consensus-driven effort to reduce methane emissions from the state’s oil and gas sector has been paying off with emissions falling by nearly 70% between 2010 and 2017. 

Under the leadership of then-Gov. John Hickenlooper, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission adopted the nation’s first-ever methane rules in 2014 and then strengthened and expanded protections for the Front Range in 2017. His successor, Gov. Jared Polis, has continued those efforts improving state protections a half a dozen times between 2019 and 2025.  

“Colorado was the first state to enact smart methane rules,” said U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper. “The data proves they work, delivering cleaner air for our communities and making real progress in confronting the climate crisis.” 

A hallmark of Colorado’s rulemaking processes over the last decade has been a collaborative approach where regulators, industry and environmental groups have met at the table and found practical solutions that reduce emissions, starting with that first set of rules in 2014. The new analysis is more evidence that state regulations and industry leadership have led to a reduction in emissions. 

“Under the leadership of then-Gov. John Hickenlooper, Colorado led the nation in tackling the methane problem by adopting the first set of standards to address emissions from oil and gas operations. Analyzing the satellite data indicates that emissions fell dramatically following the adoption of the 2014 rules,” said Nini Gu, Senior Regulatory & Legislative Manager for the West Region. “Smart energy policy design and rigorous data collection are the key to a thriving climate and a thriving economy, in Colorado and beyond.”  

The findings are based on data collected by Japan’s Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite, also known as GOSAT, between the years 2010 and 2019. They are reinforced by independent aircraft studies over the Denver-Julesburg Basin that find similar downward trends in the basin’s emissions intensity. 

The timing and magnitude of the decline closely align with Colorado’s methane regulations, suggesting they played a central role in driving reductions. While emissions at the national level remained consistently high, Colorado’s progress indicates that strong, science-based state-level standards can deliver real climate results while supporting a thriving economy. Rolling back and delaying federal regulations means ignoring the mounting evidence that well-designed policies can deliver cleaner air without compromising economic growth. 

This GOSAT analysis in Colorado illustrates the impact of mitigation in a similar way to a recently released analysis of satellite data from the Permian Basin which provided strong evidence that New Mexico’s oil and gas air and methane pollution regulations were effective in reducing emissions intensity even as production increased between 2024 and 2025.  

Japan launched GOSAT in 2009, which was a ground-breaking tool for measuring emissions greenhouse gas emissions. While GOSAT — with coarse resolution, low temporal sampling and relatively low precision — likely underestimates absolute emissions, the GOSAT analysis provides a robust emissions trend after integrating several years of data. The Colorado data collected from 2010 to 2019 provides clear and compelling evidence for an overall drop in total methane emissions and methane intensity. Since the original GOSAT launch 16 years ago, the ecosystem of advanced satellite detection has continued to improve and grow, such as TROPOMI, MethaneSAT and CarbonMapper’s Tanager-1 in 2024 and GOSAT GW in 2025.