A coalition of environmental and tribal groups sued the Trump administration Tuesday for suspending a 2016 Obama-era rule intended to cut methane emissions from natural gas drilling on public land.
“The [Bureau of Land Management’s] abandonment of its waste rule is an affront to all Americans. In less than one year, the industry and its allies have unsuccessfully tried three times to eliminate the rule, and we believe they will lose this newest court battle,” said Bruce Pendery, an attorney with the Wilderness Society, one of 17 groups that filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
“No matter how many special interests the Trump administration has on its side in its mindless pursuit of energy dominance, it cannot avoid the Interior Department’s legal obligations to protect taxpayers and the planet.”
The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management this month announced a two-year delay in implementing the Obama administration’s rule. The rule requires oil and natural gas operations on public lands to capture natural gas that is leaked, vented or flared. Methane, the main component in natural gas, is more potent than carbon dioxide, although its grenhouse gas emissions are relatively short-lived.
The Republican-controlled Senate failed in May to repeal the rule. The Trump administration then acted to suspend parts of the rule, but that move was struck down by a California court in October. Despite the ruling, the BLM on Dec. 8 once again attempted to halt the rule while it writes a new, less stringent rule.
