Fossil fuel groups and Republicans rejoiced at a federal judge’s Tuesday ruling overturning an Obama administration fracking rule.
Judge Scott Skavdahl of the District Court of Wyoming ruled the Department of the Interior does not have authority to control fracking, striking down a Bureau of Land Management rule. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said it was an important ruling in checking executive overreach.
“Another day, another decision and another court striking down this runaway administration for unilaterally rewriting another law,” Sasse said. “Nobody in Nebraska voted to make the Interior Department a super-legislature. This ruling is an important victory for anyone who wants to protect three separate branches of government.”
Skavdahl wrote that the Obama administration was attempting to circumvent Congress with its rule on fracking, or hydraulic fracturing. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., said it was good to hear the judiciary echoing his thoughts in a major court ruling.
“Judge Skavdahl’s ruling affirms what I and many others know to be true in accordance with the Constitution: It is Congress that has the authority to write laws, not an overreaching administration,” Griffith said.
“I am pleased that the court is joining the House in returning the balance of power and checking the out-of-control executive branch as it attempted to exceed its authority, and I vow to continue fighting improper administration actions through the legislative tools at my disposal.”
The Institute for Energy Research, a pro-fossil fuels group, celebrated the ruling because they hope it will spark more energy production on federal lands.
Thomas Pyle, president of the institute, said domestic oil production has been one of the only economic bright spots during the recovery from the recession. The ruling handed down Tuesday will accelerate that production, he said.
“This ruling, along with the Supreme Court’s stay of EPA’s carbon rule, is an encouraging sign that the administration’s out-of-the-mainstream agenda is finally being called into check,” Pyle said. “Thankfully for the American people, this ruling also makes it much more difficult for future administrations to follow in President Obama’s footsteps.”
Not surprisingly, environmentalists were disappointed with the judge’s ruling and urged the administration to continue fighting for the fracking rule.
Lena Moffitt, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign, said the Obama administration was within its rights by proposing the rule. The oil and gas industry cannot be trusted to regulate itself, she said.
“While there is no way to ever make fracking safe, the oil and gas industry has repeatedly proven that it needs more standards to keep the public safe from the dangers of fossil fuels, not less,” Moffitt said.
