Michael Bastasch, DCNF
A federal court has overturned the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) stay on the implementation of regulations on methane emissions for new oil and natural gas drilling wells.
Federal judges gave environmentalists a legal win Monday by preventing the Trump administration from staying an Obama-era global warming rule while the EPA considers repealing it altogether.
The court ruled that the “EPA’s decision to impose a stay, in other words, was ‘arbitrary, capricious,’” because “it was thus not ‘impracticable’ for industry groups to have raised such objections during the notice and comment period.”
The EPA imposed the methane rule as part of former President Barack Obama’s “Climate Action Plan” to fight global warming. The rule was one of the key regulations that Obama hoped would help the U.S. comply with the Paris climate accord.
In late April, the EPA issued a 90-day stay on implementing the methane rule, which the Obama administration finalized in 2016, after oil industry groups argued that they didn’t have the chance to review all the new requirements for limiting emissions.
President Donald Trump ordered the EPA to review the methane rule in March as part of a larger executive order targeting Obama-era climate and environmental regulations.
Environmentalists filed suit, urging federal judges to overturn the EPA’s stay on the methane rule. Judges on the D.C. Circuit Court sided activist attorneys with the Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Sierra Club.
Environmentalists are seeking to preserve what they can of the Obama administration’s environmental agenda. Activists say that the rule would protect public health and reduce methane emissions from oil and gas operations.
Huge win: court overturns illegal @EPAScottPruitt obstruction of rule reducing methane from oil & gas drilling. https://t.co/coC0S1w8rV
— John Walke (@JohnDWalke) July 3, 2017
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, which many scientists blame for contributing to global warming.
Critics say that the methane rule was a regulation in search of a problem, pointing to research showing that methane emissions from oil and gas drilling have plummeted, despite a huge increase drilling operations.
A May study by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) researchers found that the EPA may have relied on inflated estimates of methane emissions to justify regulating the oil and gas industry.
Follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- The Florida candidate laser-focused on eradicating horrific animal crimes - March 22, 2024
- Sabo: ‘Rush was our GOAT, there was no equal and he made it look easy’ - February 18, 2024
- Dana Bash appears to want to crawl out of her own skin when Ramaswamy ‘goes there’ on J6 - December 7, 2023
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
