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The United States Senate voted 52-42 yesterday to restore regulations that impose limits on methane leaks from oil and gas activities. Lawmakers used the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to nullify the efforts by the Trump administration to undo the Obama-era regulation to limit methane leaks—essentially acting to repeal a previous repeal. The CRA can be used within 60 legislative days of a rule's enactment and requires only a simple majority vote, making it the swiftest way to overturn an existing federal rule.
The CRA had only been successfully used once before President Trump took office. However, at the beginning of his administration in 2017 it was used to overturn Obama-era rules more than a dozen times, including those aimed at blocking coal-mining operations from dumping waste into nearby waterways and another requiring that oil, gas and mining companies divulge more information to the Securities and Exchange Commission about the payments they make to foreign governments.
Some companies within the oil and gas industry support the effort to restore the Obama-era methane emissions rule, including major companies such as BP and Royal Dutch Shell. Mary Streett, BP’s senior vice president for U.S. advocacy said in a statement, “Regulating methane emissions is essential to preventing leaks throughout the industry and protecting the environment.” Limiting methane emissions is a key part of the Biden administration's pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% before 2030.
See you in May!
More public lands and energy news from Look West will be delivered to your inbox again on Monday, May 3rd. Have a lovely weekend!
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For people of faith and conscience, the decision to protect natural spaces and the species that depend on them is not just a political or scientific issue; it is a moral and spiritual issue. That is why we support the Thirty by Thirty Resolution to Save Nature."
