Blog: House voted to overturn the BLM methane waste rule; Senate should put a stop to this

Photo: Ecoflight

Today, the House used a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to block the BLM’s rules to limit natural gas waste. The CRA is a reckless and blunt tool that would prevent any “substantially similar” rule from being issued – allowing the oil and natural gas industry to continue to waste hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of taxpayer owned resources every year.

The Senate should stop this blatant attempt to allow the oil and gas industry to waste taxpayer money while polluting our air.

Overturning the Bureau of Land Management rule to curb natural gas waste on taxpayer-owned and tribal lands fails our moral obligation to protect our cherished outdoor heritage, clean up our air, and ensure that our communities and children are not harmed by public health issues that we can knowingly prevent. In fact, the Congressional Review Act currently being considered is a reckless tool that would permanently harm taxpayers and communities throughout the West by preventing the BLM from ever taking action to cut waste.

As oil and gas developments continue to expand in the western states, the BLM’s common-sense rule will help make sure energy development is done responsibly, so not only do we prevent wasting precious American energy resources, but we also make sure the health of our communities comes first.

Taxpayers could lose out on $800 million in royalties over a decade because of venting and flaring natural gas alone. A Congress that’s in favor of wasting taxpayers’ money? That’s hardly fiscal responsibility.