SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
"This is a short-sighted decision that betrays BLM's responsibilities to taxpayers and will exacerbate climate change," Jeremy Martin, senior scientist in the Clean Vehicles Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a statement. (Photo: iStock)
Enabling Big Oil to 'Pollute With Impunity' on Public Lands, Trump Guts Methane Restrictions
The White House, say green groups, is "once again taking its marching orders from the oil and gas industry while ignoring taxpayers and people who are living every day with the devastating impacts of drilling in their backyards."
Sep 18, 2018
Continuing its relentless "assault on clean air, public lands, our health, and our climate," the Trump administration on Tuesday gutted a major Obama-era rule that required oil and gas companies to reduce methane emissions and take certain measures to prevent leaks on public lands.
"By rolling back these rules, BLM is enabling fossil-fuel extractors to pollute with impunity instead of using proven, readily available technology to reduce waste."
--Jeremy Martin, Union of Concerned Scientists
Unveiled by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Trump administration's revised rule (pdf) dramatically rolls back restrictions on methane emissions, which are a major driver of the climate crisis.
"This is a short-sighted decision that betrays BLM's responsibilities to taxpayers and will exacerbate climate change," Jeremy Martin, senior scientist in the Clean Vehicles Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a statement. "By rolling back these rules, BLM is enabling fossil-fuel extractors to pollute with impunity instead of using proven, readily available technology to reduce waste. What's worse is that at a time when the dangers of climate change are becoming ever more clear, BLM is choosing to increase emissions of methane, a potent contributor to global warming."
Robin Cooley, staff attorney at Earthjustice, added that the Trump administration's methane rule rollback "is once again taking its marching orders from the oil and gas industry while ignoring taxpayers and people who are living every day with the devastating impacts of drilling in their backyards."
"Repealing a common-sense rule that saves taxpayers money and protects our health from pollution is irrational," Cooley added.
\u201cBREAKING: @SecretaryZinke has chosen to steamroll the public by gutting the BLM methane waste rule. \n\nThis rollback is a huge giveaway to the nation\u2019s worst run oil and gas companies at the expense of taxpayers and public health. #CutMethane #MomsDisapprove\u201d— Moms Clean Air Force (@Moms Clean Air Force) 1537301323
According to the New York Times, the oil and gas industry is set to profit massively from the Trump administration's far less restrictive methane rule.
"If implemented, the proposal would recoup nearly all the costs to the oil and gas industry that would have been imposed by the Obama-era regulation," the Times noted last week. "The EPA estimated that rule would have cost companies about $530 million by 2025. The EPA estimates that the proposed changes would save the oil and gas industry $484 million by the same year."
In a statement on Tuesday denouncing the White House's latest gift to the fossil fuel industry, Lena Moffitt--senior director of Sierra Club's Our Wild America campaign--vowed to take the Trump administration to court.
"We've already successfully defended these protections in court and in Congress, and the fight won't stop here," Moffitt concluded.
And so it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Continuing its relentless "assault on clean air, public lands, our health, and our climate," the Trump administration on Tuesday gutted a major Obama-era rule that required oil and gas companies to reduce methane emissions and take certain measures to prevent leaks on public lands.
"By rolling back these rules, BLM is enabling fossil-fuel extractors to pollute with impunity instead of using proven, readily available technology to reduce waste."
--Jeremy Martin, Union of Concerned Scientists
Unveiled by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Trump administration's revised rule (pdf) dramatically rolls back restrictions on methane emissions, which are a major driver of the climate crisis.
"This is a short-sighted decision that betrays BLM's responsibilities to taxpayers and will exacerbate climate change," Jeremy Martin, senior scientist in the Clean Vehicles Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a statement. "By rolling back these rules, BLM is enabling fossil-fuel extractors to pollute with impunity instead of using proven, readily available technology to reduce waste. What's worse is that at a time when the dangers of climate change are becoming ever more clear, BLM is choosing to increase emissions of methane, a potent contributor to global warming."
Robin Cooley, staff attorney at Earthjustice, added that the Trump administration's methane rule rollback "is once again taking its marching orders from the oil and gas industry while ignoring taxpayers and people who are living every day with the devastating impacts of drilling in their backyards."
"Repealing a common-sense rule that saves taxpayers money and protects our health from pollution is irrational," Cooley added.
\u201cBREAKING: @SecretaryZinke has chosen to steamroll the public by gutting the BLM methane waste rule. \n\nThis rollback is a huge giveaway to the nation\u2019s worst run oil and gas companies at the expense of taxpayers and public health. #CutMethane #MomsDisapprove\u201d— Moms Clean Air Force (@Moms Clean Air Force) 1537301323
According to the New York Times, the oil and gas industry is set to profit massively from the Trump administration's far less restrictive methane rule.
"If implemented, the proposal would recoup nearly all the costs to the oil and gas industry that would have been imposed by the Obama-era regulation," the Times noted last week. "The EPA estimated that rule would have cost companies about $530 million by 2025. The EPA estimates that the proposed changes would save the oil and gas industry $484 million by the same year."
In a statement on Tuesday denouncing the White House's latest gift to the fossil fuel industry, Lena Moffitt--senior director of Sierra Club's Our Wild America campaign--vowed to take the Trump administration to court.
"We've already successfully defended these protections in court and in Congress, and the fight won't stop here," Moffitt concluded.
Continuing its relentless "assault on clean air, public lands, our health, and our climate," the Trump administration on Tuesday gutted a major Obama-era rule that required oil and gas companies to reduce methane emissions and take certain measures to prevent leaks on public lands.
"By rolling back these rules, BLM is enabling fossil-fuel extractors to pollute with impunity instead of using proven, readily available technology to reduce waste."
--Jeremy Martin, Union of Concerned Scientists
Unveiled by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Trump administration's revised rule (pdf) dramatically rolls back restrictions on methane emissions, which are a major driver of the climate crisis.
"This is a short-sighted decision that betrays BLM's responsibilities to taxpayers and will exacerbate climate change," Jeremy Martin, senior scientist in the Clean Vehicles Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a statement. "By rolling back these rules, BLM is enabling fossil-fuel extractors to pollute with impunity instead of using proven, readily available technology to reduce waste. What's worse is that at a time when the dangers of climate change are becoming ever more clear, BLM is choosing to increase emissions of methane, a potent contributor to global warming."
Robin Cooley, staff attorney at Earthjustice, added that the Trump administration's methane rule rollback "is once again taking its marching orders from the oil and gas industry while ignoring taxpayers and people who are living every day with the devastating impacts of drilling in their backyards."
"Repealing a common-sense rule that saves taxpayers money and protects our health from pollution is irrational," Cooley added.
\u201cBREAKING: @SecretaryZinke has chosen to steamroll the public by gutting the BLM methane waste rule. \n\nThis rollback is a huge giveaway to the nation\u2019s worst run oil and gas companies at the expense of taxpayers and public health. #CutMethane #MomsDisapprove\u201d— Moms Clean Air Force (@Moms Clean Air Force) 1537301323
According to the New York Times, the oil and gas industry is set to profit massively from the Trump administration's far less restrictive methane rule.
"If implemented, the proposal would recoup nearly all the costs to the oil and gas industry that would have been imposed by the Obama-era regulation," the Times noted last week. "The EPA estimated that rule would have cost companies about $530 million by 2025. The EPA estimates that the proposed changes would save the oil and gas industry $484 million by the same year."
In a statement on Tuesday denouncing the White House's latest gift to the fossil fuel industry, Lena Moffitt--senior director of Sierra Club's Our Wild America campaign--vowed to take the Trump administration to court.
"We've already successfully defended these protections in court and in Congress, and the fight won't stop here," Moffitt concluded.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.