Shitstain-Appointed Federal Judge In ND Blocks Biden Methane Rule In Five States
A federal judge has blocked the Interior Department from enforcing its new methane rule in five Western states. In an order issued late Thursday, the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota said the Biden-era rule from Interior’s Bureau of Land Management represents a “significant impingement” upon states’ rights. He halted the regulation in North Dakota, Texas, Utah, Montana and Wyoming.
“This case is an example of where the left hand of the government does not know what the right hand of the government is doing,” wrote Judge Daniel Traynor, finding that BLM would “suffer little, if any, harm by preserving the status quo” until litigation over the agency’s rule is resolved. He wrote that BLM’s regulation targets “an area that is already regulated by the Clean Air Act and state laws meant to protect the environment.”
BLM’s rule slashes emissions of a potent greenhouse gas by making oil companies pay royalties for “wasted” methane, the primary component of natural gas. Companies also face limits on how much gas they can either release or burn. But Traynor, a Trump appointee, wrote that the costs of BLM’s flaring limits don’t outweigh their environmental benefit. “They conflict with other federal and state laws,” he wrote of the requirements, “and they add nothing more than a layer of federal regulation on top of existing federal regulation.”
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon called the decision “a great first step and an extremely positive indication that our legal case will continue to find success.” The Republican said it was “encouraging to see Wyoming’s fight against unreasonable BLM policies and the Biden-Harris administration’s agenda producing tangible results for our hometown companies.”
EDIT
https://www.eenews.net/articles/judge-blocks-interior-methane-rule-in-five-states/
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