27.2 - Good News: EPA can't delay methane leak rule

Good News: EPA can't delay methane leak rule

Another bit of Good News, this one on the environment.

On July 3, a three judge panel of the Court of Appeals for Washington, DC, ruled that EPA administrator Scott Pruitt had overstepped his authority in trying to delay implementation of an Obama-era rule requiring oil and gas companies to monitor and reduce methane leaks.

Pruitt had announced in April that he would delay by 90 days the deadline for oil and gas companies to follow the rule, so that the agency could reconsider the measure. He then said in June that he was going to extend that delay for an additional two years.

Scott P-U-itt

In a split decision, the court disagreed with Pruitt’s contention that industry groups had not had sufficient opportunity to comment before the 2016 rule was enacted and also said that he had no authority to make the “unreasonable,” “arbitrary,” and “capricious” decision to delay the rule from taking effect.

The reason the decision is important is that methane is by volume about 20 times as potent a greenhouse gas as carbon dioxide is and environmental groups contend that actual methane emissions from leaks and intentional venting at fossil-fuel operations are far greater than what is now reported.

Environment-hater and fossil-fuel-industry-lapdog Scott P-U-itt has been trying as hard as he can to undo the gains of the past several decades. This time, at least, he got smacked down hard. And that is Good News.