BLM Methane Venting and Flaring Rule
February 2, 2017
The below press release came from U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Majority Leader's, Press Office. Capt. McCormick of Vets4Energy quotes under "Who It Hurts."
Summary
The House will use the Congressional Review Act to overturn the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) venting and flaring rule on Friday, which would further cap methane emissions in the oil and gas industry. However, this rule is costly, redundant, and illegitimate. The industry is already subject to Clean Air Act standards through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and has leveraged technological advances to dramatically reduce methane emissions.
Not to mention, Congress has never granted BLM the authority to regulate air quality—power that is far outside of the agency’s jurisdiction.
The Effect
Methane emissions have already decline 21% from 1990 to 2014, even as natural gas production has increased by nearly 47%. Yet the bureaucracy is ignoring this progress by adding on another rule that could cost an estimated $1 billion by 2025.
As federal lands become less cost-effective to produce energy on, this unnecessary rule adds to that burden and could wipe out marginal wells run by family-owned businesses who can’t pack up and move their operations. Beyond the losses of jobs, state and federal governments would lose up to $114,112,000 in tax receipts.
Who It Hurts
Former Army Captain, Operation Desert Storm Veteran, recipient of the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Hart, and Vets4Energy National Program Director James McCormick said this rule hurts Americans and forces us to rely on foreign energy. “It feels as though our government is saying they’d prefer other less-caring countries to supply us with energy rather than allow us to do it ourselves,” he said. “The pile-on of additional regulations, especially unneeded ones that are already being addressed by the industry, makes it seem like they are intentionally trying to put Americans out of work and decrease our energy independence.”
Local governments are particularly nervous. Carla Sonntag, President of the New Mexico Business Coalition, said that one-third of New Mexico’s state budget is derived from oil and natural gas, and that this revenue is the number one source of funding for public schools. Destroy the industry, and America’s public school students suffer.
Why We’re Doing This
The bureaucracy is a threat to our
• Economy
• Constitution
• and People
The House has already passed legislation to change the structure in Washington so the federal bureaucracy is subject to the people and so we stop getting the same bad results year after year. Now, we’re targeting specific harmful regulations and stripping them off the books.
Majority Leader Press Office
H-107 | The Capitol
majorityleader.gov
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