EPA’s Efforts to Curb Methane Emissions Suffers a Setback as 13 States Sue

Thirteen states have sued the Obama administration over the EPA’s new rules for methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.

The lawsuit, filed by West Virginia and backed by twelve other states, argues that the new rules are unnecessary and would add burdensome costs for oil and gas producers.
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The rule, finalized in May, would limit methane emissions from new oil and gas infrastructure, and would require operators to submit to semi-annual or quarterly monitoring.  Under the new rule, the EPA estimates that emissions from existing oil and gas operations would drop by 11 million tons of CO2 equivalent annually by 2025 — the equivalent of taking more than 2 million cars off the road.

Last spring, the EPA revised its methane emissions totals for the United States, after discovering that emissions from the oil and gas industry were higher than initially thought.  The oil and gas industry produces about a third of total U.S. methane emissions, and is the largest methane-emitting sector in the country.

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