Oil industry lobbyists have made eliminating the “BLM methane waste rule” a top priority since Congress went back to work in 2017. The industry, which spent over $100 million supporting candidates for federal office in 2016, is now expecting politicians to fall in line and vote to scrap a rule whose stated purpose is to limit the waste of taxpayer-owned natural gas from energy operations on American public lands.
A bill to nix the common sense standards has already passed the House of Representatives, but has been stuck in the U.S. Senate for weeks without the votes to pass. Now, the pressure campaign from oil and gas industry lobbyists, including groups like the American Petroleum Institute and the Western Energy Alliance, is ramping up.