EDF to Vigorously Oppose New Effort to Block Oil and Gas Methane Protections in Court

Oklahoma and allied states filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today seeking to stay the Environmental Protections Agency’s recently finalized methane standards for the oil and gas sector – safeguards that will reduce tens of millions of tons of climate-damaging methane and other toxic, smog-forming pollution from oil and gas leaks, venting and flaring. 

Today’s motion was filed more than a month after the rules were published. 

“EPA’s commonsense oil and gas methane protections deliver vital reductions in climate and health-harming pollution. They are firmly rooted in the extensive factual record before the agency and EPA’s core authority, reinforced in recent years by Congress, to address harmful methane pollution under the Clean Air Act. The standards are the culmination of a rigorous public process and reflect the input and support of a wide variety of stakeholders, including states, Tribes, community groups, technology providers, and oil and gas operators.

“Environmental Defense Fund looks forward to vigorously defending these standards against this delay attempt so communities long overburdened by oil and gas pollution can reap their benefits.”

            - Rosalie Winn, EDF Director and Lead Counsel for Methane and Clean Air Policy

EDF and a coalition of health, environmental, and community groups have also filed a motion to intervene in support of EPA’s standards in litigation on the merits.