WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the National Wildlife Federation and its partners filed a lawsuit to defend the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) methane rule. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in California, seeks to overturn BLM’s stay of the finalized rule to reduce harmful methane pollution from oil and gas operations on federal and tribal lands. The BLM suspended key components of the popular methane rule which requires the oil and gas industry to curb methane waste that is currently leaking or being vented or flared. 

Methane is considered a super-pollutant and, in the short term, it has over 80 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Reducing methane waste would not only protect public health, but it would help defend the planet against climate change long-term. 

Collin O’Mara, president and chief executive officer of the National Wildlife Federation, said today: 

“Reducing methane pollution on public lands is one of the most cost-effective ways to conserve our natural resources, confront climate change, and protect taxpayers. The U.S. Senate agreed when it voted just two months ago to uphold common-sense BLM methane rules. Today, the National Wildlife Federation is joining with conservation allies to defend the BLM methane rules from the unlawful rollback of these broadly popular rules, which the BLM has proposed without seeking public input. We simply cannot afford to waste a valuable fuel source and give away taxpayer resources in a way that harms wildlife, public health, public lands, and the climate.”

The National Wildlife Federation and its partners are also defending the substance of this rule against industry attack in a separate lawsuit filed last year. The judge in that case has already rejected industry’s request to enjoin the rule while the merits are being considered.