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Kentucky Joins States Challenging EPA's Oil and Gas Methane Rule

Leonid Ikan, 123rf Stock Photo

Kentucky joined this week with a dozen other states to challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new rules on the oil and gas industry. 

West Virginia’s Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is leading an effort to dismantle a rule aimed at reducing the industry’s methane emissions.

The suit asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review a rule that sets the first-ever standards to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector.

The EPA estimates the oil and gas industry is the largest methane-emitting sector in the country. The agency finalized new standards earlier this year because methane is a potent greenhouse gas.

Morrisey says the new regulations are illegal and will threatens jobs by raising gas production and distributions costs. The EPA estimates regulations will cost the industry $530 million in 2025. Recent financial reports indicate the sector created over 230 billion dollars in revenues last year.

The suit was filed on the heels of a separate, similar suit filed by a dozen industry groups.

Glynis Board drills deep for her ReSource stories on energy and the environment. She hails from the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia and is based in Wheeling. Glynis is a West Virginia University graduate who has honed her video and audio storytelling skills at West Virginia Public Broadcasting since 2004. Her work has won the Edward R. Murrow Award and “outstanding reporter” honors from the AP.
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