Today the U.S. Senate voted against H.J. Res. 36, a resolution, “providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the final rule of the Bureau of Land Management relating to “Waste Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation.”

Cornwall Alliance Founder and National Spokesman Dr. E. Calvin Beisner found the Senate’s vote to be very disappointing. “The BLM has no authority to regulate for air quality, which is the EPA’s jurisdiction, he said. So the only rationale for the rule, issued at the last minute by the Obama Administration, was to prevent waste. But the oil and gas industry were already achieving huge reductions in methane emissions and have every incentive to continue.”

“Methane is a valuable resource, so drillers flare it only if they have no cost-effective way to capture and sell it. The rule will cost about $300 million a year, $1.8 billion by 2025. With no significant effect on total methane emissions, it is a waste—ironically, since it’s supposed to prevent waste.”

We hope a new resolution will pass in the future.