Governor Gordon Pleased that Court Ruling Allows Flaring Litigation to Resume

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon said Wednesday that he is pleased that a Federal District Court in Wyoming is moving quickly to allow the state and three other energy producing states to restart legal challenges to an overreaching Obama-era rule. According to information from the Governor’s office, last week, a California federal district court set aside the Bureau of Land Management’s current rule governing venting and flaring of natural gas on public lands and will reimpose the Obama-era rule in 90 days.

Governor Gordon said that in a thorough, but thoroughly incorrect ruling, the judge rejected the Trump Administration’s commonsense approach to the management of waste gas. Gordon added that the Trump Administration recognized and respected Wyoming’s longstanding and effective regulations, while the Obama Administration sought to impose a one-size-fits-all mandate that imposes tremendous costs on oil and gas producers to save small amounts of natural gas.

Before the Trump Administration replaced the Obama-era rule, Wyoming and other energy states were in the process of challenging the validity of that rule in Federal Court in Wyoming. Those proceedings were paused when the Trump Administration replaced the Obama-era rule. The Wyoming court lifted a stay on the case on Tuesday, allowing Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, and Texas to proceed with their challenge to the Obama rule before it goes into effect and causes substantial harm.

Governor Gordon said that Wyoming will be reviewing its options to appeal the ruling in California, but that in the meantime, they will do all they can to avoid the harm that the Obama-era rule will cause in this particularly difficult time for Wyoming’s energy industry.