Supreme Court leaves in place EPA rule aimed at reducing emissions of planet-warming gas methane

The Supreme Court has left in place an environmental regulation aimed at reducing the oil and gas industry’s emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane

Supreme Court Methane Emissions (Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The Supreme Court left in place Friday an environmental regulation aimed at reducing the oil and gas industry’s emissions of methane, a key contributor to climate change.

Republican-led states and industry groups had filed emergency appeals asking the high court to pause the Biden administration rule. They argue the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority and set standards that are “impossible to meet.”

The Supreme Court is still considering challenges to another rule aimed at curbing planet-warming pollution from coal-fired power plants.

The EPA said the regulation is squarely within its legal responsibilities. The oil and gas industry is the largest emitter of methane, which is responsible for one-third of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, the agency said in court documents. A lower court previously refused to halt the regulation.

The Supreme Court has shot down other environmental regulations in recent years, including a landmark decision that limited the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in 2022 and another that halted the agency’s air-pollution-fighting “good neighbor” rule.