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.
