The Trump administration ignoring common sense laws and bowing to industry pressure.

The Bureau of Land Management is trying to delay—and potentially reverse—a rule it finalized last year requiring oil and gas companies to capture natural gas that would otherwise be burned, deliberately vented, or leaked into the air.

This week, alongside a coalition of tribal and environmental groups, we took the Trump administration to court for this reckless and shortsighted decision.

The commonsense rule would protect public and tribal lands, safeguard public health, decrease greenhouse gas emissions and compensate taxpayers for gas that’s taken from public lands.

More specifically, the rule the Trump administration is trying to delay would:

• Cut emissions of methane—a greenhouse gas 86 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over the short term—by up to 180,000 tons per year. That is the equivalent of taking 950,000 vehicles off the road
• Prevent oil and gas companies from wasting 41 billion cubic feet of natural gas each year through leaks, venting and flaring—enough to supply 740,000 households for a year
• Put millions of dollars that are essentially being burned up by drilling companies back into the public coffers

Knowing all this, the Trump administration is still bending to pressure from polluting industries.

There is simply too much at stake, which is why we’re challenging this dangerous decision in court. The courts continue to be our last line of defense when pushing back against these relentless attacks from the Trump administration. Just last week a federal appeals court blocked a similar delay attempted by Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency.

- Earth Justice 

Tell your representatives to pass a "clean" spending bill with no anti-environment riders or budget cuts!

Some things should transcend partisan divides in Congress. Things like keeping our kids safe from toxic pollution. Climate change. Clean air. Safe drinking water. But the Big Polluters and their allies in Congress see an opportunity to sneak anti-environment measures into a federal spending bill that must pass soon to keep the government from shutting down.

Your elected officials are weighing their options on this spending bill right now, and they need to hear from you.

Tell Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain and Representative Martha McSally to pass a "clean" spending bill with no anti-environment riders or budget cuts!

Corporate polluters and their allies in Congress know that anti-environment attacks, corporate giveaways and rollbacks of public health safeguards would never survive normal up-and-down votes in the House or Senate. Their solution? Attach them to this must-pass budget bill, and hope no one puts up a fight.

This isn't a new tactic — but with Donald Trump in the White House, it's more urgent than ever that we pay attention and speak up. Because he's ready to sign a spending bill full of riders that would trample our right to a clean environment and a healthy future.

These riders could:

*Threaten the air we breathe and the water we drink by rolling back critical clean air and water protections.

*Gut safeguards that keep Big Polluters in check by slashing funding to the EPA and other agencies to enforce environmental rules.

*Wave a white flag in the fight against climate change by abandoning the Clean Power Plan and other efforts to ensure a safe and sustainable future.

*Sacrifice imperiled wildlife like wolves, grizzlies and whales by pulling back on protections guaranteed by the Endangered Species Act.

The NRDC Action Fund is working to stop anti-environment riders like these from infecting this must-pass spending bill. Our lobbyists are on Capitol Hill making sure key senators and representatives are ready to stand up against these rollbacks. We're alerting local and national media outlets to these federal budget schemes. And we're ratcheting up public pressure by mobilizing constituents like you to call their lawmakers.

So tell your senators and representative to oppose any spending bill with measures that hurt the environment and public health!

Make no mistake, this isn't just about the federal budget. It's about protecting our right to a clean and healthy environment, and our children's future from those who would sell them off to the highest bidder.

Rhea Suh
President, NRDC Action Fund

Urge your Senators to vote NO on the Methane CRA, and to stop any further rollbacks on our environmental and public health protections.

The resistance is working. Trump and Congress are trying to give drilling companies a never-ending pass to leak gas pollution on our public lands. But in response, tens of thousands of people have been calling, writing, and meeting with their representatives to stop this senseless rollback. We've delayed this action several times already, but now the Senate is running out of time to vote on it -- we have to make one final push now!

Tell your Senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake, to side with clean air and public health, not corporate polluters. Call now: 1-888-454-0483. Even if you have called before, it always helps to remind them that you are still watching!

Under the Obama administration, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finalized protections last year that would require companies extracting oil and gas from public lands to reduce their methane emissions. These standards are not only a big win for public health and the climate, but also for job creation.

When companies extract oil and gas from public lands, they are currently allowed to vent, flare or leak unlimited amount of methane pollution into our air -- but this commonsense rule would require them to limit these emissions. And limiting those emissions can create jobs for the people hired to manufacture and install the pollution-limiting technologies, helping to boost US manufacturing and create jobs. Forcing companies to clean up their act makes sense for our economy and for our environment.

But now, Senate Republicans are trying to use a dangerous and powerful tool to roll back these important protections to satisfy their fossil fuel backers. The Congressional Review Act (CRA) allows Congress to override recently issued rules, going back months under President Obama. The CRA would not only block the current standards, but would also prevent any similar standards to ever be issued -- letting polluters off the hook indefinitely.

The House of Representatives already voted to overturn these safeguards. It was expected that the Senate would quickly do the same, but public backlash has already forced several delays. Right now, the oil and gas lobby is trying to jam this through before their window expires.

We must speak out now to demand our Senators reject this reckless proposal. Urge Senators McCain and Flake to vote NO on the Methane CRA, and to stop any further rollbacks on our environmental and public health protections. Call now: 1-888-454-0483.

Congress should work for the people, not corporate polluters. It's up to us to remind them of that every day. Keep the pressure on.

Thank you for making your voice heard,

Lena Moffitt
Director, Beyond Dirty Fuels
Sierra Club

Call 1-888-454-0483 now

and tell Senators McCain & Flake to stand up for clean air & public health!

Sample script:

Hi, my name is ________ and I live in Tucson.

I'm calling to ask Senator McCain / Flake to commit to voting NO on the CRA of the Bureau of Land Management's Methane Rule.

The CRA is a blunt instrument and using it to undo the BLM Methane Rule could have lasting, dangerous consequences for our public health and public lands.

I hope the Senator will protect taxpayer resources and clean air by opposing this reckless vote. Thank you.