Regional environmental groups are cheering a federal judge’s refusal to halt the implementation of the Bureau of Land Management’s new methane rule.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl rejected a request by energy-industry groups and the states of Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota for a preliminary injunction against the rule, which will reduce methane emissions. In a statement, Carol Davis of the Navajo grassroots group Diné CARE said the rule is critical in the Four Corners region “because we. . . suffer the health and environmental disparities caused by excessive methane emissions in our predominantly Navajo region.”