Fed Court: EPA Must Enforce Obama-Era Emissions Regs

The Environmental Protection Agency must enforce a methane emissions regulation that sets pollution limits for the oil and gas industry, according to CNN.

Former President Barack Obama’s administration implemented the rule, CNN reported.

The Environmental Defense Fund cheered the 9-2 ruling from the District of Columbia Circuit's Court of Appeals.

"Today's issuance of the mandate by the full D.C. Circuit Court protects families and communities across America under clean air safeguards that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt sought to unlawfully tear down," said Peter Zalzal, Environmental Defense Fund lead attorney, according to CNN.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt had sought a two-year delay for the new methane regulation to be enforced, CNN reported.

The ruling maintained a July 3 decision that said the EPA broke the law when it planned on delaying enforcement of the regulation. The judges in the ruling on July 3 said the EPA could reverse the regulation, but not pause the enforcement of it, according to The New York Times.

The Obama regulation was designed to restrict emissions of methane from new oil and gas wells. Methane is a greenhouse gas 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, according to The New York Times report.

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