California and 19 Other States File A Lawsuit Challenging Trump’s Rollbacks on Methane Rules

September 14, 2020

Today, California and 19 other states filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s rollbacks on methane emissions rules for the oil and gas industry from the Obama administration.

Reuters reports:

The lawsuit is California’s 54th against the Trump administration to challenge rollbacks to key environmental protections. California is joined in the lawsuit by 19 other Democrat-led states, including rising oil and gas producer New Mexico, and four districts and municipalities.

President Trump is scheduled to visit California today to be briefed on the state’s wildfires, meeting with local and federal personnel. California Governor Gavin Newsom will join Trump for the private briefing as well.

POLITICO reports, Governor Newsom said Friday, “While it’s nice to have goals to get to 100 percent clean energy by 2045, that’s inadequate to meet the challenges that this state, and I argue this nation, faces. We’re going to have to fast-track our efforts. We’re going to have to be more aggressive in terms of meeting our goals much sooner.”

In a previous Power the Future blog post on California’s rolling blackouts a few weeks ago, the sentiment for the need of a mix in our energy grid was different with the shortages the state was facing.

Governor Gavin Newsom stated, “These blackouts, which occurred without prior warning or enough time for preparation, are unacceptable and unbefitting of the nation’s largest and most innovative state.” Gov. Newsom has demanded an investigation, but the blindingly obvious cause is his own party’s obsession over eliminating fossil fuels.

Even former California Gov. Gray Davis pointed blame at the state’s anti-fossil fuel policies, stating, “The bottom line is, people don’t want lights to go down. People also want a carbon-free future. Sometimes those two aspirations come into conflict.” 

The eco-left continues to push for a revamp of our energy sector ignoring the blatant warning signs of the effects this would have on the American people. If any form of a radical Green New Deal were to be implemented on a national scale, the whole country would have to face the current misery of California residents. Energy prices for American households would skyrocket, millions of good-paying energy jobs would be lost, and you can expect regular energy shortages for the more expensive energy you’d be forced to pay for.