Washington, D.C. – Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet today joined Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Colorado’s La Plata County Commissioner Gwen Lachelt, and New Mexico rancher Don Schreiber in a press conference urging the Senate to protect the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Methane and Waste Prevention Rule.
“This resolution is yet another example of Washington putting narrow interests over the public good and putting ideology over facts,” Bennet said. “We must retain these common-sense rules not only for our environment, but also for taxpayers to receive a fair return on oil and gas resources.”
“In Colorado, we led the nation with the first rule to regulate methane emissions directly, bringing cleaner air and a thriving economy to our state,” Bennet continued. “[Coloradans] would feel that our work was not only being disrespected, but that our economy and our health would be threatened if this rule was taken away.”
La Plata County Commissioner Gwen Lachelt also spoke at the conference, emphasizing the economic benefits of the Methane Rule.
“This rule is very important to my county, because we live under the largest methane cloud in the entire country,” Lachelt said. “Colorado has a really strong rule, and that’s great for Colorado. But that rule in Colorado is absolutely meaningless for my county, because with 35,000 oil and gas wells across the state line…in a state that does not have a corresponding state rule, we need the BLM Methane Rule.”