Republicans have gotten down to the business of gleefully slashing and burning their way through regulations, and they’re employing a tool that’s only rarely been employed in the past. The Congressional Review Act makes rules that were finalized within a few weeks of the end of an administration particularly easy to depose. Even though it may have taken years to gather the information, work through public review, and implement a rule with the CRA, Republicans can kill regulations with a simple majority vote in the House and Senate, with no chance to filibuster.
They’ve applied this power to destroying a rule that protects rivers and streams near mines.
The Stream Protection Rule was worked on throughout the Obama administration, finally getting published in its waning days. Its repeal, while not unexpected, is a blow to environmentalists who helped shape the regulation and Appalachian communities concerned about the health of their waterways and water supplies.
Republicans are treating the repeal as a “job creator” after mining companies complained that the rule was meant to drive coal out of business. Neither is even close to true. The Stream Protection Rule was simply a clarification of rules that have been in the Clean Water Act from its inception and which hadn’t been reviewed since 1983. The new rule would have affected exactly one type of mining—mountain top removal. In repealing this rule, Republicans won’t generate a single mining job, but they will make it possible for companies to increase their profits through techniques that create more pollution while employing fewer workers.
But Republicans aren’t stopping with making sure that the ground and the water suffer. They’re also reaching for the sky.
The Republican-controlled House has voted to overturn an Obama administration rule intended to clamp down on oil companies that burn off natural gas during drilling operations on public lands.
The rule seeks to reduce waste and harmful methane emissions as part of a strategy to address climate change. It was finalized in November.
Oil companies, especially in remote areas, often decide that the methane they’re collecting isn’t worth enough to justify building the infrastructure needed to sell it—though studies have shown that about half the time, they’re wrong. The cheapest thing to do? Just vent or burn the gas on site.
Energy companies frequently burn off vast supplies of natural gas at drilling sites because it earns less money than oil. …
But Republicans say the rule is forcing job losses in energy-dependent states across the West and is undercutting domestic energy production. The House began debating a resolution to reverse the rule on Friday.
Once again, Republicans are providing alternate … no, just make that lies. The reason there are fewer jobs in oil and gas right now is exactly because gas is so cheap. By eliminating the rule against venting, Republicans will make natural gas even cheaper and require less infrastructure at drill sites. That translates into fewer jobs.
So in both cases, Republicans have made moves that will actually reduce jobs in the energy sector, have no effect on energy availability, pollute the air and water, and give energy executives a nice bonus.
Because that’s what they’re there to do.