DENVER – More than 60 local elected officials from four western states are calling on the U.S. Senate to defend the Bureau of Land Management’s natural-gas waste rule adopted last year.

The rule directing the oil and gas industry to capture gas lost through leaks, venting and flaring on public lands is under threat after the U.S. House moved to roll it back. Steve Bonowski, a Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship board member, said the rule shouldn’t be tossed out just because it was enacted during the Obama administration.

“The methane rule, to us, represents just basic common sense and fiscal conservatism,” he said. “We should be capturing the public’s resources where possible, and not flaring gas off into the atmosphere or wasting it.”

A recent Colorado College poll found 83 percent of Coloradans support the BLM’s efforts to limit natural-gas waste. Industry leaders have claimed the rules would add layers of red tape and slow production.

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