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California, and New York
. . . filed suits in federal court,
. . . that seek to block the tax reform act from taking effect, and
. . . force the federal government to enforce methane capture rules,
. . . put in place by the Obama administration.

Those legal challenges could put the
. . . “separation of powers” provisions, of the
. . . US Constitution to the test.

Methane,
. . . which is the primary component of natural gas,
. . . traps heat in the earth’s atmosphere.
Federal data shows that
. . . 462 billion cubic feet of natural gas,
. . . escaped from wells in the United States,
. . . between 2009 and 2016.

In July, a federal appeals court ruled Scott Pruitt and the EPA,
. . . had no legal authority to delay the methane abatement rules,
. . . put in place by the Obama administration.
But now the Bureau of Land Management,
. . . which has jurisdiction over wells on federal lands,
. . . has announced it wants to
. . . delay implementation of the Obama rules for a year,
. . . while it “studies” the issue.

The new law will have an outsized impact on states,
. . . with large urban populations like New York, and California, and
. . . that may violate the equal protection provisions of the Constitution.
Oddly enough,
. . . those states already contribute more in taxes to the federal government,
. . . than they get back in benefits.
If for any reason those payments were to cease,
. . . Republicans would find they have no money left,
. . . to reward their supporters in red states.

Their biggest concern,
. . . is the provision that caps the deduction for state, and
. . . local taxes at $10,000.

“This tax provision,
. . . hits the blue states,
. . . by eliminating the state and local tax deductibility, and
. . . uses that money,
. . . to finance the tax cut in the red states,”

1-3-2018 Source:  #tax reform act