President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration plans to ease regulations on methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that is the second-largest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide.
Speaking at a midterm rally in Texas, Trump announced the rollback of methane emissions rules for oil and gas producers that the Biden administration finalized in 2024.
“Tonight, I am officially ending Biden’s costly and unnecessary methane regulations to save energy consumers and producers,” Trump said, adding that Democrats had “crushed small oil and gas operators” with excessive regulation.
He did not provide further details. The Environmental Protection Agency announced the changes this month, promising to ease regulations on methane leaks from low-producing oil wells, among other changes.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said at the time: “Americans need to be able to afford to heat their homes in winter, fill up their cars and drive to work. They can’t do that when energy producers are burdened with unnecessary burdens.”
Trump made the announcement just a week before the midterm elections, in which numerous polls show high fuel costs are a key issue for many voters.
Methane, the main component of natural gas, traps more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, although it also decomposes more quickly. Scientists estimate that methane will be about 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over 20 years. Methane, which is also released from natural sources such as wetlands, is responsible for about a third of all global warming.
The Biden administration viewed eliminating methane leaks from oil and gas production as a relatively quick way to reduce emissions.
Low-producing wells affected by decommissioning (also called stripping wells) produce about 7 to 8 percent of U.S. natural gas, but they could account for about 50 percent of the methane leaking into the atmosphere, research suggests. Many of these wells are at the end of their life or at risk of falling below the break-even point.
However, the National Stripper Well Association has called for a rollback, saying in a letter last month that “the costs associated with complying with these regulations will make well operations uneconomic.”
As part of this rollback, the EPA also plans to eliminate its Super Emitter program, which aimed to create a system for third-party groups to report methane leaks from natural gas production. Such leaks are not easily visible to the naked eye, but they can be detected by satellites or special thermal cameras. The Trump administration suspended implementation of the program last year. Today he is trying to close it.
Environmental and health groups have denounced the rollbacks, saying they would increase air pollution and increase the effects of climate change.
Liz Scott, senior director of national advocacy for the American Lung Association, said any rollback of methane regulations would also increase air pollution from volatile organic compounds, which are released alongside methane leaks during oil and gas production.
“Pollution released along with methane causes immediate health harm, especially for communities living near oil and gas sites,” Scott told NBC News. “When you roll back protections against methane leaks or flaring, you’re also going to roll back the protections that communities rely on for these air pollutants.”
David Doniger, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said methane leaks are one of the stupidest forms of pollution because the industry loses the product it sells and thereby harms the planet.
“The industry doesn’t pay attention to leaks the way it should,” Doniger told NBC News. “They would make more money capturing these products and getting them to the point of sale than losing them.”
Before the reductions can take effect, they must go through an EPA rulemaking process that includes a public comment period. If a final rule is implemented, then the EPA could face legal challenges, including from a coalition of environmental groups that includes the NRDC.
“I would expect it to be another trial,” Doniger said.
Reducing methane is part of the Trump administration’s systematic effort to eliminate regulations intended to combat climate change.
In February, the EPA repealed emissions rules for vehicles, which account for the largest carbon pollution in the United States. It announced last month that it would lower emissions limits for coal and gas power plants. He even upended his own danger finding, a legal ruling that greenhouse gases are warming the Earth in ways that threaten public health and welfare.
Zeldin described his program as an effort to “stab a dagger into the heart of the religion of climate change.”
The effects of climate change are becoming more and more serious. Much of the planet was subjected to extreme heat this summer: June through August were the hottest on record in the contiguous United States.
Last year was the third warmest in modern history, according to Copernicus, the European Union’s climate monitoring service. The last 11 years have been the 11 warmest on record, according to Copernicus data.
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