The EPA Is About to Hand Oil and Gas Companies a Huge Methane-Related Gift
Last week, less than a month after rolling back power plant pollution standards, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin addressed an audience of oil and gas executives at the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association’s annual meeting in Santa Fe. The environmental agency was “within days,” he told them, of releasing the draft reconsideration of […]
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is set to provide a significant advantage to oil and gas companies, according to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin. At the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association’s annual meeting, Zeldin announced that the EPA was "within days" of releasing a draft reconsideration of a major Biden-era oil and gas methane rule.
This new proposal would weaken regulations on oil and gas operators, allowing for increased leaking, venting, and flaring, which could substantially increase emissions of the potent greenhouse gas, methane. Methane is 80 times more heat-trapping than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, and reducing its emissions could help mitigate climate change.
The oil and gas sector is a major source of methane emissions in the United States, accounting for one-third of global methane emissions. Zeldin claimed that the new EPA measure would save taxpayers $45 billion, stating that Americans should be able to afford heating their homes and fueling their vehicles without facing unnecessary burdens from energy producers.
This rollback of methane regulations aligns with the Trump administration's goal of "unleashing" American energy. Critics argue that the EPA's proposed rollback reflects industry demands for weaker regulations. Environmental advocates contend that the EPA is essentially giving oil and gas corporations what they've long desired—a weak methane standard that allows for continued leaks and flaring of dangerous greenhouse gas emissions.
The EPA has met with oil and gas industry representatives multiple times during President Donald Trump's first year of his second term to discuss methane regulations. Furthermore, Fieldnotes, an oil and gas watchdog group, revealed a coordinated industry strategy involving fossil fuel groups to avoid regulatory accountability. The group also documented efforts by oil and gas companies, trade associations, and members of the Trump administration's EPA to eliminate the Waste Emissions Charge, a fee designed to penalize oil and gas producers for excess greenhouse gas emissions, as well as weaken the Biden administration's methane regulatory program.
Written by urgent.news from Mother Jones's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
