Campaigning in Texas, Trump scraps Biden-era methane rules for oil and gas drillers
At a Lubbock rally for Senate candidate Paxton, Trump announced an end to methane limits, claiming $45 billion in savings. Environmental groups called it a "free pass" for the industry.
Archive image · Photo: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
U.S. President Donald Trump, a week before the midterm elections, announced he is ending methane rules for the oil and gas industry adopted under his predecessor Joe Biden. "I'm officially terminating Biden's expensive and unnecessary methane regulations," Trump said on Tuesday at a campaign rally in Lubbock, Texas, for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton. He said the move would save consumers and producers $45 billion and unlock 210 million barrels of oil – about ten days of U.S. consumption, according to AP.
The Environmental Protection Agency previewed the changes in September: the "Super Emitter Program," which requires companies to find and fix major methane leaks, would be eliminated, and small wells would face looser standards. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin argues the rule, finalized in 2024, would have cost $18 billion. Trump faces criticism over high fuel prices amid the Iran war, and the rollback is meant to encourage more domestic drilling.
Environmental groups sharply criticized the rollback. Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp said it gives companies a "free pass" at consumers' expense: "EPA should be fighting this waste, not making it easier." According to AP, methane is responsible for about a third of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Trump also held a rally in Corpus Christi on Tuesday.