BILLINGS, Mont.— President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration is "terminating" a Biden-era rule that aimed to cut planet-warming emissions of methane from oil and gas drilling.Trump said during a campaign rally in Texas that the change would save companies and consumers billions of dollars and unlock 210 million barrels of oil.
That's equivalent to about 10 days of U.S.petroleum consumption.The move aims to encourage more domestic drilling as Trump faces criticism over high fuel prices amid the war in Iran.Methane is responsible for about a third of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, scientists estimate.Cuts in methane emissions have emerged in recent years as a global priority to slow the rate of climate change.
Oil and gas operations are the largest industrial source of methane, which is the main component in natural gas and far more potent to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide in the short term.The invisible gas leaks from equipment and is released into the atmosphere or burned off as a waste product by oil drillers.Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin previewed the changes last month, saying they would eliminate the agency's "Super Emitter Program" that requires companies to investigate and repair major methane releases from oil and natural gas facilities.The agency would also set less restrictive standards for small oil and gas wells.Trump said during Tuesday's rally in Lubbock for Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton that Biden's plan "crushed the small operators" with crippling regulations."I'm officially terminating Biden's expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers $45 billion in costs," Trump said.The loosening of the emissions rule comes as Trump and Republicans in Congress have been methodically dismantling climate policies enacted under former President Joe Biden.
That's included the revocation of a scientific finding that was central to U.S.action on greenh...