By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-10-09 01:32:01 | Updated at 2026-10-09 02:14:39
53 minutes ago
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Wednesday it would be proposing “in the coming days” the abolition of a Biden-era rule on methane leaks from oil and gas wells, which it said would save $45 billion.
The move is the latest initiative by the Trump administration to cut regulations that it says burden U.S. businesses seeking to access the nation’s coal, oil, and gas resources.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin made the announcement at the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association’s annual meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
“Americans must be able to afford to heat their homes in the winter and fill up their car and drive to work,” Zeldin said. “They can’t do that when the people producing the energy are weighed down by unnecessary burdens. The Trump EPA is committed to fixing this so the U.S. can reach its full energy potential.”
This would be the fourth time an administration has changed the law on methane emissions in the last 10 years.
Obama Introduced Emissions Rule
In May 2016, the Obama administration first announced it was introducing federal regulations, forcing the oil and gas industry to reduce methane emissions.
The first Trump administration removed the regulations in August 2020, but in July 2021 under President Joe Biden, Congress, using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), reversed the Trump administration’s changes to regulations on methane from production wells and pipelines, and Biden signed it into law.
Now the second Trump administration has indicated it will remove methane regulations, which it said burden oil and gas companies with costly restrictions, with the costs passed on to customers.
In March 2024, the EPA published a rule on new source performance standards for new, reconstructed, and modified sources and Emission Guidelines for states to develop plans for existing sources.
Final implementation of the so-called Super Emitter Program was delayed by the Trump administration until Jan. 22, 2027, and Zeldin has indicated it will now be scrapped altogether.
The EPA said that behind every barrel of oil and every cubic foot of natural gas produced in the United States were millions of workers, businesses, and “the heartbeat of this nation’s economy,” to which the regulations posed a monumental threat.
“The Trump EPA is days, not weeks, away from announcing our proposal for the second part of the oil and gas reconsideration,” Zeldin said. “This proposal takes on many of the problems American producers and operators have raised with us. That includes the burden on marginal wells and oil and gas operators in general, the Super Emitter Program, associated gas, and control device requirements.”
Critics React
Environmental activists say methane is the second-biggest cause of climate change after carbon dioxide, and the Sierra Club’s Rio Grande chapter led a protest outside the meeting in Santa Fe.
“This dangerous reversal would, if finalized, allow bad-actor corporations to release more climate-disrupting compounds and other pollutants into our atmosphere, jeopardizing the health and wellbeing of our families and communities,” the Sierra Club said in a statement.
Mahyar Sorour, director of Sierra Club’s Beyond Fossil Fuels campaign, criticized the change as a “giveaway to fossil fuel executives” that’s “foolish and short-sighted.”
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham criticized the EPA announcement and said that her state had in 2021 introduced some of the nation’s strongest methane rules, “cutting venting and flaring, requiring regular leak inspections, and moving operators to cleaner equipment.”
“Rolling back federal standards means more pollution drifting into the lungs of families living next to wells and flares, and a hotter planet for all of us,” Lujan Grisham said. “In New Mexico, we won’t stand for that. Our methane rules will remain firmly in place, and we’re planning to strengthen them while collaborating with other states to share our nation-leading best practices.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
