Methane rule: Trump orders termination of Biden drilling restrictions

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration is terminating a Biden-era rule designed to curb methane emissions from oil and gas drilling. Speaking at a rally in Lubbock, Texas, Trump said the change would save companies and consumers billions of dollars and unlock 210 million barrels of oil, an amount he equated to about 10 days of U.S. petroleum consumption.

Methane accounts for roughly a third of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, according to scientists. Oil and gas operations are the largest industrial source of the gas, which is the main component of natural gas and, in the near term, a more potent atmospheric warmer than carbon dioxide. The gas leaks from equipment or is vented and flared by drillers.

Trump announced the rollback at a rally supporting Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton. He said Biden's plan had "crushed the small operators" with regulations. "I'm officially terminating Biden's expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers $45 billion in costs," Trump said. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said last month that the agency would eliminate its Super Emitter Program, which required companies to investigate and repair major methane releases, and would set looser standards for small oil and gas wells. Zeldin has said the rule would have cost $18 billion and held back the U.S. energy industry.

The Biden rule was announced in 2023 at a U.N. climate conference in the United Arab Emirates by officials including former Vice President Kamala Harris, and the final rule was published in 2024. Federal officials said it would prevent an estimated 58 million tons of methane emissions by 2038. By 2034, the rule was projected to yield $98 billion in benefits, a figure based on future social costs of greenhouse gas emissions, an approach the Trump EPA rejects. The rule applied to existing wells as well as new ones, and would have required operators to plug leaking methane from smaller wells that produce 6% of U.S. oil and gas but account for up to half of methane emissions from oil and gas fields. The EPA imposed an 18-month delay last year to give companies time to meet inspection requirements. The rule was tied to a waste emissions charge of up to $1,500 per metric ton of methane, which Congress repealed weeks after Trump took office.

Environmental groups opposed the rollback. Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp said it gives a "free pass" to companies at the expense of American consumers. "EPA should be fighting this waste, not making it easier," he said. Environmental groups said the change will let companies continue releasing gas that could be captured and used to supply energy to millions of households.

The move comes as Trump and congressional Republicans dismantle Biden-era climate policies, including revoking a scientific finding central to U.S. greenhouse gas action, lowering fuel economy standards for vehicles, and moving to repeal emission restrictions for coal and natural gas power plants. Trump tied the methane rollback to fuel price concerns amid the war in Iran.

The Biden methane rule was designed to pair with a fee approved in the 2022 climate law. Congress repealed that fee program weeks after Trump took office.