In brief
Trump declared at a Texas rally that he would eliminate rules that require oil and gas companies to curb methane releases, claiming it would save $45 billion and increase oil output by 210 million barrels. The move comes as fuel prices rise amid the U.S. war with Iran and ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. The Environmental Protection Agency said the rollback would end a leak‑identification program and relax flaring restrictions.
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his administration would roll back regulations that aim to curb methane emissions from oil and gas operations. The announcement came at a campaign rally in Texas, where Trump said the government would “terminate” the Biden‑era rules.
In a statement at the rally, Trump explained that the change would cut costs for both consumers and producers and boost domestic energy output.
He said that the policies were “expensive and unnecessary.”
Tonight, I’m officially terminating Biden’s expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers 45 billion dollars.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the proposed rollback would end a program that identified and addressed major methane leaks, ease requirements for low‑producing wells, and relax restrictions that limit routine flaring of natural gas at oil wells.
Trump claimed the reform would unlock vast quantities of Texas natural gas and allow an additional 210 million barrels of oil to be produced.
The administration framed the policy shift as a way to lower energy bills, citing high fuel prices that have risen because of tensions between the United States and Iran.
Methane is the main component of natural gas and is the second‑largest cause of global warming after carbon dioxide, contributing to nearly a third of the warming observed today.
Texas is the leading fossil fuel‑producing state in the United States and the country is the world’s largest emitter of methane from the oil and gas sector, according to the International Energy Agency.
