The key facts

  • Trump announced the repeal of Biden's methane rules at a rally in Lubbock ahead of the midterm elections
  • The claimed savings are $45 billion; the EPA had previously cited the same figure without detail
  • The US is the largest emitter of methane from the oil and gas sector according to the IEA

Rules scrapped at a rally in Texas

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a sweeping rollback of rules restricting methane emissions — a potent greenhouse gas — from oil and gas companies. The announcement came at a rally in support of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for a Senate seat in the November 3 midterm elections, AFP reports.

The administration's arguments and the election context

The $45 billion figure had previously been cited by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a statement earlier this month, though without a detailed breakdown of the savings. EPA head Lee Zeldin justified the decision as a matter of household costs:

What exactly is changing and the climate context

Methane is the main component of natural gas and the second most significant driver of global warming after carbon dioxide: it accounts for about a third, or 0.5°C, of the planet's total warming since the pre-industrial era. A methane molecule traps far more heat than CO2, but it survives in the atmosphere for only 7–12 years. The new changes affect rules at every stage — from production to processing, transportation and distribution. In particular, the proposal would abolish the