Trump’s Plan: Remove Toxic Methane Pollution Protections

Trump has promised to freeze the EPA’s enforcement of methane pollution protections. Here’s what this executive action would mean for Americans’ health and the air we breathe. 

Trump’s Promises:

• Trump’s campaign promised to “rescind” energy-sector regulations intended to curtail greenhouse gas pollution like methane. 
• The Trump administration is expected to scrap a rule finalized under the Biden-Harris administration that fines oil and gas companies for excess methane pollution.
• During his first term, Trump eliminated several rules aimed at curbing methane pollution produced by the oil and gas industry. 

The Impacts:

• Methane is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide and it accounts for about one-third of global climate pollution. Reducing methane emissions is the fastest way to lower global temperature rise in the short term.
• The oil and gas industry is the largest industrial source of methane emissions in the United States, with 30 percent of U.S. methane emissions coming from the oil and gas sector.
• Repealing the Biden-Harris administration’s methane protections would prevent an expected reduction of 1.2 million metric tons of methane pollution by 2035. 
• Air pollution from the oil and gas industry, including methane pollution, causes nearly 2,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.
  • Chemicals leaking from methane gas wells can cause serious health issues, including cancer and birth defects.
  • Spillage of methane and other pollutants from the oil and gas industry costs the U.S. $300 to $500 per ton each year in health costs. 
• Uncontrolled leaks of methane and other pollutants at federal oil and gas wells collectively cost U.S. taxpayers up to $188 million a year.