President Donald Trump said Tuesday that his administration is “terminating” a Biden-era rule aimed at cutting planet-warming methane emissions from oil and gas drilling, the Associated Press reported.
### A rally announcement in Texas
Trump made the announcement during a campaign rally in Lubbock, Texas, for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton. He said the change would save companies and consumers billions of dollars and unlock 210 million barrels of oil — roughly 10 days of U.S. petroleum consumption.
“I’m officially terminating Biden’s expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers $45 billion in costs,” Trump said, according to the AP. The move is aimed at encouraging more domestic drilling as Trump faces criticism over high fuel prices amid the war in Iran.
### Why methane matters
Methane is responsible for about a third of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, scientists estimate. Oil and gas operations are the largest industrial source of methane, which is the main component in natural gas and far more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term.
### What the Biden rule did
The Biden methane rule, announced during a 2023 U.N. climate conference in the United Arab Emirates and published as a final rule in 2024, went further than previous regulations, which had focused only on new wells. It regulated existing wells too, and required operators to plug leaking methane from smaller wells that produce just 6% of the nation’s oil and gas while accounting for up to half of all methane emissions from oil and gas fields.
Federal officials under Biden said the rule would prevent an estimated 58 million tons of methane emissions by 2038 and reduce other pollutants that cause health problems. By 2034, it was projected to yield $98 billion in benefits, a figure derived by calculating the future “social costs” of greenhouse gas emissions on public health and the environment — an approach rejected by Trump’s EPA.
The rule was crafted to work alongside a methane fee approved in the 2022 climate law, which would have levied a “waste emissions charge” of as much as $1,500 per metric ton of methane on energy producers exceeding a certain level of emissions. It was the first time the U.S. government directly imposed a fee on greenhouse gas emissions. Congress repealed it weeks after Trump took office.
### What changes now
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin previewed the changes last month, saying they would eliminate the agency’s “Super Emitter Program,” which requires companies to investigate and repair major methane releases, and set less restrictive standards for small oil and gas wells.
Zeldin has said the methane rule would have cost $18 billion and was holding back the U.S. energy industry. Trump said Tuesday that Biden’s plan “crushed the small operators” with crippling regulations. The EPA last year imposed an 18-month delay to give companies time to meet new inspection requirements and other provisions of the rule.
### The two sides of the argument
| | Supporters of the rollback say | Critics of the rollback say |
|—|—|—|
| Cost | The rule would have cost $18 billion and burdened small operators | The rule would have delivered $98 billion in benefits by 2034 |
| Energy | Ending it unlocks 210 million barrels of oil | It lets gas that could power millions of homes escape or be burned off |
| Climate | The “social cost” accounting behind the benefits was flawed | Methane drives about a third of warming and is the fastest lever to slow it |
Environmental groups said the rollback will let companies keep polluting the atmosphere with gas that could be captured and used. 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.
### What to watch next
The formal termination process, and any legal challenge from environmental groups or states, will determine how quickly the rollback takes effect — and whether drillers in the Permian Basin and elsewhere change how they monitor and repair leaks.
Sources: Associated Press via NPR, October 28, 2026.
